ClippingKK

British democracy was not given by the elite. It was largely taken by the masses, who were empowered by the political processes that had been ongoing in England and the rest of Britain for the last several centuries. They had become emboldened by the changes in the nature of political institutions unleashed by the Glorious Revolution. Reforms were granted because the elite thought that reform was the only way to secure the continuation of their rule, albeit in a somewhat lessened form.

总而言之，要“富国强兵”，就必须使老百姓停留在辱、弱、贫、愚之中，如同好操纵的“提线木偶”。这样一种制度，会带来什么样的结果呢？当然会使这个国家的武力变得很强大

自从日本和中国打仗了以后，“军国主义”成了一个贬义词，我们经常讲日本军国主义者如何如何。可是在晚清后，曾经有很长一个时期，军国主义，是一个褒义词。当时有识之士尤其是从日本的明治维新中看到一些中国应该学习的方面，这些人往往张口闭口都把军国社会当作他们追求的目标。“军国社会是我们的未来”，很多人都是这样说的。后来日本人打我们了，当然就是另外一回事，但是在此之前“军国社会”是中国人羡慕的

. The people in Southeast Asia stopped trading, turned inward, and became more absolutist. In the next two centuries, they would be in no position to take advantage of the innovations that would spring up in the Industrial Revolution. And ultimately their retreat from trade would not save them from Europeans; by the end of the eighteenth century, nearly all were part of European colonial empires.

The relatively inclusive economic institutions that resulted in England created unprecedented economic dynamism, culminating in the Industrial Revolution, while industrialization did not stand a chance in Spain. By the time industrial technology was spreading in many parts of the world, the Spanish economy had declined so much that there was not even a need for the Crown or the land-owning elites in Spain to block industrialization.

如果你苟且，假如是出于一种无奈也就罢了，在那种高压之下，人要自保也是可以理解的。可是庄周是一个智者，他不愿把苟且说成是无奈，而是要用“玄学”把它奉为一种崇高的境界。按照庄周的说法，你较真，你是傻瓜，能够把一切都看透，那才是伟大的真人、智人。如果有人见义勇为，路见不平拔刀相助，他认为这是一个傻帽，要知道世上没有什么平不平，平就是不平，不平就是平。所以，如果说我不敢做也就罢了，庄周则说，其实你就不该做，争论什么叫平什么叫不平根本没有意义。为苟且解套，还要赋予它哲学意义，这是故意装深奥的开脱

然而无论出身如何卑贱，宦官一旦被皇帝宠信，权倾一时，就常常会忘乎所以，做出一些糟糕透顶的事。对此，当然不能用“阶级分析”说事：因为他们是穷苦出身，就会为穷人维权。宦官如此，朝官亦然，程度不同而已。“布衣卿相”绝不是“代表布衣的卿相”。从常识判断，皇权爪牙对无缘皇宠的百姓（“布衣卿相”对一般的“布衣”），比贵族对自己的附庸更无情，这不说是规律，也应是大概率现象

在儒家看来，天子不是把天下给自己一家继承，而是层层分封下去，天子分封诸侯，诸侯分封大夫，大夫封给诸士……一直到庶人都各有份地，使“人人亲其亲，长其长，而天下平”。每个人都不是只顾自己，而是替自己周围的人、替自己所在的小共同体，包括小共同体的主人着想，我孝敬爹，忠于直接的主人，主人又忠于他的主人，直到陪臣忠于诸侯，诸侯忠于天子，反过来每一级主人又都保护自己的附庸。那就是“天下为公”了。 但是在法家看来，每个人不为皇帝着想那就是“私”，哪怕是杀身成仁，舍生取义，舍已为人，只要为的不是皇上，那也是私，其至可能是更加危险的私，即所谓“亲亲则别，爱私则险”。只有每个人都为皇上坑亲杀熟，不仅把自己的一切奉献给皇上，还要把别人的一切也抢过来献给皇上，那才是为公，即所谓“公战”