先日、帰省していた長女と、色々な会話(同性婚の本質的な意義は相続(×SEX)である、等)の話をしていました。
The other day, I was talking with my eldest daughter, who had come home for a visit, about various topics (such as the essential significance of same-sex marriage being inheritance (x sex)).
税金と政府の話になったので、私が、
Since we were talking about taxes and the government, I said
―― 日本国政府とは、"でっかいAmazon"のことだ
"The Japanese government is like a huge Amazon.”
と言ったら、長女は深く感動していました。
My eldest daughter was deeply moved.
いや、普通に考えれば、こうなるんですよ。
No, it would be normal to think like this.
公務員というのは、「でっかいAmazonの従業員」、つまり「公僕」なのです。
A public servant is like an “employee of a huge Amazon” - in other words, a “public servant.”
公僕とは、権力を持つ人々が自分の利益のためではなく、社会全体のために働くべきであるという責任感を表わす言葉です。
The term “public servant” expresses the sense of responsibility that those in positions of power should work for the benefit of society as a whole rather than for their own gain.
そういう意味では、キャリア組から地方公務員まで含めて、全て『国民という消費者に仕える奴隷』です。
In that sense, everyone from career bureaucrats to local government employees are all “slaves who serve the consumers that are the citizens”.
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まあ、Amazonも最近は「お客様第一」と言いつつ、配送料が上がったり、サービスの質が少しずつ低下していることもあります。
Amazon also says that “the customer comes first” these days, but there have been cases where delivery charges have increased and service quality has gradually declined.
これもまた政府に似ているかもしれません。
It may also be similar to the government.
長女:「そうか、じゃあ私たちが消費者なら、税金は“定期購入”みたいなものか」
Eldest daughter: “I see, so if we were consumers, taxes would be like a ‘subscription purchase.’”
私:「そうだ。ただ、政府の場合、“定期購入”をキャンセルできないし、返品も効かない。しかも、時々、欲しくもない商品が届く」
Me: “That's right. However, with the government, you can't cancel a ‘subscription purchase’, and returns don't work either. Moreover, sometimes you get products you don't even want.”
長女:「なるほど、日本国政府は、今一つサービス目的が不明確な"サブスク"である、と」
Eldest daughter: “I see, so the Japanese government is a ‘subscription’ service with unclear objectives.”
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政府の機能は、Amazonやサブスクと対比して語るのが、一番分かりやすいと思うですけど、いかがでしょうか > 文部科学省のキャリア&ノンキャリアの皆様
I think it's easiest to understand the functions of the government by comparing them to Amazon and subscription services, but what do you think? > All career and non-career employees of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology