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托马斯·马尔萨斯:人口论·摘录 150
托马斯·马尔萨斯《人口论》· An Essay on the Principle of Population · 投资
I am perfectly willing to concede to Mr Godwin that there is much more labour in the world than is really necessary, and that, if the lower classes of society could agree among themselves never to work more than six or seven hours in the day, the commodities essential to human happiness might still be produced in as great abundance as at present. But it is almost impossible to conceive that such an agreement could be adhered to. From the principle of population, some would necessarily be more in want than others. Those that had large families would naturally be desirous of exchanging two hours more of their labour for an ampler quantity of subsistence. How are they to be prevented from making this exchange? it would be a violation of the first and most sacred property that a man possesses to attempt, by positive institutions, to interfere with his command over his own labour.
出处:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4239
定位:Excerpt 150 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录
白话
马尔萨斯承认,世上很多劳动其实没必要,如果底层人自己约定每天只干六七小时,必需品照样够多。但他认为这种约定根本守不住。因为人口压力下,各家境况不同,孩子多的人家自然想多干两小时换更多口粮。你没法阻止这种交换,除非用制度强行干涉一个人对自己劳动的控制权,而那是最基本、最神圣的财产权。换句话说,自愿的集体减工时看似美好,却敌不过家庭负担差异带来的现实分化;靠法律强制限制劳动时间,等于侵犯个人支配自身劳动的自由。
上下文
出自马尔萨斯《人口论》对葛德文平等社会的批评,讨论劳动时间与财产权。
今日一问
如果减工时靠自愿约定,孩子多的人家先退出,我们该怎样设计制度才不侵犯个人自由又照顾弱者?
公版作品;原文逐字取自 Project Gutenberg,仅摘录段落并附全书链接。
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