[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-technology-invades-the-modern-world":3,"chapter-technology-invades-the-modern-world-technology-invades-the-modern-world-chapter-9":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Technology Invades the Modern World",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2269493,4430,"Chapter 9: The Fabian Society","technology-invades-the-modern-world-chapter-9",9,"\u003Cp>On March 17, 1883, Karl Marx died in London, and only nine people attended his funeral.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ten months later, his followers founded the Fabian Society in London, named after the ancient Roman general Quintus Fabius.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was called Fabian because, in ancient Rome, Fabius defeated the powerful opponent Hannibal using guerrilla tactics; the Fabian Society likewise sought to slowly advance social change through gradual, moderate reformism.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Due to its moderate stance, the Fabian Society gained support from many intellectuals, including prominent figures like Shaw; at its peak in 1945, over two hundred members of the society sat in Parliament, which contemporary media dubbed “a giant Fabian school.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for why Lin Ran knew this, it was because while staying at Li Xiaoman’s home, he accidentally discovered a badge hidden in a crack in the study.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(The Fabian Society badge)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiaoman immediately hid the badge with a look of delight but refused to answer Lin Ran’s questions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After searching online for a long time, Lin Ran learned the badge was the Fabian Society’s emblem—a wolf wearing a sheep’s skin—and thus came to understand this once-famous but rapidly declining organization.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even so, more questions arose: how did a badge from an English society end up in the hands of a Chinese family, when Li Xiaoman’s ancestors for three generations were pure-blooded Han Chinese?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Much later, once they were close, Lin Ran seized the chance to ask.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiaoman replied with a look of melancholy:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“During the late Qing Dynasty, there were government-sponsored overseas students, right? The earliest ones mainly went to England and France, but after the Franco-Prussian War, students began to be sent to Germany.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My great-grandfather went to Germany to study during that period. Unlike most who attended the Berlin Military Academy, he went to the University of Frankfurt.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Like countless patriots, he hoped to find a path to save China; at the time, the Fabian Society’s influence had penetrated Germany, leading to the founding of the famous Frankfurt School. My great-grandfather’s revered professor joined the Frankfurt School, so he joined it too.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Ran was stunned upon hearing this—descendant of a distinguished family—“Was it hard for a Chinese person to join the Fabian Society back then?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In that era, in that atmosphere, Lin Ran could barely imagine how difficult it must have been for a Chinese person to join a white intellectual society like the Fabian Society with its deep roots.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The obstacles must have been countless.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiaoman nodded: “Of course. But my great-grandfather’s revered professor was Max Horkheimer.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was the founder of the Frankfurt School. With his strong recommendation, and because people felt there needed to be an Asian representative to convey the Frankfurt School’s ideas, my great-grandfather was finally accepted into the Frankfurt School.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>My great-grandfather worked at the Social Research Center of the University of Frankfurt, which was Europe’s first institution dedicated to studying Karl Marx.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This is the badge he received for joining the Frankfurt School—it’s a testament to our family’s history. I thought I’d never find it again!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This badge differs from the ones worn by current Fabian Society members.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Ran thought: the difficulties hidden in those few sentences were unimaginable—how many hardships must his Chinese predecessors have overcome to earn such an opportunity?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He still remembered Li Xiaoman’s proud expression, so he followed her lead: “What’s different about it?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Li Xiaoman pulled the badge from her box and showed him the back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A turtle?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes. This was the Fabian Society’s earliest emblem—a turtle—with the words beneath:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>WhayIstrike，Istrikehard.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It means: when I bite, I bite hard!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It refers to the Fabian Society’s patience—we have all the time in the world to wait for the right moment, but when it comes, we will never miss it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through this thread, Lin Ran came to understand the Fabian Society; the more he learned, the more he realized how extraordinary the organization was.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Fabian Society alone had done much good: it first proposed establishing a national healthcare system in 1911, introduced a minimum wage in 1906, and abolished hereditary nobility in 1917.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The modern welfare state was entirely born from the Fabian Society.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Frankfurt School, which originated from the Fabian Society, was different.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Frankfurt School was most famous for critical theory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The 1922 international conference in Moscow studied how to export culture to Europe.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The German delegate, Münzenberg, argued that Marxist intellectuals should be organized to systematically undermine capitalism; soon after, the Frankfurt School was born.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Max Horkheimer, mentioned by Li Xiaoman, was the second director of the Frankfurt School’s Social Research Center, and their main achievement was critical theory.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The core of critical theory: find fault with the world to destroy it. Social problems have nothing to do with individuals—they’re systemic. So smash the system.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The theoretical foundations of later movements like LGBT and Black Lives Matter originated here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No matter how well it’s framed, the end goal is always to destroy all tradition and disrupt social order.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After Horkheimer fled to America, he met Columbia University president Butler in New York; Butler admired Horkheimer and invited him to relocate the Frankfurt School to Columbia, even giving him a building.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Through this opportunity, Frankfurt School researchers became Columbia professors. From there, they spread to Princeton, Brandeis, and other institutions across America.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Thanks to Columbia’s influence, the Frankfurt School could radiate its impact to England and America.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In short, in the 1960s, the Frankfurt School wielded immense influence in America, and the president then was Kennedy of the Democratic Party.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lin Ran now possessed not only the original proof of the Frankfurt School’s founding—the Fabian Society badge—but also a sixty-year information advantage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Combined, these allowed him to naturally gain the protection of the Frankfurt School; at least throughout the 1960s, he could walk freely across America without fear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From 1961 to 1969, the Democratic Party firmly held the White House.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As for eight years later, by then Lin Ran would be established and famous, utterly immune to scrutiny over minor issues—he would have prepared perfectly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The only difficulty in between was how to get Li Xiaoman to let him use the badge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was her ancestral heirloom.\u003C\u002Fp>",1027,"2026-06-19T21:37:46.551Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","c376c653bc087dedd1f637d7af15c6c6ffa64851383dd65795f65d98d0f2242a","technology-invades-the-modern-world-chapter-10","technology-invades-the-modern-world-chapter-8",162,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Ftechnology-invades-the-modern-world-cover.jpg"]