I doubted I had taken a step which sank instead of raising me in the scale of social existence.

我怀疑我是否迈出了一步，在社会存在的尺度上沉没而不是提升我。

A new portent had appeared in our economic life, a phenomenon that was destined to affect not only the social and business existence of the every-day American but even his political and legal institutions.

我们的经济生活中出现了一个新的征兆，这种现象注定不仅会影响普通美国人的社会和商业存在，而且还会影响他的政治和法律制度。