第13章 組織(体)と個人 n.2 - 組織は二通りの方法で個人に影響を及ぼす
まずは,人間の出生(の問題)から始めよう。(人間の出生には)医者と助産婦(あるいは助産婦だけ)の奉仕が,必須と考えられ,昔は,まったく訓練を受けていないギャンプ夫人(注:ディケンズの小説『マーティン・チャズルウィット』に出てくる看護婦のこと)のような者で十分と考えられていたけれども,現在では,公的な権威によって決定される一定の熟練が強要されている。幼少期の子供の保健は,ある程度まで,国家の関心事項である。(即ち)多くの国において,国家がどの程度までこの点に関心をもっているかは,幼児と児童の死亡率にかなり精確に反映されている。両親が,親としての義務においてあまりにも欠けるところがある場合には,子供は公的機関(public authority 公共の権威/権力)に引き取られて,養父母ないし養護施設の世話をあてがうことができる。5,6歳の年齢で,子供は教育当局の配下に入り,それ以後,数年間,全ての市民が知っているべきだと政府が考える事柄を強制的に学ばせられる(注:即ち「義務教育」)。この過程が終わると,大多数の場合,大部分の(義務教育を受けたこれらの者たちの)意見や精神的習慣は生涯固定化されるのである(注:国家に忠実な人間の完成、と言った皮肉が感じられる)。 |
Chapter XIII: Organizations and the Individual, n.2Organizations, both public and private, affect an individual in two ways. There are those that are designed to facilitate the realization of his own wishes, or of what are considered to be his interests; and there are those intended to prevent him from thwarting the legitimate interests of others. The distinction is not clear-cut : the police exist to further the interests of honest men, as well as to thwart burglars, but their impact on the lives of burglars is much more emphatic than their contacts with those who abide by the law. I shall return to this distinction presently ; for the moment, let us consider the most important points, in the lives of individuals in civilized communities, at which some organization plays some decisive part.To begin with birth: the services of a doctor and/or a midwife are considered essential, and although, formerly, a wholly untrained Mrs. Gamp was thought sufficient, a certain level of skill, determined by a public authority, is now exacted. Throughout infancy and childhood, health is to some extent the concern of the State; the extent ot the State's concern in various countries is fairly accurately reflected in the infant and juvenile death-rates. If the parents fail too egregiously in their parental duty, the child can be taken from them by the public authority, and assigned to the care of foster-parents or of an institution. At the age of five or six, the child comes under the education authorities, and thenceforward, for a number of years, is compelled to learn those things that the government thinks every citizen should know. At the end of this process, in the majority of cases, most opinions and mental habits are fixed for life. |