6.1.4 经济问题
6.1.4 The Economic Problem
根据西方的观点,经济问题可以简要概括为相对稀缺的公理性原则:资源有限,而需求无限。这意味着商品和服务不足以完全满足人类的所有需求。因此,他们说:"问题在于,尽管你的需要或欲望几乎是无限的,但满足这些欲望的资源却是稀缺的",这一说法见于威廉·A·麦克尤恩(William A. McEachern)的《经济学:当代导论》(Economics: A Contemporary Introduction)。由此,西方的理性认为:"人类的需求是无限的,人总是追求更多、更好……人永远无法得到完全的满足",这一观点见于耶勒·齐耶尔斯特拉(Jelle Zijlstra)的《经济学导论》(Introduction to Economics)。既然需求和欲望是无限的,而满足它们的物质是有限的,那么按照西方人的看法,经济问题便产生于无法实现对这些需求的完全满足。
The economic problem according to the West can be simply summarized as the axiomatic principle of relative scarcity, with limited resources amidst unlimited needs. It means an insufficiency of goods and services to satiate all human needs completely. This is why they say, “The problem is that, although your wants, or desires, are virtually unlimited, the resources available to satisfy these wants are scarce,” as stated in Economics: A Contemporary Introduction by William A. McEachern. Thus the Western intellect sees that “human needs are unlimited and man always seeks for more and better...one can never be fully satiated," as stated in the book Introduction to Economics by Jelle Zijlstra. Since needs and desires are unlimited, whilst the material to satiate them are limited, the economic problem, according to the Westerners, emerges from the inability of achieving the complete satiation of such needs.