2015考研英语阅读贫困的历史画像_大学英语阅读

2015考研英语阅读贫困的历史画像

　　In the late 18th century attitudes towards the poor took on a moralising tone. ThomasMalthus, a clergyman, blamed the plight of the poor on their own flaws. Technological changemight drive wages above subsistence levels, but only temporarily because the fecundity ofthe poor would soon drive wages back down. His thinking inspired the introduction of a newPoor Law in 1834, which tried to make the workhouse their only option. Outdoorreliefgiving the poor moneyneeded to be stopped.

　　18世纪后半叶，人们在对贫穷的看法中夹杂了道德论调。身为牧师的托马斯?马尔萨斯将穷人的困苦归咎于他们自身的不足。技术革新或许会驱使薪资上涨到能维持温饱的水平之上，但是这只是暂时的，因为穷人的多生多育很快就会带动薪资回落。他的思想启发了当时政府在1834年引进实施了一部新的《济贫法》，试图使去济贫院成为穷人唯一的选择。院外救济给穷人发钱必须终止。

　　Adam Smith took a more humane view. He saw the social and emotional toll poverty couldtake, and sought to increase support for the idea of redistributive taxation: The rich shouldcontribute to the public expence [sic], not only in proportion to their revenue, butsomething more than in that proportion. But even the father of economics did not provide acoherent strategy for moving people permanently out of poverty.