Democracy

第6章

试读中

第6章

Democracy Henry Adams

后面的故事,去 App 接着看,下载后搜索书名即可继续阅读。

Democracy
阅读主题
字体大小

  Butwouldthisalonebeasufficientsafeguard?Toeducatetheintelligenceistoenlargethehorizonofitsdesiresandwants。Anditiswellthatthisshouldbeso。Buttheenterprisemustgodeeperandpreparethewayforsatisfyingthosedesiresandwantsinsofarastheyarelegitimate。Whatisreallyominousofdangertotheexistingorderofthingsisnotdemocracy(which,properlyunderstood,isaconservativeforce),buttheSocialism,whichmayfindafulcruminit。Ifwecannotequalizeconditionsandfortunesanymorethanwecanequalizethebrainsofmen-andaverysagaciouspersonhassaidthat\"wheretwomenrideofahorseonemustridebehind\"-wecanyet,perhaps,dosomethingtocorrectthosemethodsandinfluencesthatleadtoenormousinequalities,andtopreventtheirgrowingmoreenormous。Itisallverywelltopooh-poohMr。Georgeandtoprovehimmistakeninhispoliticaleconomy。

  Idonotbelievethatlandshouldbedividedbecausethequantityofitislimitedbynature。Ofwhatmaythisnotbesaid?Afortiori,wemightonthesameprincipleinsistonadivisionofhumanwit,forIhaveobservedthatthequantityofthishasbeenevenmoreinconvenientlylimited。Mr。Georgehimselfhasaninequitablylargeshareofit。Butheisrightinhisimpellingmotive;right,also,Iamconvinced,ininsistingthathumanitymakesapart,byfarthemostimportantpart,ofpoliticaleconomy;andinthinkingmantobeofmoreconcernandmoreconvincingthanthelongestcolumnsoffiguresintheworld。

  Forunlessyouincludehumannatureinyouraddition,yourtotalissuretobewrongandyourdeductionsfromitfallacious。Communismmeansbarbarism,butSocialismmeans,orwishestomean,cooperationandcommunityofinterests,sympathy,thegivingtothehandsnotsolargeashareastothebrains,butalargersharethanhithertointhewealththeymustcombinetoproduce-means,inshort,thepracticalapplicationofChristianitytolife,andhasinitthesecretofanorderlyandbenignreconstruction。StateSocialismwouldcutofftheveryrootsinpersonalcharacter-self-help,forethought,andfrugality-whichnourishandsustainthetrunkandbranchesofeveryvigorousCommonwealth。

  ConcludingRemarksIdonotbelieveinviolentchanges,nordoIexpectthem。Thingsinpossessionhaveaveryfirmgrip。Oneofthestrongestcementsofsocietyistheconvictionofmankindthatthestateofthingsintowhichtheyarebornisapartoftheorderoftheuniverse,asnatural,letussay,asthatthesunshouldgoroundtheearth。Itisaconvictionthattheywillnotsurrenderexceptoncompulsion,andawisesocietyshouldlooktoitthatthiscompulsionbenotputuponthem。

  Fortheindividualmanthereisnoradicalcure,outsideofhumannatureitself,fortheevilstowhichhumannatureisheir。Therulewillalwaysholdgoodthatyoumust\"Beyourownpalaceortheworld\'syourgaol。\"

后续内容在 App 继续看

精彩内容未完,打开 App 继续阅读

后面的故事已为你准备好,下载 App 后搜索“Democracy”即可继续阅读这一章。