Chapter 8 Part II-1

the second part Whoever first encloses a piece of land and thinks of saying: This is mine, and finds some very simple-minded people to believe him, is the true founder of civilized society.If a man pulls up a stake, or fills a ditch, and cries out to his fellows: "Don't listen to this liar, woe to you if you forget that the fruits of the land belong to all, and the land belongs to no one. How many crimes, wars and killings, how much suffering and terror will be spared by this man!But, obviously, by then everything had gotten to the point where it couldn't go on as before.Because this private idea is not formed in human thought all at once, it is evolved from many prior ideas that can only be produced one after another.Before reaching the end of the natural state, human beings need to have made great progress, acquired a lot of skills and knowledge, and passed on these skills and knowledge from generation to generation, so that they continue to increase.We are therefore obliged to go back to still more distant times, and try to combine, in the most natural order, with the same point of view, those slow events and successive knowledges.

The most primitive emotion of man is the feeling for his own existence; the most primitive concern is the concern for self-preservation.The produce of the land furnishes him with all his necessities; instinct prompts him to use them.Hunger and desires make him go through repeatedly different modes of existence, one of which impels him to prolong his species; and this blind tendency to prolong his species, lacking any inner feeling, can only produce a pure animal behavior.As soon as the needs are satisfied, the sexes cease to know each other, and the child itself, once able to live independently of the mother, has nothing to do with her.

Such is the case with primitive man; such is the life of that animal which at first confines itself to pure sensations, makes little use of the endowments of nature, and never thinks of taking anything from it.But difficulties soon arise; and it is necessary to learn how to overcome them.The height of the trees prevented him from picking the fruit; the beasts looking for food competed with him for food; and some ferocious beasts even tried to hurt his life.All this made him have to devote himself to physical exercise.He must make himself a nimble, fast and fighting man.Natural weapons such as branches and stones soon came into his hands.He learns to overcome natural obstacles, to overcome other animals when necessary, to compete with other humans for food, or to make up for what he had to give up to stronger ones.

As the human race multiplies, so does human suffering increase with the number of people.Differences in soil, climate, and seasons necessarily compel men to carry this difference into their ways of life.Famine years, long hard winters, and hot summers could destroy everything, and required a new skill from them.Along the coast and along the rivers, people invented lines and hooks and became fishermen and fish-eating people.In the woodlands, people invented the bow and arrow and became hunters and warriors.In cold regions, people wear the skins of wild animals they killed.The flicker of thunder, the eruption of a volcano, or some kind of fluke introduced them to fire.Here's a new way to defend against the harsh winter cold.They learned to keep the fire alive, then to light it, and finally to use it to sear the meat they had eaten raw.

As a result of repeated contact between man and other animals, and between man and man, certain relations naturally arise in the mind of man.We express these relations by the words great, small, strong, weak, quick, slow, brave, cowardly, and other similar ideas which arise, when necessary, by almost unconscious comparisons.These relations at last induce in man a certain reflection, or rather a mechanical prudence, which directs him to adopt the means most necessary for his own security. The new knowledge which arose from this development increased man's superiority over other animals and made him aware of it.Man tries to trap wild animals, and uses a thousand methods to entice them.Although there are many animals that are stronger than humans in battle and run faster than humans, gradually, humans become their masters for those animals that can be used by humans; humans become their masters for those animals that are harmful to humans. their disaster-bearers.Thus the first sense of self-respect arises after man's first observation of himself.Thus, long before he knows how to distinguish classes, when he wants to regard his own class as the first class, he is already ready to rank himself first in his kind.

Though his kind were not to him as ours are to us now, and though he had no more intercourse with his kind than with other beasts, yet he did not entirely neglect to observe his kind. .In time he will see many similarities among his kind, between his female and himself, and from this he will be able to deduce other similarities which he has not yet discovered.When he finds that under the same circumstances, everyone acts the same as his own, he can infer that everyone's way of thinking and feeling about things is exactly the same as his own.This important truth, once confirmed in his mind, by a presentiment as certain as the method of reasoning, and more immediate than the method of reasoning, may induce him to follow in his dealings with others the principles for his own interest and safety. The best rules of conduct to be followed.

Having taught him by experience that the pursuit of happiness is the sole motive force of human activity, he was able to distinguish two cases: one, due to a common interest, in which he could count on the help of his fellows, a rare case; , he cannot trust his kind, which is an even rarer case.In the first case, he and his like are united in groups, or at most no more than in some kind of free association, which binds no one and lasts no longer than the period which caused it to form. The period of existence of that temporary need.In the second case, each, seeking his own advantage, uses force openly if he believes he is strong enough, and cunning if he feels himself weaker.

It is thus that human beings have unconsciously acquired a crude conception of their mutual obligations and of the advantages of fulfilling them.But this idea arises only when present and obvious interests require it of them, for they do not foresee, let alone the distant future, not even the events of the next day.If they were hunting a deer, each knew well that he should be faithful to his post.But if a rabbit ran past one of them, the man would not hesitate to pursue the rabbit; and when he had caught the rabbit, his companions thus did not catch their prey. He doesn't care much about things, there's no doubt about that.

It is not difficult to understand that this relation of men to one another requires no more subtle language than that of crows or monkeys, who are more or less equally united in flocks.For a long time, the common language of people must have consisted of voiceless calls, many gestures, and some simulated sounds.Add to this language in various regions some syllabic and conventional sounds (the formulation of the original language, as I said earlier, is not easy to explain), and people have many individual languages, but this Both languages ​​are crude and incomplete, much like the languages ​​still spoken by many barbarian peoples today.

Owing to the length of time, the complexity of the things I have to explain, and the almost imperceptible progress of the first stages of man, I am obliged to pass over innumerable centuries in the blink of an eye.Because, the slower the evolution process of things, the more concise the brushwork should be used to describe. These initial advances eventually lead to faster progress.The more developed the wisdom, the more perfect the skill.Before long, people stopped sleeping under any tree or hiding in caves.They invented several kinds of hard and sharp stone axes, which were used to cut trees, dig the ground, and build a hut with branches; then they thought of covering the hut with a layer of soil.This was the time of the first revolution, which gave rise to the formation and division of families, from which a certain form of private property arose, and many quarrels and battles arose.However, it seems that some of the strongest people built the shelter first, because they alone felt that they had the strength to protect it.We may conclude that the weak must have found it easier and more secure to build dwellings in imitation of the strong than to attempt to drive the strong from those huts.As for the man who already has a hut, no one will occupy his neighbor's hut, not because it does not belong to him, but because the hut is of no use to him, and if he wants to occupy it, he will inevitably have to pay for it. Fight a fierce battle with the family that lives in that cottage.

The first development of human affections was the result of a new situation which united husband, wife, parents, and children in a common dwelling.The habit of living together gives rise to the tenderest of all human emotions: the love of conjugal and parental love, and each family becomes a little society better knit together, for mutual attachment and freedom are the link of this little society. The only bond of society.Thus arises the first difference between the ways of life of the sexes, which hitherto had but one way of life.Since then, women have often lived at home and are used to guarding huts and children; men have gone out to find common means of subsistence.Both sexes begin to lose some of their toughness and vigor as they gain a more comfortable existence.Although the strength of each person to defeat the beast alone is not as good as before, on the other hand, it is easier for them to gather together to resist the beast than before. In this new state, people live a simple, little-traveled life, their needs are limited, and they use the tools invented to satisfy them, so they can enjoy more leisure to spend Arrange for themselves a variety of comforts unknown to their ancestors.This is the first yoke which men inadvertently put upon themselves, and it is at the same time the source of the first pain which they prepare for their posterity.For, besides their continued enfeeblement of body and mind, these comforts, once habitual, render man almost entirely out of pleasure, and become a real need of man.Therefore, the pain of not getting these enjoyments is much greater than the happiness of getting them, and having these enjoyments is not necessarily happiness, but losing these enjoyments is really distressing. Here we can see more clearly how the use of language is established, or how it is gradually perfected in individual families.And it can be conjectured how various special reasons made language more necessary, thereby expanding its use and hastening its development.Floods or earthquakes surrounded inhabited places by water or cliffs; changes in the earth caused parts of continents to break up into islands.It is not difficult to imagine that a common dialect should be formed more easily among people who are so close and have to live together than among people wandering in the forests of the mainland.It may, therefore, be that the inhabitants of the islands, after their first trial voyages, brought the habit of language to our continent; or, at least, it may be that, before society and language were known on the continent, A society had been established on the island, and a language had developed, both of which had reached a considerable degree of perfection. And so everything began to change.Those who had been wandering in the woods, by having a more fixed country, gradually approached each other, united into various groups, and finally formed in various places individual peoples, with common customs and characters.These peoples formed individual nations not by regulations and laws, but by living the same way of life, subsisting on the same food, and being influenced by the same climate.Prolonged adjacency inevitably did not bring about certain ties between families.Young men and women live in adjoining huts, and a temporary relationship based on the requirements of nature, followed by more and more frequent exchanges, soon becomes another relationship that is equally intimate and more permanent.Man grows accustomed to consider and compare different objects, and unconsciously acquires notions of talent and beauty, from which feelings of preference arise.As a result of seeing each other constantly, it feels like something is lost when we don't see each other.A tender, sweet feeling seeps into the soul, which at the slightest conflict gives way to violent anger.Jealousy accompanies love, and the tenderest affections lead to bloody sacrifice when they turn against each other. With the mutual promotion of ideas and feelings, and the mutual use of spirit and heart, human beings become more and more civilized.The more contacts, the closer the relationship.People were accustomed to congregate in front of huts or around great trees, and singing and dancing--true products of love and leisure--became the amusement, even the affairs of daily life, of leisurely, throngs of men and women.Everyone begins to pay attention to others, and they also want others to pay attention to themselves.The attention of the public thus acquires a value.The man who is the most skilled at singing and dancing, the most beautiful, the most powerful, the most dexterous, or the most eloquent becomes the most respected.This is the first step towards inequality; it is also the first step towards evil.From these first inclinations arose vanity and contempt on the one hand, and shame and envy on the other.The disturbance caused by these new factors finally had unfortunate consequences for a happy and innocent life. Once people start judging each other, once respect is formed in their minds, everyone thinks he has a right to be respected, and it becomes impossible for a person not to be respected without being inconvenienced.From this arises the first duty of comity, even among savages.From then on, all deliberate insults become insults, because, besides the loss caused by the injury, the victim also regards it as a contempt for his personality, and this contempt is often more difficult to bear than the loss itself.Thus, as each man punishes his slights according to the degree of respect he has for himself, revenge becomes a terrible thing, and man becomes a murderous and cruel animal. .This is the extent to which most of the savage peoples known to us have evolved.Many, failing to discern these notions, and noticing how far these peoples have departed from their original state of nature, have hastily concluded that men are by nature cruel, and that civilized institutions are needed to soften them.In fact, there is nothing so mild as man in his primitive state, when he is placed by nature as far from the dullness of the beast as from the unfortunate wisdom of the civilized man, limited by instinct as much as by reason, He only knows how to guard against the threat of evil he faces. He is restrained by natural compassion and will not take the initiative to do harm to others, even if he is violated by others.For according to wise Locke's maxim: where there is no private property there can be no injustice. However, we should also notice that the society that has begun to be established and the various relationships that have been established between people require people to have qualities different from those inherent in their original constitution.As morality has begun to permeate human conduct, and since, before the law, each man was the only judge and avenger of his own wrongs, the goodness which was appropriate to the pure state of nature is no longer suitable to the new society. .As the opportunities for mutual infringement increase, so do the retaliations for the offense more severe.At that time, it was the terror of revenge that replaced the sanction of the law.Thus, although man has become less patient, and although natural sympathy has undergone a certain degeneration, this stage of development of human faculties is precisely between the primitive state of leisure and our present day. The period between surges of self-esteem should be the happiest and longest lasting.The more we reflect on this, the more it appears to us that this state is the least susceptible to change, and that it is the one most suited to mankind[16]; status.For the common good of mankind, such accidents had better never happen.Almost all the savages we find are in this state.From their cases, it seems to be confirmed that human beings are born to stay in this state forever.This state is the real youth of the world, and all subsequent progress is only a superficial progress in the direction of personal perfection, while in fact they lead to the downfall of the human race. When people were satisfied with their humble huts; For fineness and beauty, for stone axes for fishing boats, or for some crude musical instruments; in short, when they are employed only in jobs which can be handled by one man alone, and in crafts which do not require the assistance of many, they still live the life of their nature. The free, healthy, kind and happy life allowed by them, and they continue to enjoy the joy of unfettered and free communication between them.But as soon as one man needs the help of another; as soon as men perceive the advantage of having the food of two, equality disappears, private property arises, labor becomes necessary, the vast The forest becomes a thriving field, irrigated with the sweat and blood of men; and slavery and poverty are soon seen to sprout and grow in the fields with crops. The invention of two technologies, metallurgy and agriculture, brought about this great change.What civilises man and degrades him is gold and silver to the poet, and iron and corn to the philosopher.Metallurgy and agriculture, both of which were unknown to the American savages, remained barbaric; and other peoples seem to have remained barbaric as long as they were unable to use both together. state.Although the civilization of Europe is not early compared with other continents, we can at least say that its civilization has less interruptions in the process of development, so the degree of civilization is also higher; the main reason for this is One of them may be because Europe not only produces the most iron, but also produces the most abundant wheat. It is difficult to guess how human beings began to know and use iron. Before the result can not be predicted, they can think of extracting a certain substance from the ore deposit and various preparations for smelting this substance. is unimaginable.Nor, on the other hand, can we ascribe this invention to some accidental fire, since the deposits were only gradually formed in barren places, devoid of trees and other vegetation.We may therefore say that nature has taken care not to let us discover this unfortunate secret.It is only in very rare cases that a sudden eruption of a volcano, spewing forth molten metal, would make the beholder think of imitating nature, and engaging in metal smelting.Even so, we must assume that they had enough courage and foresight to undertake such difficult work, and presumed so early that they could profit from it.Such things can only be conceived by people with more developed wisdom, and people at that time would not have such wisdom. As for agriculture, its principles were known long before the practice began.Now that men are constantly engaged in taking food from trees and other plants, it is almost impossible not to quickly acquire an idea of ​​the methods nature employs for the propagation of plants.But they probably belatedly employed their ingenuity in this direction; either because the trees, like the fish and the game, provided them with food, and required no care of them, or because they did not yet know the use of corn, or Either because there are no means to grow corn, or because future needs cannot be foreseen, and finally, or because there is no means of preventing others from appropriating the fruits of their labor.As they became more ingenious, we may believe, they began to plant some vegetables or root crops around their huts, using sharp stones and pointed sticks.Thus it was a long time before they learned to grow corn, and were able to acquire the tools necessary for large-scale cultivation.It goes without saying, of course, that the art of agriculture requires the willingness to sacrifice something in order to reap more, and the savage mind does not have the foresight to do so.For they, as I said before, have difficulty even in the morning thinking of their evening needs. The invention of various other technologies, therefore, was necessary in order for man to devote himself to agriculture.As soon as some men were necessary to smelt and forge iron, others were required to support them.The more the number of workers increases, the less the number engaged in the supply of the common means of subsistence decreases, but the number of people who consume the means of subsistence does not decrease.Moreover, as certain people had to be given some produce in exchange for their iron, others at last discovered the secret of increasing produce by means of iron. Thus, on the one hand, farming and agriculture; on the other, the art of working metals and promoting their use. The cultivation of land will inevitably lead to the distribution of land, and once private ownership is recognized, it will inevitably produce the original rules of justice.Because, to return everyone's things to everyone is based on the premise that everyone has something; since people have begun to pay attention to the future, and everyone feels that they have something to lose, everyone has something to lose. Fear of reprisals for hurting others.This origin is quite natural, especially since it is impossible to conceive of nascent private ideas apart from labour.We cannot comprehend that a man should appropriate to himself what he did not create, for what other addition than his own labour?Labor alone can give the cultivator a right to the produce of the land he cultivates, and therefore to the land itself, at least until the time of harvest.If this goes on year after year, continuous possession can easily be transformed into private ownership.Grotius said that the ancients had given the goddess Celes the title of legislator and named the festival in honor of her "Desmophore", which they mean: a new kind of law has arisen due to the distribution of land. The right of property, that is, property, is not the same as that which arises from the law of nature. In this state, all things may always be equal, if the talents of men are equal, for example, the use of iron and the consumption of produce are always always in an exact balance.However, nothing could maintain this balance, and soon it was broken.The stronger man does more work; the dexterous man gains more profit from his labor; the wise man finds some way of shortening his labor; or the farmer needs more iron, or the blacksmith more wheat .Although everyone works equally, some people get a lot of wages; some people have difficulty in maintaining their lives.In this way, the natural inequality unknowingly unfolds along with the inequality of "relationships".The differences between men which have developed from different circumstances, therefore, are more pronounced in effect, more permanent, and begin to affect the destinies of men in the same proportion. With things so developed, the rest is easy to imagine.I need not spend any more time describing the successive inventions of other arts, the development of languages, the experimentation and use of talents, the inequalities of property, the use or abuse of them; plot, because that is something every reader can easily add to it.I shall merely observe in general terms the human race in this new order of things. At this time, all human faculties are developed, memory and imagination are in operation; self-esteem is strengthened;At this time, the nature of all talents comes into play, and the rank and destiny of each person are not only based on the amount of property and each person's ability to benefit or harm others, but also based on intelligence, beauty, physical strength, skill, etc. , merit or talent and so on.These are the only qualities that can be valued, and therefore they must be quickly acquired or often used by everyone.One's self is actually one way, but in one's own interest one has to appear another.Thus, "actually" and "appears to be" become two very different things①.From this distinction arises pomp and ostentation; deception and all the vices that follow it.On the other hand, man, formerly free and autonomous, is now, so to speak, compelled by innumerable new needs to be at the mercy of nature as a whole, and especially of his fellow man.Even if he has become the master of his kind, in a sense, he has also become his kind's slave: rich, he needs their service; poor, he needs their assistance; not poor. If you are not rich, you must never need them.He must then continually seek to make them take an interest in his fate, and to make them feel, actually or apparently, that by serving his interest, they are gaining their own.Thus making him treacherous and hypocritical to some; imperious and cruel to others, and when he cannot make some fear him, or when he thinks it will do him little good to serve others , he has to deceive everyone he needs.Finally, restless ambition, not so much from real need as from a passion for amassing wealth for the sake of superiority, inspires in all a sinister desire to injure others and a hidden jealousy Heart.This kind of jealousy is especially insidious, because it often wears a mask of hypocrisy in order to achieve its goals.All in all, there is competition and strife on the one hand, and conflicts of interest on the other. Everyone always hides the desire to benefit themselves at the expense of others.All these evils were the first consequences of private property, and at the same time the necessary outgrowths of the new inequalities. Before people invented symbols representing wealth, the content of wealth only included land and livestock, and only real property that people could possess.And when immovable property grows in number and area to cover the whole land and adjoin one another, a man can enlarge his property only by injuring others.Those who, either through weakness or laziness, missed the opportunity to acquire property, lost nothing but became poor.Because everything around them has changed except themselves, they have to accept or rob the necessaries of life from the rich.Henceforth came domination and slavery, or violence and plunder, from the various dispositions of the rich and the poor against one another.On the part of the rich, as soon as they recognize the joy of dominion, they immediately despise all other pleasures.And, since they could use old slaves to subdue new ones, they only wanted to subdue and enslave their neighbors.They are like hungry wolves who, after tasting human flesh once, dislike all other food and only want to eat human beings. Thus, as the strongest or poorest regard their strength or their needs as a right to another's property, which in their view amounts to property, equality is destroyed as soon as it is destroyed. Then came the most terrible chaos.Thus, because the usurpation of the rich, the robbery of the poor, and the intemperate passions of all, stifle the voice of natural pity and justice,1 which is still feeble, man becomes miserly, greedy, and wicked.Between the right of the strongest and the right of the first occupant there is an endless conflict, which can only end in battle and massacre[17].The new society gave way to the most terrible state of war: a fallen and miserable man, who could no longer turn back from the path he had trodden, could no longer throw away the unfortunate gains he had made, It is nothing but the misuse of the faculties that have brought him honor, thus bringing upon himself evil results, and finally bringing himself to the brink of destruction. He was stunned by the new disaster, rich and poor, He only wanted to escape riches, And loathed what he had frazzled and prayed for. It is, after all, impossible for people not to think about such a miserable situation and the calamity that weighs on them.The rich, especially, will soon feel how bad they are in a long war at their own expense; in which the risk of life is shared by all, but the risk of property is only the rich themselves. of.Besides, no matter how much the rich conceal their plundering, they always feel that it is based on an uncertain and unjust right, and that wealth can be acquired by violence and can be taken by violence. There is no reason to complain.Even those who have become rich entirely by their own industry can hardly find better grounds for their property ownership.They may say: "I built this wall, and this land was acquired by my labor." People can ask: "Excuse me, who set the boundaries of your land? We did not force you Labor, why do you want us to pay for your labor? Don’t you know that countless compatriots have died and suffered because of the lack of excess things you have? Among the common means of subsistence of mankind, you Don't you know that taking for yourself more than you need to maintain yourself requires the express and unanimous consent of all mankind?" Power; though he easily overpowers one man, he is overpowered by hordes who come to rob him of his property.The rich are one against all, and because of the mutual envy of the rich they cannot unite against enemies united by a common desire to rob.Forced by circumstances, the rich finally conceived one of the most far-sighted plans, the kind that no one had ever imagined before, namely: to use the power of those who attacked them to serve themselves, and to use the power of those who attacked them. The enemy becomes his defender, and imbues them with new maxims, and establishes for them new institutions, which are as beneficial to the rich as natural law is to them. With this aim the rich man narrates to his neighbors a dreadful situation: that if all men were armed against each other, the wealth of some and the poverty of others would be reduced to nothing. A heavy burden has no peace for anyone, whether in poverty or in wealth.Having described the situation, it is easy for the rich to invent plausible reasons to induce them to their ends.He said to them: "Let us unite so that the weak may not be oppressed, the ambitious shall be restrained, and each man may have what is his own. We shall therefore create a The rules of justice and peace that all men must abide by. These rules make the strong and the weak equally obligated to each other, so as to make up for the unevenness of fate to a certain extent. In short, do not use our strength to fight against us. against ourselves, but to gather our forces into one supreme power, which governs us by wise laws, to defend all members of the community from the common enemy, and to live in perpetual peace. middle."