Pondering the subject of this chapter, I went for a stroll in the country, and seating myself in a lonely place, became lost in thought; when suddenly my eye was caught by something moving. On the bare, hot, gray sand lay a creature that I could see when it moved and could not see when it was still, for it was exactly the color of the ground, and fitted the ground tightly, being flat, and having its edges scalloped so that they mingled1 with the dust. It was a lizard2, covered with heavy scales, and with sharp horns to make it unattractive eating. At the slightest motion from me it vanished into a heap of stones, so quickly that my eye could scarcely follow it.
This creature, you perceive, is in its actions and its very form an expression of terror; terror of devouring3 enemies, of jackals that pounce5 and hawks7 that swoop8, and also of the hot desert air that seeks to dry out its few precious drops of moisture. Practically all the energies of this creature are concentrated upon the securing of its own individual survival. To be sure, it will mate, but the process will be quick, and the eggs will be left for the sun to hatch out, and the baby lizards9 will shift for themselves—that is to say, they will be incarnations of terror from the moment they open their eyes to the light.
The jackal seeks to pounce upon the lizard, and so inspires terror in the lizard; but when you watch the jackal you find that it exhibits terror toward more powerful foes10. You find that the hawk6, which swoops11 upon the lizard, is equally quick to swoop away when it comes upon a man with a gun. This preying12 and being preyed13 upon, this mixture of cruelty and terror, is a conspicuous14 fact of nature; if you go into any orthodox school or college in America today, you will be taught that it is nature's most fundamental law, and governs all living things. If you should take a course in political economy under a respectable professor, you would find him explaining that such cruelty-terror applies equally in human affairs; it is the basis of all economic science, and the effort to escape from it is like the effort to lift yourself by your boot-straps.
The professor calls this cruelty-terror by the name "competition"; and he creates for his own purposes an abstract being whom he names "the economic man," a creature who acts according to this law, and exists under these conditions. One of the professor's formulas is the so-called "Malthusian law," that population presses always upon the limits of subsistence. Another is "the law of diminishing returns of agriculture," that you can get only so much product out of a certain piece of land, no matter how much labor15 and capital you put into it. Another is Ricardo's "iron law of wages," that wages cannot rise above the cost of living. Another is embodied16 in the formula of Adam Smith, that "Competition is the life of trade." The professor enunciates17 these "laws," coldly and impersonally18, as becomes the scientist; but if you go into the world of business, you find them set forth19 cynically20, in scores of maxims21 and witticisms22: "Dog eat dog," "the devil take the hindmost," "business is business," "do others or they will do you."
Evidently, however, there is something in man which rebels against these "natural" laws. In our present society man has set aside six days in the week in which to live under them, and one day in the week in which to preach an entirely23 different and contradictory24 code—that of Christian25 ethics26, which bids you "love your neighbor," and "do unto others as you would they should do unto you." Between these Sunday teachings and the week-day teachings there is eternal conflict, and one who takes pleasure in ridiculing27 his fellow men can find endless opportunity here. The Sunday preachers are forbidden to interfere28 with the affairs of the other six days; that is called "dragging politics into the pulpit." On the other hand, incredible as it may seem, there are professors of the week-day doctrine29 who call themselves Christians30, and believe in the Sunday doctrine, too. They manage this by putting the Sunday doctrine off into a future world; that is, we are to pounce upon one another and devour4 one another under the "iron laws" of economics so long as we live on earth, but in the next world we shall play on golden harps31 and have nothing to do but love one another. If anybody is so foolish as to apply the Sermon on the Mount to present-day affairs, we regard him as a harmless crank; if he persists, and sets out to teach others, we call him a Communist or a Pacifist, and put him in jail for ten or twenty years.
In the Book of the Mind, I have referred to Kropotkin's "Mutual32 Aid as a Factor in Evolution," which I regard as one of the epoch-making books of our time. Kropotkin clearly proves that competition is not the only law of nature, it is everywhere modified by co-operation, and in the great majority of cases co-operation plays a larger part in the relations of living creatures than competition. There is no creature in existence which is entirely selfish; in the nature of the case such a creature could not exist—save in the imaginations of teachers of special privilege. If a species is to survive, some portion of the energies of the individual must go into reproduction; and steadily33, as life advances, we find the amount of this sacrifice increasing. The higher the type of the creature, the longer is the period of infancy34, and the greater the sacrifice of the parent for the young. Likewise, most creatures make the discovery that by staying together in herds35 or groups, and learning to co-operate instead of competing among themselves, they increase their chances of survival. You find birds that live in flocks, and other birds, like hawks and owls36 and eagles, that are solitary37; and you find the co-operating birds a thousand times as numerous—that is to say, a thousand times as successful in the struggle for survival. You find that all man's brain power has been a social product; the supremacy38 he has won over nature has depended upon one thing and one alone—the fact that he has managed to become different from the "economic man," that product of the imagination of the defenders39 of privilege.
It is evident that both competition and co-operation are necessary to every individual, and the health of the individual and of the race lies in the proper combination of the two. If a creature were wholly unselfish—if it made no effort to look after its own individual welfare—it would be exterminated40 before it had a chance to reproduce. If, on the other hand, it cannot learn to co-operate, its progeny41 stand less chance of survival against creatures which have learned this important lesson. We have a nation of a 110,000,000 people, who have learned to co-operate to a certain limited extent. Some of us realize how vastly the happiness of these millions might be increased by a further extension of co-operation; but we find ourselves opposed by the professors of privilege—and we wish that these gentlemen would go out and join the lizards of the desert sands or the sharks of the sea, creatures which really practice the system of "laissez faire" which the professors teach.
The plain truth is that we cannot make a formula out of either competition or co-operation. We cannot settle any problem of economics, of business or legislation, by proclaiming, for example, that "Competition is the life of trade." Competition may just as well turn out to be the death of trade; it depends entirely upon the kind of competition, and the stage of trade development to which it is applied42. In the early eighteenth century, when that formula of Adam Smith was written, competition was observed to keep down prices and provide stimulus43 to enterprise, and so to further abundant production. But the time came when the machinery44 for producing goods was in excess, not merely of the needs of the country, but of the available foreign markets, and then suddenly the large-scale manufacturers made the discovery that competition was the death of trade to them. They proceeded, as a matter of practical common sense, and without consulting their college professors, to abolish competition by forming trusts. We passed laws forbidding them to do this, but they simply refused to obey the laws. In the United States they have made good their refusal for thirty-five years, and in the end have secured the blessing45 of the Supreme46 Court upon their course.
So now we have co-operation in large-scale production and marketing47. It is known by various names, "pools," "syndicates," "price-fixing," "gentlemen's agreements." It is a blessing for those who co-operate, but it proves to be the death of those who labor, and also of those who consume, and we see these also compelled to combine, forming labor unions and consumers' societies. Each side to the quarrel insists that the other side is committing a crime in refusing to compete, and our whole social life is rent with dissensions over this issue. Manifestly, we need to clear our minds of dead doctrines48; to think out clearly just what we mean by competition, and what by co-operation, and what is the proper balance between the two.
I have been at pains in this book to provide a basis for the deciding of such questions. It is a practical problem, the fostering of human life and the furthering of its development. We cannot lay down any fixed49 rule; we have to study the facts of each case separately. We shall say, this kind of competition is right, because it helps to protect human life and to develop its powers. We shall say, this other kind of competition is wrong because it has the opposite effect. We shall say, perhaps, that some kind was right fifty years ago, or even ten years ago, because it then had certain effects; but meantime some factor has changed, and it is now having a different effect, and therefore ought to be abolished.
There has never been any kind of human competition which men did not judge and modify in that way; there is no field of human activity in which ethical50 codes do not condemn51 certain practices as unfair. The average Englishman considers it proper that two men who get into a dispute shall pull off their coats, and settle the question at issue by pummeling each other's noses. But let one of these men strike his opponent in the groin, or let him kick his shins, and instantly there will be a howl of execration52. Likewise, an Anglo-Saxon man who fights with the fists has a loathing53 for a Sicilian or Greek or other Mediterranean54 man who will pull a knife. That kind of competition is barred among our breeds; and also the kind which consists of using poisons, or of starting slanders55 against your opponent.
If you look back through history, you find many forms of competition which were once eminently56 respectable, but now have been outlawed57. There was a time, for example, when the distinction we draw between piracy58 and sea-war was wholly unknown. The ships of the Vikings would go out and raid the ships and seaports59 of other peoples, and carry off booty and captives, and the men who did that were sung as heroes of the nation. The British sea-captains of the time of Queen Elizabeth—Drake, Frobisher, and the rest of them—are portrayed60 in our school books as valiant61 and hardy62 men, and the British colonies were built on the basis of their activities; yet, according to the sea laws in force today, they were pirates. We regard a cannibal race with abhorrence63; yet there was a time when all the vigorous races of men were cannibals, and the habit of eating your enemies in battle may well have given an advantage to the races which practiced it.
On the other hand, you find sentimental64 people who reject all competition on principle, and would like to abolish every trace of it from society, and especially from education. But stop and consider for a moment what that would mean. Would you abolish, for example, the competition of love, the right of a man to win the girl he wants? You could not do it, of course; but if you could, you would abolish one of the principal methods by which our race has been improved. Of course, what you really want is, not to abolish competition in love, but to raise it to a higher form. There is an old saying, "All's fair in love and war," but no one ever meant that. You would not admit that a man might compete in love by threatening to kill the girl if she preferred a rival. You would not admit that he might compete by poisoning the other man. You would not admit that he might compete by telling falsehoods about the other man. On the other hand, if you are sensible, you admit that he has a right to compete by making his character known to the girl, and if the other man is a rascal65, by telling the girl that.
Would you abolish the competition of art, the effort of men to produce work more beautiful and inspiring than has ever been known before? Would you abolish the effort of scientists to overthrow66 theories which have hitherto been accepted? Obviously not. You make these forms of competition seem better by calling them "emulation," but you do not in the least modify the fact that they involve the right of one person to outdo other persons, to supplant67 them and take away something from them, whether it be property or position or love or fame or power. In that sense, competition is indeed the law of life, and you might as well reconcile yourself to it, and learn to play your part with spirit and good humor.
Also, you might as well train your children to it. You will find you cannot develop their powers to the fullest without competition; in fact, you will be forced to go back and utilize68 forms of competition which are now out of date among adults. I have told in the Book of the Body how I myself tried for ten years or more to live without physical competition, and discovered that I could not; I have had to take up some form of sport, and hundreds of thousands of other men have had the same experience. What is sport? It is a deliberate going back, under carefully devised rules, to the savage69 struggles of our ancestors. The very essence of real sport is that the contestants70 shall, within the rules laid down, compete with each other to the limit of their powers. With what contempt would a player of tennis or baseball or whist regard the proposition that his opponent should be merciful to him, and let him win now and then! Obviously, these things have no place in the game, and to be a "good sport" is to conform to the rules, and take with enjoyment71 whatever issue of the struggle may come.
But then again, suppose you are competing with a child; obviously, the conditions are different. You no longer play the best you can, you let the child win a part of the time; but you do not let the child know this, or it would spoil the fun for the child. You pretend to try as hard as you know how, and you cry out in grief when you are beaten, and the child crows with delight. And yet, that does not keep you from loving the child, or the child from loving you.
The purpose of this elaborate exposition is to make clear the very vital point that a certain set of social acts may be right under some conditions, and desperately72 wrong under other conditions. They may be right in play, and not in serious things; they may be right in youth, and not in maturity73; they may be right at one period of the world's development, while at another period they are destructive of social existence. If, therefore, we wish to know what are right and wrong actions in the affairs of men, if we wish to judge any particular law or political platform or program of business readjustment, the first thing we have to do is to acquire a mass of facts concerning the society to which the law or platform or program, is to be applied. We need to ask ourselves, exactly what will be the effect of that change, applied in that particular way at that particular time. In order to decide accurately74, we need to know the previous stages through which that society has passed, the forces which have been operating in it, and the ways in which they have worked.
But also we must realize that the lessons of history cannot ever be accepted blindly. The "principles of the founders75" apply to us only in modified form; for the world in which we live today is different from any world which has ever been before, and the world tomorrow will be different yet. We are the makers76 of it, and the masters of it, and what it will be depends to some extent upon our choice. In fact, that is the most important lesson of all for us to learn; the final purpose of all our thought about the world is to enable us to make it a happier and a better world for ourselves and our posterity77 to live in.
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1
mingled
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| 混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系] | |
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lizard
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| n.蜥蜴，壁虎 | |
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devouring
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| 吞没( devour的现在分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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devour
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| v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷 | |
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pounce
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| n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意 | |
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hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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hawks
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| 鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物 | |
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swoop
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| n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击 | |
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lizards
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| n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 ) | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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swoops
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| 猛扑，突然下降( swoop的名词复数 ) | |
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preying
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| v.掠食( prey的现在分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生 | |
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preyed
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| v.掠食( prey的过去式和过去分词 )；掠食；折磨；（人）靠欺诈为生 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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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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embodied
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| v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含 | |
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enunciates
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| n.（清晰地）发音( enunciate的名词复数 )；确切地说明v.（清晰地）发音( enunciate的第三人称单数 )；确切地说明 | |
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impersonally
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| ad.非人称地 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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cynically
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| adv.爱嘲笑地，冷笑地 | |
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maxims
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| n.格言，座右铭( maxim的名词复数 ) | |
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witticisms
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| n.妙语，俏皮话( witticism的名词复数 ) | |
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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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contradictory
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| adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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ethics
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| n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准 | |
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ridiculing
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| v.嘲笑，嘲弄，奚落( ridicule的现在分词 ) | |
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interfere
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| v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰 | |
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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harps
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| abbr.harpsichord 拨弦古钢琴n.竖琴( harp的名词复数 ) | |
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mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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infancy
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| n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期 | |
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herds
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| 兽群( herd的名词复数 )； 牧群； 人群； 群众 | |
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owls
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| n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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supremacy
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| n.至上；至高权力 | |
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defenders
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| n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者 | |
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exterminated
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| v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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progeny
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| n.后代，子孙；结果 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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46
supreme
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| adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的 | |
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marketing
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| n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西 | |
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48
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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49
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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50
ethical
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| adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的 | |
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51
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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52
execration
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| n.诅咒，念咒，憎恶 | |
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53
loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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54
Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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slanders
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| 诽谤，诋毁( slander的名词复数 ) | |
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eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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outlawed
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| 宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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58
piracy
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| n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害 | |
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seaports
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| n.海港( seaport的名词复数 ) | |
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portrayed
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| v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画 | |
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valiant
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| adj.勇敢的，英勇的；n.勇士，勇敢的人 | |
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hardy
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| adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的 | |
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63
abhorrence
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| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
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sentimental
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| adj.多愁善感的，感伤的 | |
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rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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66
overthrow
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| v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆 | |
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supplant
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| vt.排挤；取代 | |
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utilize
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| vt.使用，利用 | |
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savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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70
contestants
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| n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 ) | |
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71
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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72
desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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73
maturity
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| n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期 | |
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74
accurately
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| adv.准确地，精确地 | |
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75
founders
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| n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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76
makers
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| n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式） | |
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77
posterity
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| n.后裔，子孙，后代 | |
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