新自由 The New Freedom

工業化及大量生產的技術，改變了許多美國人工作場所的本質

    民族的新生不是來自上層階級而是來自下層民眾。

    (托馬斯) 伍德羅 ‧ 威爾遜(1856-1924) 出生於佛吉尼亞州，父親是位嚴厲的長老會牧師。青少年時代，威爾遜曾在佐治亞州及南卡羅來納州生活過，置身於內戰留下的一片荒涼之中。威爾遜畢業 於北卡羅來納州戴維森學院，普林斯頓大學，並在約翰‧霍普金斯大學獲得歷史學和政治學的博士學位。威爾遜有關時事問題的演說和文章使他舉國聞名。1910年，威爾遜當選為新澤西州州長。依靠民主黨中的進步力量，威爾遜於1912年獲民主黨總統候選人的提名。由於共和黨中威廉‧霍華德‧塔夫特及西奧多‧羅斯福的二派支持者鬧分裂，威爾遜贏得了競選。

    下面文章節選自威爾遜競選總統演講集《新自由》一書。「新自由」是威爾遜進步演說的口號。

    當我回首歷史進程，當我回顧美國的誕生，我發現每一頁都寫有：民族的新生不是來自上層階級而是來自下層民眾；從默默無聞的民眾行列裏脫穎而出的天才是使人民重獲青春活力的天才。我的全部歷史知識，以及有助於我思想的點滴經驗和觀察，都使我堅信：人類生活的真正智慧是由普通人的經歷累積而成的。生活之效用，生活之活力，生活之果實不是自上而下地形成，而是像一棵大樹的自然生長一樣，從土壤向上形成樹幹，樹幹長出樹枝，樹枝長出葉子，結出果實。默默無聞、奮鬥不息的偉大民眾，位於萬事萬物之底，是提高社會水準的動力。一個民族之偉大體現於，也只能體現 於，其普通民眾之偉大。

    因此，當今我們國家的首要之急，就是要使那些將成為我們未來領袖，將復活美國生機的偉大的無名人士出來參政。我已表明對普通人的信任；同時，我還要表明，我對自己所說的一清二楚。一個逆流而上的人知道水力；一個正在格鬥的人知道打了幾拳，知道何處流了血；一個正在熱心追求向上的人，是當今美國之事的評判人。這評判人是正在為自己為他人的生活而鬥爭的人，他熱愛別人勝過愛護自己。這樣的人將以其判斷使你明白當今美國正在發生的事。拿我來說，我希望能以這人的判斷為指導。

    我們沒有公正的陪審團，一群不公的人──不，我不願說一群不公的人，而只是極少數人──左右著美國的政策。普通人沒有發言權，由於害怕永遠不會有發言權而開始感到失望，或害怕將來會再度失去發言權而開始感到失望。因此，我們必須建立一個與美國全體民眾同心同德的政府，一個願意在行動前盡可能最廣泛地徵求美國人民意願的政府。執政的首要問題就是要瞭解普通人正在做什麼，想什麼。我們大都是普通人；除非突然走運，很少人會高出我們社區的一般水平。因此，有普通人思想的人，有普通人經歷的人，通常總是能正確解釋美國的人。這難道不正是我們把有關亞伯拉罕‧林肯的故事引以自豪的原因嗎? 林肯來自普通民眾，與來自特權階級或受過教育的階級裏的人相比，林肯更瞭解美國。

    美國今天與未來的希望都與昨天的毫無二致，即，希望並相信，從默默無聞的家庭中將出現一批人，一批能成為工業界及政界主人的人。美國的富強存在於普通人的希望，普通人的福利，普通人的事業心及普通人的積極性之中。我們不會因少數紳士指揮工業而富有；我們的富有是因為我們擁有自己的智慧，擁有自己的工業。美國不是由名字見報的人組成的，美國不是由政治上想成為政治領袖的人組成的，美國也不是由誇誇其談的人組成的──只有當這些人為我們國家的主體，我們國家的原動力，千百萬無聲無息的偉大民眾說話的時候，才談得上他們的重要性。不能想民眾之所想，不能為民眾激情所動的人，是不會為美國及其未來目標說話的。能代表美國說話的只能是瞭解偉大的公民主體思想的人，只能是每日忙於公務的人，只能是日夜辛勞的人，只能是夜晚拖著疲憊的身軀回家的人，只能是繼承我們引為自豪的事業的人。

    你們知道，我們有時熱血沸騰，是因為我們想到，地球上所有其他國家正等著瞧美國如何以其力量而有所作為，以其物力，以其豐富的資源，以其巨大的財富而有所作為。這些國家正在靜觀我們這個年輕的民族以自己完整的青春活力將會幹出何種事業。我們不禁為自己的強大而自豪。但什麼東西能使我們強大呢? 那就是幹百萬人的艱苦勞動，這些人從不誇誇其談，毫不出眾，而是一天又一天過著謹慎的日子；正是勞動者這一偉大主體才使美國強大。沒有人能預測出，我們國家的未來領袖將出自哪個家庭，出自哪個地區，甚至哪個種族。這正是我們這片國土上的一大榮耀。這個國家的偉大領袖並非常常來自那些根基堅固的「成功」之家。

    我記得不久前我在一所學校講過一番話。我知道那裏幾乎所有年輕人都是有錢人家的子弟。我讓他們明白，我覺得他們很可憐，因為我說：「你們當中大部分同學注定不會有出息。你們不會有所作為，你們也永遠不會去爭取有所作為。當我們國家的偉大任務正等待人們去完成時，很可能就是你們將拒絕接受任務。那種『上頓不接下頓』的人，那種離群獨立的人，那種背受貧困鞭打的人，將從群眾中脫穎而出，將證明他理解群眾，瞭解一個統一而非分裂的國家之利益，將挺身而出成為我們的領袖。」

    以我親身經歷為例，我發現，由「普通人」組成的聽眾，比起我教過的許多大學生來，能更快地抓住一個要點，能更快地接受一種論點，能更快地明白一種傾向，能更快地領會一種原則──並不是說大學生智力低下，而是他們與生活實際脫節，而「普通」公民天天置身 於日常生活中。對觸到他們痛處的東西，你無需向他們解釋。

    關於社會自下而上不斷獲得新生的意義，有這麼個例證，一直使我深感興趣。中世紀的政府，在當時甚行的貴族制度下，並沒有腐朽不堪，其唯一原因是，有那麼多人，作為政府中卓有成效的工具，是來自教會──那時的唯一教會，偉大的宗教團體，就是我們今天有別於其他宗教團體的羅馬天主教會。羅馬天主教會在當時乃至今天實行的是一種偉大的民主制。那時，沒有一個農民會因為地位謙卑而成不了 神父；沒有一個神父會因為毫無名氣而成不了教宗。那時，歐洲的各大使館，各個法庭都是由學問淵博，訓練有素，深有造詣的人來掌管，由一個佔統治地位的偉大團體，即牧師界來掌管。使中世紀政府富有活力的正是從社會底層不斷上升的元氣，就是靠從牧師制敞開的渠道裏獲得的這一偉大團體中普通民眾的元氣。在我看來，這是一個非常有趣，令人信服的例子，可作為我現在所涉及之事的一個例證。

    政府要保持廉潔，其唯一途徑就是要保持各種渠道暢通無阻；這樣，沒有人會因為自以為地位謙卑而成不了國家的一個組織成分；這樣，國家的血脈裏將不斷擁有新鮮血液來補充；這樣，沒有人會因為曾經默默無聞而無法從自己所屬的階級中脫穎而出，一躍而上，加入國家領袖的行列。任何壓制他人的事，任何將一個機構擺在個人之上的事，任何阻礙貧民百姓。使他們灰心喪氣的事，都是有悖於進步之原則的。

    當我看到商界巨頭與政界大亨建立了聯盟時，當我看到他們還在繼續這麼做時，我便知道，事情不妙了，這種事定會阻礙社會進步，使社會失去活力。高高在上的這類聯盟，旨在壓制下層人民，使他們原位不動，甚至使他們降到更低點因此，開明政治應不斷打碎這種同盟，在政府組織與偉大的民眾主體之間重新搭起橋樑。

    今日，我們政府已經淪入特權人物的手中；今日，有一種默契，即只有少數遴選出的上層階級才擁有執政的必備條件；今日，如此眾多勤勤懇懇的公民遭受社會不公的痛苦打擊，成為荒謬絕倫的犧牲品，說麼人民將從仁慈的受委託掌管鉅額財富的人手中獲得一個仁慈的政府，說什麼僱員們盡職盡責，其福利的保衛者將給他們一個仁慈的政府──時至今日，當務之急應使這個國家記住：一個國家要麼由深臥於她胸膛內的力量來拯救，要麼滅亡；國家的新希望、新道德、新威力是由其長湧不息的古井甘泉來澆灌的，而不是靠上層，靠貴族庇護來實現的。花朵不會生根，而是根須長出花朵。天宇清風中萬般美貌芳容總是從其根須獲得元氣。所有生命，除非從深深根植 於普通土壤裏的梗莖中汲取養分。否則，決不可能開花結果。玫瑰花兒的所有豔麗，包括其溫柔的面頰帶有的紅潤之色，全都歸因於躺在土壤深處、無聲無息的生命源泉的神奇作用。從土壤裏，從無聲無息的地球懷抱，往上湧出生命之流、力量之流。從普普通通的土壤裏，從人民沈靜的心靈裏將升騰起今日幸福之流、希望之流、決心之流，它們必定會使大地舊貌換新顏，增添一片光輝。

    聽著，我們時代的所謂激進主義，只不過是將人民心中的能量釋放出來的自然之功。美國，這一偉大民族，正處於正義之底，美德之底，希望之底；民族存在的根子紮進美麗純潔的土地，榮譽的土地。當前需要的正是這種激進主義，它將為我們實現一個強大民族的雄心壯志而掃清道路。

When I look back on the processes of history, when I survey the genesis of America, I see this written over every page: that the nations are renewed from the bottom, not from the top; that the genius which springs up from the ranks of unknown men is the genius which renews the youth and energy of the people. Everything I know about history, every bit of experience and observation that has contributed to my thought, has confirmed me in the conviction that the real wisdom of human life is compounded out of the experiences of ordinary men. The utility the vitality, the fruitage of life does not come from the top to the bottom it comes like the natural growth of a great tree, from the soil up through the trunk into the branches to the foliage and the fruit. The great struggling unknown masses of the men who are at the base of everything are the dynamic force that is lifting the levels of society. A nation is as great and only as great as her rank and file.

      So the first and chief need of this nation of ours to-day is to include in the partnership of government all those great bodies of unnamed men who are going to produce our future leaders and renew the future energies of America. And as I confess that, as I confess my belief in the common man, I know what I am saying. The man who is swimming against the stream knows the strength of it. The man who is in the melee knows what blows are being struck and what blood is being drawn. The man who is on the make is the judge of what is happening in America, not the man who has made good; not the man who has emerged from the flood; not the man who is standing on the bank looking on, but the man who is struggling for his life and for the lives of those who are dearer to him than himself. That is the man whose judgment will tell you what is going on in America; that is the man by whose judgment I, for one, wish to be guided.

      We have had the wrong jury; we have had the wrong group,－no, I will not say the wrong group, but too small a group,－in control of the policies of the United States. The average man has not been consulted, and his heart had begun to sink for fear he never would be consulted, and his heart had begun to sink for fear he never would be consulted again. Therefore, we have got to organize a government whose sympathies will be open to the whole body of the people of the United States, a government which will consult as large a proportion of the people of the United States as possible before it acts. Because the great problem of government is to know what the average man is experiencing and is thinking about. Most of us are average men; very few of us rise, except by fortunate accident, above the general level of the community about us; and therefore the man who thinks common thoughts, the man who has had common experiences is almost always the man who interprets America aright. Isn't that the reason that we are proud of such stories as the story of Abraham Lincoln,－a man who rose out of the ranks and interpreted America better than any man had interpreted it who had risen out of the privileged classes or the educated classes of America?

      The hope of the United States in the present and in the future is the same that it has always been: it is the hope and confidence that out of unknown homes will come men who will constitute themselves the masters of industry and of politics. The average hopefulness, the average welfare, the average enterprise, the average initiative, of the United States are the only things that make it rich. We are not rich because a few gentlemen direct our industry; we are rich because of our own intelligence and our own industry. America does not consist of men who get their names into the newspapers; America does not consist politically of the men who set themselves up to be political leaders; she does not consist of the men who do most of her talking,－they are important only so far as they speak for that great voiceless multitude of men who constitute the great body and the saving force of the nation. Nobody who cannot speak the common thought, who does not move by the common impulse, is the man to speak for America, or for any of her future purposes. Only he is fit to speak who knows the thoughts of the great body of citizens, the men who go about their business every day, the men who toil from morning till night, the men who go home tired in the evenings, the men who are carrying on the things we are so proud of.

      You know how it thrills our blood sometimes to think how all the nations of the earth wait to see what America is going to do with her power, her physical power, her enormous resources, her enormous wealth. The nations hold their breath to see what this young country will do with her young unspoiled strength; we cannot help but be proud that we are strong. But what has made us strong? The toil of millions of men, the toil of men who do not boast, who are inconspicuous, but who live their lives humbly from day to day; it is the great body of toilers that constitutes the might of America. It is one of the glories of our land that nobody is able to predict from what family, from what region, from what race, even, the leaders of the country are going to come. The great leaders of this country have not come very often from the established, "successful" families.

      I remember speaking at a school not long ago where I understood that almost all the young men were the sons of very rich people, and I told them I looked upon them with a great, deal of pity, because, I said: "Most of you fellows are doomed to obscurity. You will not do anything. You will never try to do anything, and with all the great tasks of the country waiting to be done. probably you are the very men who will decline to do them. Some man who has been 'up against it,' some man who has come out of the crowd, somebody who has had the whip of necessity laid on his back, will emerge out of the crowd, will show that he understands the crowd, understands the interests of the nation. united and not separated, and will stand up and lead us."

      If I may speak of my own experience, I have found audiences made up of the "common people" quicker to take a point, quicker to under- stand an argument, quicker to discern a tendency and to comprehend a principle, than many a college class that I have lectured to,－ not because the college class lacked the intelligence. but because college boys are not in contact with the realities of life, while "common" citizens are in contact with the actual life of day by day: you do not have to explain to them what touches them to the quick.

      There is one illustration of the value of the constant renewal of society from the bottom that has always interested me profoundly. The only reason why government did not suffer dry rot in the Middle Ages under the aristocratic system which then prevailed was that so many of the men who were efficient instruments of government were drawn from the church,－ from that great religious body which was then the only church, that body which we now distinguish from other religious bodies as the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church was then, as it is now, a great democracy. There was no peasant so humble that he might not become a priest, and no priest so obscure that he might not become Pope of Christendom; and every chancellery in Europe, every court in Europe, was ruled by these learned, trained and accomplished men,－the priesthood of that great and dominant body. What kept government alive in the Middle Ages was this constant rise of the sap from the bottom, from the rank and file of the great body of the people through the open channels of the priesthood. That, it seems to me, is one of the most interesting and convincing illustrations that could possibly be adduced of the thing that I am talking about.

      The only way that government is kept pure is by keeping these channels open, so that nobody may deem himself so humble as not to constitute a part of the body politic, so that there will constantly be coming new blood into the veins of the body politic; so that no man is so obscure that he may not break the crust of any class he may belong to, may not spring up to higher levels and be counted among the leaders of the state. Anything that depresses, anything that makes the organization greater than the man, anything that blocks, discourages, dismays the humble man, is against all the principles of progress. When I see alliances formed, as they are now being formed, by successful men of business with successful organizers of politics, I know that something has been done that checks the vitality and progress of society. Such an alliance, made at the top, is an alliance made to depress the levels, to hold them where they are, if not to sink them; and, therefore, it is the constant business of good politics to break up such partnerships, to re-establish and reopen the connections between the great body of the people and the offices of government.

      To-day, when our government has so far passed into the hands of special interests; to-day, when the doctrine is implicitly avowed that only select classes have the equipment necessary for carrying on government; to-day when the doctrine is implicitly avowed that only select classes have the equipment necessary for carrying on government; to-day, when so many conscientious citizens, smitten with the scene of social wrong and suffering, have fallen victims to the fallacy that benevolent government can be meted out to the people by kind-hearted trustees of prosperity and guardians of the welfare of dutiful employees－to-day, supremely, does it behoove this nation to remember that a people shall be saved by the power that sleeps in its own deep bosom, or by none; shall be renewed in hope, in conscience, in strength, by waters welling up from its own sweet, perennial springs. Not from above; not by patronage of its aristocrats. The flower does not bear the root, but the root the flower. Everything that blooms in beauty in the air of heaven draws its fairness, its vigor, from its roots. Nothing living can blossom into fruitage unless through nourishing stalks deep-planted in the common soil. The rose is merely the evidence of the vitality of the root; and the real source of its beauty, the very blush that it wears upon its tender cheek, comes from those silent sources of life that lie hidden in the chemistry of the soil. Up from that soil, up from the silent bosom of the earth, rise the currents of life and energy. Up from the common soil, up from the quiet heart of the people, rise joyously to-day streams of hope and determination bound to renew the face of the earth in glory.

      I tell you, the so-called radicalism of our times is simply the effort of nature to release the generous energies of our people. This great American people is at bottom just, virtuous, and hopeful; the roots of its being are in the soil of what is lovely, pure, and of good report, and the need of the hour is just that radicalism that will clear a way for the realization of the aspirations of a sturdy race.