自由之根基
[美] 伊迪丝·汉密尔顿
■ 译 | 顾忆青
(译文)
在如今这个时代，自由所面临的挑战是个发人深省的话题。面对这个陌生而又崭新的世界，我们时刻都在思考该如何与之相处。我们该怎样对待最宝贵的一种财富——自由？这个世界，所谓的西方世界，源起于对新事物的开拓，就同现在我们征服宇宙一样。
“自由”始于两千五百多年前的希腊。在此之前，并无“自由”可言。即便人类孕育了绚烂的文明，建立了伟大的帝国，可自由却遥不可及。埃及、巴比伦、尼尼微，这些国家都处于专制统治之下，一人独裁，劳苦大众任其摆布。而在希腊雅典这个小国小城里，百姓却得以自立。雅典人民始终由一位无意独掌大权的伟人所领导。帝国的统治者们坚决主张大众应对其绝对服从。而雅典人民却不以为然，他们认为唯有战争来临才应如此，并且，只有全体人民的利益得到维护，人民才会心甘情愿地服从。伟大的雅典政治家伯里克利曾说过：“我们是一个自由政府，但我们遵守法律，尤其是那些保护被压迫者的法律，以及那些违者必遭耻辱的不成文律法。”
雅典人民不仅自觉服从由他们亲自通过的成文律法，还坚决遵守那些自由者相处所必须履行的不成文规定。他们关爱彼此，患难与共。没有这种种品质，若非是个沙漠遁士，生活决不堪忍受。雅典人并不以为，自由即是随心所欲。一个能够自我约束的人，才是自由的。能够服从于自己所认同的一切，才可谓之曰“自由”。雅典人民未将生活视为一己之事，他们为着共同的利益而各司其责。这种责任并非受外力所迫，而是源自对这座城市的骄傲，这里是他们的安身之所。有史以来的第一个政府始终秉持着这一信条：自由为一切能够约束自我并为整个城邦有所担当的人而生。正是这样的理念，为希腊天才们的丰硕建树奠定了基础。
然而，与发明原子弹不同，自由的获得绝不是件一劳永逸的事。人们若不珍视自由，不为之奋斗，自由便会消亡。要享有永恒的自由，就得时刻保持警觉。雅典人民没能坚持下去。一场至关重大的改变悄然发生，祸延全国。曾经，对雅典人民而言，能为这座城市做出贡献，无疑是令人自豪和喜悦的，他们从未想要收获任何物质回报。后来，雅典人民的态度发生了彻底的改变，他们将这座城市视为向其支付薪酬的雇主。他们所想的，不是人民能为国家做些什么，而是国家能为人民做些什么。人民所需要的，是一个能给予他们舒适生活的政府。当这成为高于一切的目标时，自由、自立与责任的观念便开始模糊甚至消失。雅典这座城市，越发像是一个拥有巨大财富的合营企业，而每一个公民都有权享受这些财富。
雅典人民开始相信，他们真正所要的自由是免于责任的自由。但结局可想而知。如果不顾大众利益，一心想摆脱责任，依赖他人，他就不再自由。承担责任是每个人为争取自由所必须付出的代价。别无他法。古希腊的雅典人拒绝承担责任，那么他们便永远不再享有自由。
亚里士多德如是说过：“一朝善，万世传。”虽然雅典自由不再，但世界并没失去“自由”。大约是在一七七六年，伟大的美国政治家詹姆士·麦迪逊就曾提及“人类自治能力”。他绝没意识到，无疑他所指的就是希腊人。虽然他不曾想起雅典，但人类一旦产生某个伟大的想法，就永远不会磨灭。即便是在如今的原子时代，也难以彻底摧毁它。这一念头存在于某些人的脑海中，尽管尚未付诸全体行动。我们无法肯定行动之时即将来临，但可以确定的是，那一天终将到来。
(原文)
ROOTS OF FREEDOM
Edith Hamilton
Freedom's challenge in the Atomic Age is a sobering topic. We are facing today a strange new world and we are all wondering what we are going to do with it. What are we going to do with one of our most precious possessions, freedom? The world we know, our Western world, began with something as new as the conquest of space.
Some 2,500 years ago Greece discovered freedom. Before that there was no freedom. There were great civilizations, splendid empires, but no freedom anywhere. Egypt, Babylon, Nineveh, were all tyrannies, one immensely powerful man ruling over helpless masses. In Greece, in Athens, a little city in a little country, there were no helpless masses, and a time came when the Athenians were led by a great man who did not want to be powerful. Absolute obedience to the ruler was what the leaders of the empires insisted on. Athens said no,there must never be absolute obedience to a man except in war. There must be willing obedience to what is good for all. Pericles, the great Athenian statesman, said:“We are a free government, but we obey the laws, more especially those which protect the oppressed, and the unwritten laws which, if broken bring shame.”
Athenians willingly obeyed the written laws which they themselves passed, and the unwritten, which must be obeyed if free men live together. They must show each other kindness and pity and the many qualities without which life would be intolerable except to hermit in the desert. The Athenians never thought that a man was free if he could do what he wanted. A man was free if he was self-controlled. To make yourself obey what you approved was freedom. They were saved from looking at their lives as their own private affair. Each one felt responsible for the welfare of Athens, not because it was imposed on him from the outside, but because the city was his pride and his safety. The creed of the first government in the world was liberty for all men who could control themselves and would take responsibility for the state. This was the conception that underlay the lofty reach of Greek genius.
But discovering freedom is not like discovering atomic bombs. It cannot be discovered once for all. If people do not prize it, and work for it, it will depart. Eternal vigilance is its price. Athens changed. It was a change that took place unnoticed though it was of the utmost importance, a spiritual change which penetrated the whole state. It had been the Athenians' pride and joy to give to their city. That they could material benefits from her never entered their minds. There had to be a complete change of attitude before they could look at the city as an employer who paid her citizens for doing her work. Now instead of men giving to the state, the state was to give to them. What the people wanted was a government which would provide a comfortable life for them, and with this as the foremost object, ideas of freedom and self-reliance and responsibility were obscure to the point of disappearing. Athens was more and more looked on as a cooperative business possessed of great wealth in which all citizens had a right to share.
She reached the point when the freedom she really wanted was freedom from responsibility. There could be only one result. If men insisted on being free from the burden of self-dependence and responsibility for the common good,they would cease to be free. Responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom. It is to be had on no other terms. Athens, the Athens of Ancient Greece, refused responsibility, she reached the end of freedom and was never to have it again.
But, “the excellent becomes the permanent,” Aristotle said. Athens lost freedom forever, but freedom was not lost forever for the world. A great American statesman, James Madison, in or near the year 1776 A.D. referred to:“The capacity of mankind for self-government.” No doubt he had not an idea that he was speaking Greek. Athens was not in the farthest background of his mind, but once a great and good idea has dawned upon man, it is never completely lost. The Atomic Age cannot destroy it. Somehow in this or that man's thought such an idea lives though unconsidered by the world of action. One can never be sure that it is not on the point of breaking out into action, only sure that it will do so sometime.
转自顾忆青老师博客
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