《蜜蜂的故事》與《侈糜》之比較政治經濟分析

A Political-Economic Comparative Analysis between the Fable of the Bees and Chi-mi

《蜜蜂的寓言》認為欲望，虛榮和奢侈的消費等私人的惡習帶來慈善事業，專業分工，辛勤的工作，創新，社會的進步和經濟繁榮等公共的利益。《管子》的《侈糜》主張讓富商與權貴奢侈消費來刺激經濟的繁榮和就業，特別是在自然災害和經濟不景的時候。《蜜蜂的寓言》和《侈糜》的經濟推理有很多相似之處。然而，他們的命運和政治背景和目標卻大不相同。《蜜蜂的寓言》寫於英國的光榮革命後的幾十年。它反對宗教和道德對消費的約束。它認識到私人的惡習要變成公共的利益有一些先決條件，包括私有財產的保障，政治上的帄等，法治和思想的自由。在英國光榮革命後，這些先決條件基本上都滿足了。國會至上的勝利，解決了貴族和工商階級之間的主要政治矛盾。而歐洲國家間的權力的競爭，則促使了許多關於的國家的實力和財富的本質和來源的探討。因此，《蜜蜂的寓言》啟發了古典經濟學。《侈糜》是一種政治權謀，它的主要關注的是集權。其目的是國家通過鼓勵鋪張浪費的政策來控制強大的富商，官員和貴族和削弱他們的財富和權力，以免他們對中央政治中心形成挑戰。所以儘管呼籲消費，《侈糜》強調農業的地位在工商業之上。《侈糜》寫作於中國傳統的中央集權帝國形成的時期。在未來的兩千年內，中國大致上維持著這種政治形態。內部的政治控制和穩定是帝國主要的關注。因此，有了控制思想的政策（包括獨尊儒術）和抑商政策。而且，外部環境缺乏競爭。於是，缺乏了對國家的實力和財富的性質和原因的研究和探索。因此，《侈糜》幾乎被遺忘。

The Fable of the Bees argues that private vices like human wants, vanity and extravagant consumption bring forth public benefits like charity, division of labor, hard work, innovation, social progress and prosperity. The chapter of Chi-mi in Guan Zi advocates extravagant consumption by the rich and powerful to stimulate economic prosperity and employment especially in times of natural disaster and economic downturn. The Fable of the Bees and Chi-mi share many similarities in their economic reasoning. However, their fates, political backgrounds and objectives are quite different. The Fable of the Bees was written in England a few decades after the Glorious Revolution. It opposes putting religious and moral restraints on consumption. It acknowledges the following preconditions for turning private vices into public benefits: security of private property, political equality, the rule of law and freedom of thoughts. These preconditions were largely satisfied in post Glorious Revolution England. The triumph of parliamentary supremacy resolved major political conflicts between the landed aristocracy and the middle class. Furthermore, great power rivalry among European states prompted many intellectual enquiries into state powers and the nature of wealth. Consequently, The Fable of the Bees inspired classical economics. Chi-mi is a statecraft, its main concern is the centralization of power. It advocates extravagance as a means to strengthen the control of the sovereign over powerful lords, officials and aristocrats to reduce their wealth and power thus avoid their challenges to the political center. Despite the calls for consumption, Chi-mi places the status of agriculture over that of commerce and industry. Chi-mi was written during the formation period of the traditional centralized imperial state of China. China maintained such political ideology for the next two millennium where internal political control and stability were the main concern of the empire. Therefore, mind control regime (including the Confucian orthodoxy) was firmly established while commerce and industry were suppressed. Furthermore, the lack of a competitive external environment means that there was no motive to inquire into the state power and the nature of wealth. Consequently, Chi-mi became virtually obsolete.