The dreadfulness of all such proposals as this lies in the possibility of their execution falling into the hands of hard, dull, and cruel administrators7. But in the case of a Utopia one assumes the best possible government, a government as merciful and deliberate as it is powerful and decisive. You must not too hastily imagine these things being done — as they would be done on earth at present — by a number of zealous8 half-educated people in a state of panic at a quite imaginary “Rapid Multiplication9 of the Unfit.”
No doubt for first offenders10, and for all offenders under five-and-twenty, the Modern Utopia will attempt cautionary and remedial treatment. There will be disciplinary schools and colleges for the young, fair and happy places, but with less confidence and more restraint than the schools and colleges of the ordinary world. In remote and solitary11 regions these enclosures will lie, they will be fenced in and forbidden to the common run of men, and there, remote from all temptation, the defective12 citizen will be schooled. There will be no masking of the lesson; “which do you value most, the wide world of humanity, or this evil trend in you?” From that discipline at last the prisoners will return.
But the others; what would a saner13 world do with them?
Our world is still vindictive14, but the all-reaching State of Utopia will have the strength that begets15 mercy. Quietly the outcast will go from among his fellow men. There will be no drumming of him out of the ranks, no tearing off of epaulettes, no smiting16 in the face. The thing must be just public enough to obviate17 secret tyrannies, and that is all.
There would be no killing18, no lethal19 chambers20. No doubt Utopia will kill all deformed21 and monstrous22 and evilly diseased births, but for the rest, the State will hold itself accountable for their being. There is no justice in Nature perhaps, but the idea of justice must be sacred in any good society. Lives that statesmanship has permitted, errors it has not foreseen and educated against, must not be punished by death. If the State does not keep faith, no one will keep faith. Crime and bad lives are the measure of a State’s failure, all crime in the end is the crime of the community. Even for murder Utopia will not, I think, kill.
I doubt even if there will be jails. No men are quite wise enough, good enough and cheap enough to staff jails as a jail ought to be staffed. Perhaps islands will be chosen, islands lying apart from the highways of the sea, and to these the State will send its exiles, most of them thanking Heaven, no doubt, to be quit of a world of prigs. The State will, of course, secure itself against any children from these people, that is the primary object in their seclusion23, and perhaps it may even be necessary to make these island prisons a system of island monasteries24 and island nunneries. Upon that I am not competent to speak, but if I may believe the literature of the subject — unhappily a not very well criticised literature — it is not necessary to enforce this separation. [Footnote: See for example Dr. W. A. Chapple’s The Fertility of the Unfit.]
About such islands patrol boats will go, there will be no freedoms of boat building, and it may be necessary to have armed guards at the creeks25 and quays26. Beyond that the State will give these segregated27 failures just as full a liberty as they can have. If it interferes28 any further it will be simply to police the islands against the organisation29 of serious cruelty, to maintain the freedom of any of the detained who wish it to transfer themselves to other islands, and so to keep a check upon tyranny. The insane, of course, will demand care and control, but there is no reason why the islands of the hopeless drunkard, for example, should not each have a virtual autonomy, have at the most a Resident and a guard. I believe that a community of drunkards might be capable of organising even its own bad habit to the pitch of tolerable existence. I do not see why such an island should not build and order for itself and manufacture and trade. “Your ways are not our ways,” the World State will say; “but here is freedom and a company of kindred souls. Elect your jolly rulers, brew30 if you will, and distil31; here are vine cuttings and barley32 fields; do as it pleases you to do. We will take care of the knives, but for the rest — deal yourselves with God!”
And you see the big convict steamship33 standing34 in to the Island of Incurable35 Cheats. The crew are respectfully at their quarters, ready to lend a hand overboard, but wide awake, and the captain is hospitably36 on the bridge to bid his guests good-bye and keep an eye on the movables. The new citizens for this particular Alsatia, each no doubt with his personal belongings37 securely packed and at hand, crowd the deck and study the nearing coast. Bright, keen faces would be there, and we, were we by any chance to find ourselves beside the captain, might recognise the double of this great earthly magnate or that, Petticoat Lane and Park Lane cheek by jowl. The landing part of the jetty is clear of people, only a government man or so stands there to receive the boat and prevent a rush, but beyond the gates a number of engagingly smart-looking individuals loiter speculatively38. One figures a remarkable39 building labelled Custom House, an interesting fiscal40 revival41 this population has made, and beyond, crowding up the hill, the painted walls of a number of comfortable inns clamour loudly. One or two inhabitants in reduced circumstances would act as hotel touts42, there are several hotel omnibuses and a Bureau de Change, certainly a Bureau de Change. And a small house with a large board, aimed point-blank seaward, declares itself a Gratis43 Information Office, and next to it rises the graceful44 dome45 of a small Casino. Beyond, great hoardings proclaim the advantages of many island specialities, a hustling46 commerce, and the opening of a Public Lottery47. There is a large cheap-looking barrack, the school of Commercial Science for gentlemen of inadequate48 training. . . .
Altogether a very go-ahead looking little port it would be, and though this disembarkation would have none of the flow of hilarious49 good fellowship that would throw a halo of genial50 noise about the Islands of Drink, it is doubtful if the new arrivals would feel anything very tragic51 in the moment. Here at last was scope for adventure after their hearts.
This sounds more fantastic than it is. But what else is there to do, unless you kill? You must seclude, but why should you torment52? All modern prisons are places of torture by restraint, and the habitual53 criminal plays the part of a damaged mouse at the mercy of the cat of our law. He has his little painful run, and back he comes again to a state more horrible even than destitution54. There are no Alsatias left in the world. For my own part I can think of no crime, unless it is reckless begetting55 or the wilful56 transmission of contagious57 disease, for which the bleak58 terrors, the solitudes59 and ignominies of the modern prison do not seem outrageously60 cruel. If you want to go so far as that, then kill. Why, once you are rid of them, should you pester61 criminals to respect an uncongenial standard of conduct? Into such islands of exile as this a modern Utopia will have to purge62 itself. There is no alternative that I can contrive63.
点击收听单词发音
1 incompetent | |
adj.无能力的,不能胜任的 | |
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2 perverse | |
adj.刚愎的;坚持错误的,行为反常的 | |
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3 tainted | |
adj.腐坏的;污染的;沾污的;感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 );使污染;败坏;被污染,腐坏,败坏 | |
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4 foul | |
adj.污秽的;邪恶的;v.弄脏;妨害;犯规;n.犯规 | |
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5 seclude | |
vi.使隔离,使孤立,使隐退 | |
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6 insanity | |
n.疯狂,精神错乱;极端的愚蠢,荒唐 | |
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7 administrators | |
n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 );有管理(或行政)才能的人;(由遗嘱检验法庭指定的)遗产管理人;奉派暂管主教教区的牧师 | |
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8 zealous | |
adj.狂热的,热心的 | |
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9 multiplication | |
n.增加,增多,倍增;增殖,繁殖;乘法 | |
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10 offenders | |
n.冒犯者( offender的名词复数 );犯规者;罪犯;妨害…的人(或事物) | |
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11 solitary | |
adj.孤独的,独立的,荒凉的;n.隐士 | |
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12 defective | |
adj.有毛病的,有问题的,有瑕疵的 | |
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13 saner | |
adj.心智健全的( sane的比较级 );神志正常的;明智的;稳健的 | |
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14 vindictive | |
adj.有报仇心的,怀恨的,惩罚的 | |
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15 begets | |
v.为…之生父( beget的第三人称单数 );产生,引起 | |
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16 smiting | |
v.猛打,重击,打击( smite的现在分词 ) | |
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17 obviate | |
v.除去,排除,避免,预防 | |
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18 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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19 lethal | |
adj.致死的;毁灭性的 | |
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20 chambers | |
n.房间( chamber的名词复数 );(议会的)议院;卧室;会议厅 | |
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21 deformed | |
adj.畸形的;变形的;丑的,破相了的 | |
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22 monstrous | |
adj.巨大的;恐怖的;可耻的,丢脸的 | |
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23 seclusion | |
n.隐遁,隔离 | |
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24 monasteries | |
修道院( monastery的名词复数 ) | |
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25 creeks | |
n.小湾( creek的名词复数 );小港;小河;小溪 | |
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26 quays | |
码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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27 segregated | |
分开的; 被隔离的 | |
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28 interferes | |
vi. 妨碍,冲突,干涉 | |
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29 organisation | |
n.组织,安排,团体,有机休 | |
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30 brew | |
v.酿造,调制 | |
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31 distil | |
vt.蒸馏;提取…的精华,精选出 | |
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32 barley | |
n.大麦,大麦粒 | |
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33 steamship | |
n.汽船,轮船 | |
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34 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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35 incurable | |
adj.不能医治的,不能矫正的,无救的;n.不治的病人,无救的人 | |
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36 hospitably | |
亲切地,招待周到地,善于款待地 | |
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37 belongings | |
n.私人物品,私人财物 | |
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38 speculatively | |
adv.思考地,思索地;投机地 | |
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39 remarkable | |
adj.显著的,异常的,非凡的,值得注意的 | |
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40 fiscal | |
adj.财政的,会计的,国库的,国库岁入的 | |
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41 revival | |
n.复兴,复苏,(精力、活力等的)重振 | |
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42 touts | |
n.招徕( tout的名词复数 );(音乐会、体育比赛等的)卖高价票的人;侦查者;探听赛马的情报v.兜售( tout的第三人称单数 );招揽;侦查;探听赛马情报 | |
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43 gratis | |
adj.免费的 | |
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44 graceful | |
adj.优美的,优雅的;得体的 | |
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45 dome | |
n.圆屋顶,拱顶 | |
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46 hustling | |
催促(hustle的现在分词形式) | |
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47 lottery | |
n.抽彩;碰运气的事,难于算计的事 | |
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48 inadequate | |
adj.(for,to)不充足的,不适当的 | |
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49 hilarious | |
adj.充满笑声的,欢闹的;[反]depressed | |
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50 genial | |
adj.亲切的,和蔼的,愉快的,脾气好的 | |
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51 tragic | |
adj.悲剧的,悲剧性的,悲惨的 | |
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52 torment | |
n.折磨;令人痛苦的东西(人);vt.折磨;纠缠 | |
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53 habitual | |
adj.习惯性的;通常的,惯常的 | |
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54 destitution | |
n.穷困,缺乏,贫穷 | |
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55 begetting | |
v.为…之生父( beget的现在分词 );产生,引起 | |
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56 wilful | |
adj.任性的,故意的 | |
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57 contagious | |
adj.传染性的,有感染力的 | |
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58 bleak | |
adj.(天气)阴冷的;凄凉的;暗淡的 | |
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59 solitudes | |
n.独居( solitude的名词复数 );孤独;荒僻的地方;人迹罕至的地方 | |
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60 outrageously | |
凶残地; 肆无忌惮地; 令人不能容忍地; 不寻常地 | |
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61 pester | |
v.纠缠,强求 | |
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62 purge | |
n.整肃,清除,泻药,净化;vt.净化,清除,摆脱;vi.清除,通便,腹泻,变得清洁 | |
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63 contrive | |
vt.谋划,策划;设法做到;设计,想出 | |
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