The point to which Keynes kept returning was that the attempt to extract debt payments over many years would have disastrous social consequences. “The policy of reducing Germany to servitude for a generation, of degrading the lives of millions of human beings, and of depriving a whole nation of happiness should be abhorrent and detestable,” he wrote, “even if it does not sow the decay of the whole civilized life of Europe.”
凯恩斯所欲纠正的是，试图在多年内收取过度债务还款的举措会造成灾难性的社会后果。“抑制德国，让一整代德国人陷入奴役、让几百万人类丧失体生活、让一个国家被剥夺快乐的权利的政策必然是可恶可憎的，”他写道，“就算它不会让整个欧洲的文明进程倒退。”