Unit 7 How to Get the Poor off Our ConscienceJohn Kenneth GalbraithStructure of the TextPart I (Paras.1-2)The author begins with an analysis of ways of “getting the poor off our conscience”. Part II (Paras. 3-9)Five solutions offered historically and the authors critique of these solutions. The solutions are arranged in chronological order. 1. The solution proposed in the Bible. (Para. 3)2. The solution offered by utilitarianism. (Para. 4)3. The solution offered by Malthusianism. (Paras. 5 and 6)4. The solution offered by Social Darwinism. (Paras.7 and 8)5. The argument that public assistance to the poor interferes with the effective operation of the economic system. (Para. 9) Part III (Paras. 10-11)Transition: Roosevelts New Deal and the social welfare policies of the post-World War II presidents seemed to have solved the problem. But actually the matter was only temporarily held in place. Part IV (Paras. 12-19)A critical analysis of five current designs to get the poor off our conscience. 1. The first design is that since the government is incompetent it should not be asked to aid the poor. (Paras. 12-13)2. The second design is that any form of public help to the poor hurts the poor. (Paras. 14-15)3. The third design is that public help to the poor will reduce the incentive of the rich to work and encourage the lethargy of the idle. (Para. 16)4. The fourth design is that public help to the poor will have an adverse effect on freedom. (Paras. 17-18)5. The fifth design is psychological denial. (Para. 19)Part V (Para. 20)Summary of the five designs and the popularity of the advocates of these designs. Part VI (Para. 21)Conclusion: The author points out that public assistance to the poor is in the interest of the rich. It is a conservative course of action.Detailed Study of the Text1. I would like to reflect on one of the oldest of human exercises. (Para. 1)Question: What does the author want to reflect on?The author wants to discuss how people have been trying not to feel guilty about the existence of poor people and justify the continuing existence of poverty. Paraphrase: I want to think seriously about one of the oldest practices of human beings.Translation: 我要严肃考虑一种人类最古老的实践活动。2. . we have undertaken to get the poor off our conscience. (Para. 1)conscience: a sense of right and wrong, with an urge to do rightget the poor off our conscience: 使我们不为穷人的存在而感到内疚Note: In using “we” “our”, the author is including himself in the problem, thus making it sound as if he is reflecting on a moral sin we are all guilty of, rather than preaching to us in a condescending way. 3. Rich and poor have lived together, always uncomfortably and sometimes perilously, since the beginning of time. (Para. 2)perilous: involving risk; dangerousQuestion: What does the author mean when he uses “perilously”?The author must have in mind slave uprisings (such as the slave revolt led by Spartacus in ancient Rome), peasant uprisings and workers strikes. If the economic disparity becomes too great, the poor will rise up against the rich, causing much damage.4. Plutarch was led to say: “An imbalance between the rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of republics.” (Para. 2)Pay attention to how the author expresses the idea.“Plutarch was led to say” implies that it was the actual existence of rich and poor and Plutarchs knowledge of what resulted from inequity between them that made him arrive logically at such a statement; “led to say” means that he could not have come to a different conclusion.An imbalance between the rich and poor is the oldest and most fatal ailment of republics.贫富不均乃共和政体最致命的宿疾。5. And the problems that arise from the continuing coexistence of affluence and povertyand particularly the process by which good fortune is justified in the presence of the ill fortune of othershave been an intellectual preoccupation for centuries. (Para. 2)intellectual: appealing to the intellectintellectual preoccupation: 有思想有学问的人孜孜不倦地探寻答案Question: What is the main idea of this statement?The main idea of this statement is that for centuries those with high intellect have been searching for explanations to justify the coexistence of rich and poor.6. They continue to be so in our own time. (Para. 2)Question: What does “so” refer to?It refers to the fact that the problems continue to be an intellectual preoccupation.Note: The previous sentence refers to history. This one speaks of the present. 7. the poor suffer in this world but are wonderfully rewarded in the next. (Para. 3)“in the next”: after they die; when they go to the next world, i.e. heaven or ParadiseNote: This idea is not only embodied in the Bible but is also common in Buddhism.8. Their poverty is a temporary misfortune: If they are poor and also meek, they eventually will inherit the earth. (Para. 3)meek: patient and mild; submissiveIn the Bible, the word “meek” is used in a positive sense, meaning “patient and mild”. In this statement, the wor