"Well, now, was I wrong in accusing political economists1 of being dry and cold? What a picture of humanity! Spoliation is a fatal power, almost normal, assuming every form, practiced under every pretext2, against law and according to law, abusing the most sacred things, alternately playing upon the feebleness and the credulity of the masses, and ever growing by what it feeds on. Could a more mournful picture of the world be imagined than this?"
The problem is, not to find whether the picture is mournful, but whether it is true. And for that we have the testimony3 of history.
It is singular that those who decry4 political economy, because it investigates men and the world as it finds them, are more gloomy than political economy itself, at least as regards the past and the present. Look into their books and their journals. What do you find? Bitterness and hatred5 of society. The very word civilization is for them a synonym6 for injustice7, disorder8 and anarchy9. They have even come to curse liberty, so little confidence have they in the development of the human race, the result of its natural organization. Liberty, according to them, is something which will bring humanity nearer and nearer to destruction.
It is true that they are optimists10 as regards the future. For, although humanity, in itself incapable11, for six thousand years has gone astray, a revelation has come, which has pointed12 out to men the way of safety, and, if the flock are docile13 and obedient to the shepherd's call, will lead them to the promised land, where well-being14 may be attained15 without effort, where order, security and prosperity are the easy reward of improvidence16.
To this end humanity, as Rousseau said, has only to allow these reformers to change the physical and moral constitution of man.
Political economy has not taken upon itself the mission of finding out the probable condition of society had it pleased God to make men different from what they are. It may be unfortunate that Providence17, at the beginning, neglected to call to his counsels a few of our modern reformers. And, as the celestial18 mechanism19 would have been entirely20 different had the Creator consulted Alphonso the Wise, society, also, had He not neglected the advice of Fourier, would have been very different from that in which we are compelled to live, and move, and breathe. But, since we are here, our duty is to study and to understand His laws, especially if the amelioration of our condition essentially22 depends upon such knowledge.
We cannot prevent the existence of unsatisfied desires in the hearts of men.
We cannot deny the fact that man has as much repugnance24 for labor as he has satisfaction with its results.
Since man has such characteristics, we cannot prevent the existence of a constant tendency among men to obtain their part of the enjoyments25 of life while throwing upon others, by force or by trickery, the burdens of labor. It is not for us to belie27 universal history, to silence the voice of the past, which attests28 that this has been the condition of things since the beginning of the world. We cannot deny that war, slavery, superstition29, the abuses of government, privileges, frauds of every nature, and monopolies, have been the incontestable and terrible manifestations30 of these two sentiments united in the heart of man: desire for enjoyment26; repugnance to labor.
"In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread!" But every one wants as much bread and as little sweat as possible. This is the conclusion of history.
Thank Heaven, history also teaches that the division of blessings31 and burdens tends to a more exact equality among men. Unless one is prepared to deny the light of the sun, it must be admitted that, in this respect at least, society has made some progress.
If this be true, there exists in society a natural and providential force, a law which causes iniquity32 gradually to cease, and makes justice more and more a reality.
We say that this force exists in society, and that God has placed it there. If it did not exist we should be compelled, with the socialists33, to search for it in those artificial means, in those arrangements which require a fundamental change in the physical and moral constitution of man, or rather we should consider that search idle and vain, for the reason that we could not comprehend the action of a lever without a place of support.
Let us, then, endeavor to indicate that beneficent force which tends progressively to overcome the maleficent force to which we have given the name spoliation, and the existence of which is only too well explained by reason and proved by experience.
Every maleficent act necessarily has two terms—the point of beginning and the point of ending; the man who performs the act and the man upon whom it is performed; or, in the language of the schools, the active and the passive agent. There are, then, two means by which the maleficent act can be prevented: by the voluntary absence of the active, or by the resistance of the passive agent. Whence two systems of morals arise, not antagonistic34 but concurrent35; religious or philosophical36 morality, and the morality to which I permit myself to apply the name economical (utilitarian37).
Religious morality, to abolish and extirpate38 the maleficent act, appeals to its author, to man in his capacity of active agent. It says to him: "Reform yourself; purify yourself; cease to do evil; learn to do well; conquer your passions; sacrifice your interests; do not oppress your neighbor, to succor39 and relieve whom is your duty; be first just, then generous." This morality will always be the most beautiful, the most touching40, that which will exhibit the human race in all its majesty41; which will the best lend itself to the offices of eloquence42, and will most excite the sympathy and admiration43 of mankind.
Utilitarian morality works to the same end, but especially addresses itself to man in his capacity of passive agent. It points out to him the consequences of human actions, and, by this simple exhibition, stimulates44 him to struggle against those which injure, and to honor those which are useful to him. It aims to extend among the oppressed masses enough good sense, enlightenment and just defiance45, to render oppression both difficult and dangerous.
It may also be remarked that utilitarian morality is not without its influence upon the oppressor. An act of spoliation causes good and evil—evil for him who suffers it, good for him in whose favor it is exercised—else the act would not have been performed. But the good by no means compensates46 the evil. The evil always, and necessarily, predominates over the good, because the very fact of oppression occasions a loss of force, creates dangers, provokes reprisals47, and requires costly48 precautions. The simple exhibition of these effects is not then limited to retaliation49 of the oppressed; it places all, whose hearts are not perverted50, on the side of justice, and alarms the security of the oppressors themselves.
But it is easy to understand that this morality which is simply a scientific demonstration51, and would even lose its efficiency if it changed its character; which addresses itself not to the heart but to the intelligence; which seeks not to persuade but to convince; which gives proofs not counsels; whose mission is not to move but to enlighten, and which obtains over vice21 no other victory than to deprive it of its booty—it is easy to understand, I say, how this morality has been accused of being dry and prosaic52. The reproach is true without being just. It is equivalent to saying that political economy is not everything, does not comprehend everything, is not the universal solvent53. But who has ever made such an exorbitant54 pretension55 in its name? The accusation56 would not be well founded unless political economy presented its processes as final, and denied to philosophy and religion the use of their direct and proper means of elevating humanity. Look at the concurrent action of morality, properly so called, and of political economy—the one inveighing57 against spoliation by an exposure of its moral ugliness, the other bringing it into discredit58 in our judgment59, by showing its evil consequences. Concede that the triumph of the religious moralist, when realized, is more beautiful, more consoling and more radical60; at the same time it is not easy to deny that the triumph of economical science is more facile and more certain.
In a few lines, more valuable than many volumes, J.B. Say has already remarked that there are two ways of removing the disorder introduced by hypocrisy61 into an honorable family; to reform Tartuffe, or sharpen the wits of Orgon. Moliere, that great painter of human life, seems constantly to have had in view the second process as the more efficient.
Such is the case on the world's stage. Tell me what C?sar did, and I will tell you what were the Romans of his day.
Tell me what modern diplomacy62 has accomplished63, and I will describe the moral condition of the nations.
We should not pay two milliards of taxes if we did not appoint those who consume them to vote them.
We should not have so much trouble, difficulty and expense with the African question if we were as well convinced that two and two make four in political economy as in arithmetic.
M. Guizot would never have had occasion to say: "France is rich enough to pay for her glory," if France had never conceived a false idea of glory.
The same statesman never would have said: "Liberty is too precious for France to traffic in it," if France had well understood that liberty and a large budget are incompatible64.
Let religious morality then, if it can, touch the heart of the Tartuffes, the C?sars, the conquerors65 of Algeria, the sinecurists, the monopolists, etc. The mission of political economy is to enlighten their dupes. Of these two processes, which is the more efficient aid to social progress? I believe it is the second. I believe that humanity cannot escape the necessity of first learning a defensive66 morality. I have read, observed, and made diligent67 inquiry68, and have been unable to find any abuse, practiced to any considerable extent, that has perished by voluntary renunciation on the part of those who profited by it. On the contrary, I have seen many that have yielded to the manly69 resistance of those who suffered by them.
To describe the consequences of abuses, is the most efficient way of destroying the abuses themselves. And this is true particularly in regard to abuses which, like the protective system, while inflicting70 real evil upon the masses, are to those who seem to profit by them only an illusion and a deception71.
Well, then, does this species of morality realize all the social perfection which the sympathetic nature of the human heart and its noblest faculties72 cause us to hope for? This I by no means pretend. Admit the general diffusion73 of this defensive morality—which, after all, is only a knowledge that the best understood interests are in accord with general utility and justice. A society, although very well regulated, might not be very attractive, where there were no knaves74, only because there were no fools; where vice, always latent, and, so to speak, overcome by famine, would only stand in need of available plunder75 in order to be restored to vigor76; where the prudence77 of the individual would be guarded by the vigilance of the mass, and, finally, where reforms, regulating external acts, would not have penetrated78 to the consciences of men. Such a state of society we sometimes see typified in one of those exact, rigorous and just men who is ever ready to resent the slightest infringement79 of his rights, and shrewd in avoiding impositions. You esteem80 him—possibly you admire him. You may make him your deputy, but you would not necessarily choose him for a friend.
Let, then, the two moral systems, instead of criminating each other, act in concert, and attack vice at its opposite poles. While the economists perform their task in uprooting81 prejudice, stimulating82 just and necessary opposition83, studying and exposing the real nature of actions and things, let the religious moralist, on his part, perform his more attractive, but more difficult, labor; let him attack the very body of iniquity, follow it to its most vital parts, paint the charms of beneficence, self-denial and devotion, open the fountains of virtue84 where we can only choke the sources of vice—this is his duty. It is noble and beautiful. But why does he dispute the utility of that which belongs to us?
In a society which, though not superlatively virtuous85, should nevertheless be regulated by the influences of economical morality (which is the knowledge of the economy of society), would there not be a field for the progress of religious morality?
Habit, it has been said, is a second nature. A country where the individual had become unaccustomed to injustice, simply by the force of an enlightened public opinion, might, indeed, be pitiable; but it seems to me it would be well prepared to receive an education more elevated and more pure. To be disaccustomed to evil is a great step towards becoming good. Men cannot remain stationary86. Turned aside from the paths of vice which would lead only to infamy87, they appreciate better the attractions of virtue. Possibly it may be necessary for society to pass through this prosaic state, where men practice virtue by calculation, to be thence elevated to that more poetic88 region where they will no longer have need of such an exercise.
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1
economists
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| n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 ) | |
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pretext
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| n.借口，托词 | |
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testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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decry
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| v.危难，谴责 | |
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hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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synonym
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| n.同义词，换喻词 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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disorder
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| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
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anarchy
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| n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序 | |
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optimists
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| n.乐观主义者( optimist的名词复数 ) | |
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incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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docile
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| adj.驯服的，易控制的，容易教的 | |
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well-being
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| n.安康，安乐，幸福 | |
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attained
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的过去式和过去分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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improvidence
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| n.目光短浅 | |
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providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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mechanism
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| n.机械装置；机构，结构 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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essentially
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| adv.本质上，实质上，基本上 | |
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labor
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| n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦 | |
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repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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enjoyments
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| 愉快( enjoyment的名词复数 )； 令人愉快的事物； 享有； 享受 | |
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enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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belie
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| v.掩饰，证明为假 | |
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attests
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| v.证明( attest的第三人称单数 )；证实；声称…属实；使宣誓 | |
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superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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manifestations
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| n.表示，显示（manifestation的复数形式） | |
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blessings
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| n.（上帝的）祝福( blessing的名词复数 )；好事；福分；因祸得福 | |
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iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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socialists
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| 社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 ) | |
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antagonistic
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| adj.敌对的 | |
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concurrent
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| adj.同时发生的，一致的 | |
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philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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utilitarian
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| adj.实用的，功利的 | |
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extirpate
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| v.除尽，灭绝 | |
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succor
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| n.援助，帮助；v.给予帮助 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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majesty
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| n.雄伟，壮丽，庄严，威严；最高权威，王权 | |
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eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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stimulates
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| v.刺激( stimulate的第三人称单数 )；激励；使兴奋；起兴奋作用，起刺激作用，起促进作用 | |
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defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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compensates
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| 补偿，报酬( compensate的第三人称单数 )； 给（某人）赔偿（或赔款） | |
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reprisals
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| n.报复（行为）( reprisal的名词复数 ) | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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retaliation
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| n.报复，反击 | |
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perverted
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| adj.不正当的v.滥用( pervert的过去式和过去分词 )；腐蚀；败坏；使堕落 | |
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demonstration
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| n.表明，示范，论证，示威 | |
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prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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solvent
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| n.溶剂；adj.有偿付能力的 | |
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exorbitant
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| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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pretension
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| n.要求；自命，自称；自负 | |
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accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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inveighing
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| v.猛烈抨击，痛骂，谩骂( inveigh的现在分词 ) | |
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discredit
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| vt.使不可置信；n.丧失信义；不信，怀疑 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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hypocrisy
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| n.伪善，虚伪 | |
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diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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incompatible
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| adj.不相容的，不协调的，不相配的 | |
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conquerors
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| 征服者，占领者( conqueror的名词复数 ) | |
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defensive
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| adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的 | |
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diligent
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| adj.勤勉的，勤奋的 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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inflicting
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的现在分词 ) | |
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deception
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| n.欺骗，欺诈；骗局，诡计 | |
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faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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diffusion
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| n.流布；普及；散漫 | |
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knaves
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| n.恶棍，无赖( knave的名词复数 )；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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vigor
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| n.活力，精力，元气 | |
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prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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infringement
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| n.违反；侵权 | |
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esteem
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| n.尊敬，尊重；vt.尊重，敬重；把…看作 | |
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uprooting
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| n.倒根，挖除伐根v.把（某物）连根拔起( uproot的现在分词 )；根除；赶走；把…赶出家园 | |
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stimulating
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| adj.有启发性的，能激发人思考的 | |
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opposition
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| n.反对，敌对 | |
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virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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85
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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86
stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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87
infamy
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| n.声名狼藉，出丑，恶行 | |
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88
poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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