「──価値は労働によって決まる」
ここ、ボクが拠点としている『カメリア大公国』の城の一室にて、大公様の娘として扱われてしまったせいで『重要NPC』の称号を得てしまったフィーリアというプレイヤーに向かってそう言葉を放つ。
目の前の少女──中身はネカマしようとして失敗した男の子──は眉間に皺を寄せ、額に青筋を浮かべながらボクに対して怒鳴りつける。
「はぁ? いきなり勝手にマジ〇チサイコパスと総力戦を始めるとか言いやがったその次の言葉がその訳わからん格言かぁ?」
「お嬢様、お言葉が乱れております」
「オホホ、突然に気狂い様と争いを始めるなどと言い出した次のお言葉がそれですか?」
背後の侍従に窘められ、無理やり口調を矯正した為に変な感じになってしまっている彼女に苦笑して、さらに怒られながらも説明を始める。
さっさと説明して準備に取り掛からないといけないからね......如何に早く初動を迅速に行い、目標を達成させられるかで国力に差がつく。
「総力戦と言ってもスグに始まる訳じゃない......今はお互いに国力を増強させる為の準備期間さ」
「ふぅん......で? それが『価値は労働で決まる』ってやつ?」
「そうだね、アダム・スミスの理論だ。日本や米国を含めた世界中の国々の資本主義社会の大部分の仕組みは彼の理論を元に動いている」
今からだいたい四百五十年くらい前にイギリスで生まれたアダム・スミスだが、基本的に『経済学』というと、その始まりはアダム・スミスだと言われる事が多い。
つまりはおおよそ経済学の始祖だと思って貰っても良いのかも知れない。
そんなアダム・スミスの経済学とはどういうモノなのかという話になるが、そもそもまず経済というのは『人間社会における生産活動』の学問だ。
アダム・スミスはまず、この人間社会の生産活動における基本の大原則としてある言葉を放った。
「......それが最初のやつか?」
「そうだね、先ほども言った『価値は労働によって決まる』という言葉がそうだ」
彼女をボクの説明に集中させる為なのか、それとも自分に聞いておくべき事だと思ったのか......おそらく両方の理由から静かに背後に控えるだけになった侍従を軽く確認してから説明を再開する。
「価値が労働で決まるとか、意味不明な事を言ってんな」
「そうだね......例えばだけど、ダイアモンドに価値があるのは何故だと思う?」
「......それに高い金を出す馬鹿な金持ち共が居るからだろ?」
「では何故お金に価値があると思う?」
「......知らねぇよ」
彼女の言う通り、何故お金に価値があるのかと問われると中々に難しい......しかしアダム・スミスに言わせると『価値は労働によって決まる』という。
つまり最低時給が千円として、一万円を払えば人を一人十時間も働かせる事ができる訳だけど、この『労働させる事ができる』という事こそが、真にお金や物の価値を決めている訳であり、この労働こそが世の中のあらゆる価値の根源だと......そう、アダム・スミスは考えた。
なのでもしも仮にここで金貨五千枚の大金を出しながら『一時間働いたらこれをあげるよ』と言ったとしても、誰もこれに応じて労働をしてくれなければこの時のこの金貨五千枚は、先ほど例に出した千円の価値もないという事になる。
「逆にフィーリアの残飯を出して『一週間働いたらこれをあげる』と言って、沢山の人が殺到したとしたらフィーリアの残飯には十六万八千円の価値がある事になる」
「気持ち悪い例えをすんなよな!」
「まぁ、価値がどれくらいあるかと聞かれると値段を想像しがちだけど、しかしお金という物はあくまでも『価値を交換する』のに便利な道具に過ぎず、真に価値を決めているのは労働だという事さ」
この様に人間社会のあらゆるモノの価値を真に決めているのは労働であり、言い換えると労働する事によってのみこの世に価値が生まれるという様にアダム・スミスは考えた。
つまり一つの国において労働によって生み出された価値の大きさこそがその国の富であり、これこそが国の富の究極の源であり、言ってしまえばこれさえ上手くいっていれば国は豊かになり、これがダメなら国は貧しくなる。
アダム・スミスの時代において、スペインとポルトガルは金銀を大量に溜め込んでいたのにも関わらず貧困に陥っており、逆にそれらを持っていなかったアメリカは人々がよく働いていたので物凄い勢いで国が豊かになっていった。
「そしてさらにこの理論をベースにしてアダム・スミスはこう言った──農業こそが国力の根源だと」
「農業ぉ?」
「簡単に説明するならば、畑を耕す事で食料が増え、食料が増えればさらに人が増え、その増えた人々が労働する事によって価値が生まれ、その価値によって国が豊かになるという訳さ」
つまりはこの労働が価値を生むという根源には畑があるという事であり、つまりは農業こそが国の富の根源だという事だ。
乱暴な言い方をしてしまえば、国の富とは畑から湧いてくるという事だね。
そしてさらにアダム・スミスは『余った食料が集まって農業以外の産業が生まれる』と説いた。
つまりは頑張って畑を耕せば、農業をやっている人々の全員の腹を満たす以上に遥かに多い食料が余り、その食料の分だけ人が増えるけれども、既に農業をこなしていく為の人手は足りているのでまた別の産業を生み出すという事だ。
「大多数の人間の腹さえ満たす事が出来れば様々な産業が生まれ、さらなる労働によって国が豊かになっていく......そして様々な産業が生まれる事で分業が進み、さらに労働の力は大きくなる」
「分業?」
剣を一本作るのだって全部一人でやるよりも、鉱山から鉄を取る人、それを運ぶ人、精錬する人、加工する人、組み立てる人......それぞれ専門職がこなした方が遥かに高品質で生産スピードも早くなる。
これによって自分で一から作るよりも遥かに高品質な剣を、それを作るための膨大な時間や手間を省いて手に入れる事ができるという訳だ。
「分業化によって、自分本来の仕事にも集中できる様になるしね」
「ほへ〜」
この分業化によって一人から五人に増えたから五倍という単純計算ではなく、何倍にも何十倍にもその国の富は膨れ上がる。
逆に分業化が全く無くなってしまえば全てを一人でやらなければならず、原始時代の様な生活を余儀なくされるだろう。
「そしてさらにアダム・スミスは『人々に自由を与える事で、労働の力は大きくなる』と言ったが......まぁ一先ずはここまでで、とにかくボクの言いたい事は分かったかな?」
「......農業がんばる」
「そう! この世界に資本主義を持ち込み、九条式農業でマンパワーを掻き集めるという事さ!」
「......」
ボクの祖父が考案し、農林水産大臣である父が実践して成功を収めた今世界で一番効率の良い農法を持ち込む事で食料自給率を引き上げる。
それによって人口の増加と分業化を進め、効率よく近代化を達成させるのが目的だ。
「余裕が出来れば農家の子達を学校に通わせる事が出来るし、国民の識字率なんかが上がればそれだけで国力は増大する......さらには余った食料で外から移民を呼び寄せる事もでき、労働をさせる事ができる」
何なら今は何処も食料なんかが足りていないからね......大陸西部はあの大きな動乱に加えて、かの『バーレンス連合王国』がお得意先の『メッフィー商業立国』を食べちゃったから。
そこでボク達の『カメリア大公国』が大陸西部の食料庫として成り代わる......そして労働力である人口も他所から奪う。
「そしてはいこれ」
「......何これ?」
「機織りの設計図だよ、これで余裕が出来たマンパワーでさらに価値が生まれるね?」
「......お、おう」
アダム・スミスはちゃんとした道具や設備に投資し続ける事で、さらに労働が生み出す価値を増やす事が出来るとも説いている。
作るのが簡単な物からコツコツと、どんどん投資していこう。
「でも何でアダムなんちゃらなんだよ......」
「彼から派生した理論は数あれど、一番分かりやすいし、何よりも全然進んでないこの世界に合ってると思って」
さて、と......父親が財務大臣である一条さんは銀行でも作ってる頃かな?
まぁどちらにせよ、ボクと彼女の改革が達成されるのに時間はとても掛かるだろうし、その間に何もしないっていうのも詰まらないよね?
「おい? 何処に行くんだよ?」
おもむろに席を立ち上がったボクに対して疑問を投げかける彼女に向かって、とても丁寧な笑顔を浮かべて答える。
「──ちょっと相手のインフラ破壊に」
引き攣った笑みで快く送り出してくれる彼女に手を振ってから、改めて考える......とりあえず『バーレンス連合王国』の首都圏と地方を結ぶ幹線道路を破壊しようと。
▼▼▼▼▼▼▼
"...Value is determined by labor."
Here, in a room in the castle of the Grand Duchy of Camellia -where I was based- I shared this quote with the player known as Philia, who was being treated as an "Important NPC" because people thought she was the once-deceased daughter of the Grand Duke returned to life.
This "girl" -that is, the "Guy In Real Life" who is doing a poor job of passing for an actual girl- started yelling at me with her eyebrows all wrinkled up and several blue streaks on her forehead.
"Huh!? Wait... we were just talking about starting an all-out war with an actual psychopath, so what's the deal with whatever it is that you just said? What are you going on about, huh!?"
"Young lady, your words are confusing."
"Ohoho, first you spoke about fighting that madman... and now you suddenly started talking about something else?"
The fact that the chamberlain behind her reprimanded her, forcing her to change her tone, had already made her a little upset. And though the bitter smile on my face made her feel even worse, I would still start my explanation over.
I had to get this explanation done so I could quickly begin with our preparations... We needed to act fast and make it so we can achieve our goals if we wanted to make any relevant difference in national power.
"Even if it's called a "total war", it won't start right away... Now's the time for our countries to prepare and strengthen each other."
"Huh... so? That's why you said that... what was it... 'value is determined by labor'?"
"That's right, that was Adam Smith's theory. Most of the mechanisms of capitalist societies in countries around the world, including Japan and the United States, operate based on his theory."
Adam Smith was born in the United Kingdom about 450 years ago. He was said to be the one to set forth the studies of modern economics.
In other words, one could think of him as the "Father of economics."
There are many speculations regarding what exactly Adam Smith's model of economics was, but the first thing to be noted about his view of economics was the study of production in human society.
Adam Smith had uttered a certain phrase, which was regarded as the basic principle of all productive activities of human society.
"...And that is what you said earlier, right?"
"That's right. He said, 'Value is determined by labor'."
Was it to get her to focus on my explanation, or was it to give them time to ask me any questions about what I had said so far...? Perhaps for both reasons, I gave a quick glance at the chamberlain who was quietly standing behind her before resuming my explanation.
"But to say that 'Value is determined by labor' doesn't make sense, does it?"
"Well... For example, why do you think diamonds are valuable?"
"...Because there are stupid rich people who pay a lot of money for them, right?"
"Then why do you think money has that much value?"
"...I dunno."
As she says, it was difficult to know exactly why money has a certain value... but as Adam Smith puts it, "Value is determined by labor."
For example, with a minimum hourly wage of 1,000 yen, if you offer to pay 10,000 yen per day, you can make your employees work for 10 hours a day. And according to Adam Smith's views, this principle was the source of the value of all the things that exist in the world.
So, even if you were to offer to pay 5,000 gold coins for an hour of work, if no one is willing to do said work, even the 1,000 yen of the previous example would be worth more than these 5,000 gold coins.
"On the other hand, if you were to offer to give, let's say, your food scraps as payment for a week's worth of work, and a lot of people come rushing in to take your offer, then you could say that your food scraps are worth 168,000 yen."
"Eww. Why did you have to make an example out of my food scraps? That's disgusting."
"Well, when asked how much something is worth, people tend to think about its price, but money is nothing more than a convenient tool to 'exchange valuables'. The thing that truly determines value is labor."
Thus Adam Smith believed that the value of all things in human society was determined by labor, or to put it another way, that it was labor alone from which the value of things was born.
In other words, the value created by labor in a country is the ultimate source of wealth of that country. If this value is not enough, the country will become poor.
In Adam Smith's time, both Spain and Portugal were in poverty despite accumulating large amounts of gold and silver. Meanwhile, America had no such riches, so the people instead worked hard, and as a result, the country became rich at a tremendous rate.
"Then, from this theory, Adam Smith said that agriculture is the source of a nation's strength."
"Agriculture?"
"Basically, plowing the fields generates food, and the more food you have, the more people you can feed. Having more people means more labor, and this labor will in turn create value, which in turn will make a country richer."
In other words, the source of the value created by labor is the fields, making agriculture the source of a country's wealth.
To put it bluntly, a country's wealth grows from its fields.
Adam Smith also said that "surplus food can be stockpiled, which in turn can create industries other than agriculture."
This means that any country that works its hardest to cultivate its fields will be able to generate more food than it needs to feed its farmers, which will result in other industries being created to capitalize on this surplus food.
"If the majority of a country's people can be fed, various industries will be born, and the country will become prosperous through more labor... And with the birth of various industries, the division of labor will advance, further increasing the efficiency of labor."
"Division of labor?"
Even when making a single sword, instead of a single person doing it all by themselves, it would be much better to have someone mining iron, someone else transporting the iron, someone else refining it, someone else processing it, and someone else actually making the sword. This division of labor would not only allow for a much faster production speed, but the quality of the final product would be much higher.
The sword made through this process would be much better than anything that a single person would be able to make completely from scratch, and it would be done much faster and through less effort for each person involved in the sword's making.
"By dividing labor, you will be able to concentrate on your own work."
"Ohh~"
Though the division of labor in the previous example increased the number of people involved in making a sword from one to five, that doesn't mean that this would directly multiply the wealth of a country by five, rather, the wealth of a country will increase by several dozens of times.
On the other hand, without any sort of division of labor, people would have to do everything by themselves from scratch, forcing them to live like in the primitive age.
"Adam Smith also said that 'the power of a country's labor will grow by giving its people freedom'. ...Well, I think we've spoken enough of this. Anyway, do you understand what I'm trying to say?"
"...We have to work hard on our agriculture."
"That's right! We'll bring capitalism to this world and gather manpower with Kujo-style agriculture!"
"..."
I will bring in the world's most efficient farming method -which was invented by my grandfather and successfully implemented by my father who is the Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries- in order to increase our self-sufficiency.
The idea is to increase our population and promote the division of labor, thereby achieving efficient modernization.
"This will allow us to send the farmer's children to school, increasing literacy rate, which will in turn increase the power of our nation... Furthermore, surplus food can be used to attract immigrants, who will add to our workforce."
After all, there is currently a shortage of food everywhere... In addition to the great turmoil in the western part of the continent, the United Kingdom of Barence has eaten the Meffy Commercial Nation, which was our regular trade partner.
So our Grand Duchy of Carmelia will become a food storehouse for the western part of the continent... and its workforce, that is, its population, will grow by taking it from other places.
"And one more thing. Here."
"...What's this?"
"It's a blueprint for making a weaver. With this, and your extra manpower, you can create even more value, right?"
"...Ah, yes."
Adam Smith also argued that by continuing to invest in the right tools and equipment, we can further increase the value of our labor.
We should start with things that are easy to make, and continue to increase our investments.
"But what's with all this Adam whatshisname guy... stuff?"
"There are many theories derived from him, but I think it's the easiest to understand, and above all, it really does fit this world, which hasn't progressed at all as much as it should have."
So, what's next... Was it Ichijoji -whose father is the Minister of Finance- the one who's running a bank?
Well, either way, it will take a long time for these reforms to be realized, and it would be boring to do nothing in the meantime, right?
"Hey? Where are you going?"
As she asked me that question while slowly getting up from her seat, I turned to her and answered with a very polite smile.
"...Just going to do a little destruction of our opponent's infrastructure."
After waving at her, who gladly sent me off with a somewhat tightened smile, I went back to my thoughts... I think I'll destroy the main road connecting the United Kingdom of Barence's metropolitan area with its countryside.
VVVVVVV
Genocide Online ~Playtime Diary of an Evil Young Girl~
ジェノサイド・オンライン 〜極悪令嬢のプレイ日記〜
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/genocide-online-playtime-diary-of-an-evil-young-girl/
Action Adventure Fantasy Psychological
Adapted to Manga Aristocracy Assassins Beautiful Female Lead Cold Protagonist Cruel Characters Dark Depictions of Cruelty Evil Organizations Evil Protagonist Famous Protagonist Fearless Protagonist Female Protagonist Gamers Gods Gore Lack of Common Sense Level System MMORPG Modern Day Murders Overpowered Protagonist Psychopaths R-15 Royalty Ruthless Protagonist Sadistic Characters Sword And Magic Virtual Reality Wars
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n7796fc/
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