Chapter 956 — The Unseen Dragon Society
Blade of Dawn · Page 3 of 4
"How could it not?" Metzen sighed. "We never managed to build an equal and infinitely prosperous society, so there must be an upper and a lower. Only, poverty is relative, and must be seen against society as a whole—see the areas where the city lights are densest? That's where they live, in a kind of 'incomprehensible poverty' by human reckoning. The Senate allocates housing to those citizens free of charge and even provides all the necessities of life; Omega opens nearly all entertainment privileges to them; their monthly enhancers are rationed gratis, and even some hallucinogens that may not be sold in the upper districts.
"They have everything; Tarrande society will provide for them entirely. And the condition, or the price, of all this is that lower citizens may only accept this provision—they have no other choice. They perform limited and essentially meaningless work, they may not meddle in the affairs of upper Tarrande, and many other... restrictions that human society would find hard to understand."
Gaoyang frowned, and just then Amber's voice came from beside him: "That sounds... no work, a house to live in, food and clothing assured, plenty of entertainment—I have to say, it doesn't sound bad?"
Metzen turned and looked at the half-elf lady, whose face showed a tangle of doubt and reflection, and a faint smile suddenly crossed her own: "So this is the 'poverty' that the humans of Loren cannot understand."
"I can understand it," Gaoyang said suddenly. "Developed to your level, mere survival has long ceased to be difficult. Tarrande society can easily provide for a vast 'unproductive population,' and the cost of doing so is a small fraction of your total social expenditure. To put those members into jobs instead, and give them the same work and advancement opportunities as other citizens, would incur enormous costs—because those 'low-capacity' members would disrupt your present highly efficient structure of production.
"So rather than bear that waste, better to simply provide for them—it isn't expensive for you, after all."
Amber stared wide-eyed, listening to Gao Yang's reading of the matter as though she could not, for a moment, comprehend the picture he described; Virodai gave Gao Cen a thoughtful glance, as if she too had pondered such things; Metzen looked astonished and taken aback, and after surveying Gaoyang up and down several times she finally frowned with an expression of disbelief: "You... worked all that out so quickly?"
"Just an occasional flash of insight," Gao Rong said with a smile. "As you know, social deduction is a specialty of mine."
"...This goes beyond the scope of social deduction," Metzen said in a strange tone. "Unless a society has developed to a certain degree, this should seem counterintuitive to humans."
"I've hardly done a few things that fit common sense since I was resurrected," Gao Lan said, and did not let the topic continue. "Be that as it may... it seems I've learned another hidden detail of Tarrande."
Metzen fell silent for a time, and only after several seconds did she exhale. "How is your rest? Any interest in going out for a stroll with me now?"
"Are we to begin our 'tour' from here?" Gaoyang raised an eyebrow. "Or is this just a walk with you?"
"A walk and a tour are much the same—there is far too much here for you to see," Metzen said. "By the time in Xuanyao City it should just be dusk. A good hour, in fact, to go out wandering."
"I see no problem with it," Gaoshauke said, and looked toward Amber and Virodai.
"I have no objection either!" Amber sprang up at once. "My sleepiness has passed!"
Virodai also nodded demurely, indicating that she had no objection.
Meitzen smiled. "Very good. Then I shall send word to Noreta at once, and we will go and see Tarrande after dusk together."
Gaoyan nodded, then asked with some curiosity: "Where do you plan to take us?"