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托马斯·马尔萨斯:人口论·摘录 54

托马斯·马尔萨斯《人口论》· An Essay on the Principle of Population · 投资

Supposing the quantity of food in any country to remain the same for many years together, it is evident that this food must be divided according to the value of each man's patent, or the sum of money that he can afford to spend on this commodity so universally in request. (Mr Godwin calls the wealth that a man receives from his ancestors a mouldy patent. It may, I think, very properly be termed a patent, but I hardly see the propriety of calling it a mouldy one, as it is an article in such constant use.) It is a demonstrative truth, therefore, that the patents of one set of men could not be increased in value without diminishing the value of the patents of some other set of men. If the rich were to subscribe and give five shillings a day to five hundred thousand men without retrenching their own tables, no doubt can exist, that as these men would naturally live more at their ease and consume a greater quantity of provisions, there would be less food remaining to divide among the rest, and consequently each man's patent would be diminished in value or the same number of pieces of silver would purchase a smaller quantity of subsistence.

出处: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4239
定位:Excerpt 54 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录

白话

假设一个国家的食物总量多年不变,那么这些食物必然按照每个人“专利”的价值来分配,也就是他能为这种人人需要的商品花多少钱。有人把祖传财富叫作“发霉的专利”,但专利这个词用在这里很贴切,因为它一直在使用。因此,一部分人的专利价值增加,就必然减少另一部分人的专利价值。如果富人不缩减自己的餐桌,每天给五十万人五先令,那么这些人自然会过得更宽裕、消费更多食物,留给其他人的食物就会减少,每个人的专利价值就会下降,同样数量的银币只能买到更少的生活资料。

上下文

马尔萨斯《人口论》讨论食物总量固定时,财富分配如何影响每个人的实际购买力。

今日一问

如果社会总资源不变,我今天的消费或捐赠是否在悄悄减少别人的份额?

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