2007年是历史上前所未有的时期；当年创造的财富达到创纪录的54万亿美元，是历史上任何一年中创造财富最多的一年。第二次世界大战之后，世界经济规模仅为1万亿美元。资本主义在欧洲的采纳推动了工业革命，带来了历史上无与伦比的、毫无保留的繁荣与进步。

Year 2007 was an unprecedented time in history; the wealth generated in the year reached a record $54 trillion, the most generated in any year in history. After World War 2 the world economy was a mere $1 trillion. The adoption of Capitalism in Europe set in motion the industrial revolution which has led to unqualified prosperity and progress, unmatched in history.

自共产主义垮台以来，资本主义的支持者不断向世人强调，即便将资本主义自身的进步计算在内，世界人口的繁荣程度依然可观。一些资本家甚至在“文明”层面上流露出种族主义倾向（如果这样的说法存在的话），因为他们认为自己的文明优于其他所有文明。意大利总理西尔维奥·贝卢斯科尼在9·11事件后夸口说：“我们必须意识到我们文明的优越性，这一制度保障了民众的福祉、对人权的尊重，并且——与伊斯兰国家形成对比——保障了宗教和政治权利的尊重，这一制度所具有的价值观是对多样性的理解与宽容……西方将征服各民族，就像它征服共产主义一样，即便这意味着要与另一种文明，即伊斯兰文明对抗，而这一文明仍停留在1400年前的状态。”29《经济学人》杂志更是在全球信贷危机崩溃之际竟敢宣称：

Advocates of Capitalism since the fall of Communism continue to remind the world how prosperous the world’s population is, even considering Capitalism’s progress itself. Some capitalists have even been ‘civilisationally’ racist - if such a term existed - due to considering themselves superior to every other civilisation. The Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi boasted after the events of 9/11, ‘we must be aware of the superiority of our civilisation, a system that has guaranteed well being, respect for human rights and - in contrast with Islamic countries - respect for religious and political rights, a system that has its values understanding of diversity and tolerance…The West will conquer peoples, like it conquered Communism, even if it means a confrontation with another civilisation, the Islamic one, stuck where it was 1,400 years ago.’29 The Economist even had the audacity in the middle of the global credit crunch meltdown to say:

“泡沫、过度与灾难，都是西方金融套餐的一部分。尽管如此，它仍然是值得的。”

‘Bubbles, excess and calamity are part of the package of Western finance. And still it is worth it.

对西方而言，资本主义几乎等同于进步本身。西方走过的道路被称为历史，而其他一切都被视为原始落后、需要改造。然而，这种主张的起点，恰恰正是问题所在。

For the West, Capitalism is synonymous to progress itself. The path the West took to achieve such grand claims is called history and everything else is considered primitive and in need of a reformation. However, the place where such a claim begins is essentially where the problem lies.

对资本主义者而言,衡量进步的标准是世界经济所创造的财富总量——国内生产总值(GDP)。发明创造和科学发现是使生产与工业更加高效的工具,使经济能够以更少的投入产出更多。然而,是什么推动了科学与技术的发展?断言自己的文明更为优越是一回事;但审视其成因,便能看出这种优越是如何取得的。英国被视为世界上第一个实现工业化的国家,而其动力源于征服世界的欲望。英国在海上的优势促成了新的工作模式和制度发展。被殖民民族的原材料的积累,使英国的财富大幅增长。

The measure of progress for Capitalists is the amount of wealth generated by the world economy – Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The invention of technology and scientific discoveries are tools to make production and industry more efficient and give the economy the ability to pump more out of less. However, what has driven science and technology? It is one thing to claim one’s civilisation is superior. However, looking at the causes highlights how such superiority was achieved. Britain is considered the world’s first nation to industrialise and this was driven by the desire to colonise the world. Britain’s advantage on the oceans led to the development of new working patterns and institutional development. The accumulation of the colonised people’s raw materials led to a huge increase in Britain’s wealth.

技术的发展以及大多数科学突破,很大程度上是由战争推动的,尤其是两次世界大战。美国内战促成了潜艇的发展。赢得第一次世界大战的需要则推动了铁路的发展。

The development of technology and most scientific breakthroughs have to a large extent been driven by wars and especially both the world wars. It was the US civil war that led to the development of submarines. The need to win World War 1 drove the development of railways.

虽然铁路早在战前就已存在，但为了在战争期间运送部队，铁路建设取得了巨大进展。通过“回形针行动”（即绑架纳粹科学家和技术人员），美国开始了一项雄心勃勃的火箭技术计划。火箭技术的发展引发了太空竞赛，并促成了弹道导弹、卫星和原始计算机的研发。正是这些创新，使得许多如今已成为家庭常见用品的消费产品得以问世。汽车和飞机所用的内燃机，是第一次世界大战中对机动性的需求所催生的成果。电视机、现代收音机等，则源于将重要信息微型化显示在驾驶舱屏幕上以及与战斗机飞行员进行通信的需要。真正不是为战争而诞生、并且不在军事领域产生的发明，只有寥寥数项。

Although railways existed well before the war huge advances were made in order to transport troops during the war. Through Operation Paperclip, which was the kidnapping of Nazi scientists and technology the United States embarked upon an ambitious program in rocketry. The developments in rocketry led to the space race, the development of ballistic missiles, satellites and primitive computers. Such innovations are what allowed the development of a number of consumer items which have become common household items. The combustion engine used in both cars and aeroplanes was a result of the mobility needed in World War 1. Televisions, the modern radio etc., were developed from the need to miniaturize essential information on cockpit screens and communicate with fighter jet pilots. There are only a handful of inventions that took place outside the military and were not needed for war.

尽管资本主义的西方在技术上处于历史上最先进的地位，但对资源的争夺、殖民主义和战争，一直是西方技术与科学实力的显著特征。

Although the capitalist West has the position of being the most technologically advanced in history, the search for resources, colonialism and war has characterised Western technological and scientific prowess.

资本主义或许推动了前所未有的财富创造。然而，还有若干发展也应当与之相匹配地加以审视。世界经济或许正在创造历史新高的财富，自由民主制度也在推动这一进程，但世界上一半的人口今天仍会因为日收入不足2美元而吃不饱饭，而全球95%的人口日生活费不足10美元。

Capitalism may have driven wealth creation like never before. However, there are a number of developments that it should also be certified with. The world economy maybe generating record wealth with liberal democracies driving this, but half of the world’s population will not have had enough food today as they earn less then $2 a day – 95% of the world lives on less then $10 a day.

世界范围内的贫困在资本主义之下加速恶化。过去是欧洲在全球各地争夺资源，如今则由美国取而代之。与19世纪相比，所改变的只是：枪炮被工厂所取代，奴役被消费主义所取代，军队被媒体所取代，自给型农业被金融市场所取代。

World poverty has accelerated under Capitalism. It was Europe that scrambled for resources around the world in the past, whereas today they have been replaced by the US. All that has changed from the 19th century is that the gun has been replaced by the factory, slavery has been replaced by consumerism, armies have been replaced by the media and subsistence farming has been replaced by the financial markets.

资本主义的又一项“成就”，是造就了人类历史上最严重的财富鸿沟。世界大多数人几乎只能靠几美元勉强度日，而美国拥有全球大部分的亿万富翁，这是人类历史上最为失衡的世界经济格局。2006年，联合国世界发展经济学研究所发布了一项全球研究的总结报告。其中多项结论令人震惊。该研究汇集了世界各国的资料，得出结论：世界上最富有的1%的人口拥有全球40%的财富，而世界人口中仅10%的人便占有全球85%的资产。32理查德·罗宾斯在其屡获殊荣的著作《全球问题与资本主义文化》中印证了这一点，他写道：“资本主义的兴起，代表了一种在许多方面都是迄今为止最成功的文化，它使大量个人在相对和绝对意义上享有舒适与奢华。然而，它在使所有人平等融入方面却并不成功，而这一失败仍然是它的主要问题之一。” 资本主义还造成了历史上负债最为沉重的世界，个人和国家的债务都超过了收入。世界共创造了54万亿美元的财富，但当其中大部分是靠债务来支撑时，这一数字便失去了意义。西方世界沉迷于过度消费，远超实际所需，而其中大部分又是依靠债务支撑的，因为所创造的财富大多掌握在少数人手中。美国作为世界超级大国、世界最大的经济体，对许多人而言也是资本主义成功的象征，如今却深陷债务的泥潭之中，信贷紧缩危机使这一问题暴露无遗。2007年，美国创造了近14万亿美元的产值，然而其国债——即中央和联邦政府通过所发行的债券欠美国公众及全世界的债务——高达9.7万亿美元。美国民众对进口商品和房地产有着极大的需求。 因此,消费者债务达到11.4万亿美元。美国企业的债务总额为18.4万亿美元。

Capitalism’s next success has been creating history’s greatest ever wealth fault line. Whilst the majority of the world barely survives on a few dollars, the US has most of the world’s billionaires, in what is mankind’s greatest lopsided world economy. In 2006 the World Institute for Development Economics Research of the UN released the culmination of a global study. A number of its findings are staggering. By gathering research from countries all over the world the study concluded that the richest 1% of the world owns 40% of the planet's wealth and that only 10% of the world’s population owned 85% of the world’s assets.32 Richard Robbins in his award winning book ‘Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism’ confirmed this when he said: ‘The emergence of Capitalism represents a culture that is in many ways is the most successful that has ever been deployed in terms of accommodating large numbers of individuals in relative and absolute comfort and luxury. It has not been as successful, however, in integrating all in equal measure, and its failure here remains one of its major problems.’ Capitalism has also created the most indebted world in history, where individuals and nations have more debt than income. The fact that the world generated $54 trillion is irrelevant when most of this has been funded by debt. The Western world has become obsessed by consuming more then it really needs and most of this is funded by debt as most of the wealth generated is in the hands of a few. The USA, the world’s superpower, the world’s largest economy and for many a symbol of Capitalism’s success is drowning in a misery of debt, which the credit crunch crisis brought to the forefront. The US generated nearly $14 trillion in 2007, however the national debt – this is money the central and federal governments owe to the US public and the world through the bonds they have sold - stands at $9.7 trillion. US citizens have a huge appetite for imports and real estate. As a result consumer debt stands at $11.4 trillion. The debts of US companies amounts to $18.4 trillion.

这使美国的债务达到略低于40万亿美元,几乎相当于世界总产出的75%。3700万美国人生活在贫困线以下。资本主义对经济持续增长的不懈追求,使世界陷入了一场它无力偿还的金钱泛滥之中,因此自由派一再向我们强调的繁荣,在很大程度上已无关紧要。资本主义之所以得名,是因其最突出的特征——资本。它把物质财富当作人生的终极目标,在它看来,没有物质财富的人生就不值得过。这使贵族阶层得以影响各国政府,确保其财富得以保全,并促使政府采取有利于贵族敛财的行动。随后,贵族阶层逐渐被企业和大企业的掌权者所取代,例如石油行业的约翰·洛克菲勒、汽车行业的亨利·福特、铁路行业的杰伊·古尔德、银行业的J·皮尔庞特·摩根,以及钢铁行业的安德鲁·卡内基。西方各国政府组织了对世界的殖民,而资本家,即大企业,则积累了更多财富。最初,第一次世界大战的影响迫使西方直面巨大的财富不平等问题,因为当大多数人口几乎没有财富可供消费时,西方经济就不可能从衰退中自我恢复。正是这一问题催生了消费主义:消费、享受新发明和追逐新潮流,成为人生的目标,同时也巧妙地促进了经济的刺激。

This makes the US indebted to the tune of just under $40 trillion – nearly 75% of what the world produces. 37 million Americans live below the poverty line. Capitalism’s continued endeavour of perpetual economic growth has drowned the world in money it does not have which makes the prosperity liberals insistence on reminding us, rather irrelevant. Capitalism was named after its most prominent aspect (capital). It makes material wealth the ultimate aim in life, without this life is not worth living. This led the aristocracy to influence national governments to ensure they maintain their wealth and undertake actions for the aristocracy to make more wealth. The aristocracy came to be replaced by companies and big business heads such as John Rockefeller in Oil, Henry Ford in Automobiles, Jay Gould in railroads, J. Pierpont Morgan in Banking and Andrew Carnegie in steel. Governments in the West organised the colonisation of the world whilst the capitalist – big businesses - accumulated even more wealth. It was initially the effects of World War 1 that forced the West to address the massive wealth disparities since it was impossible for Western economies to pull themselves out of a downturn when the majority of their population had very little wealth to spend. It was this problem which led to the creation of consumerism where spending, enjoying new inventions and new fads would become life’s aim and at the same time conveniently helped stimulate the economy.

资本主义必将持续创造财富，因为资本主义的本质就是永续的经济增长。

Capitalism will always generate wealth as Capitalism is all about perpetual economic growth.

然而，资本主义的全部关注点就在于此。它很少关注其巨额财富的分配。

However, this is all Capitalism is about. It pays little attention to the distribution of its vast wealth.

它对于整个大陆因殖民统治而陷入贫困，或他们通常所说的“自由贸易”和“全球化”，几乎毫不在意。资本主义远非优越，实际上却是一场灾难。

It cares little if anything if whole continents live in poverty due to their colonisation or as they usually term it - free trade and globalisation. Capitalism far from being superior has actually been a disaster.