Chapter 306 The Story of Mozi
Mozi also slumped down, facing the accusations brought forth by the prosecutor, he could hardly find any words to refute.
His eyes were empty, seemingly out of focus, as he murmured to himself. Yet every word he said was broadcasted clearly to everyone's ears.
"The moment I stepped into this courtroom, perhaps my defeat was sealed.
"I also understand that since you have prepared this trial, your chain of evidence and its legitimization must be impeccable, and I couldn't possibly argue with you in a field I'm not proficient in.
"You are high above, you are great, you like to use the scepter of morality and law to accuse us, you never care about the thoughts of us, the insignificant ones.
"I am insignificant, you can trample us into the mud, trample at will, and then educate your descendants, 'Look... these are people who are naturally lazy, unwilling to strive, they are the parasites of society!'
"You despise me, look down on me, and even accuse me of being a traitor to our world. These don't matter, I just wanted to climb step by step to the very top, to make you feel the rage of the insignificant, to let you hear the voice of the insignificant.
"I come from a densely populated but resource-poor small country, I have experienced defeat, the country has developed rapidly, but this development is trampling on the bodies at the very bottom.
"I am at the very bottom of my country, living only in the basement of a slum, in a gray area.
"In an age lacking in awe, there is no bottom line to how far a person can fall.
"No matter how hard my father tried, he could not change anything; in the end, he became a drunkard and a gambler, and even I am not sure if I am his son; my mother had to sell her body to make a living.
"Every time my father lost money, he would vent his anger on my mother. I wanted to comfort her, but each time I was beaten fiercely by her, as if she too was venting the injustice of fate. Weak as she was, she could only vent all her resentment and grievances on me.
"Both parents hated me. I almost died of hunger. The mere fact that I survived is quite the miracle for me, and I have only despair for this world.
"Fortunately, I have an older sister, seven years my senior, the only warmth and light in my life; she is the one who kept me alive. I was not supposed to go to school because even the government didn't know I existed.
"It was my sister who got me into school. For her sake, I endured everyone's ridicule and mockery and studied desperately, hoping to change my fate.
"Finally, I was admitted to a decent university, but the exorbitant tuition fees stopped me. That's when my sister took out a large sum of money for my education, claiming it was her savings from many years of working. At the time, I didn't think much of it.
"After graduation, I was looking forward to taking my sister away from that devilish slum, but returning home, I found her barely alive.
"Her world had never seen light, yet she still hoped for a glimmer of light to shine into her world, even just a flicker.
"Before dying, she felt no longing for this murky and desperate world; it was a release for her.
"I also learned the truth, that the money for my schooling was actually exchanged for my sister's body, and she had been so tortured in her last exchange that she was left with only a breath remaining. Perhaps the lives of us lowly people are indeed cheap.
"My world collapsed. I wanted to find those who tormented her and fight them to the death, but I was attacked by a fierce dog at their doorstep. I killed the dog with serious injuries to myself. The dog was an expensive breed, and I was accused of attempted intentional homicide, resulting in a five-year imprisonment.
"However, the truth is, I never even stepped foot into that person's house.
"After being released from prison, I knew that a wretched person like me could not seek revenge anymore. I only hoped to find a job to change my life.
"Yet the harsh reality far exceeded my imagination, as I was unable to find any job opportunities, not even the most insignificant one.
"This was not only because of my past prison experience, not just because I come from a slum, but more importantly, because I killed a dog, posing a major threat to social safety.
"I even thought of returning to the slum, trying to change the living conditions there and save them from despair. But to my surprise, the first to oppose were the residents of the slum themselves, and I was driven out again.
"There may be light in this world, but darkness will surely be left at the very bottom.
"The world is always pushing people towards a dead-end but then persuades you not to die, ultimately leaving you barely alive.
"You say, the law reflects the simple will of the vast majority of people, it is a compulsory norm based on fairness and human rights.
"But what I see is not so. Sometimes the law equates human life with the life of livestock, enforces collective punishment, and even disregards the facts at times.
"Because the essence of the law is to maintain social order, you don't need, nor have you ever heard, the true voices from the lower strata, let alone their will.
"You might argue that my experience is merely anecdotal, and that it is because of these injustices that there is a need to continuously improve the rule of law.
"In fact, you understand that the law often has to adopt a one-size-fits-all approach in many situations.
"The social structure, methods of evidence collection, and the execution process... many factors restrict the ways in which the law can uphold justice.
"Just like in ancient times, due to difficulties in obtaining evidence and execution, as well as the potential for unlawful acts arising from these, the law did not stipulate self-defense but brutally adopted the principle of 'a life for a life.'
"Even until the Golden Age, self-defense was very difficult to determine, not for other reasons, but because it was impossible to be sure of the exact truth, allowing some malicious criminals to escape justice. It's not that the law is unaware of its imperfections, but it has to work that way.
"Ask yourselves, isn't the law itself a paradox? The essence of maintaining social order is the balance between the power of the privileged class and the most basic human rights of the people. It is inherently unfair, yet seeks fairness.
"You would argue that the law tends to protect the interests of the lower classes to prevent excessive oppression by the privileged class. But is that really the case?
"Due to social progress and the liberation of individual thought, the power of individuals is growing stronger, and the harm they can cause is greater. Isn't the law largely a pacification for everyone?
"By this reasoning, perhaps an absurd conclusion can be reached: The fairer law is to have no law at all!
"This is indeed sophistry, a pseudotolerance of nihilism, losing the standard of right and wrong.
"But it can allow us to look at the law from a different angle.
"The existence of the law is precisely because of human imperfection.
"In this world, even the fairest laws have disappointed me; I don't know what else to believe in?
"My life plunged into darkness, until I met Evans and the Trisolaran Civilization.
"I understand that the Trisolaran Civilization will inevitably bring invasion, but they have given me respect that I had never experienced before, and I even long for their way of life.
"You say they are authoritarian and centralized, but I see absolute fairness. The rules are the same for everyone, with no privileges, no favoritism.
"You say they suppress human nature, but I see control of desires. It is their ultimate pursuit of reason and order.
"You say their thinking is transparent, but I see sincerity. They don't hide, they don't pretend; they face the world with a genuine attitude.
"I am not without a sense of responsibility for my own civilization, but I have also deeply fallen in love with that kind of world.
"I've grown weary of the human world; everything in it is so hypocritical—laws, morals, and people even more so...
"You would also consider Evans's species communism to be a form of nihilism.
"But that is only challenging human-centric ideology, how is it different from other forms of nihilism?
"I just want to say, why can't we look at problems from a different perspective?
"For the Trisolarans, the law is the true nihilism."
PS: The description of Mozi here easily leads to an inference of Mozi's nationality, which the original text also hints at.
For instance, the basement style, the CAMEL cigarettes Mozi smokes, and the Dragon Eye Goldfish he keeps are all products of Country RB.