2030_ The Real Story of What Happens to America - Albert Brooks [107]
The White House was thrilled. They hadn’t known what the reaction would be since nothing like this had ever been done before, but this was beyond their expectations. The President, after all, was soon to start the third year of his first term. He was going to run again, and this looked like it would help him win. Obviously, it had to play out without unforeseen disasters, but this was a good start, and it was the best Bernstein had felt since taking office. If he couldn’t get his world currency off the ground, if he couldn’t get people to seriously question life extension, this seemed like the next best thing.
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On the other side of the world, the reaction was even better. The Chinese were delirious. Even though they owned much of the United States anyway, this was something they could understand and feel proud of. “We are now part of Los Angeles,” said The People’s Daily. “We will bring our best to the United States and show the world that we are the most advanced and technically savvy nation on earth. When this is completed, we expect other cities of the world to line up. The Age of China has officially begun.” The editorial was dramatic, but the Chinese people loved it. Pride was everywhere. And no one was happier than Shen Li.
From that first meeting with Zhou Quinglin, when it was alluded to that something big was going to happen, Shen had sensed that he would be heavily involved. And he was right. His company was chosen to handle all issues of health in the new city. He was overjoyed. All at once he was on the inside in the biggest way imaginable. He would show America how health care could work, and he felt the sky was the limit.
What he needed to do immediately was train people. He needed nurses and doctors and support staff who could run the new centers. He figured, given the population and the size of the area, that he would need at least forty health centers set up and running within twelve months.
When Shen Li arrived in Los Angeles for the first time, about two weeks after the deal was announced, he, like everyone who saw the city in person, was speechless. The images could not compare with the actual devastation. And images didn’t convey the spirit of the people, which had been torn to shreds. But this was something Li had seen many times in China and knew how to fix.
He had always known that most health care in the world did not address the spirit, which he felt was the most important issue. If you had the right medicine and the use of robotic surgery, you could repair most physical issues, but to get inside people’s minds and make them feel hopeful and realize that they should be happy to be alive instead of just existing—well, this is what Li felt he did better than anyone. And if there was ever a place that needed mental healing, it was Los Angeles. He almost felt guilty for being so excited about what could be accomplished. He would never wish tragedy on a scale like this just to show off his ability, but since it had been thrown into his lap, he was ecstatic.
The Army Corps of Engineers took him from triage center to triage center and he lied to them, telling them they had done wonderful work, while secretly amazed at how backward they were considering this was the United States. He knew that with very little effort he would surpass what they had done in a matter of weeks. And when he was through, the people of the United States would never accept anything less than what he was about to offer them.
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Brad Miller watched the President’s speech with his son and tried in vain the next day to get in