“I am afraid that in a very real sense the colonial period never ended,” Hanavada said politely.
Chalmers nodded. “That’s what transnational capitalism means— we’re all colonies now. And there’s tremendous pressure on us here to alter the treaty so that most of the profits from local mining become the property of the transnationals. The developed nations are feeling that very strongly.”
“This we know,” Hanavada said, nodding.
“Okay. And now you’ve made the pitch for proportional emigration, which is just as logical as allotting profits proportional to investment. But neither of these proposals is in your best interest. The emigration would be a drop in the bucket to you, but the money wouldn’t. Meanwhile the developed nations have a new population problem, so a chance at a larger share of emigration would be welcome. And they can spare the money, which would mostly go to transnationals anyway and become free-floating capital, outside any national control. So why shouldn’t the developed nations give you more of it? It wouldn’t really be coming out of their pocket anyway.”
Sung nodded quickly, looking solemn. Perhaps they had foreseen this response, and had made their proposal to stimulate it, and were waiting for him to play his part. But that just made it easier. “Do you think your governments will agree to such a trade?” Sung asked.
“Yes,” Chalmers said. “What is it but governments reasserting their power over the transnationals? Sharing the profits resembles in a way your old nationalization movements, only this time all countries would benefit. Internationalization, if you will.”
“It will cut down on investments by the corporations,” Hanavada noted.
“Which will please the Reds,” Chalmers said. “Please most of the MarsFirst group, in fact.”
“And your government?” Hanavada asked.
“I can guarantee it.” Actually the administration would be a problem. But Frank would deal with them when the time came, they were a bunch of Chamber of Commerce kids these days, arrogant but stupid. Tell them it was this or a Third World Mars, a Chinese Mars, a Hindu-Chinese Mars, with little brown people and cows unmolested in the walktubes. They would come around. In fact they would hide behind his knees yelling for protection, Grandpa Chalmers please save me from the yellow horde.
He watched the Indian and the Chinese look at each other, in a completely scrutable consultation. “Hell,” he said, “this is what you were hoping for, right?”
“Perhaps we should work on some figures,” Hanavada said.
• • •
It took much of the next month to implement the compromise, as it entailed a whole set of corollary compromises to get all the voting delegations to accept it. Every nation’s delegate had to get a cut to show the folks back home. And there was Washington to be convinced as well; in the end Frank had to go over the heads of the kids right to the President, who was only a bit older than them, but could see a deal when it was poking him in the sternum. So Frank was busy, meetings nearly sixteen hours a day in his old pattern, as familiar as the sunrise. In the end, mollifying transnat lobbyists like Andy Jahns was the hardest part— essentially impossible, as the deal was being made at their expense and they knew it. They put all the pressure they could on the northern governments and on their flags of convenience, and that was considerable, as evidenced by the President’s scared irritability, and the defection of Singapore and Sofia from the deal. But Frank convinced the President, even across all that space, even across the deep psychological barrier of the time lag. And he used the same arguments with every other northern government. If you give in to the transnationals, he would say, then they’re the real government of the world. This is the chance to assert the interests of you and your population over those free-floating accumulations of capital which are very near to holding the ultimate power on earth! You need to get them on the leash somehow!
And it was the same at the U.N., for every official there. “Who do you want to be the real world government? You or them?”
Still, it was a close thing. The pressures the transnats could bring to bear were awesome, it was impressive to watch. Subarashii and Armscor and Shellalco were each bigger than all but the ten largest countries or commonwealths, and they really put out the funds. Money equals power; power makes the law; and law makes government. So that the national governments in trying to restrain the transnats were like the Lilliputians trying to tie down Gulliver. They needed a great network of tiny lines, staked into place along every millimeter of the circumference. And as the giant heaved to free itself and start trampling about, they had to rush from side to side, throw new lines over the monster, hammer new little pin stakes into place. Rush around making quarter-hour pin-stake appointments, for sixteen hours a day. Mad Dutch boy juggling.