I Became The Leader Of A Revolution In A Romance Fantasy

< Chapter 26: Parabellum – 3 >

People often mistake the New Deal policy in history as the ‘American Commie Policy,’ but I hope they don’t underestimate the country of robber barons, the United States.

“That commie bastard FDR is turning great Americans into whores! He’s stuffing dollars between the legs of those unemployed who just lie around scratching their bellies!”

…Such criticisms were merely the remarks of those who had a fit whenever they witnessed market intervention.

When it came to the unemployment measures of the New Deal, FDR ultimately failed to control the unemployment rate.

The famous public works of the New Deal were essentially the government taking on the burden of job creation that should have been handled by the private sector.

Workers who earned income through massive public spending began to consume again, and the benefits were reaped by businesses that were about to go bankrupt.

(Of course, looking at it in hindsight, the survival of hundreds or thousands of companies that were on the verge of collapse during the Great Depression turned out to be a godsend for America’s future, so it can’t be criticized entirely.)

But that was possible because the United States government, a great giant with endless power in reserve, did the tanking.

If a shabby republic tried to do the same, it would collapse midway.

So, it must be pruned.

###

I met with the royalists.

Lately, I’ve been feeling like I’m seeing these guys way too often, but it seems like I’m the only one starting to feel happy about it.

“Eugene Hastings. You’ve been busy turning the country into a commie den lately.”

“Haha, already a commie den? I haven’t even started yet.”

“!”

I didn’t agree that my version of the New Deal was red, but I didn’t bother to deny it either.

It’s a concept that might be too difficult for the ignorant residents of this rofan world.

While enlightening the locals is one of the holy duties of an otherworld hero, it should be done in moderation.

Passing by their faces twisted in shock and anger, I…

“?”

In a needlessly dark room, only one spot was illuminated by natural light.

Thanks to the lighting that eerily matched her lemon-colored blonde hair, her appearance looked like a scene from a painting.

“……”

I glanced at the floor.

There were countless traces of chairs and desks having been moved.

At a glance, it seemed like sweat had formed on the foreheads of the royalist congressmen.

Visenya, as if she had only just noticed me, opened her mouth with an “Ah?” and smiled gracefully.

“Oh my, Congressman Hastings. You’ve arrived.”

“……”

Instead of responding to Visenya Andrastra, I grabbed the congressman standing next to me.

“How long did the setup take?”

“Uh, uwaaah?!”

Ignoring Visenya’s frantic arm-waving, I calmly stared into the eyes of the congressman.

Desperately trying to avoid my gaze, he couldn’t escape the intense look of a rofan male lead. In game terms, my charisma score was maxed out.

He tried closing his eyes, turning his head, doing everything possible, but the sweat kept pouring down his face.

“Krrr, I’m sorry, Princess! F-five hours! Aaaagh!”

He screamed like a tortured independence activist and fled.

“……”

I quietly looked at Visenya.

“Uh, umm…”

It was winter.

#

An unspoken agreement emerged in this room.

‘Nothing happened just now.’

That was the general rule.

We quietly found our seats and sat down, avoiding the now inexplicably red-faced Visenya.

“Shall we begin?”

“…Let’s do that.”

“Ahem.”

Thus, the meeting began calmly.

#

Today’s topic was, of course, the New Deal.

“We shouldn’t apply the minimum wage uniformly. What if we differentiate by industry? For instance, for long-serving servants and maids who have been like family…”

“Doing so would undermine the meaning of the minimum wage. The minimum wage system is essential to guarantee all workers a minimum income to support themselves, which, in turn, stimulates domestic demand. There can be no exceptions.”

You just don’t want to lose your servants, do you?

It’s been a year since the revolution ended, yet you’re still clinging to your servants.

Rejected.

“The New Village Movement’s creation of those ‘collective farms’ or whatever they’re called is infringing on the rightful owners’ rights. Enough is enough!”

“Are you perhaps referring to the remnants of feudalism, where certain classes monopolized land ownership, as the rightful owners’ rights?”

I tilted my head.

“Originally, exceptions were made for land cultivated by the owner themselves. The problem lies in circumventing this rule to retain large amounts of land and continuing tenant farming. I have no desire to protect rights obtained illegally or through loopholes.”

“Aaargh!”

Within a minute of the meeting starting, chaos erupted.

The congressman, who fancied himself as the Hulk, slammed the desk with a roar.

“Why did we even bother having this meeting if you’re going to reject everything? Just keep doing what you’ve been doing! Betray the country, betray your friends, and even betray Her Highness the Princess! Just like you’ve always done!”

Visenya, who had remained silent, finally spoke.

“Congressman Weiseland.”

The congressman who was singled out trembled.

“Y-Your Highness. I misspoke…”

“It wasn’t a slip of the tongue.”

But Visenya Andrastra, smiling brightly, continued with words no one at the scene expected.

“It’s a clear fact that Congressman Hastings turned his back on the class to which he belonged. They often call it ‘salon revolutionary,’ don’t they?”

Salon revolutionary.

‘Something like a Gangnam leftist?’

It’s a term used to refer to wealthy offspring who gather in salons and talk about revolution with their mouths.

Now it has evolved into a term for anyone from the wealthy and privileged class who aligns themselves with the revolution.

More specifically, it could be said to refer to those ‘wealthy and privileged people who jumped on the revolution bandwagon to profit immensely.’

Visenya, who suddenly opened fire at me, was being looked at by her aides with a mixture of astonishment and excitement.

Visenya began to steer the meeting with her topic.

“I didn’t agree to this meeting to engage in such wasteful conversations. Congressman Hastings, the reason I wanted to meet you today is because, as the person responsible for growth policies, I have demands to make.”

I hid my smile.

‘She’s doing well.’

The day we talked about patriotic bonds.

We shared the understanding that a massive intervention was needed in this country.

But paradoxically, for that ‘intervention’ to proceed smoothly, we shouldn’t appear too much in cahoots.

I recalled the agreement we had made between us.

###

“Even in an unprecedented major crisis like this, the market will eventually find its balance.”

I said to Visenya, who was still reeling from the shock of the ‘400,000 fold.’

She agreed.

“At the cost of immense damage to people’s lives.”

“That’s right. Specifically, the government, workers, and companies will all suffer significant blows. The first step is to secure finances with bonds and then for the government to alleviate those blows more efficiently…”

The job policies included in the New Deal policy of Earth’s history aimed to respond to unemployment through government expenditure.

In other words, they sought to massively supply high-quality public jobs to reduce the unemployment rate.

However, this response ultimately failed to reduce unemployment.

Public jobs only replaced private jobs.

Workers who began to earn money started to open their wallets in the domestic market, and companies that were on the brink of collapse due to not selling anything were revived massively.

In other words, since the unemployment rate did not drop (it even rose slightly), the suffering of workers did not diminish.

The government had to bear enormous expenditure, and compared to leaving everything to the market’s function, it bore even greater pain.

Then what about the companies?

If everything is left to the market in a state of oversupply, what happens is that the suppliers decrease.

Simply put, oversupply is resolved only after a lot of companies go bankrupt.

However, the New Deal’s job measures addressed oversupply by injecting a massive amount of government spending into private demand, effectively resolving the oversupply issue.

In other words, only the companies suffered less.

According to market principles, the government, workers, and companies should all suffer, but the government significantly shared the companies’ pain.

Of course, the New Deal also attempted various social and institutional changes beyond job measures, so it’s impossible to say, ‘Thus, the New Deal was a business-friendly policy.’

But if you look solely at the effects of the job measures, companies benefited.

‘The problem is that the Republic cannot bear that.’

No matter how much they plan to finance it with those horrendous hybrid patriot bonds,

if they take on the pain that companies are supposed to endure, this fragile government will collapse.

“……Before that, we need to weed out some companies.”

“Are you telling me that because-”

I nodded.

“I will hand over the power to you, Congressman. Since you are the control tower overseeing growth policies.”

“That’s a significant authority. As I suspect, half of these paper companies probably belong to you, Congressman…”

It’s a bit scary to see her understand everything with such a bright smile.

But then, Visenya suddenly smiled brightly and,

“Ah-ha.”

She tilted her head slightly.

“So you intended to devour them all, not just weed them out.”

“Hahaha…”

If this country is a fragile government that would collapse trying to save random companies, wouldn’t it be better to save selectively the superior companies?

And the rest should bear the pain as expected.

‘And if we’re going to save them, wouldn’t it be more efficient for someone with a broader vision to take over?’

I’m not saying this out of personal greed, really.

For a completely ruined country to grow explosively in a short time, this is truly the most efficient way.

Really!