The Social Contract - 13zy
接上:
The same laws cannot be appropriate for all the various provinces,?
which have different customs and are situated in different climates;?
-
while a diversity of law can only engender★產(chǎn)生 conflict and confusion?
among peoples who, having the same leaders and in continual頻繁的?
communication,move from one area to another and marry there, never
knowing, as they become subject to other customary laws,
whether their heritage is really theirs.?
-
Talents are hidden,virtues ignored, and vice goes unpunished?
among all the multitude of men, unknown to each other, who are?
gathered together in one place because it is the seat of the?
supreme administration.?
-
The rulers, overburdened by the amount of
business, see nothing for themselves, and their?
clerks文書(shū) govern the state.?
-★
Finally, the measures necessary in order to maintain the central authority,?
which so many of its distant representatives try to evade★逃避 or?
deceive, absorb all the energies of the public officers;?
-★
what remains for the welfare of the people is insufficient★不足的,?
and there is scarcely enough for defence in case of need;
in this way, a body too large for its own constitution declines
and perishes, collapsing under its own weight.
On the other hand, the state must provide itself with a sound
base so as to have some solidity穩(wěn)固, and withstand經(jīng)受 both the shocks
that will inevitably come its way, and the efforts that it will be
obliged to make in order not to succumb被壓垮:?
-
for all peoples have
a kind of centrifugal離心力 force by which they act upon each other
constantly, tending to increase their size at the expense of their
neighbours, like the vortices漩渦 of Descartes笛卡爾.
-
Thus the weak are in danger of being soon swallowed?
up; and virtually the only way for any one of them to maintain?
itself is to place itself in a kind of equilibrium均衡 with?
the rest, making the pressure more or less the same everywhere.
★★★
A healthy and robust constitution is the first thing to look for;?
and more reliance should be put on the vigour強(qiáng)健 born from good?
government than from the resources furnished by a great area of land.
There have been certain states organized in
such a way that the need to make conquests entered into their
very constitution;?
-
in order to maintain themselves they were
constantly forced to expand. They may perhaps have congratulated?
themselves on this happy necessity, in which, however,
★they could have seen that the time when their greatness
reached its limit would inevitably be the time of their fall.
---Chapter x : The Same Continued---
A POLITICAL body can be measured in two ways: either by the
extent★★范圍 of its territory, or by its population; and the most
suitable size for the state depends on the proper relationship
between these two measures.
-★★★
It is men that make a state, and it is the land that feeds men:?
the relationship, then, is that the land should be sufficient?
to provide sustenance食物/養(yǎng)料 for its inhabitants, and that there?
should be as many inhabitants as the land can feed.
If there is too much land, it is burdensome to
guard, it will not be fully cultivated, and some of its produce
will be superfluous;?
-
it will be a direct cause of defensive war. If there is?
not enough land, the state depends, in order to make
up the deficiency不足, on the goodwill of its neighbours,?
which is a direct cause of offensive war.
On the other hand, the territory can be reduced in
coastal沿海的 regions, even when rock and sand render them almost
sterile不毛的, for the reasons that fishing can in large part?
replace the products of the land;?
-
that the population needs to be denser密集的 in order to?
repel pirates; and in addition that it is easier, through
colonization, to relieve the land of a surplus★過(guò)剩的 of inhabitants.
★★
Usurpers /ju:'z?:p?/ 篡位者 always foment煽動(dòng) or choose times?
of trouble in order to play on public anxiety and so gain
acceptance for harmful laws that the people would?
never adopt with cooler heads.?
What kind of people, then, is best suited for legislation?
-
One which, already united by some bond due either to its?
origins or its interests or to an agreement, has as yet?
not truly submitted屈從 to the yoke束縛 of law;?
-
one whose customs and superstitions迷信 are not
deeply embedded植入/嵌入;?
-
one that has no fear of being overrun泛濫 by a sudden invasion;?
-
that without taking part in its neighbours'
quarrels is able to resist each of them on its own,?
or to repulse one with the help of another(??立法者干這事???).
-
one where each member is known to all, and where?
there is no necessity to inflict on any
man a burden heavier than a man can carry;?
-
one that is neither rich nor poor, but capable of
maintaining itself; finally, one that combines the solidity of an
old nation with the malleability of a new one.?
★神預(yù)言:
There is still one country in Europe that is fit for legislation:
the island of Corsica科西嘉. The valour /'v?l?/勇猛 and constancy?
shown by the worthy Corsicans in regaining and defending their?
freedom fully entitle them to be shown by some wise man how to
preserve it. I have a presentiment that this small island will
one day be the amazement of Europe.
The Social Contract - 13zy的評(píng)論 (共 條)
