Whatever be the difficulties of the first of these two forms of Socialism, the second must evidently involve the same difficulties and many more. The former, too, has the great advantage that it can be brought into operation progressively, and can prove its capabilities13 by trial. It can be tried first on a select population and extended to others as their education and cultivation14 permit. It need not, and in the natural order of things would not, become an engine of subversion15 until it had shown itself capable of being also a means of reconstruction16. It is not so with the other: the aim of that is to substitute the new rule for the old at a single stroke, and to exchange the amount of good realised under the present system, and its large possibilities of improvement, for a plunge17 without any preparation into the most extreme form of the problem of carrying on the whole round of the operations of social life without the motive6 power which has always hitherto worked the social machinery18. It [94]must be acknowledged that those who would play this game on the strength of their own private opinion, unconfirmed as yet by any experimental verification—who would forcibly deprive all who have now a comfortable physical existence of their only present means of preserving it, and would brave the frightful19 bloodshed and misery20 that would ensue if the attempt was resisted—must have a serene21 confidence in their own wisdom on the one hand and a recklessness of other people's sufferings on the other, which Robespierre and St. Just, hitherto the typical instances of those united attributes, scarcely came up to. Nevertheless this scheme has great elements of popularity which the more cautious and reasonable form of Socialism has not; because what it professes22 to do it promises to do quickly, and holds out hope to the enthusiastic of seeing the whole of their aspirations23 realised in their own time and at a blow.
The peculiarities24, however, of the revolutionary form of Socialism will be most conveniently [95]examined after the considerations common to both the forms have been duly weighed.
The produce of the world could not attain25 anything approaching to its present amount, nor support anything approaching to the present number of its inhabitants, except upon two conditions: abundant and costly26 machinery, buildings, and other instruments of production; and the power of undertaking27 long operations and waiting a considerable time for their fruits. In other words, there must be a large accumulation of capital, both fixed28 in the implements29 and buildings, and circulating, that is employed in maintaining the laborers31 and their families during the time which elapses before the productive operations are completed and the products come in. This necessity depends on physical laws, and is inherent in the condition of human life; but these requisites33 of production, the capital, fixed and circulating, of the country (to which has to be added the land, and all that is contained in it), may either be the collective property of those who use it, or may belong to [96]individuals; and the question is, which of these arrangements is most conducive34 to human happiness. What is characteristic of Socialism is the joint35 ownership by all the members of the community of the instruments and means of production; which carries with it the consequence that the division of the produce among the body of owners must be a public act, performed according to rules laid down by the community. Socialism by no means excludes private ownership of articles of consumption; the exclusive right of each to his or her share of the produce when received, either to enjoy, to give, or to exchange it. The land, for example, might be wholly the property of the community for agricultural and other productive purposes, and might be cultivated on their joint account, and yet the dwelling36 assigned to each individual or family as part of their remuneration might be as exclusively theirs, while they continued to fulfil their share of the common labors37, as any one's house now is; and not the dwelling only, but any ornamental38 ground which the circumstances of the [97]association allowed to be attached to the house for purposes of enjoyment39. The distinctive40 feature of Socialism is not that all things are in common, but that production is only carried on upon the common account, and that the instruments of production are held as common property. The practicability then of Socialism, on the scale of Mr. Owen's or M. Fourier's villages, admits of no dispute. The attempt to manage the whole production of a nation by one central organization is a totally different matter; but a mixed agricultural and manufacturing association of from two thousand to four thousand inhabitants under any tolerable circumstances of soil and climate would be easier to manage than many a joint stock company. The question to be considered is, whether this joint management is likely to be as efficient and successful as the managements of private industry by private capital. And this question has to be considered in a double aspect; the efficiency of the directing mind, or minds, and that of the simple workpeople. And in order to state this question in its simplest form, we will [98]suppose the form of Socialism to be simple Communism, i.e. equal division of the produce among all the sharers, or, according to M. Louis Blanc's still higher standard of justice, apportionment of it according to difference of need, but without making any difference of reward according to the nature of the duty nor according to the supposed merits or services of the individual. There are other forms of Socialism, particularly Fourierism, which do, on considerations of justice or expediency41, allow differences of remuneration for different kinds or degrees of service to the community; but the consideration of these may be for the present postponed42.
The difference between the motive powers in the economy of society under private property and under Communism would be greatest in the case of the directing minds. Under the present system, the direction being entirely43 in the hands of the person or persons who own (or are personally responsible for) the capital, the whole benefit of the difference between the best administration and the worst under which the business can [99]continue to be carried on accrues44 to the person or persons who control the administration: they reap the whole profit of good management except so far as their self-interest or liberality induce them to share it with their subordinates; and they suffer the whole detriment45 of mismanagement except so far as this may cripple their subsequent power of employing labor32. This strong personal motive to do their very best and utmost for the efficiency and economy of the operations, would not exist under Communism; as the managers would only receive out of the produce the same equal dividend46 as the other members of the association. What would remain would be the interest common to all in so managing affairs as to make the dividend as large as possible; the incentives47 of public spirit, of conscience, and of the honor and credit of the managers. The force of these motives, especially when combined, is great. But it varies greatly in different persons, and is much greater for some purposes than for others. The verdict of experience, in the imperfect degree of moral cultivation which mankind [100]have yet reached, is that the motive of conscience and that of credit and reputation, even when they are of some strength, are, in the majority of cases, much stronger as restraining than as impelling48 forces—are more to be depended on for preventing wrong, than for calling forth50 the fullest energies in the pursuit of ordinary occupations. In the case of most men the only inducement which has been found sufficiently51 constant and unflagging to overcome the ever-present influence of indolence and love of ease, and induce men to apply themselves unrelaxingly to work for the most part in itself dull and unexciting, is the prospect52 of bettering their own economic condition and that of their family; and the closer the connection of every increase of exertion53 with a corresponding increase of its fruits, the more powerful is this motive. To suppose the contrary would be to imply that with men as they now are, duty and honor are more powerful principles of action than personal interest, not solely54 as to special acts and forbearances respecting which those sentiments have been [101]exceptionally cultivated, but in the regulation of their whole lives; which no one, I suppose, will affirm. It may be said that this inferior efficacy of public and social feelings is not inevitable—is the result of imperfect education. This I am quite ready to admit, and also that there are even now many individual exceptions to the general infirmity. But before these exceptions can grow into a majority, or even into a very large minority, much time will be required. The education of human beings is one of the most difficult of all arts, and this is one of the points in which it has hitherto been least successful; moreover improvements in general education are necessarily very gradual because the future generation is educated by the present, and the imperfections of the teachers set an invincible56 limit to the degree in which they can train their pupils to be better than themselves. We must therefore expect, unless we are operating upon a select portion of the population, that personal interest will for a long time be a more effective stimulus57 to the most vigorous and careful conduct of the industrial [102]business of society than motives of a higher character. It will be said that at present the greed of personal gain by its very excess counteracts58 its own end by the stimulus it gives to reckless and often dishonest risks. This it does, and under Communism that source of evil would generally be absent. It is probable, indeed, that enterprise either of a bad or of a good kind would be a deficient59 element, and that business in general would fall very much under the dominion60 of routine; the rather, as the performance of duty in such communities has to be enforced by external sanctions, the more nearly each person's duty can be reduced to fixed rules, the easier it is to hold him to its performance. A circumstance which increases the probability of this result is the limited power which the managers would have of independent action. They would of course hold their authority from the choice of the community, by whom their function might at any time be withdrawn61 from them; and this would make it necessary for them, even if not so required by the constitution [103]of the community, to obtain the general consent of the body before making any change in the established mode of carrying on the concern. The difficulty of persuading a numerous body to make a change in their accustomed mode of working, of which change the trouble is often great, and the risk more obvious to their minds than the advantage, would have a great tendency to keep things in their accustomed track. Against this it has to be set, that choice by the persons who are directly interested in the success of the work, and who have practical knowledge and opportunities of judgment62, might be expected on the average to produce managers of greater skill than the chances of birth, which now so often determine who shall be the owner of the capital. This may be true; and though it may be replied that the capitalist by inheritance can also, like the community, appoint a manager more capable than himself, this would only place him on the same level of advantage as the community, not on a higher level. But it must be said on the other side that under the Communist system the [104]persons most qualified63 for the management would be likely very often to hang back from undertaking it. At present the manager, even if he be a hired servant, has a very much larger remuneration than the other persons concerned in the business; and there are open to his ambition higher social positions to which his function of manager is a stepping-stone. On the Communist system none of these advantages would be possessed64 by him; he could obtain only the same dividend out of the produce of the community's labor as any other member of it; he would no longer have the chance of raising himself from a receiver of wages into the class of capitalists; and while he could be in no way better off than any other laborer30, his responsibilities and anxieties would be so much greater that a large proportion of mankind would be likely to prefer the less onerous65 position. This difficulty was foreseen by Plato as an objection to the system proposed in his Republic of community of goods among a governing class; and the motive on which he relied for inducing the fit persons to [105]take on themselves, in the absence of all the ordinary inducements, the cares and labors of government, was the fear of being governed by worse men. This, in truth, is the motive which would have to be in the main depended upon; the persons most competent to the management would be prompted to undertake the office to prevent it from falling into less competent hands. And the motive would probably be effectual at times when there was an impression that by incompetent66 management the affairs of the community were going to ruin, or even only decidedly deteriorating67. But this motive could not, as a rule, expect to be called into action by the less stringent68 inducement of merely promoting improvement; unless in the case of inventors or schemers eager to try some device from which they hoped for great and immediate69 fruits; and persons of this kind are very often unfitted by over-sanguine temper and imperfect judgment for the general conduct of affairs, while even when fitted for it they are precisely70 the kind of persons against whom the average man is apt to [106]entertain a prejudice, and they would often be unable to overcome the preliminary difficulty of persuading the community both to adopt their project and to accept them as managers. Communistic management would thus be, in all probability, less favorable than private management to that striking out of new paths and making immediate sacrifices for distant and uncertain advantages, which, though seldom unattended with risk, is generally indispensable to great improvements in the economic condition of mankind, and even to keeping up the existing state in the face of a continual increase of the number of mouths to be fed.
We have thus far taken account only of the operation of motives upon the managing minds of the association. Let us now consider how the case stands in regard to the ordinary workers.
These, under Communism, would have no interest, except their share of the general interest, in doing their work honestly and energetically. But in this respect matters would be no worse than they now are in regard to the great [107]majority of the producing classes. These, being paid by fixed wages, are so far from having any direct interest of their own in the efficiency of their work, that they have not even that share in the general interest which every worker would have in the Communistic organization. Accordingly, the inefficiency71 of hired labor, the imperfect manner in which it calls forth the real capabilities of the laborers, is matter of common remark. It is true that a character for being a good workman is far from being without its value, as it tends to give him a preference in employment, and sometimes obtains for him higher wages. There are also possibilities of rising to the position of foreman, or other subordinate administrative72 posts, which are not only more highly paid than ordinary labor, but sometimes open the way to ulterior advantages. But on the other side is to be set that under Communism the general sentiment of the community, composed of the comrades under whose eyes each person works, would be sure to be in favor of good and hard [108]working, and unfavorable to laziness, carelessness, and waste. In the present system not only is this not the case, but the public opinion of the workman class often acts in the very opposite direction: the rules of some trade societies actually forbid their members to exceed a certain standard of efficiency, lest they should diminish the number of laborers required for the work; and for the same reason they often violently resist contrivances for economising labor. The change from this to a state in which every person would have an interest in rendering73 every other person as industrious74, skilful75, and careful as possible (which would be the case under Communism), would be a change very much for the better.
It is, however, to be considered that the principal defects of the present system in respect to the efficiency of labor may be corrected, and the chief advantages of Communism in that respect may be obtained, by arrangements compatible with private property and individual competition. Considerable improvement is already obtained [109]by piece-work, in the kinds of labor which admit of it. By this the workman's personal interest is closely connected with the quantity of work he turns out—not so much with its quality, the security for which still has to depend on the employer's vigilance; neither does piece-work carry with it the public opinion of the workman class, which is often, on the contrary, strongly opposed to it, as a means of (as they think) diminishing the market for laborers. And there is really good ground for their dislike of piece-work, if, as is alleged76, it is a frequent practice of employers, after using piece-work to ascertain77 the utmost which a good workman can do, to fix the price of piece-work so low that by doing that utmost he is not able to earn more than they would be obliged to give him as day wages for ordinary work.
But there is a far more complete remedy than piece-work for the disadvantages of hired labor, viz., what is now called industrial partnership—the admission of the whole body of laborers to a participation78 in the profits, by distributing among [110]all who share in the work, in the form of a percentage on their earnings79, the whole or a fixed portion of the gains after a certain remuneration has been allowed to the capitalist. This plan has been found of admirable efficacy, both in this country and abroad. It has enlisted80 the sentiments of the workmen employed on the side of the most careful regard by all of them to the general interest of the concern; and by its joint effect in promoting zealous81 exertion and checking waste, it has very materially increased the remuneration of every description of labor in the concerns in which it has been adopted. It is evident that this system admits of indefinite extension and of an indefinite increase in the share of profits assigned to the laborers, short of that which would leave to the managers less than the needful degree of personal interest in the success of the concern. It is even likely that when such arrangements become common, many of these concerns would at some period or another, on the death or retirement82 of the chief's [111]pass, by arrangement, into the state of purely83 co-operative associations.
It thus appears that as far as concerns the motives to exertion in the general body, Communism has no advantage which may not be reached under private property, while as respects the managing heads it is at a considerable disadvantage. It has also some disadvantages which seem to be inherent in it, through the necessity under which it lies of deciding in a more or less arbitrary manner questions which, on the present system, decide themselves, often badly enough but spontaneously.
It is a simple rule, and under certain aspects a just one, to give equal payment to all who share in the work. But this is a very imperfect justice unless the work also is apportioned84 equally. Now the many different kinds of work required in every society are very unequal in hardness and unpleasantness. To measure these against one another, so as to make quality equivalent to quantity, is so difficult that Communists generally propose that all should work by turns at [112]every kind of labor. But this involves an almost complete sacrifice of the economic advantages of the division of employments, advantages which are indeed frequently over-estimated (or rather the counter considerations are under-estimated) by political economists85, but which are nevertheless, in the point of view of the productiveness of labor, very considerable, for the double reason that the co-operation of employment enables the work to distribute itself with some regard to the special capacities and qualifications of the worker, and also that every worker acquires greater skill and rapidity in one kind of work by confining himself to it. The arrangement, therefore, which is deemed indispensable to a just distribution would probably be a very considerable disadvantage in respect of production. But further, it is still a very imperfect standard of justice to demand the same amount of work from every one. People have unequal capacities of work, both mental and bodily, and what is a light task for one is an insupportable burthen to another. It is necessary, therefore, that there [113]should be a dispensing86 power, an authority competent to grant exemptions87 from the ordinary amount of work, and to proportion tasks in some measure to capabilities. As long as there are any lazy or selfish persons who like better to be worked for by others than to work, there will be frequent attempts to obtain exemptions by favor or fraud, and the frustration88 of these attempts will be an affair of considerable difficulty, and will by no means be always successful. These inconveniences would be little felt, for some time at least, in communities composed of select persons, earnestly desirous of the success of the experiment; but plans for the regeneration of society must consider average human beings, and not only them but the large residuum of persons greatly below the average in the personal and social virtues89. The squabbles and ill-blood which could not fail to be engendered90 by the distribution of work whenever such persons have to be dealt with, would be a great abatement91 from the harmony and unanimity92 which Communists hope would [114]be found among the members of their association. That concord93 would, even in the most fortunate circumstances, be much more liable to disturbance94 than Communists suppose. The institution provides that there shall be no quarrelling about material interests; individualism is excluded from that department of affairs. But there are other departments from which no institutions can exclude it: there will still be rivalry95 for reputation and for personal power. When selfish ambition is excluded from the field in which, with most men, it chiefly exercises itself, that of riches and pecuniary96 interest, it would betake itself with greater intensity97 to the domain98 still open to it, and we may expect that the struggles for pre-eminence and for influence in the management would be of great bitterness when the personal passions, diverted from their ordinary channel, are driven to seek their principal gratification in that other direction. For these various reasons it is probable that a Communist association would frequently fail to exhibit the attractive picture of mutual99 [115]love and unity7 of will and feeling which we are often told by Communists to expect, but would often be torn by dissension and not unfrequently broken up by it.
Other and numerous sources of discord100 are inherent in the necessity which the Communist principle involves, of deciding by the general voice questions of the utmost importance to every one, which on the present system can be and are left to individuals to decide, each for his own case. As an example, take the subject of education. All Socialists are strongly impressed with the all-importance of the training given to the young, not only for the reasons which apply universally, but because their demands being much greater than those of any other system upon the intelligence and morality of the individual citizen, they have even more at stake than any other societies on the excellence101 of their educational arrangements. Now under Communism these arrangements would have to be made for every citizen by the collective body, since individual parents, supposing them to [116]prefer some other mode of educating their children, would have no private means of paying for it, and would be limited to what they could do by their own personal teaching and influence. But every adult member of the body would have an equal voice in determining the collective system designed for the benefit of all. Here, then, is a most fruitful source of discord in every association. All who had any opinion or preference as to the education they would desire for their own children, would have to rely for their chance of obtaining it upon the influence they could exercise in the joint decision of the community.
It is needless to specify102 a number of other important questions affecting the mode of employing the productive resources of the association, the conditions of social life, the relations of the body with other associations, &c., on which difference of opinion, often irreconcilable103, would be likely to arise. But even the dissensions which might be expected would be a far less evil to the prospects104 of humanity than a delusive105 unanimity produced by the prostration106 of [117]all individual opinions and wishes before the decree of the majority. The obstacles to human progression are always great, and require a concurrence107 of favorable circumstances to overcome them; but an indispensable condition of their being overcome is, that human nature should have freedom to expand spontaneously in various directions, both in thought and practice; that people should both think for themselves and try experiments for themselves, and should not resign into the hands of rulers, whether acting in the name of a few or of the majority, the business of thinking for them, and of prescribing how they shall act. But in Communist associations private life would be brought in a most unexampled degree within the dominion of public authority, and there would be less scope for the development of individual character and individual preferences than has hitherto existed among the full citizens of any state belonging to the progressive branches of the human family. Already in all societies the compression of individuality by the majority is a great and growing [118]evil; it would probably be much greater under Communism, except so far as it might be in the power of individuals to set bounds to it by selecting to belong to a community of persons like-minded with themselves.
From these various considerations I do not seek to draw any inference against the possibility that Communistic production is capable of being at some future time the form of society best adapted to the wants and circumstances of mankind. I think that this is, and will long be an open question, upon which fresh light will continually be obtained, both by trial of the Communistic principle under favorable circumstances, and by the improvements which will be gradually effected in the working of the existing system, that of private ownership. The one certainty is, that Communism, to be successful, requires a high standard of both moral and intellectual education in all the members of the community—moral, to qualify them for doing their part honestly and energetically in the labor of life under no inducement but their share in [119]the general interest of the association, and their feelings of duty and sympathy towards it; intellectual, to make them capable of estimating distant interests and entering into complex considerations, sufficiently at least to be able to discriminate108, in these matters, good counsel from bad. Now I reject altogether the notion that it is impossible for education and cultivation such as is implied in these things to be made the inheritance of every person in the nation; but I am convinced that it is very difficult, and that the passage to it from our present condition can only be slow. I admit the plea that in the points of moral education on which the success of communism depends, the present state of society is demoralizing, and that only a Communistic association can effectually train mankind for Communism. It is for Communism, then, to prove, by practical experiment, its power of giving this training. Experiments alone can show whether there is as yet in any portion of the population a sufficiently high level of moral cultivation to make Communism succeed, and to give to the next generation among themselves the education necessary to keep that high level permanently109 If Communist associations show that they can be [120]durable and prosperous, they will multiply, and will probably be adopted by successive portions of the population of the more advanced countries as they become morally fitted for that mode of life. But to force unprepared populations into Communist societies, even if a political revolution gave the power to make such an attempt, would end in disappointment.
If practical trial is necessary to test the capabilities of Communism, it is no less required for those other forms of Socialism which recognize the difficulties of Communism and contrive110 means to surmount111 them. The principal of these is Fourierism, a system which, if only as a specimen112 of intellectual ingenuity113, is highly worthy114 of the attention of any student, either of society or of the human mind. There is scarcely an objection or a difficulty which Fourier did not forsee, and against which he did not make provision beforehand by self-acting contrivances, grounded, however, upon a less high principle of distributive justice than that of Communism, since he admits inequalities of distribution and individual ownership of capital, but not the arbitrary disposal of it. The great problem which he grapples with is how to make labor attractive, since, if this [121]could be done, the principal difficulty of Socialism would be overcome. He maintains that no kind of useful labor is necessarily or universally repugnant, unless either excessive in amount or devoid115 of the stimulus of companionship and emulation116, or regarded by mankind with contempt. The workers in a Fourierist village are to class themselves spontaneously in groups, each group undertaking a different kind of work, and the same person may be a member not only of one group but of any number; a certain minimum having first been set apart for the subsistence of every member of the community, whether capable or not of labor, the society divides the remainder of the produce among the different groups, in such shares as it finds attract to each the amount of labor required, and no more; if there is too great a run upon particular groups it is a sign that those groups are over-remunerated relatively117 to others; if any are neglected their remuneration must be made higher. The share of produce assigned to each group is divided in fixed proportions among three elements—labor, capital, and talent; the part assigned to talent being awarded by the suffrages118 of the group itself, and it is hoped that among the variety of human [122]capacities all, or nearly all, will be qualified to excel in some group or other. The remuneration for capital is to be such as is found sufficient to induce savings119 from individual consumption, in order to increase the common stock to such point as is desired. The number and ingenuity of the contrivances for meeting minor55 difficulties, and getting rid of minor inconveniencies, is very remarkable120. By means of these various provisions it is the expectation of Fourierists that the personal inducements to exertion for the public interest, instead of being taken away, would be made much greater than at present, since every increase of the service rendered would be much more certain of leading to increase of reward than it is now, when accidents of position have so much influence. The efficiency of labor, they therefore expect, would be unexampled, while the saving of labor would be prodigious121, by diverting to useful occupations that which is now wasted on things useless or hurtful, and by dispensing with the vast number of superfluous122 distributors, the buying and selling for the whole community being managed by a single agency. The free choice of individuals as to their manner of life would be no further interfered123 with than would [123]be necessary for gaining the full advantages of co-operation in the industrial operations. Altogether, the picture of a Fourierist community is both attractive in itself and requires less from common humanity than any other known system of Socialism; and it is much to be desired that the scheme should have that fair trial which alone can test the workableness of any new scheme of social life.[9]
The result of our review of the various difficulties of Socialism has led us to the conclusion that the various schemes for managing the productive resources of the country by public instead of private agency have a case for a trial, and some of them may eventually establish their claims to preference over the existing order of things, but that they are at present workable [124]only by the élite of mankind, and have yet to prove their power of training mankind at large to the state of improvement which they presuppose. Far more, of course, may this be said of the more ambitious plan which aims at taking possession of the whole land and capital of the country, and beginning at once to administer it on the public account. Apart from all consideration of injustice124 to the present possessors, the very idea of conducting the whole industry of a country by direction from a single centre is so obviously chimerical125, that nobody ventures to propose any mode in which it should be done; and it can hardly be doubted that if the revolutionary Socialists attained126 their immediate object, and actually had the whole property of the country at their disposal, they would find no other practicable mode of exercising their power over it than that of dividing it into portions, each to be made over to the administration of a small Socialist2 community. The problem of management, which we have seen to be so difficult even to a select population well prepared beforehand, would be thrown down to be solved as best it could by aggregations127 united only by locality, or taken indiscriminately from [125]the population, including all the malefactors, all the idlest and most vicious, the most incapable128 of steady industry, forethought, or self-control, and a majority who, though not equally degraded, are yet, in the opinion of Socialists themselves as far as regards the qualities essential for the success of Socialism, profoundly demoralised by the existing state of society. It is saying but little to say that the introduction of Socialism under such conditions could have no effect but disastrous129 failure, and its apostles could have only the consolation130 that the order of society as it now exists would have perished first, and all who benefit by it would be involved in the common ruin—a consolation which to some of them would probably be real, for if appearances can be trusted the animating131 principle of too many of the revolutionary Socialists is hate; a very excusable hatred132 of existing evils, which would vent49 itself by putting an end to the present system at all costs even to those who suffer by it, in the hope that out of chaos133 would arise a better Kosmos, and in the impatience134 of desperation respecting any more gradual improvement. They are unaware135 that chaos is the very most unfavorable position for setting out in the construction of a Kosmos, and that many ages of conflict, [126]violence, and tyrannical oppression of the weak by the strong must intervene; they know not that they would plunge mankind into the state of nature so forcibly described by Hobbes (Leviathan, Part I. ch. xiii.), where every man is enemy to every man:—
"In such condition there is no place for industry, because the fruit thereof is uncertain, and consequently no culture of the earth, no navigation, no use of the commodities that may be imported by sea, no commodious136 building, no instruments of moving and removing such things as require much force, no knowledge of the face of the earth, no account of time, no arts, no letters, no society; and, which is worst of all, continual fear and danger of violent death; and the life of man solitary137, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
If the poorest and most wretched members of a so-called civilised society are in as bad a condition as every one would be in that worst form of barbarism produced by the dissolution of civilised life, it does not follow that the way to raise them would be to reduce all others to the same miserable138 state. On the contrary, it is by the aid of the first who have risen that so many others have escaped from the general lot, and it is only by better organization of the same process that it may be hoped in time to succeed in raising the remainder.
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socialists
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| 社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 ) | |
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socialist
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| n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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motives
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| n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 ) | |
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motive
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| n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的 | |
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unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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multiplication
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| n.增加，增多，倍增；增殖，繁殖；乘法 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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philosophic
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| adj.哲学的，贤明的 | |
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12
avow
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| v.承认，公开宣称 | |
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capabilities
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| n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力 | |
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14
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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15
subversion
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| n.颠覆，破坏 | |
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reconstruction
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| n.重建，再现，复原 | |
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plunge
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| v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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19
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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22
professes
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| 声称( profess的第三人称单数 )； 宣称； 公开表明； 信奉 | |
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23
aspirations
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| 强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音 | |
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24
peculiarities
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| n. 特质, 特性, 怪癖, 古怪 | |
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25
attain
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| vt.达到，获得，完成 | |
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costly
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| adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的 | |
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27
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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28
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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29
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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30
laborer
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| n.劳动者，劳工 | |
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31
laborers
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| n.体力劳动者，工人( laborer的名词复数 )；（熟练工人的）辅助工 | |
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32
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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33
requisites
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| n.必要的事物( requisite的名词复数 ) | |
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34
conducive
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| adj.有益的，有助的 | |
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35
joint
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| adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合 | |
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36
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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37
labors
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| v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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38
ornamental
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| adj.装饰的；作装饰用的；n.装饰品；观赏植物 | |
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39
enjoyment
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| n.乐趣；享有；享用 | |
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40
distinctive
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| adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的 | |
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41
expediency
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| n.适宜；方便；合算；利己 | |
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42
postponed
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| vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发） | |
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43
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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accrues
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| v.增加( accrue的第三人称单数 )；（通过自然增长）产生；获得；（使钱款、债务）积累 | |
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45
detriment
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| n.损害；损害物，造成损害的根源 | |
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46
dividend
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| n.红利，股息；回报，效益 | |
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47
incentives
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| 激励某人做某事的事物( incentive的名词复数 )； 刺激； 诱因； 动机 | |
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impelling
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| adj.迫使性的，强有力的v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的现在分词 ) | |
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49
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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50
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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51
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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52
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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53
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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54
solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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55
minor
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| adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修 | |
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56
invincible
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| adj.不可征服的，难以制服的 | |
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57
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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58
counteracts
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| 对抗，抵消( counteract的第三人称单数 ) | |
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59
deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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60
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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61
withdrawn
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| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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62
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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63
qualified
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| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
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64
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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65
onerous
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| adj.繁重的 | |
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66
incompetent
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| adj.无能力的，不能胜任的 | |
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67
deteriorating
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| 恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 ) | |
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68
stringent
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| adj.严厉的；令人信服的；银根紧的 | |
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69
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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70
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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71
inefficiency
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| n.无效率，无能；无效率事例 | |
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72
administrative
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| adj.行政的，管理的 | |
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73
rendering
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| n.表现，描写 | |
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74
industrious
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| adj.勤劳的，刻苦的，奋发的 | |
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75
skilful
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| (=skillful)adj.灵巧的，熟练的 | |
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76
alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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77
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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78
participation
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| n.参与，参加，分享 | |
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79
earnings
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| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
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80
enlisted
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| adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持） | |
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81
zealous
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| adj.狂热的，热心的 | |
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82
retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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83
purely
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| adv.纯粹地，完全地 | |
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84
apportioned
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| vt.分摊，分配（apportion的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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85
economists
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| n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 ) | |
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86
dispensing
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| v.分配( dispense的现在分词 )；施与；配（药） | |
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87
exemptions
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| n.（义务等的）免除( exemption的名词复数 )；免（税）；（收入中的）免税额 | |
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88
frustration
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| n.挫折，失败，失效，落空 | |
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89
virtues
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| 美德( virtue的名词复数 )； 德行； 优点； 长处 | |
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90
engendered
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| v.产生（某形势或状况），造成，引起( engender的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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91
abatement
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| n.减(免)税，打折扣，冲销 | |
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92
unanimity
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| n.全体一致，一致同意 | |
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93
concord
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| n.和谐；协调 | |
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94
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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95
rivalry
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| n.竞争，竞赛，对抗 | |
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96
pecuniary
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| adj.金钱的；金钱上的 | |
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97
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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98
domain
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| n.(活动等)领域，范围；领地，势力范围 | |
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99
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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100
discord
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| n.不和，意见不合，争论，（音乐）不和谐 | |
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101
excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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102
specify
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| vt.指定，详细说明 | |
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103
irreconcilable
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| adj.（指人）难和解的，势不两立的 | |
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104
prospects
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| n.希望，前途(恒为复数) | |
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105
delusive
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| adj.欺骗的，妄想的 | |
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106
prostration
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| n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳 | |
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107
concurrence
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| n.同意；并发 | |
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108
discriminate
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| v.区别，辨别，区分；有区别地对待 | |
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109
permanently
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| adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地 | |
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110
contrive
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| vt.谋划，策划；设法做到；设计，想出 | |
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111
surmount
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| vt.克服；置于…顶上 | |
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112
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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113
ingenuity
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| n.别出心裁；善于发明创造 | |
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114
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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115
devoid
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| adj.全无的，缺乏的 | |
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116
emulation
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| n.竞争；仿效 | |
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117
relatively
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| adv.比较...地，相对地 | |
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118
suffrages
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| （政治性选举的）选举权，投票权( suffrage的名词复数 ) | |
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119
savings
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| n.存款，储蓄 | |
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120
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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121
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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122
superfluous
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| adj.过多的，过剩的，多余的 | |
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123
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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124
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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125
chimerical
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| adj.荒诞不经的，梦幻的 | |
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126
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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127
aggregations
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| n.聚集( aggregation的名词复数 )；集成；集结；聚集体 | |
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128
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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129
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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130
consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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131
animating
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| v.使有生气( animate的现在分词 )；驱动；使栩栩如生地动作；赋予…以生命 | |
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132
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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133
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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134
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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135
unaware
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| a.不知道的，未意识到的 | |
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136
commodious
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| adj.宽敞的；使用方便的 | |
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137
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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138
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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