A minor figure from the 18th century can teach a lesson to the current rulers of the deep and shallow states of virtually all countries. René-Louis de Voyer, Marquis d’Argenson (1694-1757) was a figure of the early Enlightenment, friend of Voltaire and briefly minister of Louis XV.
In his memoirs he wrote (Vol. 5, p. 372, of the 1858 edition)–my translation follows the original French:
It’s part of the time it takes. Give the other nations a good feeling and a good environment. And then the environments are no longer enriching: that is what they stand for and how they are; elles nous prendront davantage de nos derées, elles nous prondront davantage des leurs and ours silver. Horrible principle that it is celui de ne vouloir notre grandeur that par l’abaissement de nos voisins! It is not true that the méchanceté and the malignancy of the satisfying feeling than this principle, and the intérêt y est are opposed.
Laissez faire, morbleu! laissez faire!
It’s time to make that choice. All other nations hate us and are jealous of us. But let’s not envy them when they get rich. Good for them, and good for us. They will take more of our products and bring us more of them and their money. It is a despicable principle to seek to achieve our greatness only by debasing our neighbors! Only wickedness and malice of the heart are satisfied by this principle, and interest is its opposite.
Laissez faire, for God’s sake! Laissez faire!
We must forgive d’Argenson’s collectivist way of speaking (for example, the “nations” that hate). On this point he is no worse than most contemporary rulers and “their” people.
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DALL-E got my idea to represent d’Argenson on the first try, but with many mistakes, including the candles dangerously close to the bookshelves and the anachronistic desk lamp. No doubt historians of 18th-century France will discover other anachronisms. D’Argenson, who was around 45 when he wrote the quoted passage, also looks a bit young (although I must admit I can’t quite remember what one looks like at that age). He also doesn’t look like the real d’Argenson, but that’s standard DALL-E practice. Moreover, the robot made a typo in “morbleu” and I couldn’t get “him” to correct it. Still not bad for a virtual machine! Certainly better than a pocket calculator. Maybe he should run for office?
How DALL-E imagines d’Argenson, with one major anachronism and a typo in “morbleu”