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
4
… Page 5…
〃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
5
… Page 6…
〃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。
6