《乌合之众·第二编·群体的意见与信念·群体意见与信念的间接因素》第9节
Moreover, it is in no way in the power of a people to really change its institutions. Undoubtedly, at the cost of violent revolutions, it can change their name, but in their essence they remain unmodified. The names are mere futile labels with which an historian who goes to the bottom of things need scarcely concern himself. It is in this way, for instance, that England,[9] the most democratic country in the world, lives, nevertheless, under a monarchical regime, whereas the countries in which the most oppressive despotism is rampant are the Spanish-American Republics, in spite of their republican constitutions. The destinies of peoples are determined by their character and not by their government. I have endeavoured to establish this view in my previous volume by setting forth categorical examples. [9] The most advanced republicans, even of the United States, recognise this fact. The American magazine, The Forum, recently gave categorical expression to the opinion in terms which I reproduce here from the Review of Reviews for December, 1894:-- "It should never be forgotten, even by the most ardent enemies of an aristocracy, that England is to-day the most democratic country of the universe, the country in which the rights of the individual are most respected, and in which the individual possesses the most liberty."
注释摘要
勒庞在这一段里要论证的命题相当绝对：一个民族根本不可能真正改变自己的制度。他承认，革命可以改变制度的名称，但那只是表层标签，骨子里的一切纹丝不动。他用了一组尖锐的对比来支持这个判断：英国活在君主政体下，却是他所认定的“世界上最民主的国家”，因为个人权利得到最大尊重，个体拥有最大自由；而许多西班牙美洲共和国虽然顶着共和宪法，却实行着最压制的专制。结论由此导出…