Lesson 1 How to Get the Poor Off Our Conscience

Lesson 1 How to Get the Poor off Our Conscience

John Kenneth Galbraith(1908-2006)

?An economist, author, professor, presidential counselor and U.S. ambassador to India ?The ―last American Institutionalist‖

?an unabashed popularizer of economics

?"The Affluent Society" (1958)

?2000: the Presidential Medal of Freedom,the U.S. government's highest civilian honor. Background information:

?Keynesian: 凯恩斯主义Economy fail –no money running around in the society, government – money to popel. 失业和经济危机的原因在于有效需求的不足，主张国家干预经济生活并管理通货。

?Post-Keynesian: monetarism

强调货币供应量的变动是物价水平和经济活动的根本原因。

?Adam Smith:

First to explain how capitalism worked, admired by Marx

―Wealth of Nations‖: fundation work of classical economics, the division of labor, in a laissez-faire economy the impulse of self-interest would bring about the public welfare ?utilitarianism:

based on fairness and effectiveness

增进公共利益的学说，人类避苦求乐，道德和立法的原则，人类利益的最大化，最大多数人的最大幸福

?David Ricardo:

―the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation‖

―iron law of wages‖: wages tend to stablize around the subsistence level

the theory of comparative advantage in international trade

?Malthusianism: Malthus: Essay on Population

1. population is necessarily limited by means of subsistence

2. population invariably increases where means of subsistence increases unless

prevented by some very powerful and obvious checks

3. these checks are resolvable into moral restraint, vice and misery.

?Social Darwinism: ―survival of the fittest‖

?supply-side economics: （通过减税刺激生产和投资的）供应经济学the idea that if the government reduces taxes, producers will be able to make more goods and this will improve a country’s economic situation.

?negative income tax: 逆所得税，最低收入补贴（联邦政府对收入低于最低生活标准的个人或家庭的一种补助。

?George Gilder: believes that only when the poor suffer from great misery will they be stimulated to change the situation – suffering is necessary to force the poor to work hard

?New Deal （The Roosevelt revolution):

In 1935, Congress passed the Social Security Act which for the first time in American history assigned specific responsibility to the government for providing assistance to the least fortunate people in the country.

Discussion and Pre-class Work:

1. Why do you think the author choose this title?

2. What do you think of the gaps in wealth between the rich and the poor? Is there any way to solve this problem?

Main idea of this essay

Based on the analysis of historical solutions and current designs, the author ironically criticizes the attitude of getting the poor off our conscience, on which the scholars and politicians have been elaborating for centuries.

Outline of the text

Part 1 (Paras. 1-2): the theme-the oldest project of ―getting the poor off our conscience‖.

Part 2 (Paras. 3-9): 5 historical solutions (chronological)

Part 3 (Paras. 10-11): a transition

Part 4 (Paras. 12-20): 5 current designs

Part 5 (Para. 21): conclusion

Five historical solutions

1. the next life theory(in the Bible: the poor suffer in this world but are wonderfully

rewarded in the next)

2. Utilitarianism(in the twenty or thirty years following the publication in 1776 of ―the

Wealth of Nations‖– Jeremy Benthan)

3. poor people’s fault (in the 1830s–David Ricardo, Thomas Robert Malthus–the

poverty of the poor was the fault of the poor)

4. survival of the fittest(by the middle of the 19th century–Herbert Spencer–Social

Darwinism– survival of the fittest)

5. vague denial (in the course of the present century– Calvin Coolidge, Herbert Hoover–

assistance to the poor interfered with the effective operation of the economic system) Five current designs

1. incompetent government

2. harmful to the poor

3. adverse effect on incentive

4. adverse effect on freedom

5. simple psychological denial

Detailed study of the essay:

Part I (Paras. 1-2):

1. conscience: a sense of right and wrong, with an urge to do right

2. intellectual: appealing to the intellect

3. I would like to reflect on one of the oldest of human exercises…

→I want to think seriously about one of the oldest practices of human beings…

4. What does the author want to reflect on?

→The author wants to discuss how people have been trying not to feel guilty about the existence of the poor people, to justify the continuing existence of poverty.

5. Rich and poor have lived together, always uncomfortably and sometimes p erilously, …

W hat does the author mean when he uses ―perilously‖?

→The author must have in mind the slave uprisings, peasant uprisings and worker s’ strikes. It has been always that if the disparity becomes too great, the poor will rise up against the rich and cause much damage.

6. An imbalance between the rich and the poor ins the oldest and most fatal ailment of

republics. 贫富不均乃共和政体最致命的宿疾。

7. …hav e been an intellectual preoccupation for centuries.

有思想有学问的人几百年来孜孜不倦思考探索的问题

Part II (Paras. 3-9):

1. Their poverty is a temporary misfortune:…

他们的贫困只是一种暂时的不幸；如果他们穷困但却温顺，他们最终将成为这个世界的主人。

2. This is, in some ways, an admirable solution….

→why? And does the author really think that this is an admirable solution?

3. ―the principle of utility‖: an a ction is judged by whether it will increase or decrease the benefits of those who are affected by the action.

4. Virtue is, indeed must be, self-centered.

→By right action, we mean it must help promote personal interest.

5. …it was a product of their excessive fecundity.

→The poverty of the poor was caused by their having too many children.

6. Their grievously uncontrolled lust caused them to breed up the full limits of the available subsistence.

很遗憾，他们不能控制性欲，过度的生育把地球具有的养活人口的能力推向极限。

7. Poverty being caused in the bed…: Poverty was caused by overproduction of children.

8. …the rich were not responsible for either its creation or its amelioration.

→The rich were not to blame for the existence of poverty so they should not be asked to undertake the task of solving the problem.

9. Couples in love should repair to R. H. Macy’s, not their bedroom.

一对对热恋的新婚夫妇应该上梅西百货公司过夜，而不是回到他们的新房。

10. The weak and unfortunate being extruded, the quality of the human family is thus strengthened. 由于弱者与不幸者被清除，人类大家庭的素质因此而提高。

11. The American Beauty Rose can be …:

美国这朵玫瑰花后以其华贵让观众倾倒、赞不绝口。而她之所以能被培植出来，就是因为在早期其周围的花蕾给掐掉了。在经济生活中情况亦是如此。这是自然规律和上帝意志在起作用。

→… It is only the result or e ffect of the law of the survival of the fittest applied to nature or to human society.

12. It declined in popularity, and references to it acquired a condemnatory tone.

→People began to reject Social Darwinism because it seemed to glorify brutal force and oppose treasured values of sympathy, love and friendship. Therefore, when it was mentioned, it was usually the target of criticism.

Part III (Paras. 10-11)

1.What was the Roosevelt revolution? Why does the author call it a revolution? Is the author

for or against the revolution? How do you know?

→In 1935, Congress passed the Social Security Act. This was a revolutionary step because it broke away from the traditional concept that the federal government was not responsible for social welfare. The Act of 1935 laid foundation for the current social welfare system of the United States.

2. How did people feel when a number of social measures were put into practice? Were they

right in thinking so?

→People felt that the policy of ignoring the poor and refusing assistance had been abandoned. The government was making efforts to relieve the misery of the unfortunate, so they did not need to pay attention any more.

3. … the search for a way of getting the poor off our conscience was not at an end; it was only suspended.

→The desire to find a way to justify the unconcern for the poor had not been abandoned; it had only been put off.

Part IV (Paras.12-20)

1.What is the argument of the first design? What is the essence of the first design?

2. In Paragraphs 12 and 13, the author, on three occasions, mentioned the Pentagon or national defense. Why does he make these references?

→The author wants to point out the ironical fact that those people who attack government or the bureaucracy will not include the military establishment. They want the government to do less or nothing in social welfare but more on ―national defense‖. The a uthor is highly critical of such a view. He opposes huge military expenditures.

3. We have great corporate bureaucracies replete with corporate bureaucrats, … ,(When these …, all been in the Pantagon.)

What is the basic view of the author? What is the tone of this statement?

4. … only rarely given to overpaying for monkey wrenches, flashlights, coffee makers, and toilet seats.

→Government officials, on the whole, are good; it is very rare that some would pay high prices for office equipment to get kickbacks.

5. We have nearly abolished poverty among the old, … and vastly enhanced educational opportunity.

What is the author’s estimation of the welfare system? What do you think of his estimation?

6. What is the second design? Does the author agree to the argument?

7. This is perhaps our most highly influential piece of fiction.

→It is a very popular story and has been accepted by many but it is not true.

8. What is the argument of the third design? How dose the author refute this argument?

→The third design is when you give public assistance to the poor, you take money from the rich to the poor. The result is the rich are less willing to work hard and create wealth and the poor are encouraged to remain idle.

9. *corporate executive: 企业经理人员

10. Belief can be the servant of truth-but even more of convenience.

→Belief can be used in the search for truth. But more often than not it is accepted because it is convenience and self-serving.

11. What is the fourth design? How does the author refute this argument?

He raises two points. One is poverty does the greatest harm to the freedom of the poor. When you are penniless, how can you be free to choose? The other is when you compare the gain of the poor and the loss of the rich, you will find the gain is far greater than the loss. Freedom is, on the whole, enhanced.

12. There is, we can surely agree, no form of oppression that is quite so great, … having no money at all.

我们完全可以同意，没有哪种压迫的形式比身无分文更厉害，也没有哪种对思想和行动的束缚不一无所有更全面彻底。

13. Freedom we rightly cherish. Cherishing it,… to those in need.

我们珍惜自由是对的。正因为我们珍惜自由，我们就不能以此为借口，不给最需要自由的人以自由。

14. Finally, when all else fails, we resort to simple psychological denial。

最终，当一切办法都无济于事时，我们就干脆装作没看见。

15. Whether they be in Ethiopia, … we resolve to keep the m off our minds.

→不管他们生活在埃塞俄比亚，还是在纽约市的南布朗克斯区，甚至在洛杉矶这样的天堂，我们都决心不去为这些人操心。

16. All, save perhaps the last, …: save: (prep.) except

17. George Gilder, a greatly favored figure of … to ensure effort…

→George Gilder advances the view that only when the poor suffer from great misery will they be stimulated to make great effort to change the situation; in other words, suffering is necessary to force the poor to work hard.

18. A.F.D.C.: 对有未成年子女家庭的补助food stamps: 食品券

Worker’s Compensation: 工人（失业）补助金subsidized housing: 住房补贴disability insurance: 伤残保险

19. Cut the knot, for there is no way to untie it. By a triage, … is the penalty we should pay. 这是一堆解不开的疙瘩，只能快刀斩乱麻，统统取消. 按照救治的先后原则，生存者应该是经过挑选的有价值的人；其他人的灭亡是我们必须付出的代价。

20. … he is enjoy ing, as indicated, unparalleled popularity in high Washington circles.

… 如上所说，他在华盛顿高层当中享有无比的威望。

A summary for the five current designs: What is the argument of these five designs? How does he refute these arguments?

Design 1:

argument: most of the things that must be done on behalf of the poor must be done in one way or another by the government—the government is inherently incompetent and ineffective—it must not be asked to soccer the poor

refutation: discrimination against people working in the federal government

Design 2:

argument: any form of public help to the poor only hurts the poor

refutation: there is no proof of this

Design 3:

argument: public assistance measures have an adverse effect on incentive

refutation: (two rhetorical questions) ……

Design 4:

argument: adverse effect on freedom of taking responsibility for them

refutation: a, no money, no freedom

b, the gain is far greater than the loss

Design 5: simple psychological denial

Part V (Para. 21)

1. Compassion, … is the least comfort able, the least convenient course of behavior and action in our time. 同情心，加上与之相关的社会努力是我们这个时代最麻烦、最令人不快的

行为和行动方针。

2. Also, it is, in the end, the most truly conservative course. There is no paradox here… above all, should yearn.

Why does the author think it is the most truly conservative course?

→The conservatives want to maintain the status quo in the United States. They want to maintain and promote American social and political system, American institutions and values. In order to achieve this, it is necessary to give public assistance to the poor, to keep them contented, so that there will be no unrest and rioting. In this sense, social welfare actually serves the conservative goal. The author here is using the word ―conservative‖ in more than one sense, meaning carrying on tradition and maintaining stability.

Why does the author say ―There is no paradox here‖?

→The conservatives oppose social welfare and government support for the poor. Yet they want social and political stability which, according to Galbraith, can be achieved by making the poor contented through public support. So public support actually serves the greater goal of the conservatives.

Stylistic analysis: (What’s the language features of this article?)

Clues:* verbs *syntax, *variation, *imagery in setting and characterization, *suspense, etc.