第 2 节
作者:丢丢      更新:2021-02-24 22:29      字数:5355
  evils that must make it forever inexpedient。              The readers of Mr。 Matthew
  Arnold's works must have noticed the emphasis with which he dwells on
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  〃The Altruist in Politics〃
  the    instinct    of  expansion      as   a  factor    in  human      progress。      It   is  the
  refutation alike of communism and socialism that they thwart the instinct
  of expansion; that they substitute for individual energy the energy of the
  government;         that   they    substitute     for    human      personality      the   blind;
  mechanical power of the State。               The one system; as the other; marks the
  end   of   individualism。        The   one   system;   as   the   other;   would   make   each
  man the image of his neighbor。              The one system; as the other; would hold
  back   the   progressive;   and;   by   uniformity   of   reward;   gain   uniformity   of
  type。
  I can look forward to no blissful prospect for a race of men that; under
  the dominion of the State; at the cost of all freedom of action; at the cost;
  indeed; of their own true selves; shall enjoy; if one will; a fair abundance
  of   the   material   blessings   of   life。    Some   Matthew   Arnold   of   the   future
  would inevitably say of them in phase like that applied to the Puritans of
  old: 〃They  entered   the   prison   of   socialism  and   had the   key  turned   upon
  their   spirit   there   for   hundreds   of   years。〃    Into   that   prison   of   socialism;
  with   broken   enterprise   and   broken energy;  as   serfs   under  the  mastery  of
  the State; while human personality is preferred to unreasoning mechanism;
  mankind must hesitate to step。             When they shall once have entered within
  it; when the key shall have been turned upon their spirit and have confined
  them in narrower straits than even Puritanism could have done; it will be
  left for them to find; in their blind obedience and passive submission; the
  recompense for the singleness of character; the foresight; and the energy;
  that they have left behind them。
  In   almost   every   phase   of   life;   this   doctrine   of   political   altruists   is
  equally impracticable and pernicious。                In its social results; it involves the
  substitution   of   the   community   in   the   family's   present   position。            In   its
  political   aspects;  it   involves   the   absolute dominion   of the   State over   the
  actions   and   property   of   its   subjects。       Thus;   though   claiming   to   be   an
  exaltation   of   the   so…called   natural   rights   of   liberty   and   equality;   it   is   in
  reality their emphatic debasement。               It teaches that thoughtless docility is
  a   recompense   for   stunted   enterprise。         It   magnifies   material   good   at   the
  cost   of   every   rational   endowment。         It   inculcates   a   self…denial   that   must
  result in dwarfing the individual to a mere instrument in the hands of the
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  〃The Altruist in Politics〃
  State for the benefit of his fellows。              No such organization of society…no
  organization that fails to take note of the fact that man must have scope for
  the   exercise   and      development   of   his      faculties…no   such   organization   of
  society     can    ever   reach    a   permanent       success。    However       beneficent      its
  motives; the hypothesis with which it starts can never be realized。                           The
  aphorism of Emerson; 〃Churches have been built; not upon principles; but
  upon tropes;〃 is as true in the field of politics as it is in the field of religion。
  In a like figurative spirit; the followers of communism have reared their
  edifice; and; looking back upon the finished structure; seeking to discern
  the base on which it rests; the critic finds; not principles; but tropes。                     The
  builders   have   appealed   to   a   future   that   has   no   warrant   in   the   past;   and
  fixing their gaze upon the distant dreamland; captivated by the vision there
  beheld;   entranced   by   its   ideal   effulgence;   their   eyes   were   blinded   to   the
  real   conditions   of   the   human   problem  they  had   set   before   them。            Their
  enemies   have   not   been   slow   to   note   such   weakness   and   mistake;   and
  perhaps it may serve to clear up misconceptions; perhaps it may serve to
  lessen cant and open the way for fresh and vigorous thought; if we shall
  once   convince   ourselves   that   altruism  cannot   be   the   rule   of   life;   that   its
  logical   result   is   the dwarfing   of   the   individual   man;   and   that   not   by  the
  death of human personality can we hope to banish the evils of our day; and
  to realize the ideal of all existence; a nobler or purer life。
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