【知識衝浪】老本.富蘭克林貢獻的“美國精神”

來源: 文革傳人於 2021-11-16 01:26:48 [檔案] [博客] [舊帖] [給我悄悄話] 本文已被閱讀：次 (2001 bytes)

這次，是抄書（真沒跟老本共事過，*_*）。抄自 Walter Isaacson 的文章，“A Most Uncommon Everyman”

ZT 開始

When he returned from Franc to become the sage at Constitutional Convention, Franklin was not America’s most profound political theorist (1787年，獨立戰爭結束後八年，憲法尚未通過，此會就是在“立憲”，本老漢注。). But he did embody one crucial virtue that was key to gathering’s success: a belief in the nobility of compromise. Throughout his life, one of his mantras had been “Both sides must part with some of their demands.” He used this phrase many times, but never more notably than when Constitutional Convention became deadlocked on the issue of whether the new Congress should be proportioned by population or have equal votes for each state.

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First Franklin succinctly stated the problem: “The diversity of opinions turns on two points. If a proportional representation takes place, the small State contend that their liberties will be in danger. If an equality of votes is to be put in its place, the large State say their money will be in danger.” Then he gently emphasized, in a homespun analogy that drew on his affection for craftsmen and construction, the importance of compromise: “When a broad table is to be made, and the edges of planks do not fit, the artist takes a little from both, and makes a good joint. In like manner here, both sides must part with some of their demands.”

ZT 結束。

老本對“美國精神”的一個主要貢獻，“妥協”。當然，是在把問題“簡練的陳述”後的妥協。

We are not writing a “Constitution”, for sure，we can make this work.

三點。別急。簡練的陳述。妥協。