作品展示八
The
Breakdown of Government
失败的政府
Imagine living
in a city where you felt safe walking home at ten in the evening - or even at
two in the morning.
设想一下，如果你居住的城市治安状况良好，当你在晚上十点钟、甚至在清晨两点钟独自一人步行回家时，心里毫无恐惧感，你的心情是否会变得好得多？
Imagine your
children going to schools that respect your values; where teachers concentrate
on reading, writing, adding, subtracting, and other academic basics; and where
no one would dare teach your child a philosophy that’s alien to you.
设想一下，要是你的孩子正在就读的学校能够尊重你的价值观，老师们把精力都集中在如何教会孩子们阅读、写作、算术，以及其他的课程上，并且没有人会把一些你认为是乌七八糟的货色灌输给你的孩子，你的心里是否会觉得十分欣慰？
Imagine that
your total tax load - income tax, sales tax, property tax and other taxes or
was only half what you’re paying now. You could move into a better home,
finance a more comfortable retirement, send your children to the private school
of your choice, support your favorite cause or charity in a way that would make
a significant difference, or save up to go into business for yourself.
要是你每年缴纳的全部税赋，包括所得税、销售税、财产税以及其他种种的杂税在内在突然之间减少到了现在你实际缴纳的一半，你是否会感到精神振奋？因为那样一来，你就有希望买进一栋更好的房子，你退休后的日子就会变得十分富庶，还能把你的孩子送到一家你更加中意的私立学校去念书，以及有足够的钱来支持你钟爱的事业、或是慈善活动，从而使得情况大有改观。甚至在等到你有了相当的积蓄以后，还可以开办一家属于自己的企业。
With much lower
taxes, your family could live well on the income of just one spouse - so the
other parent could choose to stay home and raise your children in the values
you believe, rather than leaving their moral training to strangers.
假如你的纳税金额能够大大地降低，你的家庭即使只靠一个人的工资也可以生活得很好，于是你们夫妇俩中的一个人可以呆在家里，按照你自己的价值观来教育孩子，而不是把培养他们人生观的工作交给一些陌生人来做。
Is This a
Dream?
这只是一个梦想吗？
I’m not
describing Utopia. A free society wouldn’t be perfect. But as recently as 1950,
it was real. The crime rate was only one fifth of what it is today.1
我不是在谈论乌托邦的事情，因为我知道一个自由的社会不可能是完美无缺的。然而，一直到1950年代为止，上面的这些事情完全是实实在在的，那时候的犯罪率仅仅是现在的五分之一。⑴
Most American
school children learned to read, write, and do math competently - and they left
school able to make their way in the world.
那时的绝大多数的美国孩子在学校里都能真正地学会阅读、写作和算术的本领。然后他们离开学校，在世界上干出一番自己的事业。
Government was
only one fifth the size it is today.
那时的政府规模仅仅是现在的五分之一。
――――――――――――――――――――――――
1Calculated
from data in the FBI report Urban Crime Reports: Crime in the United States
1991 (1992), reported in The Universal Almanac 1994 (page 239), and Historical
Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970, table H952-961 (page
413).
The Breakdown of Government
失败的政府
Government Running Wild
毫无节制的政府行为
But today’s America is quite
different. It is a land where crime is a national scandal, schools turn out
illiterates, and taxes drive both parents into the job market. The “American
dream” has become a mirage for too many of us.
然而，今天的美国已经是今非昔比。这个国家变成了罪恶的渊薮，轰动全国的丑闻比比皆是；学校培养出来的人尽是文盲；税赋的重压又迫使父母亲俩人全都外出打工。对于我们的多数人来说，“美国梦”已经变成了一个遥不可及的海市蜃楼。
And to make
matters worse, government has grown too large and too bold. It routinely
tramples on our property and our liberties:
而更加糟糕的是，政府的规模已经变得过于庞大，并且行为太不检点。它无数次地践踏我们的财产和自由，那已经变成了常规。
· The federal
government was founded by men who warned “Don’t tread on me.” But that
government now pries into your bank account, threatens to destroy you to
collect its taxes, and tries to herd you into a health-care collective - as
though you were a Soviet citizen.
·建立联邦政府的那个人曾经警告过我们：“别爬到我的头上来。”然而正是这个政府，如今正在窥视你们的银行帐号，为了征税而不惜把你们毁灭掉。此外，他们还想把你们驱赶到医疗保健的合作社中去，就如同你们是一些苏联公民那样。
· Federal, state,
and local governments together take 47% of your earnings through direct and
hidden taxes - cutting your standard of living to a fraction of what it could
be.
·联邦政府、州政府和地方政府通过直接的、隐藏的征税拿走了你47％的收入，于是把你的生活水准削减到了原来的几分之一。
· The government
created to enable us to pursue happiness in peace now runs up the price of
everything you buy through the regulations and mandates it lays on companies.
·先辈们创立的这个政府，其目的是为了让我们能在和平的环境中追求幸福，但如今它正在把法规和条例施加在公司的头上，使得你们需要购买的所有东西其价格一再地上涨。
· The government
set up to protect private property now confiscates it in the name of fighting
drugs or preserving the environment.
·为了保护私有财产而设立的政府如今正以反毒品和环保作为借口来没收我们的私有财产。
· The courts
that once defended your privacy and liberties now ratify any intrusion that can
be shown to be in the government’s interest.
·曾经保卫了我们的隐私和自由的法庭如今却在批准任何种类的可闯入法案，只要它们符合政府的利益，就一概批准。
This is a far
cry from what the founding fathers had in mind - a government instituted among
men to secure the blessings of life, liberty, and property.
·我们的立国先辈们的建国思想是，建立一个来自人民的政府，确保人民的福趾：生命、自由和财产的权利。然而，如今的现实与那个理想之间完全是背道而驰的。
What Changed?
原因何在？
No plague
descended upon America to halt progress and plunge us into a world of violent
crime, poor education, and big government.
假如有一场可怕的瘟疫降临美国，导致了社会进步的停顿，造成遍地的暴力犯罪，引起普遍性的教育失败，以及政府规模的不断扩大，我们当然可以理解这一切。然而，并没有发生过这样的瘟疫。
So how did it
happen? What transformed America from the land of the free into the land of
high taxes - from the land of prosperity into the land of debt and bankruptcy -
from the land of opportunity to the land of quotas and lawsuits - from the land
of free enterprise to the land of regulations, mandates, and government
inspectors?
那么，这一切又是怎么发生的呢？究竟是什么原因使得美国从一个自由之国变成了一个高税负的国家，从一个繁荣的国度变成了到处是债务和破产的梦魇之地，从一块满是机遇的土地变成了充斥着配额和诉讼的地方，从人人都在创造性地勤奋劳动的乐土变成了遍布着规则、法案和政府检查员监狱？
The decline of
America has been caused by politicians and reformers who believe that you
aren’t competent to run your own life, that they know better how to spend the
money you’ve earned, that they understand which products you should be allowed
to buy and what wages and job benefits are suitable for you.
美国的衰落是由政客和改革家们造成的，他们认为你们没有能力来主宰自己的生活，而应该由他们来做出决定，你们该怎样使用你们自己赚到的钱，你们可被允许购买什么样的产品，以及什么样的工资和福利待遇才最适合于你们。
To run your life
for you, they have created a government that fails at everything it undertakes,
but wants to undertake everything:
为了主宰你们的生活，他们建立了一个政府。这个政府什么事情都想管，但没有一件事情管得好。
· The government
can’t deliver the mail on time, but wants to take your life in its hands by
controlling your health care.
·政府的邮政服务效率低下，连邮件都不能准时送达，但它还想控制医疗保健服务，把你们的生活掌控在它的手中。
· The government
can’t keep the peace in Washington, D.C., but it sends troops on “peacekeeping
missions” to Somalia and Haiti - to save those countries from being run by the
wrong thugs.
·政府连在华盛顿特区的和平都不能保证，但它还把“维和部队”派遣到索马里和海地，以防止那些国家被一些不听话的恶棍接管。
· Government
schools don’t have the money and time to teach your children how to read well -
yet they always find the resources to teach their favorite social theories, no
matter how distressing they are to parents.
·政府的学校没有足够的金钱和时间来教会你的孩子如何阅读，但在传授他们所偏爱的社会理论时，他们的资源总是绰绰有余，而不管父母亲们认为这些灌输给学生的货色是多么的离经叛道。
Wherever we look,
government fails at what we want, and succeeds only in finding new ways to
interfere with our lives.
环顾四周，我们所看见的是，我们希望它办的事情政府一样都没有办成，而办成的只是怎样找到新的方法来干涉我们的生活。
What Went Wrong?
出了什么毛病？
Once upon a time
government budgets were balanced, our money was sound, the cities were safe,
and the taxes of federal, state, and local governments combined took less than
10% of our income.2
以前，政府的预算曾经是收支平衡的。我们的货币制度是健全的，我们的城市是安全的。各种税收加在一起，包括联邦、州和地方政府的税收一起只占我们收入的10％。⑵
The graph on the
next page shows how the cost of government has grown. But no graph can show how
government has intruded deeper and deeper into our lives, making decisions we
used to make for ourselves. Government decides which products we’re allowed to
buy, sets wage floors that force unemployment on teenagers, prevents most small
businesses from raising capital, and stops the critically ill from using
life-saving medicines while bureaucrats pretend to protect us.
下一页上的图表显示了政府开支正以什么样的速度在增长，但政府是如何一步一步地入侵我们的生活，则无法用图表来显示。政府正在为我们作出各种决定，而这些决定以前是由我们自己来做的。政府作出决定，允许我们可以购买什么样的产品，规定了最低工资线、但那使得年轻人的失业率上升，不让绝大多数的小企业获得融资，使得身患绝症的人无法获得救命的药品。然而，那些官僚们仍然在假装他们是在保护我们的利益。
------------------------------------------------
2The
tax data is from the U.S. Bureau of the Census series ìAll Governments -
Summary of Finances,î which is published in Historical Statistics of the United
States, Colonial Times to 1970, Series Y-505, page 1119, and in various annual
issues of The Statistical Abstract. This series eliminates all duplication
among levels of government. The national income data are taken from Economic
Indicators 1980 Historical Supplement (Joint Economic Committee of Congress),
and from Historical Statistics of the United States, Colonial Times to 1970,
Series F-7, page 224.
The Breakdown of
Government
失败的政府
Where did it all
go wrong? Wasn’t government supposed to be our servant, rather than our master?
Wasn’t government supposed to help only those who can’t help themselves - rather
than benefiting politicians, lobbyists, and social reformers?
所有这一切的毛病究竟出在什么地方？政府究竟应该是我们的仆从、还是我们的主人？政府是否应该仅仅帮助那些无法自己找到帮助的人们？而不是有利于政客、院外活动分子和社会改革家？
What happened to
the idea that government should do for the people only what they cannot do for
themselves?
照理来说，政府代替人民做的事情，只应该是那些人们自己无法做成的事情。这个主张现在怎么啦？
WHAT WE WILL COVER
我们能做些什么？
We need to answer those
questions before we can revive the American dream of liberty and prosperity for
all.
如果我们想重新找回能让所有的人都获得自由和富裕的美国梦，就必须回答这些问题。
Understand the Problem
理解面临的问题
But to understand how
government went so wrong, we must first identify exactly what government is and
how it operates. Because Part I does this, it may be the most important section
of the book.
我们要想知道政府在错误的道路上已经走得有多远，首先必须弄明白政府是什么，它如何运作。第一章就是关于这些内容的，所以它是本书最重要的章节。
It shows why
government programs never seem to produce the results that were promised - why
laws to make America “color blind” lead to racial quotas,
第一章解释了政府的计划为何总是失败，为何它允诺的结果从不会兑现，以及打算把美国改造成“无肤色歧视”的法律却会导致基于种族考虑的配额，
why programs to
improve the economy end in recession and inflation, and why plans to help the
poor enlarge their numbers.
为何旨在改善经济的计划却会导致经济衰退和通胀，以及帮助穷人的计划却使得穷人的数量不断增加。
Identify the Solutions
寻找解决方案
Part II examines
specific issues - showing how government created the problems the politicians
now pretend they can solve, and showing how we can solve these problems. We
will see:
第二章研究具体问题，阐述政府是如何把麻烦制造出来，然后政客们声称他们能够解决这些麻烦。最后谈论我们将怎样来解决这些问题。内容如下：
· How crime,
education, and welfare went from minor problems in the 1950s to major scandals
in the 1990s - and how we can end the scandals.
·犯罪、教育和福利问题在1950年代只是一些局部的小麻烦，但到了1990年代则变成了全局性的丑闻 － 我们如何来中止这种局面。
· How to fix
Social Security once and for all - to end its periodic crises, and to guarantee
that you get everything you pay for.
·如何一劳永逸地解决社会保障问题，不再周而复始地发生危机，以及如何确保你们的付出能获得应有的回报。
· How to balance
the federal budget immediately and permanently - without raising taxes.
·在不增加税收的前提下如何使得联邦预算立即实现收支平衡，并且一劳永逸地解决问题。
· How to keep
government from running up the prices of the things you buy and reducing the
wages you earn.
·如何防止政府哄抬物价，如何防止它瓜分你的工资。
· How America
can be much safer from foreign attack with a much smaller military budget.
如何用少得多的军事开支就能防止美国遭受外来袭击，使我们变得更安全。
· How to cut
taxes to a fraction of where they are now. . . . and much more.
怎样把当前的税赋大大降低，以及其他的事项。
Today’s social
and political problems aren’t mysterious punishments inflicted by angry gods.
They are man-made, and they can be fixed. If we understand what caused them, we
can cure them. And we can make sure they don’t recur.
我们今天的社会问题和政治问题并不是由愤怒的上帝施加给我们的一种莫名其妙的惩罚，而是人为造成的，所以它们是可以纠正的。只要我们能够弄明白产生它们的原因，也就能够解决它们，并且能确保它们以后不再发生。
Getting from Here to There
前往光明的彼岸
Part II shows
how we can get from where we are now to where we want to be - to a society
where crime rates are low, education is first-class, taxes are trivial,
products and services are plentiful and inexpensive, jobs are more rewarding,
and each of us is free to make of his life what he will.
第二章论述了我们怎样从现在的地方出发，前往我们想去的那个地方。那就是建立起一个社会，在那个社会里，犯罪率很低，教育是第一流的，税赋轻得微不足道。产品和服务既数量充足、又价格低廉；人们从事的工作可以获得更好的回报，以及每一个人都能按照自己的意愿安排自己的生活。
It has come to
seem impossible that we could ever cut government and reduce taxes enough to
make a real difference in our lives. We’re told that everyone wants a smaller
government but that no one wants to give up his own favorite program. Part II
will show how we can escape that trap.
从表面上看，政府规模和税收似乎不可能大幅度地削减，从而让我们的生活发生根本性的变化。人人都说他们希望政府的规模更小一些，但没有一个人愿意放弃他所赞同的计划。第二章将谈到，我们将如何走出这个怪圈。
The Breakdown of
Government
失败的政府
IT’S UP TO US
全靠我们自己
A revolution is sweeping
through America today - as Americans have grown impatient with big government,
high taxes, meddling politicians and bureaucrats, soaring crime rates, and
mediocre education.
一场革命即将横扫当今的美国，因为面对规模庞大的政府、高昂的税收、爱管闲事的政客和官僚阶层，以及不断上升的犯罪率和平庸的教育体系等等，美国人民正在变得越来越不耐烦。
If the
revolution brings the right changes, America can be free, peaceful, and
prosperous again.
如果这场革命带来了正确的变化，则美国将重新成为一个自由、和平、富足的国家。
But to restore
that free country, we first need to understand how we arrived where we are today.
但是，为了重建这样一个自由社会，我们首先要搞懂我们是如何落到今天这样的境地的。
So let’s get
started.
所以，让我们现在就开始吧。
Part I
第一章
Why Government Doesn’t Work
为什么政府根本没用？
What Is Government?
什么是政府？
To understand
how government went wrong, we must understand what it is.
要弄明白政府是如何走上歧途的，我们必须了解什么是政府。
Government
dominates our lives; it is at the center of most news and most public
discussion. And yet not one person in a hundred can explain what we mean by
“government,” and no school or textbook bothers to provide a precise
definition.
政府主宰了我们的生活。在绝大多数的新闻和公共讨论中它占据着中心位置。然而，一百个人当中没有一个人能够解释，我们所意味的政府究竟是怎么一回事，也没有什么学校或是教科书愿意自找麻烦地给出一个准确的定义。
What is
government? What makes it different from IBM or the Boy Scouts or a local
security company? What is there about government that enables it to do what
other organizations can’t?
什么是政府？它与IBM、童子军，或是一家当地的证券公司之间究竟有些什么样的区别？有些事情政府能够做，而其他的组织做不了，原因在哪里？
When a reformer
decides that everyone should have health insurance or that every worker should
have “family leave,” why doesn’t he take his project to the Red Cross or the
Chamber of Commerce? Why does he turn to government?
当一个改革家说，人人都应该享有医疗保险，或者每一个工人都必须享受“家庭休假”时，他为什么不把他的方案拿到红十字会去，或是拿到商会去？而是把计划提交给政府？
What makes
government different from every other institution in society?
政府有别于社会上其他的所有组织，原因何在？
Is it that only government is large enough to handle some tasks?
是由于政府的规模足够大，只有它才有能力解决某些问题吗？
No. General
Motors alone had revenues of $132 billion in 1992. And in 1995 Pacific Bell
announced that it would raise $16 billion to rewire the entire state of
California to accommodate the information “superhighway.” Even larger companies
than these could be organized if they were needed.3
不！光是通用机器公司一家公司，其1992年的利润就高达1320亿美元。太平洋贝尔公司在1995年宣布，将花费160亿美元将整个加里福尼亚洲连接起来，以便建立起信息高速公路。如果有必要的话，还可以建立起规模更大的公司。⑶
Is it that only government operates without profit?
是由于政府属于非盈利组织吗？
No - so do the
Salvation Army, the Rotary Club, and thousands of other organizations.
不。救世军和扶轮社也是非营利组织，此外还有其他的几千个组织。
Is it that government cares more about the future than private
companies do?
因为政府比私营公司更加关心将来的利益吗？
Hardly. A
corporation may last for centuries. Its management enhances today’s stock price
by building tomorrow’s earnings, because almost any investor will prefer a
stock that’s likely to pay dividends for 50 years over a stock whose dividends
may end in 10 years. But politicians have little interest in anything beyond
the next election.
很难这样说。一家公司可能存在几百年，管理层可以通过培育未来的利润增长点来抬高当前的股票价格，因为对于一家能在未来的50年中持续支付红利的股票，所有的投资者都是青睐有加的。然而，除了关心下一次的选举之外，政客们对长期问题几乎毫无兴趣。
----------------------------------------------
3The
General Motors revenues are from The World Almanac and Book of Facts, 1994,
page 112. The Pacific Bell announcement appeared in the San Francisco Examiner,
November 11, 1993, page A-1.
Is it that government is the only institution that considers the
well-being of all citizens?
是由于政府是唯一考虑所有阶层利益的机构吗？
No institution
can do that - and certainly not government. Anything government gives to one
group must be taken from others. So government necessarily plays favorites,
which divides people into opposing camps.
没有一家机构能这样做，当然也包括政府在内。政府如果把任何好处给予一个阶层，这种好处肯定是从另一个阶层那里拿来的。所以，政府必定是有倾向性的，于是人们才分成了互相敌对的阵营。
Government’s Unique Asset
政府的独特资产
What separates government
from the rest of society isn’t its size, its disregard for profit, its
foresight, or its scope.
政府有别于社会其他组织的原因并不在于规模、是否以营利为目的、是否有远见卓识，或是服务范围怎样。
The distinctive
feature of government is coercion - the use of force and the threat of force to
win obedience. This is how government differs from every other agency in
society. The others persuade; government compels.
政府的鲜明特点就在于它的强迫性，也就是使用暴力、或者威胁使用暴力来获得人们的服从。这就是政府之所以有别于社会的其他所有组织的原因：其他的组织使用说服的方式，而政府则运用强制手段。
When someone
demands that government help flood victims, he is saying he wants to force
people to pay for flood relief. Otherwise, he’d be happy to have the Red Cross
and its supporters handle everything.
当有人要求政府出来帮助洪灾的受害者时，他实际上是在说，他希望政府出面、迫使人们为洪灾救济款掏腰包。否则，他会很乐意地让红十字会以及他们的支持者来处理全部事情。
When someone
wants government to limit the price of a product, he is asking to use force to
prevent people from paying more for something they want. Otherwise, he would
simply urge people not to patronize those he thinks are charging too much.
如果有人希望政府出面来限定某种产品的价格，他实际上是在请求政府运用暴力、来防止人们高价购买货物。要不然，他只需要催促人们别去那些店铺买东西，因为他们的收费太贵。
When Congress
passes a bill mandating “family leave,” it forces every company to provide time
off for family problems - even if its employees want the employer to use
payroll money for some other benefit. Otherwise, employers and employees would
be free to decide what works best in each situation.
当国会通过一项法案，批准带薪的“家庭休假”计划时，它实际上是在强迫每一家公司把带薪的休假提供给员工，以解决他们的家庭问题，尽管雇员实际上是希望老板把这乱七八糟的待遇体现在工资单上。如果不是这样，雇主和雇员就可以自由地作出决定，根据各自公司的实际情况来采用效果最好的形式。
Nothing
involving government is voluntary - as it would be when a private company does
something. One way or another, there is compulsion in every government
activity:
与一家私人公司不同的是，所有与政府有牵连的事情没有一样是自愿的。每一个政府行为都带有强迫的成分，只是形式不同而已。
· The government
forces someone to pay for something;
·政府强迫某些人为某些事情出钱。
· The government
forces someone to do something; or
·政府强迫某些人做某些事情，或者
· The government
forcibly prevents someone from doing something.
·政府以强制的手段迫使某些人不去做某些事情。
There is no
other reason to involve government.
只要有政府参与其中，就没有道理可讲。
And by “force” I
mean the real thing - the kind that hurts people.
我所说的“暴力”是完全真实的东西，它损害人民的利益。
As Long as You Comply . . .
如果你服从……
In some
government agencies, such as the police and prisons, the role of coercion is
obvious. But it is at work in every government program - although a program-s
supporters rarely acknowledge it.
在某些政府机构中，比如警察局和监狱，强制性是显而易见的。然而在所有的政府计划之中强制性都无处不在，尽管计划的支持者们很少愿意承认这一点。
What Is Government?
什么是政府？
If this seems
like too sweeping a statement, it may be that you’ve never tried to resist a
government program. If you did, you’d have learned very quickly that the
program is enforced by a gun. The easiest way to spot the gun is to imagine
what would happen if you decided to ignore the government’s “request.”
如果你觉得这句话与你毫不相干，那是因为你从未试图抵制过政府的计划。如果这样做了，你就会很快意识到，这项计划之所以能得以实施，完全是由于它的背后有一支枪在支持着它。如果你想找到这支枪，最方便的办法就是想象一下，假如你决定对政府的“请求”不予理会，接下来将会发生什么事情？
Suppose, for
example, that you’re a barber. One day the state Board of Tonsorial Cutters of
Hair (BOTCH) issues a regulation to stop “cut-throat competition” - decreeing
that no barber can charge less than $8 for a haircut. (Many states do have laws
prohibiting barbers from charging less than a stated minimum price.)
假如你是一位理发师。有一天州政府的理发师管理局颁布了一项法令，以停止“恶性竞争”为由禁止任何理发师为顾客理一个头的收费低于8美元。（有不少州确实有法律，规定理发师的收费不得低于一个规定的最低价格）
So long as you
charge at least $8, you won’t even notice the regulation. But suppose your
price is only $6. Perhaps you’re in a low-income neighborhood where people
can’t afford $8 haircuts, or maybe your shop is new and you want to attract
customers, or perhaps business is slow and you need to stimulate sales. For
whatever reason, suppose you offer haircuts for $6.
如果你的收费从未低于8美元，你压根儿就不会注意到这条规定。但要是你现在的收费只有6美元，将会发生什么事情呢？你之所以按6美元的价格收费，或许是因为你所在的地区是穷人居住区，他们理不起8美元一个的头；或者是你的店铺刚刚开张，你想通过这种办法来招徕顾客；或许是你最近的生意不太好，你想薄利多销。但不管出于何种原因，反正你现在的收费标准是6美元。
You may be able
to get away with this for a month or two. But eventually the folks at BOTCH
will send you a letter, ordering you to desist.
在一、两个月里，可能什么事情也不会发生。但最终你会收到理发师管理局的家伙寄来的一封信，信中命令你不得继续这样的做法。
If you comply by
boosting your price to $8, you’ll hear nothing more. But if you keep cutting
hair for $6, eventually some men in suits will come to your shop and warn you
to stop undercharging.
如果你遵守了这个命令，把你的价格涨到了8美元，你就没事了。但如果你继续以六美元的价格理发，最后会有一帮穿西装的家伙光临你的店铺，向你发出口头警告：你的低收费的行为必须立即停止。
If you continue
to ignore the law, you’ll receive a subpoena - telling you to appear in court.
If you don’t show up, or if you ignore the court’s order to raise your price,
your barber’s license will be revoked.
如果你继续对法律置若罔闻，你将收到一张传票，通知你说你必须到法庭露面。要是你拒不到场，或是未能遵照法庭的命令提高收费标准，你的理发师执照就会被吊销。
If you defy the
court by continuing to cut hair, another group of men will come to your shop.
These fellows may not be in suits, and they probably will have guns. They will
be there to close your business.
要是你敢于藐视法庭，继续干你的营生，另外一帮人就会来到你的店里。他们也许不穿西装，但很有可能随身带着一支枪。他们来光顾你的小店，目的是为了把你的生意停掉。
If you resist,
their job will be to “take you into custody” - which is a euphemism for seizing
you, handcuffing you, and taking you to jail against your will.
如果你反抗，他们的任务是“将你收押看管”，当然这是一句委婉语，真正的意思就是抓住你、将你戴上手铐，并且违反你的意愿把你关进号子里去。
At this point,
it will be obvious that the regulation’s purpose is to force barbers to charge
at least $8 - not by persuasion, but with a gun.
到了这个当口，事情已经变得很明显了。法令的目的是为了让那位理发师把收费标准提高到8美元，但不是运用说服的方式，而是用一支枪来实现的。
Every government
program, no matter how benign it may appear, is the same. Coercion is the
reason - and the only reason - it is a government program.
政府的每一个计划，不管它们在外表看上去有多么的仁慈，其实都是一路货色。理由就在于它们的强制性，这就是唯一的理由。因为这是一项政府的计划。
Voluntary vs. Compulsory
志愿的还是强迫的
The IRS likes to say that
our tax system is based on voluntary compliance. And in a sense, that’s true:
so long as you comply, the system seems to be voluntary. But the moment you
choose not to comply, you’ll find yourself in a different system - one where
you’ll be forced to pay.
国税局可能会说，我们的税收体制是建立在志愿服从的基础之上的。从某种意义上来说，这话没错，但前提是你必须遵守它。如果你同意遵守它，这种体制似乎是志愿的；但要是你决定不予理睬，你会立即发现，你面对的体制已经完全变脸－你付也得付，不付也得付。
People seek the
help of business groups, charity organizations, and service clubs to urge
others to support some cause. People turn to government to force others to
support their cause.
人们到商业集团、慈善组织，以及服务性社团那里寻求帮助，其目的是为了促使别人支持某种事业。但把目光转向政府的人们则是为了迫使其它人支持他们的事业。
Now, you may
believe that government should set prices for haircuts and other things - or
that it should force people to do what’s good for them or what’s good for
society. But those are other issues. Before we can address them, we first need
to recognize the simple truth that every government program and regulation is
backed by the same kind of force that is so useful for robbing 7-Eleven stores.
Only then will we understand why government programs turn out as they do and
how government has come to where it is today.
现在你该相信，政府会为了设置理发的价格、以及其他一些东西的价格而制定一项法律了吧。当然，他们会声称这样做是为了人民的利益、或是为了整个社会的利益，所以必须强迫人们去做某件事情。然而那是另外一档子事。在与它们打交道之前，我们首先必须弄明白一个简单的道理，那就是：在每一个政府的计划和规定后面，都有暴力在支持着。这种暴力与抢劫CVS便利店的暴力毫无二致，并且十分管用。只有到了那时，我们才会明白，为什么只要是政府项目、其结果总是一团糟；以及知道了是什么原因使政府走到了今天这个地步。
Think through
any government activity. Eventually, you’ll find the coercion that keeps it
from being anything but a government program.
认真地去想一想任何一种政府行为，最终你会发现，它们之所以只能是一种政府行为，而成为不了别的东西，原因就在于它的强迫性。
Government Defined
给政府定义
So what is government? Very
simply, it is an agency of coercion.
好了，如今我们知道什么是政府了。简而言之，政府就是一个强制性的机构。
Of course, there
are other agencies of coercion - such as the Mafia. So to be more precise,
government is the agency of coercion that has flags in front of its offices.
当然，除了政府之外还有其他的强制性的组织，比如说黑手党。所以，更加准确的定义是，政府是一种强制性的机构，但在它的办公楼前还挂着国旗。
Or, to put it
another way, government is society’s dominant producer of coercion. The Mafia
and independent bandits are merely fringe competitors - seeking to take
advantage of the niches and nooks neglected by the government.
我们还可以换成另外一种说法，政府是当今社会中最大的强迫性行为的制造者。至于黑手党和其他一些单干的盗贼，尽管也算是政府的竞争者，但他们只是在某些被政府忽略了的小缝隙中寻找一点吃的东西，所以根本不可与前者同日而语。