III.
The object of the State is the regeneration of man. - Two sides to
this undertaking. - Restoration of the Natural man. - Formation of
the Social man. - Grandeur of the undertaking. - To carry it out,
the use of force is a right and a duty.
There is nothing arbitrary in this operation; for the ideal model is
traced beforehand. If the State is omnipotent, it is for the purpose
of "regenerating Mankind," and the theory which confers its rights, at
the same time assigns to it its object. In what does this
regeneration of Man consist? - Consider a domestic animal such as a
dog or a horse. Scrawny, battered, tied up or chained, a thousand are
strained and overworked compared to the few basking in idleness, dying
from rich living; and with all of them, whether fat or lean, the soul
is more spoiled than the body. A superstitious respect keeps them
cowed under their burden, or makes them cringe before their master.
Servile, slothful, gluttonous, feeble, incapable of resisting
adversity, if they have acquired the miserable skills of slavery, they
have also contracted its needs, weaknesses and vices. A crust of
absurd habits and perverse inclinations, a sort of artificial and
supplementary being, has covered over their original nature.
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