第 2 节
作者:一意孤行      更新:2021-10-16 18:41      字数:9318
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  conclusions will appear as we proceed。
  Before   embarking upon   the   history  of   recent   movements   In   favor   of
  radical   reconstruction;   it   will   be   worth   while   to   consider   some   traits   of
  character      which     distinguish    most     political   idealists;   and    are   much
  misunderstood        by   the   general   public    for  other    reasons    besides    mere
  prejudice。 I wish to do full justice to these reasons; in order to show the
  more effectually why they ought not to be operative。
  The leaders of the more advanced movements are; in general; men of
  quite unusual disinterestedness; as is evident from a consideration of their
  careers。 Although they have obviously quite as much ability as many men
  who rise to positions of great power; they do not themselves become the
  arbiters    of   contemporary       events;   nor   do   they   achieve     wealth    or  the
  applause of the mass of their contemporaries。 Men who have the capacity
  for winning these prizes; and who work at least as hard as those who win
  them;   but   deliberately   adopt   a   line   which   makes   the   winning   of   them
  impossible;   must   be   judged   to   have   an   aim   in   life   other   than   personal
  advancement; whatever admixture of self…seeking may enter into the detail
  of their lives; their fundamental motive must be outside Self。 The pioneers
  of    Socialism;     Anarchism;      and   Syndicalism      have;    for   the  most    part;
  experienced prison; exile; and poverty; deliberately incurred because they
  would not abandon their propaganda; and by this conduct they have shown
  that   the   hope    which    inspired    them    was    not   for  themselves;     but   for
  mankind。
  Nevertheless; though the desire for human welfare is what at bottom
  determines the broad lines of such men's lives; it often happens that; in the
  detail of their speech and writing; hatred is far more visible than love。 The
  impatient idealistand without some impatience a man will hardly prove
  effectiveis   almost     sure   to  be   led   into  hatred   by   the  oppositions    and
  disappointments which he encounters in his endeavors to bring happiness
  to the world。 The more certain he is of the purity of his motives and the
  truth of his gospel; the more indignant he will become when his teaching
  is rejected。  Often he  will   successfully achieve  an attitude  of philosophic
  tolerance   as   regards   the   apathy   of   the   masses;   and   even   as   regards   the
  whole…hearted opposition of professed defenders of the status quo。 But the
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  men   whom   he   finds   it   impossible   to   forgive   are   those   who   profess   the
  same desire for the amelioration of society as he feels himself; but who do
  not   accept   his   method   of   achieving   this   end。   The   intense   faith   which
  enables him to withstand persecution for the sake of his beliefs makes him
  consider these beliefs so luminously obvious that any thinking man who
  rejects   them   must   be   dishonest;   and   must   be   actuated   by   some   sinister
  motive of treachery to the cause。 Hence arises the spirit of the sect; that
  bitter; narrow orthodoxy which is the bane of those who hold strongly to
  an    unpopular     creed。    So   many     real  temptations      to  treachery    exist   that
  suspicion is natural。 And among leaders; ambition; which they mortify in
  their choice of a career; is sure to return in a new form: in the desire for
  intellectual   mastery  and   for   despotic   power   within   their   own   sect。   From
  these     causes    it  results    that   the   advocates      of  drastic    reform     divide
  themselves into opposing schools; hating each other with a bitter hatred;
  accusing each other often of such crimes as being in the pay of the police;
  and demanding; of any speaker or writer whom they are to admire; that he
  shall    conform      exactly    to  their   prejudices;    and    make     all  his  teaching
  minister to their belief that the exact truth is to be found within the limits
  of   their   creed。   The   result   of   this   state   of   mind   is   that;   to   a   casual   and
  unimaginative   attention;   the   men   who   have   sacrificed   most   through   the
  wish to benefit mankind APPEAR to be actuated far more by hatred than
  by love。 And the demand for orthodoxy is stifling to any free exercise of
  intellect。 This cause; as well as economic prejudice; has made it difficult
  for   the   ‘‘intellectuals''   to   co…operate   prac…   tically  with   the   more   extreme
  reformers;   however   they   may   sympathize   with   their   main   purposes   and
  even with nine…tenths of their program。
  Another reason why radical reformers are misjudged by ordinary men
  is that they view existing society from outside; with hostility towards its
  institutions。 Although; for the most part; they have more belief than their
  neighbors in human nature's inherent capacity for a good life; they are so
  conscious of the cruelty and oppression resulting from existing institutions
  that   they   make   a   wholly   misleading   impression   of   cynicism。   Most   men
  have   instinctively   two   entirely   different   codes   of   behavior:   one   toward
  those   whom   they   regard   as   companions   or   colleagues   or   friends;   or   in
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  some   way   members   of   the   same   ‘‘herd'';   the   other   toward   those   whom
  they     regard    as  enemies      or   outcasts    or   a  danger     to  society。    Radical
  reformers      are   apt   to  concentrate      their  attention    upon    the   behavior     of
  society toward the latter class; the class of those toward whom the ‘‘herd''
  feels ill…will。 This class includes; of course; enemies in war; and criminals;
  in the minds of those who consider the preservation of the existing order
  essential to their own safety or privileges; it includes all who advocate any
  great   political   or   economic   change;   and   all   classes   which;   through   their
  poverty or through any other cause; are likely to feel a dangerous degree
  of   discontent。   The   ordinary   citizen   probably   seldom   thinks   about   such
  individuals   or   classes;   and   goes   through   life   believing   that   he   and   his
  friends     are  kindly   people;     because     they   have    no   wish    to  injure   those
  toward      whom      they   entertain     no   group…hostility。      But   the   man     whose
  attention   is   fastened   upon   the   relations   of   a   group   with   those   whom   it
  hates or   fears   will   judge  quite   differently。  In   these  relations   a  surprising
  ferocity   is   apt   to   be   developed;   and   a   very   ugly   side   of   human   nature
  comes to the fore。 The opponents of capitalism have learned; through the
  study of certain historical facts; that this ferocity has often been shown by
  the    capitalists     and    by   the    State   toward      the   wage…earning        classes;
  particularly   when   they   have   ventured   to   protest   against   the   unspeakable
  suffering      to  which    industrialism      has   usually    condemned        them。    Hence
  arises   a   quite   different   attitude   toward   existing   society   from   that   of   the
  ordinary   well…to…do   citizen:   an   attitude   as   true   as   his;   perhaps   also   as
  untrue;   but   equally   based   on   facts;   facts   concerning   his   relations   to   his
  enemies instead of to his friends。
  The     class…war;    like   wars    between     nations;    produces     two    opposing
  views; each equally true and equally untrue。 The citizen of a nation at war;
  when he thinks of his own countrymen; thinks of them primarily as he has
  experienced them; in dealings with their friends; in their family relations;
  and   so   on。   They   seem   to   him   on   the   whole   kindly;   decent   folk。   But   a
  nation with which his country is at war views his compatriots through the
  medium   of   a   quite   different   set   of   experiences:   as   they   appear   in   the
  ferocity of battle; in the invasion and subjugation of a hostile territory; or
  in the chicanery of a juggling diplomacy。 The men of whom these facts are
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  true   are  the   very  same    as  the  men    whom   their    compatriots