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Taine, Hippolyte, 1828-1893

"The French Revolution - Volume 3"


VI.
Indirect common interest. - This consists in the most economical and
most productive employment of spontaneous forces. - Difference
between voluntary labor and forced labor. - Sources of man's
spontaneous action. Conditions of their energy, work and products. -
Motives for leaving them under personal control. - Extent of the
private domain. - Individuals might voluntarily extend it. - What is
left becomes the domain of the State. - Obligatory functions of the
State. - Optional functions of the State.
Let us now take into consideration, no longer the direct, but the
indirect interest of all. Instead of considering individuals let us
concern ourselves with their works. Let us regard human society as a
material and spiritual workshop, whose perfection consists in making
it as productive, economical, and as well furnished and managed as
possible . Even with this secondary and subordinate aim, the domain
of the State is scarcely to be less restricted: very few new functions
are to be attributed to it; nearly all the rest will be better
fulfilled by independent persons, or by natural or voluntary
associations. -
Let us consider the man who works for his own benefit, the farmer, the
manufacturer, the merchant, and observe how attentive he is to his
business.


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