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Some thought God would bring about the New Jerusalem, others looked to history or evolution.
一些人認為上帝會帶來新的耶路撒冷，其他人則把希望寄托在歷史發展或進化演變上；
Some thought people would improve if left to themselves, others thought they should be forced to be free;
一些人認為如果任由人類自由發展，他們就能進步，其他人則認為自由應該被強加在人們身上；
some believed in the nation, others in the end of nations;
一些人相信國家是一定要存在的，其他人則認為國家注定要消亡；
some wanted a perfect language, others universal education;
一些人盼望有一種完美的語言，其他人則要求有普及的教育；
some put their hope in science, others in commerce;
一些人寄希望于科學，其他人則寄希望于商業；
some had faith in wise legislation, others in anarchy.
一些人堅信英明的立法，其他人則信仰無政府主義。
Intellectual life was teeming with grand ideas.
思想界充斥著各種宏論。
For most people, the question was not whether progress would happen, but how.
對大多數人來說，問題不在于進步是否會發生，而在于如何發生。
The idea of progress forms the backdrop to a society.
進步的觀念是一個社會存在的前提：
In the extreme, without the possibility of progress of any sort, your gain is someone else's loss.
極端一點兒講，如果沒有任何進步的可能，你的所得就是其他某個人的所失。
If human behavior is unreformable, social policy can only ever be about trying to cage the ape within.
假如人的行為是無法改造的，那么社會政策只能是用來設法控制人的動物本性。
Society must in principle be able to move towards its ideals, such as equality and freedom, or they are no more than cant and self-delusion.
原則上社會必須能夠向某種理想的狀態發高，比如平等和自由，否則，這些理想就只能是偽善的言辭和自欺欺人。
So it matters if people lose their faith in progress.
因此，如果人們失去了對進步的信心，問題就大了。
And it is worth thinking about how to restore it.
如何才能重塑這種信心值得思考。
