早期的自由主义资本主义思想家坚持这样一种信念：以自身利益为导向的行为就是理性的行为，而如果每个人都理性地行事，那么整个社会的繁荣便已足够。

Early liberal capitalist thinkers maintained the belief that acting in a self-interested fashion is to act rationally, and if everyone were to act rationally, then that is all that is needed for society as a whole to flourish.

当代自由主义更进了一步:谁能断定理性究竟由什么构成?哪些"利益"才算是"理性"地去追求的?要让社会真正繁荣,人们就应当去追求任何能让自己感觉良好的事情(当然,前提是这一切都是"无害"的、"双方自愿"的!)。

Contemporary liberalism takes things a step further: Who’s to say what rationality even consists of and what “interests” are indeed “rational” to pursue? For society to truly flourish, people should just pursue whatever makes them feel good (so long as it’s all “harmless” and “consensual,” of course!).

这样一来，人们还奇怪世界为何一团糟。

And then people wonder why the world is a mess