"Can we establish a foundation?" Barry said, "Specifically to help the poor, give them clothing and food, at least not let them freeze to death. Perhaps we can help those who are healthy by providing treatment, allowing them to reintegrate into society."
"And then get kicked out again?" Ron said, "I know, if we spend a lot of money and resources, maybe we can indeed save some people, but the efficiency is too low, we have to admit it. What we can do is too limited. That's why we must seek an efficient method to solve problems for more people."
"Is it possible to start with elections?" Diana said, "Can we elect a better government to power?"
Everyone booed, especially the Americans. Arthur snorted and said, "Elections now are not about voting for the party you like, but voting against the party you dislike. It's choosing the lesser of two evils, and it's not even less evil, at most it's just a way to vent frustration."
Diana sighed. She herself also felt it was ridiculous, after all, the two parties have alternated in power, and which year has been good?
"I think we should make full use of our superpowers," Ron said, "I can brainwash a group of people to make them less excessive, at least in the areas of medical or relief services, slightly relax some conditions."
"The problem now is, resources at the bottom are limited. If you order a group of people to tilt resources towards some people, then another group will not receive any," Bruce said, "And if you want resources to flow downward, you'll have to change the structure at the top, which is very difficult to change."
"Can't you brainwash the people at the top?" Victor asked again, "Maybe I can control the Federal Reserve and have them distribute money to the lower levels."
This idea had even Barry shaking his head, as anyone who understands a bit of economics knows that distributing money is fundamentally useless, especially large-scale distribution, which results in inflation and interest rate increases.
Barry scratched his head in frustration. Diana kept sighing. Arthur remained silent with a stern face. Ron stopped eating Oreos. Victor pursed his lips. Finally, everyone looked at Bruce.
"Have you heard of the Cold War?" Bruce asked.
Among them, only Barry, Arthur, and Victor were purely post-Cold War era people. The others had experienced it firsthand, and even if they hadn't, they had heard of it, so they all nodded.
"The social atmosphere during the Cold War wasn't great; everyone was tense, thinking a hot war could break out at any moment, that the world might be destroyed. But we have to admit, the material life was relatively good," Bruce said, "Or rather, the social atmosphere was relatively mild, internal strife wasn't as severe, and people weren't so indifferent to one another."
Ron nodded, he felt it deeply, he said, "At that time, many people were indeed united, especially scientists, they all believed that humans could soar to great heights, and everyone was working hard for that. Even if there were conflicts within groups, everyone could tolerate each other because of shared goals."
"But later on, especially ten years after the Cold War ended, mutual reporting and friction became very frequent in the police station where I worked. It wasn't just among colleagues, but between police departments, and even state police didn't cooperate to catch criminals anymore. This led to many serious criminals escaping."
"If it were during the Cold War, such things were almost impossible to happen. Because once a scandal broke out, the entire state police system would undergo a major overhaul, and not just the police system, even the congressmen would be thoroughly investigated. Because the big country on the other side would really use such things to make a case. We also didn't want to lose to them and were eager to work 20 hours a day."
"Most importantly, during that time, we had abundant resources, could freely shop in supermarkets, and when seeing that the other side had only a limited range of canned food, even if we were eating frozen food, everyone was happy. At least we had more choices, we were free. And because of high levels of happiness, everyone's temper was relatively good."
"The community where I lived at that time, not only did it not ostracize those involved in accidents, but people would visit them, bringing some near-expiration food they couldn't finish. And those temporarily at rock bottom weren't very despairing, because they felt, no matter what, it was better than the other side."
"Of course, it was only those glorious years," Ron frowned and said, "Actually, towards the end, we already saw signs. If the Soviet Union hadn't fallen, we might not have held on either."
"That's right, mental happiness is very important," Bruce said, "After being in a cold social atmosphere for long, people become more aggressive, assuming everyone is unfriendly. This reduces the margin for error, minor issues can snowball into disasters because no one lets go, and ultimately, everyone suffers."
"Then you mean…" Ron seemed to have realized something.
"Like Ron just said, increasing mental happiness is one way to make people feel happy. Another way is to lower happiness standards, for example, compared to other unfortunate people, or against worse expected outcomes, naturally making oneself feel fortunate."
"During the Cold War era, Americans felt the big country on the other side lacked freedom, everything was distributed, there was no choice, so they felt very fortunate to shop freely in malls. Or they believed if a hot war started, they would have to tighten their belts and even go to the battlefield, so when it didn't happen, they felt very happy."
"Wait a minute," Diana interrupted, then said, "Why do I feel something's not right."
"Sacrifice is necessary," Bruce looked at her and said, "I mean us."
The others looked at each other, squinting their eyes.
With a click, the office lights turned on. A suit-clad politician pointed to the chair opposite him, and the man in the jacket appeared a bit flustered, but he still pulled out the chair and sat down, then anxiously asked, "As long as I help, you won't make me compensate, and you'll let me return to my post, right?"
"That's right, in fact, we've searched through the Superpower Management Organization for many superpower users, but they all refused to cooperate. We saw the footage of you defeating the troublemaker that day, and we believe you have this ability, right, Mr. Hal Jordan?"
"I… indeed have superpowers," he coughed a bit, then rubbed his nose and said, "In fact, I've even been to outer space and undergone a series of rigorous training, I was the top student in that training class."
"Then can you move the Capitol Building back to Washington?"
"Yes, no problem," he said, "This ability is very suitable for moving things, if you don't believe me, I can show you."
The other person gestured for him to proceed. The man referred to as Hal took a deep breath, raised his hand, and the table floated up.
"This thing is too small, not challenging," he said, "Actually, I can make this whole building fly."
"That's not necessary," the politician said. "We believe in you. As long as you can move the Capitol Building back to Washington D.C., we guarantee you can resume your job as a test pilot, and the compensation claims against you will be dropped."
"Alright," Hal flexed his wrist and then said, "I can't wait any longer. When do we start?"
"It's mainly up to you," the politician said. "I demand that when you're moving it, no one inside can be harmed, nor can any machines be affected. It should look exactly the same in Washington D.C. as it did in Metropolis. Can you do that?"
"No problem."
"Do you need to prepare?"
"No need," Hal stood up, "If I move it back now, when can I start my job again?"
"Tomorrow morning," the politician said. "As long as the Capitol Building appears in Washington D.C. tonight, you can go to work tomorrow morning."
"Great," Hal breathed a sigh of relief. "I'll go right now."
A few minutes later, a figure glowing with green light appeared above the Capitol Building. He took a deep breath, and then the green light gradually enveloped the Capitol Building. The entire Capitol Hill once again rose into the air, flying toward Washington.
Hal's speed was fast, and the whole process of moving was very stable. Soon, Capitol Hill landed in its original location. Hal, being a test pilot, had a great sense of direction. He even lined up the cracks in the ground, making Capitol Hill look as if it had never moved.
He circled several times in the sky, satisfied with his work. However, what he didn't know was that inside the Capitol Building, chaos had erupted.
"Who allowed that damned guy to move us back?!" an enraged congressman roared. "The process of voting on the review was about to pass, what right does he have to move us back?!!"
"Damn it, it was definitely those guys across the aisle," someone said with gritted teeth. "They want to dismiss the re-vote because they have more votes! Returning Capitol Hill to its original position is very unfavorable to us before the final ruling!"
"Who is that guy covered in green light?! Find out for me immediately! On whose orders did he carry out such a foolish act?!"
"Just a little, just a little more! I bet next week's ruling would have leaned in our favor, and we could have held the re-vote!"
It was visible to the naked eye that one group of congressmen was gnashing their teeth, frantically making phone calls, while the other party was smug, clearly benefiting from Capitol Hill being moved back.
"A.R.G.U.S. is indeed unreliable," said an old congressman. "That bunch of agents never accomplish anything, and we have to take matters into our own hands. What's this green superhero's name?"
"He said he's called Green Lantern, apparently used to be a failed test pilot."
"How much did he ask for?"
"He didn't ask for money, he just didn't want to bear the compensation for the failed flight and wanted to return to his original position. Should we let him go back?"
"Like hell, he can fly on his own, what's there to test? We should make him work for us. Does he have any family?"
"I checked, seems he has a girlfriend."
"Go find her, have her persuade this superhero. What's so great about mingling with those military hotheads? If he'll work for us, isn't that much better than being a lowly test pilot?"
The next morning, Hal was all set to head to his work base but was stopped by the security at the entrance.
"What are you doing? Let me make it clear again! You have been fired! Hal Jordan, I advise you not to make trouble..."
"How could this be? Hasn't anyone told you, I've been reinstated? Didn't you see yesterday's news? I was the one who moved the Capitol Building back, they promised me!"
"Move along, stop making a fuss here. If you had been reinstated, I would have been notified. Since there's no notification, just get out of here!"
Hal, unwilling to give up, took out his phone to call the person. But before he could dial, another call came in.
"Hal..." his girlfriend's trembling voice came through the phone, "Could you, could you come over? I have something I want to discuss with you..."
"Sorry, but I'm busy right now," Hal glanced toward the base.
"But it's really important, please, can you come over, I'm begging you..."
Hal knew his girlfriend was a strong woman, usually not speaking to him in such a tone. He immediately realized something was wrong, gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and flew in the direction of his girlfriend's home.