×

Wir verwenden Cookies, um LingQ zu verbessern. Mit dem Besuch der Seite erklärst du dich einverstanden mit unseren Cookie-Richtlinien.


image

1984 by George Orwell, Part two, Chapter 9 (4)

Part two, Chapter 9 (4)

In Oceania the prevailing philosophy is called Ingsoc, in Eurasia it is called Neo- Bolshevism, and in Eastasia it is called by a Chinese name usually translated as Death-Worship, but perhaps better rendered as Obliteration of the Self. The citizen of Oceania is not allowed to know anything of the tenets of the other two philosophies, but he is taught to execrate them as barbarous outrages upon morality and common sense. Actually the three philosophies are barely distinguishable, and the social systems which they support are not distinguishable at all. Everywhere there is the same pyramidal structure, the same worship of semi-divine leader, the same economy existing by and for continuous warfare. It follows that the three super-states not only cannot conquer one another, but would gain no advantage by doing so. On the contrary, so long as they remain in conflict they prop one another up, like three sheaves of corn. And, as usual, the ruling groups of all three powers are simultaneously aware and unaware of what they are doing. Their lives are dedicated to world conquest, but they also know that it is necessary that the war should continue everlastingly and without victory. Meanwhile the fact that there IS no danger of conquest makes possible the denial of reality which is the special feature of Ingsoc and its rival systems of thought. Here it is necessary to repeat what has been said earlier, that by becoming continuous war has fundamentally changed its character.

In past ages, a war, almost by definition, was something that sooner or later came to an end, usually in unmistakable victory or defeat. In the past, also, war was one of the main instruments by which human societies were kept in touch with physical reality. All rulers in all ages have tried to impose a false view of the world upon their followers, but they could not afford to encourage any illusion that tended to impair military efficiency. So long as defeat meant the loss of independence, or some other result generally held to be undesirable, the precautions against defeat had to be serious. Physical facts could not be ignored. In philosophy, or religion, or ethics, or politics, two and two might make five, but when one was designing a gun or an aeroplane they had to make four. Inefficient nations were always conquered sooner or later, and the struggle for efficiency was inimical to illusions. Moreover, to be efficient it was necessary to be able to learn from the past, which meant having a fairly accurate idea of what had happened in the past. Newspapers and history books were, of course, always coloured and biased, but falsification of the kind that is practised today would have been impossible. War was a sure safeguard of sanity, and so far as the ruling classes were concerned it was probably the most important of all safeguards. While wars could be won or lost, no ruling class could be completely irresponsible.

But when war becomes literally continuous, it also ceases to be dangerous. When war is continuous there is no such thing as military necessity. Technical progress can cease and the most palpable facts can be denied or disregarded. As we have seen, researches that could be called scientific are still carried out for the purposes of war, but they are essentially a kind of daydreaming, and their failure to show results is not important. Efficiency, even military efficiency, is no longer needed. Nothing is efficient in Oceania except the Thought Police. Since each of the three super-states is unconquerable, each is in effect a separate universe within which almost any perversion of thought can be safely practised. Reality only exerts its pressure through the needs of everyday life — the need to eat and drink, to get shelter and clothing, to avoid swallowing poison or stepping out of top-storey windows, and the like. Between life and death, and between physical pleasure and physical pain, there is still a distinction, but that is all. Cut off from contact with the outer world, and with the past, the citizen of Oceania is like a man in interstellar space, who has no way of knowing which direction is up and which is down. The rulers of such a state are absolute, as the Pharaohs or the Caesars could not be. They are obliged to prevent their followers from starving to death in numbers large enough to be inconvenient, and they are obliged to remain at the same low level of military technique as their rivals; but once that minimum is achieved, they can twist reality into whatever shape they choose.

The war, therefore, if we judge it by the standards of previous wars, is merely an imposture. It is like the battles between certain ruminant animals whose horns are set at such an angle that they are incapable of hurting one another. But though it is unreal it is not meaningless. It eats up the surplus of consumable goods, and it helps to preserve the special mental atmosphere that a hierarchical society needs. War, it will be seen, is now a purely internal affair. In the past, the ruling groups of all countries, although they might recognize their common interest and therefore limit the destructiveness of war, did fight against one another, and the victor always plundered the vanquished. In our own day they are not fighting against one another at all. The war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact. The very word ‘war', therefore, has become misleading. It would probably be accurate to say that by becoming continuous war has ceased to exist. The peculiar pressure that it exerted on human beings between the Neolithic Age and the early

twentieth century has disappeared and been replaced by something quite different. The effect would be much the same if the three super-states, instead of fighting one another, should agree to live in perpetual peace, each inviolate within its own boundaries. For in that case each would still be a self-contained universe, freed for ever from the sobering influence of external danger. A peace that was truly permanent would be the same as a permanent war. This — although the vast majority of Party members understand it only in a shallower sense — is the inner meaning of the Party slogan: WAR IS PEACE.

Winston stopped reading for a moment. Somewhere in remote distance a rocket bomb thundered. The blissful feeling of being alone with the forbidden book, in a room with no telescreen, had not worn off. Solitude and safety were physical sensations, mixed up somehow with the tiredness of his body, the softness of the chair, the touch of the faint breeze from the window that played upon his cheek. The book fascinated him, or more exactly it reassured him. In a sense it told him nothing that was new, but that was part of the attraction. It said what he would have said, if it had been possible for him to set his scattered thoughts in order. It was the product of a mind similar to his own, but enormously more powerful, more systematic, less fear-ridden. The best books, he perceived, are those that tell you what you know already. He had just turned back to Chapter I when he heard Julia's footstep on the stair and started out of his chair to meet her. She dumped her brown tool-bag on the floor and flung herself into his arms. It was more than a week since they had seen one another.

‘I've got THE BOOK,' he said as they disentangled themselves. ‘Oh, you've got it? Good,' she said without much interest, and almost immediately knelt down beside the oil stove to make the

coffee.

They did not return to the subject until they had been in bed for half an hour. The evening was just cool enough to make it worth while to pull up the counterpane. From below came the familiar sound of singing and the scrape of boots on the flagstones. The brawny red-armed woman whom Winston had seen there on his first visit was almost a fixture in the yard. There seemed to be no hour of daylight when she was not marching to and fro between the washtub and the line, alternately gagging herself with clothes pegs and breaking forth into lusty song. Julia had settled down on her side and seemed to be already on the point of falling asleep. He reached out for the book, which was lying on the floor, and sat up against the bedhead.

‘We must read it,' he said. ‘You too. All members of the Brotherhood have to read it.'

‘You read it,' she said with her eyes shut. ‘Read it aloud. That's the best way. Then you can explain it to me as you go.'

The clock's hands said six, meaning eighteen. They had three or four hours ahead of them. He propped the book against his knees and began reading:

Chapter I

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Throughout recorded time, and probably since the end of the Neolithic Age, there have been three kinds of people in the world, the High, the Middle, and the Low. They have been subdivided in many ways, they have borne countless different names, and their relative numbers, as well as their attitude towards one another, have varied from age to age: but the essential structure of society has never altered. Even after enormous upheavals and seemingly irrevocable changes, the same pattern has always reasserted itself, just as a gyroscope will always return to equilibrium, however far it is pushed one way or the other

‘Julia, are you awake?' said Winston.

‘Yes, my love, I'm listening. Go on. It's marvellous.' He continued reading:

The aims of these three groups are entirely irreconcilable. The aim of the High is to remain where they are. The aim of the Middle is to change places with the High. The aim of the Low, when they have an aim — for it is an abiding characteristic of the Low that they are too much crushed by drudgery to be more than intermittently conscious of anything outside their daily lives — is to abolish all distinctions and create a society in which all men shall be equal. Thus throughout history a struggle which is the same in its main outlines recurs over and over again. For long periods the High seem to be securely in power, but sooner or later there always comes a moment when they lose either their belief in themselves or their capacity to govern efficiently, or both. They are then overthrown by the Middle, who enlist the Low on their side by pretending to them that they are fighting for liberty and justice. As soon as they have reached their objective, the Middle thrust the Low back into their old position of servitude, and themselves become the High. Presently a new Middle group splits off from one of the other groups, or from both of them, and the struggle begins over again. Of the three groups, only the Low are never even temporarily successful in achieving their aims. It would be an exaggeration to say that throughout history there has been no progress of a material kind. Even today, in a period of decline, the average human being is physically better off than he was a few centuries ago. But no advance in wealth, no softening of manners, no reform or revolution has ever brought human equality a millimetre nearer. From the point of view of the Low, no historic change has ever meant much more than a change in the name of their masters.

By the late nineteenth century the recurrence of this pattern had become obvious to many observers. There then rose schools of thinkers who interpreted history as a cyclical process and claimed to show that inequality was the unalterable law of human life.

Part two, Chapter 9 (4) Zweiter Teil, Kapitel 9 (4)

In Oceania the prevailing philosophy is called Ingsoc, in Eurasia it is called Neo- Bolshevism, and in Eastasia it is called by a Chinese name usually translated as Death-Worship, but perhaps better rendered as Obliteration of the Self. В Океанії панівна філософія називається інгсоц, в Євразії її називають необільшовизмом, а в Істазії її називають китайською назвою, яка зазвичай перекладається як поклоніння смерті, але, можливо, краще перекладається як знищення самості. The citizen of Oceania is not allowed to know anything of the tenets of the other two philosophies, but he is taught to execrate them as barbarous outrages upon morality and common sense. Al ciudadano de Oceanía no se le permite saber nada de los principios de las otras dos filosofías, pero se le enseña a execrarlos como bárbaros atropellos contra la moral y el sentido común. Громадянин Океанії не має права знати нічого про догмати двох інших філософій, але його вчать проклинати їх як варварські образи моралі та здорового глузду. Actually the three philosophies are barely distinguishable, and the social systems which they support are not distinguishable at all. Насправді ці три філософії ледве розрізняються, а соціальні системи, які вони підтримують, взагалі не розрізняються. Everywhere there is the same pyramidal structure, the same worship of semi-divine leader, the same economy existing by and for continuous warfare. En todas partes existe la misma estructura piramidal, el mismo culto al líder semidivino, la misma economía existente por y para la guerra continua. Скрізь існує та сама пірамідальна структура, те саме поклоніння напівбожественному лідеру, та сама економіка, що існує завдяки безперервній війні та для неї. It follows that the three super-states not only cannot conquer one another, but would gain no advantage by doing so. De ello se deduce que los tres superestados no solo no pueden conquistarse entre sí, sino que no obtendrían ninguna ventaja al hacerlo. З цього випливає, що три наддержави не тільки не можуть підкорити одна одну, але й не отримають від цього жодної переваги. On the contrary, so long as they remain in conflict they prop one another up, like three sheaves of corn. Por el contrario, mientras permanecen en conflicto, se sostienen entre sí, como tres gavillas de maíz. Навпаки, поки вони конфліктують, вони підпирають один одного, як три снопи зерна. And, as usual, the ruling groups of all three powers are simultaneously aware and unaware of what they are doing. І, як завжди, правлячі групи всіх трьох влад одночасно усвідомлюють і не усвідомлюють, що вони роблять. Their lives are dedicated to world conquest, but they also know that it is necessary that the war should continue everlastingly and without victory. Meanwhile the fact that there IS no danger of conquest makes possible the denial of reality which is the special feature of Ingsoc and its rival systems of thought. Mientras tanto, el hecho de que no HAY peligro de conquista hace posible la negación de la realidad, que es la característica especial del Ingsoc y sus sistemas de pensamiento rivales. Тим часом той факт, що НЕМАЄ небезпеки завоювання, робить можливим заперечення реальності, що є особливою рисою Ingsoc та його конкуруючих систем мислення. Here it is necessary to repeat what has been said earlier, that by becoming continuous war has fundamentally changed its character. Aquí es necesario repetir lo dicho anteriormente, que al volverse continua la guerra ha cambiado fundamentalmente su carácter. Тут необхідно повторити те, що було сказано раніше, що, ставши безперервною, війна принципово змінила свій характер.

In past ages, a war, almost by definition, was something that sooner or later came to an end, usually in unmistakable victory or defeat. У минулі віки війна, майже за визначенням, була чимось, що рано чи пізно закінчувалося, зазвичай безпомилковою перемогою чи поразкою. In the past, also, war was one of the main instruments by which human societies were kept in touch with physical reality. En el pasado, también, la guerra fue uno de los principales instrumentos mediante los cuales las sociedades humanas se mantuvieron en contacto con la realidad física. All rulers in all ages have tried to impose a false view of the world upon their followers, but they could not afford to encourage any illusion that tended to impair military efficiency. Todos los gobernantes de todas las épocas han tratado de imponer una visión falsa del mundo a sus seguidores, pero no pudieron permitirse el lujo de alentar ninguna ilusión que tendiera a menoscabar la eficiencia militar. Усі правителі в усі віки намагалися нав’язати своїм послідовникам хибний погляд на світ, але вони не могли дозволити собі заохочувати будь-які ілюзії, які мали б тенденцію погіршувати військову ефективність. So long as defeat meant the loss of independence, or some other result generally held to be undesirable, the precautions against defeat had to be serious. Mientras la derrota signifique la pérdida de la independencia o algún otro resultado generalmente considerado indeseable, las precauciones contra la derrota deben ser serias. Physical facts could not be ignored. In philosophy, or religion, or ethics, or politics, two and two might make five, but when one was designing a gun or an aeroplane they had to make four. Inefficient nations were always conquered sooner or later, and the struggle for efficiency was inimical to illusions. Las naciones ineficientes siempre fueron conquistadas tarde o temprano, y la lucha por la eficiencia era enemiga de las ilusiones. Неефективні нації рано чи пізно завжди перемагали, а боротьба за ефективність була ворожою для ілюзій. Moreover, to be efficient it was necessary to be able to learn from the past, which meant having a fairly accurate idea of what had happened in the past. Крім того, щоб бути ефективним, необхідно було вміти вчитися з минулого, що означало мати досить точне уявлення про те, що сталося в минулому. Newspapers and history books were, of course, always coloured and biased, but falsification of the kind that is practised today would have been impossible. Los periódicos y los libros de historia, por supuesto, siempre fueron coloreados y sesgados, pero la falsificación del tipo que se practica hoy en día hubiera sido imposible. War was a sure safeguard of sanity, and so far as the ruling classes were concerned it was probably the most important of all safeguards. La guerra era una salvaguardia segura de la cordura, y en lo que a las clases dominantes se refería, probablemente era la más importante de todas las salvaguardias. While wars could be won or lost, no ruling class could be completely irresponsible. Si bien las guerras se pueden ganar o perder, ninguna clase dominante puede ser completamente irresponsable. Хоча війни можна виграти або програти, жоден правлячий клас не може бути абсолютно безвідповідальним.

But when war becomes literally continuous, it also ceases to be dangerous. When war is continuous there is no such thing as military necessity. Cuando la guerra es continua, no existe la necesidad militar. Technical progress can cease and the most palpable facts can be denied or disregarded. El progreso técnico puede cesar y los hechos más palpables pueden ser negados o ignorados. As we have seen, researches that could be called scientific are still carried out for the purposes of war, but they are essentially a kind of daydreaming, and their failure to show results is not important. Como hemos visto, las investigaciones que podrían llamarse científicas todavía se llevan a cabo con fines bélicos, pero son esencialmente una especie de ensoñación, y no importa que no arrojen resultados. Efficiency, even military efficiency, is no longer needed. Nothing is efficient in Oceania except the Thought Police. Since each of the three super-states is unconquerable, each is in effect a separate universe within which almost any perversion of thought can be safely practised. Dado que cada uno de los tres super-estados es invencible, cada uno es en efecto un universo separado dentro del cual casi cualquier perversión del pensamiento puede practicarse con seguridad. Reality only exerts its pressure through the needs of everyday life — the need to eat and drink, to get shelter and clothing, to avoid swallowing poison or stepping out of top-storey windows, and the like. La realidad solo ejerce su presión a través de las necesidades de la vida cotidiana: la necesidad de comer y beber, de buscar refugio y ropa, de evitar tragar veneno o salir por las ventanas de los pisos superiores, etc. Between life and death, and between physical pleasure and physical pain, there is still a distinction, but that is all. Entre la vida y la muerte, y entre el placer físico y el dolor físico, todavía hay una distinción, pero eso es todo. Cut off from contact with the outer world, and with the past, the citizen of Oceania is like a man in interstellar space, who has no way of knowing which direction is up and which is down. The rulers of such a state are absolute, as the Pharaohs or the Caesars could not be. Los gobernantes de tal estado son absolutos, como no podrían ser los faraones o los césares. They are obliged to prevent their followers from starving to death in numbers large enough to be inconvenient, and they are obliged to remain at the same low level of military technique as their rivals; but once that minimum is achieved, they can twist reality into whatever shape they choose. Están obligados a evitar que sus seguidores mueran de hambre en cantidades lo suficientemente grandes como para ser inconvenientes, y están obligados a permanecer en el mismo nivel bajo de técnica militar que sus rivales; pero una vez que se alcanza ese mínimo, pueden torcer la realidad en la forma que elijan.

The war, therefore, if we judge it by the standards of previous wars, is merely an imposture. La guerra, por lo tanto, si la juzgamos por los estándares de guerras anteriores, es simplemente una impostura. Отже, війна, якщо її оцінювати за стандартами попередніх війн, є лише обманом. It is like the battles between certain ruminant animals whose horns are set at such an angle that they are incapable of hurting one another. But though it is unreal it is not meaningless. Але хоч це нереально, але не позбавлено сенсу. It eats up the surplus of consumable goods, and it helps to preserve the special mental atmosphere that a hierarchical society needs. War, it will be seen, is now a purely internal affair. La guerra, se verá, es ahora un asunto puramente interno. Війна, як буде видно, тепер є суто внутрішньою справою. In the past, the ruling groups of all countries, although they might recognize their common interest and therefore limit the destructiveness of war, did fight against one another, and the victor always plundered the vanquished. En el pasado, los grupos gobernantes de todos los países, aunque reconocían su interés común y por lo tanto limitaban la destructividad de la guerra, luchaban entre sí y el vencedor siempre saqueaba a los vencidos. У минулому правлячі групи всіх країн, хоч і могли визнавати свої спільні інтереси і, отже, обмежувати руйнівність війни, воювали одна проти одної, і переможець завжди грабував переможених. In our own day they are not fighting against one another at all. En nuestros días no luchan entre sí en absoluto. The war is waged by each ruling group against its own subjects, and the object of the war is not to make or prevent conquests of territory, but to keep the structure of society intact. La guerra la libra cada grupo gobernante contra sus propios súbditos, y el objeto de la guerra no es hacer o evitar conquistas de territorio, sino mantener intacta la estructura de la sociedad. The very word ‘war', therefore, has become misleading. La misma palabra "guerra", por lo tanto, se ha vuelto engañosa. Тому саме слово «війна» стало оманливим. It would probably be accurate to say that by becoming continuous war has ceased to exist. Probablemente sería acertado decir que al convertirse en continua, la guerra ha dejado de existir. Напевно, правильно було б сказати, що, ставши безперервною, війна перестала існувати. The peculiar pressure that it exerted on human beings between the Neolithic Age and the early

twentieth century has disappeared and been replaced by something quite different. The effect would be much the same if the three super-states, instead of fighting one another, should agree to live in perpetual peace, each inviolate within its own boundaries. For in that case each would still be a self-contained universe, freed for ever from the sobering influence of external danger. Porque en ese caso, cada uno seguiría siendo un universo autónomo, liberado para siempre de la influencia aleccionadora del peligro externo. Бо в такому випадку кожен все ще був би самодостатнім всесвітом, назавжди звільненим від витверезного впливу зовнішньої небезпеки. A peace that was truly permanent would be the same as a permanent war. This — although the vast majority of Party members understand it only in a shallower sense — is the inner meaning of the Party slogan: WAR IS PEACE. Це — хоч переважна більшість членів партії розуміє це лише в меншому розумінні — внутрішній зміст партійного гасла: ВІЙНА — ЦЕ МИР.

Winston stopped reading for a moment. Somewhere in remote distance a rocket bomb thundered. The blissful feeling of being alone with the forbidden book, in a room with no telescreen, had not worn off. La feliz sensación de estar a solas con el libro prohibido, en una habitación sin telepantalla, no había desaparecido. Щасливе відчуття перебування наодинці із забороненою книгою в кімнаті без телеекрана не минулося. Solitude and safety were physical sensations, mixed up somehow with the tiredness of his body, the softness of the chair, the touch of the faint breeze from the window that played upon his cheek. The book fascinated him, or more exactly it reassured him. El libro lo fascinaba, o más exactamente lo tranquilizaba. Книга його захопила, точніше заспокоїла. In a sense it told him nothing that was new, but that was part of the attraction. En cierto sentido, no le dijo nada nuevo, pero eso era parte de la atracción. It said what he would have said, if it had been possible for him to set his scattered thoughts in order. Dijo lo que él habría dicho, si hubiera sido posible para él poner en orden sus pensamientos dispersos. Там було сказано те, що він сказав би, якби йому вдалося привести в порядок свої розрізнені думки. It was the product of a mind similar to his own, but enormously more powerful, more systematic, less fear-ridden. Fue el producto de una mente similar a la suya, pero enormemente más poderosa, más sistemática, menos aterrorizada. Це був продукт розуму, подібного до його власного, але надзвичайно потужнішого, більш систематичного, менш охопленого страхом. The best books, he perceived, are those that tell you what you know already. Los mejores libros, percibió, son los que te dicen lo que ya sabes. He had just turned back to Chapter I when he heard Julia's footstep on the stair and started out of his chair to meet her. She dumped her brown tool-bag on the floor and flung herself into his arms. Dejó su bolsa de herramientas marrón en el suelo y se arrojó en sus brazos. It was more than a week since they had seen one another.

‘I've got THE BOOK,' he said as they disentangled themselves. ‘Oh, you've got it? Good,' she said without much interest, and almost immediately knelt down beside the oil stove to make the

coffee.

They did not return to the subject until they had been in bed  for half an hour. No volvieron al tema hasta que estuvieron en la cama durante media hora. The evening was just cool enough to make  it worth while to pull up the counterpane. La noche era lo suficientemente fresca como para que valiera la pena levantar la colcha. Вечір був достатньо прохолодним, щоб варто було підтягнути щит. From below came the familiar sound of singing and the scrape of boots on the flagstones. The brawny red-armed woman whom Winston had seen there on his first visit was almost a fixture in the yard. La mujer musculosa de brazos rojos que Winston había visto allí en su primera visita era casi un elemento fijo en el patio. Міцна червонорука жінка, яку Вінстон побачив там під час свого першого візиту, була майже невід’ємною частиною подвір’я. There seemed to be no hour of daylight when she was not marching to and fro between the washtub and the line, alternately gagging herself with clothes pegs and breaking forth into lusty song. Parecía no haber una hora de luz del día en la que ella no marchara de un lado a otro entre la tina y la línea, alternativamente amordazándose con pinzas para la ropa y rompiendo en una canción lujuriosa. Здавалося, не було години світлового дня, коли б вона не марширувала туди-сюди між умивальником і мотузкою, по черзі затикаючи себе прищіпками для білизни та не заспіваючи хтивої пісні. Julia had settled down on her side and seemed to be already on the point of falling asleep. He reached out for the book, which was lying on the floor, and sat up against the bedhead.

‘We must read it,' he said. ‘You too. All members of the Brotherhood have to read it.'

‘You read it,' she said with her eyes shut. ‘Read it aloud. That's the best way. Then you can explain it to me as you go.' Entonces puedes explicármelo sobre la marcha.

The clock's hands said six, meaning eighteen. They had three or four hours ahead of them. He propped the book against his knees and began reading:

Chapter I

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

Throughout recorded time, and probably since the end of the Neolithic Age, there have been three kinds of people in the world, the High, the Middle, and the Low. They have been subdivided in many ways, they have borne countless different names, and their relative numbers, as well as their attitude towards one another, have varied from age to age: but the essential structure of society has never altered. Вони були поділені багатьма способами, вони носили незліченну кількість різних імен, і їх відносна кількість, а також їхнє ставлення одне до одного змінювалося від епохи до епохи: але основна структура суспільства ніколи не змінювалася. Even after enormous upheavals and seemingly irrevocable changes, the same pattern has always reasserted itself, just as a gyroscope will always return to equilibrium, however far it is pushed one way or the other Навіть після величезних потрясінь і, здавалося б, безповоротних змін, той самий шаблон завжди підтверджувався, подібно до того, як гіроскоп завжди повертатиметься до рівноваги, хоч би далеко його штовхнули в ту чи іншу сторону.

‘Julia, are you awake?' said Winston.

‘Yes, my love, I'm listening. Go on. It's marvellous.' He continued reading:

The aims of these three groups are entirely irreconcilable. Los objetivos de estos tres grupos son totalmente irreconciliables. Цілі цих трьох груп абсолютно несумісні. The aim of the High is to remain where they are. El objetivo del Alto es permanecer donde están. The aim of the Middle is to change places with the High. The aim of the Low, when they have an aim — for it is an abiding characteristic of the Low that they are too much crushed by drudgery to be more than intermittently conscious of anything outside their daily lives — is to abolish all distinctions and create a society in which all men shall be equal. Thus throughout history a struggle which is the same in its main outlines recurs over and over again. For long periods the High seem to be securely in power, but sooner or later there always comes a moment when they lose either their belief in themselves or their capacity to govern efficiently, or both. They are then overthrown by the Middle, who enlist the Low on their side by pretending to them that they are fighting for liberty and justice. Luego son derrocados por el Medio, que alista a los Bajos de su lado haciéndoles ver que luchan por la libertad y la justicia. Потім їх скидає Середній, який залучає Низького на свій бік, вдаючи їм, що вони борються за свободу та справедливість. As soon as they have reached their objective, the Middle thrust the Low back into their old position of servitude, and themselves become the High. Presently a new Middle group splits off from one of the other groups, or from both of them, and the struggle begins over again. Зараз нова середня група відокремлюється від однієї з інших груп або від обох, і боротьба починається спочатку. Of the three groups, only the Low are never even temporarily successful in achieving their aims. De los tres grupos, solo los Bajos nunca logran ni siquiera temporalmente lograr sus objetivos. It would be an exaggeration to say that throughout history there has been no progress of a material kind. Sería exagerado decir que a lo largo de la historia no ha habido avances de tipo material. Even today, in a period of decline, the average human being is physically better off than he was a few centuries ago. But no advance in wealth, no softening of manners, no reform or revolution has ever brought human equality a millimetre nearer. Pero ningún avance en la riqueza, ningún ablandamiento de los modales, ninguna reforma o revolución ha acercado jamás la igualdad humana un milímetro más. From the point of view of the Low, no historic change has ever meant much more than a change in the name of their masters. З точки зору Лоу, жодна історична зміна ніколи не означала набагато більше, ніж зміна імені їхніх господарів.

By the late nineteenth century the recurrence of this pattern had become obvious to many observers. A fines del siglo XIX, la recurrencia de este patrón se había vuelto obvia para muchos observadores. There then rose schools of thinkers who interpreted history as a cyclical process and claimed to show that inequality was the unalterable law of human life. Entonces surgieron escuelas de pensadores que interpretaron la historia como un proceso cíclico y afirmaron mostrar que la desigualdad era la ley inalterable de la vida humana.