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LieneOzolina_2019X-_为什么我们要把经济危机归咎于个人呢_-
It was a cold, sunny March day. 在某个寒冷、 阳光灿烂的三月天里,
I was walking along the street in Riga. 我走在里加的街道上。
I remember the winter was slowly coming to an end. 我记得冬天慢慢地结束了。
There was still some snow around here and there , but the pavement was already clear and dry. 周围还有一些积雪, 但路面已经非常干净了。
here and there:各处,到处; pavement:n.路面;人行道;石板铺的地面;
If you've lived in Riga, you will know that feeling of relief that the first signs of spring bring, and you no longer have to trudge through that slushy mix of snow and mud on the streets. 如果你生活在里加, 你就能体会到春天的第一个迹象 带来的那种轻松感, 并且你再也不用在遍布积雪的 泥泞街道上跋涉了。
relief:n.救济;减轻,解除;安慰;浮雕; trudge:v.跋涉;步履艰难地走;n.长途跋涉;沉重的步伐; slushy:adj.泥泞的;融雪的;n.船上的厨子;(澳)厨子的助手;
So there I am, enjoying my stroll , as I suddenly notice a stencil on the pavement in front of me, a graffiti : white letters painted on these dark grey bricks. 那天,我走在街上, 享受着闲庭信步, 突然注意到前面 地砖上的一块图案, 那是一片涂鸦: 灰色的砖块上 有一些白色的字母。
stroll:n.漫步;闲逛;巡回演出;v.散步;闲逛;巡回演出; stencil:n.漏字板; graffiti:n.墙上乱写乱画的东西(graffito的复数形式);
It says, "Where is your responsibility?" 上面写道: “你的责任在哪里？”
The question stopped me in my tracks . 这个问题使我不禁停住了脚步。
tracks:n.小道;足迹;车辙;轨道;v.追踪;跟踪;(track的第三人称单数和复数)
As I'm standing there considering its meaning, 于是,我站在原地, 开始思考着它的含义。
I notice I'm standing outside the Riga Municipality Social Welfare Department. 我注意到自己正站在 里加市社会福利部外面。
Municipality:n.市;自治市;自治区;市(或区)政当局; Welfare:n.福祉;(政府给予的)福利;
So it appears that the author of this graffiti, whoever it is, is asking this question to people coming to apply for social assistance. 似乎这个涂鸦的作者—— 不管他是谁—— 正在向前来申请社会福利的人 询问这个问题。
whoever:任何人:无论是谁: apply:v.申请;涂,敷;应用;适用;请求;
That winter, 那个冬天,
I had been doing research on the aftermath of the financial crisis in Latvia . 我一直在研究拉脱维亚 金融危机的后果。
aftermath:n.后果;余波; financial:adj.金融的;财政的,财务的; crisis:n.危机;危险期;决定性时刻;adj.危机的;用于处理危机的; Latvia:n.拉脱维亚;
When the Global Financial Crisis erupted in 2008, Latvia got hit hard as a small, open economy . 当 2008 年全球金融危机爆发时, 作为一个小规模的开放经济体, 拉脱维亚遭受了重创。
Global:adj.全球的;总体的;球形的; erupted:v.爆发;长出(erupt的过去分词); economy:n.经济;节约;理财;
To balance the books, the Latvian government chose a strategy of internal devaluation . 为了平衡收支, 拉脱维亚政府选择了 内部贬值的战略。
Latvian:adj.拉脱维亚的;拉脱维亚人的;拉脱维亚语的;n.拉脱维亚语;拉脱维亚人; strategy:n.策略;行动计划;部署;战略; internal:n.内脏;本质;adj.内部的;里面的;体内的;(机构)内部的; devaluation:n.货币贬值;
Now, in essence , that meant drastically reducing public budget spending, so, slashing public sector workers' wages , shrinking civil service , cutting unemployment benefits and other social assistance, raising taxes. 从本质上说,就是 大幅削减公共预算支出, 比如,削减公共部门的工资, 缩减社会服务, 削减失业福利和其他社会援助, 加税。
in essence:本质上;其实;大体上; drastically:adv.彻底地;激烈地; budget:n.预算,预算费;v.安排,预定;把…编入预算;adj.廉价的; slashing:adj.猛烈的;严厉的;冲劲十足的;巨大的;n.猛砍;鞭打; public sector:n.公营部门;公共部门; wages:n.[劳经]工资; v.开展(运动等)(wage的第三人称单数形式); shrinking:v.(使)缩水,收缩,缩小,退缩;(shrink的现在分词) civil service:n.公务员;行政部门; unemployment:n.失业;失业率;失业人数;
My mother had been working as a history teacher her whole life. 我母亲当了一辈子历史老师。
The austerity for her meant seeing her salary cut by 30 percent all of a sudden . 紧缩就意味着, 突然之间她的薪水 减少了 30%。
austerity:n.紧缩;朴素;苦行;严厉; all of a sudden:突然地,出乎意料地;
And there were many in a situation like hers or worse. 很多人的情况跟她相似或者更糟。
The costs of the crisis were put on the shoulders of ordinary Latvians. 这场危机的代价需要 拉脱维亚的普通百姓来承受。
As a result of the crisis and the austerity, the Latvian economy shrank by 25 percent in a two-year period. 因为这场危机和紧缩, 拉脱维亚经济 在两年内萎缩了 25%。
As a result:结果; shrank:v.收缩(shrink的过去式);缩小;
Only Greece suffered an economic contraction of a comparable scale . 只有希腊的经济紧缩程度 达到了同样的规模。
economic:adj.经济的,经济上的;经济学的; contraction:n.收缩,紧缩;缩写式;害病; comparable:adj.可比较的;比得上的; scale:n.规模;比例;鳞;刻度;天平;数值范围;v.衡量;攀登;剥落;生水垢;
Yet, while Greeks were out in the streets for months staging continuous , often violent protests in Athens, all was quiet in Riga. 然而,当希腊人走上雅典的街头, 进行了长达数月的 暴力抗议活动时, 里加却一片静悄悄。
continuous:adj.连续的,持续的;继续的;连绵不断的; violent:adj.暴力的;猛烈的; protests:v.抗议;反对(protest的三单形式);n.抗议(protest的复数);
Prominent economists were fighting in the columns of "The New York Times" 着名的经济学家 在《纽约时报》的专栏上
Prominent:adj.突出的,显著的;杰出的;卓越的; columns:n.柱:(通常为)圆形石柱:(书,报纸印刷页上的)栏(column的复数)
about this curious extreme Latvian experiment of this austerity regime , and they were watching on in disbelief how the Latvian society was putting up with it. 争论起拉脱维亚这种奇怪的 极端紧缩实验, 他们难以置信地看着 拉脱维亚社会 是如何默默承受这一切的。
curious:adj.好奇的,有求知欲的;古怪的;爱挑剔的; extreme:adj.极端的;极度的;偏激的;尽头的;n.极端;末端;最大程度;极端的事物; regime:n.政权,政体;社会制度;管理体制; disbelief:n.怀疑,不信;
I was studying in London at the time, and I remember the Occupy movement there and how it was spreading from city to city, from Madrid to New York to London, the 99 percent against the one percent. 我当时正在伦敦学习, 我记得那里的占领运动 如何从一个城市蔓延到另一个城市, 从马德里到纽约,再到伦敦, 99% 的人反抗 1% 的人。
Occupy:v.占据,占领;居住;使忙碌; Madrid:n.马德里(西班牙首都);
You know the story. 大家都知道这些事件的背景。
Yet when I arrived in Riga, there were no echoes of the Occupy here. 然而当我到达里加时, 这里没有一丁点“占领”的迹象。
echoes:n.回声; v.发出回声;
Latvians were just putting up with it. 拉脱维亚人已经接受了这个事实。
They " swallowed the toad ," as the local saying goes. 正如当地谚语所说, 他们“吞下了癞蛤蟆（自食苦果）”。
swallowed:v.吞下;咽下;吞没;淹没;侵吞(swallow的过去分词和过去式) toad:n.蟾蜍;癞蛤蟆;讨厌的家伙;
For my doctoral research, 为了我的博士研究,
doctoral:adj.博士的;博士学位的;有博士学位的;n.博士论文;
I wanted to study how the state-citizen relationship was changing in Latvia in the post-Soviet era , and I had chosen the unemployment office as my research site . 我想去研究后苏联时代 拉脱维亚的国家与公民关系 发生了怎样的变化, 我选择了失业办公室作为 我的研究地点。
era:n.新时期;纪元;年代;新时代; site:n.地点;位置;场所;v.设置;为…选址;
And as I arrived there in that autumn of 2011, 当我在 2011 年秋天到达那里时,
I realized, "I am actually witnessing firsthand how the effects of crises are playing out, and how those worst affected by it, people who have lost their jobs, are reacting to it." 我意识到:“我其实是在亲自见证 危机是如何产生影响的, 以及那些受影响最严重的人, 那些失去工作的人 是如何响应的。”
witnessing:v.当场看到,目击;是发生…的地点;见证;(witness的现在分词) firsthand:adj.直接的;直接采购的;直接得来的;adv.直接地; crises:n.危机,紧要关头;危险期(crisis的复数形式); reacting:v.起反应;(对…)作出反应;回应;(react的现在分词)
So I started interviewing people I met at the unemployment office. 于是我开始采访我在 失业办公室遇到的人。
interviewing:v.对(某人)进行面试;(媒体)采访,访问;(interview的现在分词)
They were all registered as job seekers and hoping for some help from the state. 他们都是注册的失业者, 希望得到国家的帮助。
registered:adj.登记过的;记名的;挂号的;v.登记;注册;(register的过去式和过去分词) seekers:n.探求者;搜查人;
Yet, as I was soon discovering, this help was of a particular kind. 然而,我很快发现, 这是种特殊的帮助。
There was some cash benefit, but mostly state assistance came in the form of various social programs, and one of the biggest of these programs was called "Competitiveness-Raising Activities." 会有一些现金补助, 但绝大部分国家救助 是以各种社会项目的形式呈现, 其中一种最大的项目叫做 “竞争力提升活动”。
It was, in essence, a series of seminars that all of the unemployed were encouraged to attend. 从本质上说,这是一系列 鼓励失业者去参与的研讨会。
series:n.系列,连续;[电]串联;级数;丛书; seminars:n.研讨会(seminar的复数);专题讨论会; unemployed:adj.失业的;下岗的;n.(集合词)失业者;
So I started attending these seminars with them. 于是我开始和他们一起 参与这些研讨会。
And a number of paradoxes struck me. 然而,有一些悖论 开始困扰着我。
paradoxes:n.[数]悖论(paradox的复数);
So, imagine: the crisis is still ongoing , the Latvian economy is contracting , hardly anyone is hiring, and there we are, in this small, brightly lit classroom, a group of 15 people, 想象一下: 危机仍在继续, 拉脱维亚经济正在萎缩, 人才市场一片萧条, 而就在这个 灯火通明的小教室里, 我们 15 人的团队
ongoing:n.发展; adj.持续存在的; contracting:adj.缔约的;承包的;收缩的; brightly:明亮地
working on lists of our personal strengths and weaknesses, our inner demons , that we are told are preventing us from being more successful in the labor market. 正在研究每个人的优点和缺点, 我们的内在恶魔, 那些我们被告知会阻碍 我们在劳动市场上 成功的因素。
personal:adj.个人的;身体的;亲自的;n.人事消息栏;人称代名词; inner:n.内部;射中接近靶心部分的一发;adj.里面的;向内的;内部的;接近中心的; demons:n.恶魔;魔鬼;心魔;邪念;(demon的复数)
As the largest local bank is being bailed out and the costs of this bailout are shifted onto the shoulders of the population, we are sitting in a circle and learning how to breathe deeply when feeling stressed. 当时,当地最大的银行 正在接受救助, 且救助的成本 被转移到了普通人身上, 而我们也围坐在一起, 学习在感到沮丧压抑时 如何深呼吸。
bailed:v.允许保释;离开;与…搭讪;(bail的过去分词和过去式) bailout:n.紧急救助;跳伞; shifted:转移;移动(shift的过去式和过去分词);
(Breathes deeply) （深呼吸）
As home mortgages are being foreclosed and thousands of people are emigrating , we are told to dream big and to follow our dreams. 随着贷款抵押的房屋 正在被法院拍卖, 成千上万的人正在移民, 我们被告知要有远大的梦想, 要追随我们的梦想。
mortgages:n.抵押贷款; v.[经]抵押(mortgage的三单形式); foreclosed:v.取消赎回权;排除…的可能;(foreclose的过去分词和过去式) emigrating:v.移居;移居外国;移民;
As a sociologist , 作为社会学家,
sociologist:n.社会学家;
I know that social policies are an important form of communication between the state and the citizen. 我知道那种社会政策 是国家和公民之间 沟通的重要方式。
policies:n.政策;方针;原则;为人之道;保险单(policy的复数)
The message of this program was, to put it in the words of one of the trainers, "Just do it." 这个项目传递的信息 用一个培训者的话来说就是, “只管去做。”
She was, of course, citing Nike. 显然,她是在引用耐克的广告词。
citing:v.提及(原因);列举;引用;传唤;(cite的现在分词)
So symbolically , the state was sending a message to people out of work that you need to be more active, you need to work harder, you need to work on yourself, you need to overcome your inner demons, you need to be more confident -- that somehow , being out of work was their own personal failure. 所以象征性的,国家 给失业者传递的信息是, 你需要更加积极, 你需要更为努力, 你需要靠自己, 你需要克服心魔, 你需要更有信心—— 失业多多少少 也是他们个人的失败。
symbolically:adv.象征性地;象征意义地; overcome:vt.克服;胜过;vi.克服;得胜; confident:adj.自信的;确信的; somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地;
The suffering of the crisis was treated as this individual experience of stress to be managed in one's own body through deep and mindful breathing. 这场危机的痛苦 被视作可以被个人的身体 通过深度而专注的呼吸 来管理的个人经历。
treated:v.以…态度对待;把…看作;(treat的过去分词和过去式) individual:n.个人;有个性的人;adj.单独的;个别的; mindful:adj.留心的;记住的;警觉的;
These types of social programs that emphasize individual responsibility have become increasingly common across the world. 这些强调个人责任的社会项目 在全球变得日渐普遍。
emphasize:v.强调;重视;着重;使突出; increasingly:adv.越来越多地;渐增地;
They are part of the rise of what sociologist Lo?c Wacquant calls the " neoliberal Centaur state." 部分是因为社会学家华康德 （Lo?c Wacquant）所提出的 “新自由主义的半人马。”
neoliberal:adj.新自由主义的(主张不受政府调控的全球自由市场,工商企业由私有者经营以获利); Centaur:n.半人马座;人首马身的怪物;
Now, the centaur, as you might recall , is this mythical creature in ancient Greek culture, half human, half beast. 半人马,如果各位还记得, 是古希腊文化中的神秘生物, 半人,半马。
recall:v.记起;回想起;使想到;勾起;召回;n.记忆力;记性;回归请求;回收令; mythical:adj.神话的;虚构的; creature:n.生物;动物;(具有某种特征的)人;
It has this upper part of a human and the lower part of a horse. 上半身是人,下半身是马。
upper:adj.上面的;内陆的;n.靴面;兴奋剂;
So the Centaur state is a state that turns its human face to those at the top of the social ladder while those at the bottom are being trampled over, stampeded . 所以半人马的国家, 就是指那些 把它的人脸 面对着社会上层阶级, 而那些处于底层的人 则被践踏的国家。
ladder:n.阶梯;途径;梯状物;v.成名;发迹;在…上装设梯子; trampled:v.踩伤;践踏;摧残(人权、心灵等);(trample的过去分词和过去式) stampeded:n.惊跑;人群的蜂拥;军队溃败;vi.蜂拥;逃窜;vt.使…惊逃;抢占;
So top income earners and large businesses can enjoy tax cuts and other supportive policies, while the unemployed, the poor are made to prove themselves worthy for the state's help, are morally disciplined , 于是高收入者和大公司 可以享受减税和其他支持性政策, 而失业者和穷人 则被要求去证明 他们值得国家援助, 证明他们的道德自律。
earners:n.赚钱的人; supportive:adj.支持的;支援的;赞助的; worthy:adj.值得的; n.杰出人物; morally:adv.道德上;有道德地;确实地; disciplined:adj.遵守纪律的; v.训练; (discipline的过去式和过去分词)
are stigmatized as irresponsible or passive or lazy or often criminalized . 他们也常常被污蔑为 不负责任、消极、懒惰, 或常常因违法行为被定罪。
stigmatized:adj.受非难的;被污名化的;v.污辱;指责(stigmatize的过去分词); irresponsible:adj.不负责任的;不可靠的; passive:adj.被动的,消极的;被动语态的;n.被动语态; criminalized:vt.宣告…为犯法行为;判定…为非法事件;
In Latvia, we've had such a Centaur state model firmly in place since the '90s. 在拉脱维亚, 自上世纪 90 年代以来, 这种半人半马的国家模式 就已经存在了。
Take, for example, the flat income tax that we had in place up until this year that has been benefiting the highest earners, while one quarter of the population keeps living in poverty . 例如,我们在今年之前 一直实行的单一所得税 一直让高收入者受益, 四分之一的人口 仍然生活在贫困中。
income tax:所得税; poverty:n.贫困;困难;缺少;低劣;
And the crisis and the austerity has made these kinds of social inequalities worse. 经济危机和财政紧缩使得 这种社会不平等更加严重。
inequalities:n.[数]不等式;不均等,不平衡;不平坦(inequality的复数形式);
So while the capital of the banks and the wealthy has been protected, those who lost the most were taught lessons in individual responsibility. 所当银行和富人资本得到保护时, 失去最多的人 反而被教导承担个人责任。
Now, as I was talking to people who I met at these seminars, 那么当我和在这些研讨会上 遇到的人交谈时,
I was expecting them to be angry. 我预期他们会愤怒。
I was expecting them to be resisting these lessons in individual responsibility. 我预期他们 会抵制这些关于个人责任的培训。
resisting:adj.稳定的;坚固的;v.抵抗;忍住(resist的现在分词);
After all, the crisis was not their fault, yet they were bearing the brunt of it. 毕竟,危机不是他们的错, 然而他们受到的冲击却最大。
bearing:n.关系;影响;姿态;举止v.承受;忍受;承担责任;(bear的现在分词) brunt:n.冲击;主要冲力;
But as people were sharing their stories with me, 但随着人们和我们分享他们的故事,
I was struck again and again by the power of the idea of responsibility. 我一次次被责任这种力量所震撼。
again and again:adv.再三地,反复地;
One of the people I met was ?anete. 我遇到的其中一个人是扎纳特。
She had been working for 23 years teaching sewing and other crafts at the vocational school in Riga. 她在里加的职业学校 教缝纫和其他工艺有 23 个年头了。
sewing:n.缝纫;缝制中的衣物;v.缝;做针线活;缝制;缝补;(sew的现在分词) crafts:n.工艺品,手艺(craft的复数形式); vocational school:n.(美国)职业学校;
And now the crisis hits, and the school is closed as part of the austerity measures. 受到危机的冲击后, 学校作为紧缩措施的一部分被关闭。
The educational system restructuring was part of a way of saving public money. 教育系统重组是节省 公共资金的一种方式。
educational:adj.教育的;有关教育的;有教育意义的 restructuring:n.调整;改组;重建;v.重组(restructure的现在分词形式);
And 10,000 teachers across the country lose their jobs, and ?anete is one of them. 全国有 1 万名教师 失去了工作, 扎纳特就是其中一员。
And I know from what she's been telling me that losing her job has put her in a desperate situation; she's divorced, she has two teenage children that she's the sole provider for. 从她的描述中我了解到, 失业把她推到了绝望的境地; 她离婚了,有两个 10 多岁的孩子 需要她一个人抚养。
desperate:adj.不顾一切的;令人绝望的;极度渴望的; sole:n.鞋底; adj.仅有的; v.给(鞋)换底; provider:n.供应者;养家者;
And yet, as we are talking, she says to me that the crisis is really an opportunity. 然而,随着我们交谈的深入, 她却说,这场危机真是个机会。
She says, "I turn 50 this year. 她说,“我今年50岁了。
I guess life has really given me this chance to look around, to stop, because all these years I've been working nonstop , had no time to pause. 我猜生活是想给我这个机会 停下来,去看看周围, 因为这些年来 我一直无休地工作, 没有时间暂停一下。
nonstop:adj.直达的;不休息的;不着陆的;n.直达车;adv.不休息地;
And now I have stopped, and I've been given an opportunity to look at everything and to decide what it is that I want and what it is that I don't want. 如今我停下来了, 我有了这个机会去看看 这一切,并决定 什么是我想要的, 以及什么是我不想要的。
All this time, sewing, sewing, some kind of exhaustion ." 一直以来都是缝呀,缝呀, 真让人精疲力竭。“
exhaustion:n.枯竭;耗尽;精疲力竭;
So ?anete is made redundant after 23 years. 于是在 23 年后, 扎纳特被裁员了。
redundant:adj.多余的,过剩的;被解雇的,失业的;冗长的,累赘的;
But she's not thinking about protesting . 但她没有考虑抗议。
protesting:v.(公开)反对;抗议;坚决地表示;申辩;(protest的现在分词)
She's not talking about the 99 percent against the one percent. 她不谈 99% 对抗 1% 这些。
She is analyzing herself. 她在分析自己。
analyzing:adj.分析的;v.分析(analyze的现在分词);
And she was thinking pragmatically of starting a small business out of her bedroom making these little souvenir dolls to sell to tourists. 她很务实地 打算在自己的卧室里 做些小纪念品娃娃卖给游客。
pragmatically:adv.讲究实效地;实用主义地; souvenir:n.纪念品;礼物;vt.把…留作纪念;
I also met Aivars at the unemployment office. 我也在失业办公室遇见了埃瓦斯。
Aivars was in his late 40s, he had lost a job at the government agency overseeing road construction . 埃瓦斯年近 40, 他失去了政府机构 监督道路建设的工作。
agency:n.代理,中介;代理处,经销处; overseeing:监督;审查;俯瞰;偷看到,无意中看到; construction:n.建设;建筑物;解释;造句;
To one of our meetings, Aivars brings a book he's been reading. 在我们的某次会面上, 埃瓦斯带来了一本他正在阅读的书。
It's called " Vaccination against Stress, or Psycho-energetic Aikido ." 书名叫《压力的疫苗,心力的合气道》。
Vaccination:n.接种疫苗;种痘; Aikido:n.(日)合气道(日本的一种自卫拳术);
Now, some of you might know that aikido is a form of martial art , so, psycho-energetic aikido. 在座有些人可能知道, 合气道是一种武术, 所以,心力的合气道。
martial art:n.武术;
And Aivars tells me that after several months of reading and thinking and reflecting while being out of work, he has understood that his current difficulties are really his own doing. 埃瓦斯告诉我,在经历失业后 数个月的阅读和反思后, 他理解了当下的困难 是他自找的。
reflecting:v.反映;映出(影像);反射;显示,表明,表达;(reflect的现在分词)
He says to me, "I created it myself. 他和我说, “这都是我咎由自取。
I was in a psychological state that was not good for me. 我处在了对自己 非常不利的心理状态中。
psychological:adj.心理的;心理学的;精神上的;
If a person is afraid to lose their money, to lose their job, they start getting more stressed, more unsettled , more fearful . 如果一个人害怕 失去金钱,失去工作, 他们会开始变得更加紧张, 更加不安,更加害怕。
unsettled:adj.未决定的;怀疑的;未处理的;不整齐的; fearful:adj.可怕的;担心的;严重的;
That's what they get." 而这就是后果。”
As I ask him to explain, he compares his thoughts poetically to wild horses running in all directions, and he says, "You need to be a shepherd of your thoughts. 我让他详细解释一下, 于是他把自己的思想诗意地 比做四处奔跑的野马, 他说,“你需要引导自己的思想。
compares:v.比较;对比;(compare的第三人称单数) poetically:adv.用韵文;有诗意地; shepherd:vt.牧羊;带领;指导;看管;n.牧羊人;牧师;指导者;
To get things in order in the material world, you need to be a shepherd of your thoughts, because it's through your thoughts that everything else gets orderly ." 要让现实世界井然有序, 你就需要引导自己的思想, 因为只有通过你的思想, 其他一切才会变得井然有序。”
orderly:adj.有秩序的;整齐的;值班的;n.勤务兵;传令兵;护理员;adv.顺序地;依次地;
'"Lately," he says, "I have clearly understood that the world around me, what happens to me, people that enter in my life ... it all depends directly on myself." “最近”,他说道, “我清楚地明白了, 我周围的世界, 发生在我身上的事情, 进入我生活的人… 全都取决于我自己。”
directly:adv.直接地;立即;马上;正好地;坦率地;conj.一…就;
So as Latvia is going through this extreme economic experiment, 于是随着拉脱维亚正在经历 一场极端的经济实验,
Aivars says it's his way of thinking that has to change. 埃瓦斯说, 他的思考模式也需要改变。
He's blaming himself for what he's going through at the moment. 他在为自己正在经历的一切自责。
So taking responsibility is, of course, a good thing, right? 负责任当然是好事,对吧？
It is especially meaningful and morally charged in a post-Soviet society, where reliance on the state is seen as this unfortunate heritage of the Soviet past. 在苏联解体后的社会里, 这种做法尤其有道德上的意义, 对国家的依赖被视为苏联过去的 不幸遗产。
especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分; meaningful:adj.严肃的;重要的;重大的;意味深长的; reliance:n.信赖;信心;受信赖的人或物; heritage:n.遗产;传统;继承物;继承权; Soviet:adj.苏维埃的;苏联的;n.苏维埃(前苏联的各级代表会议);苏联人;
But when I listen to ?anete and Aivars and to others, 但当我听着扎纳特和埃瓦斯 和其他人的聊天时,
I also thought how cruel this question is -- "Where is your responsibility?" -- how punishing. 我也在想, 这个问题真是太残酷了—— “你的责任在哪里？”—— 惩罚的意味如此明显。
Because, it was working as a way of blaming and pacifying people who were hit worst by the crisis. 因为这是责备和安抚 受危机冲击 影响最大的人群的一种方式。
pacifying:v.使平静;平息;抚慰;使实现和平;(pacify的现在分词)
So while Greeks were out in the streets, Latvians swallowed the toad, and many tens of thousands emigrated , which is another way of taking responsibility. 所以当希腊人上街时, 拉脱维亚人“吞下了癞蛤蟆”, 成千上万的人移居国外, 另一种负起责任的方式。
emigrated:v.移居国外;移民;(emigrate的过去分词和过去式)
So the language, the language of individual responsibility, has become a form of collective denial . 所以这个说辞,个人责任的说辞, 已经成为集体否认的一种方式。
collective:adj.集体的;共同的;集合的;集体主义的;n.集团;集合体;集合名词; denial:n.否认;否定;剥夺(应有的权利);拒不承认(令人不快、痛苦的事);
As long as we have social policies that treat unemployment as individual failure but we don't have enough funding for programs that give people real skills or create workplaces , we are blind of the policymakers' responsibility. 只要我们的社会政策把失业率 视为个人失败, 而没有足够的资金来资助那些 能给人们提供真正技能的项目 或者创造工作机会, 我们就忽视了政策制定者的责任。
As long as:conj.只要;长达;如果;既然; funding:n.基金;资金;提供资金;v.为…提供资金;拨款给;(fund的现在分词) workplaces:n.[管理]工作场所(workplace的复数);
As long as we stigmatize the poor as somehow passive or lazy but don't give people real means to get out of poverty other than emigrating, we are in denial of the true causes of poverty. 只要我们把穷人 说成是消极或懒惰的, 但除了移民外,不能给他们 脱贫的真正方法, 我们就是在否定贫穷的真正原因。
And in the meantime , we all suffer, because social scientists have shown with detailed statistical data that there are more people with both mental and physical health problems in societies with higher levels of economic inequality. 同时, 我们全都在承受经济危机的后果。 因为社会科学家提供的 详细统计数据显示, 在经济不平等的社会中, 人们的心理和生理问题更多。
in the meantime:在此期间;于此际; statistical:adj.统计的;统计学的; mental:adj.精神的;脑力的;疯的;n.精神病患者; physical:adj.[物]物理的;身体的;物质的;符合自然法则的;n.体格检查;
So social inequality is apparently bad for not only those with least resources but for all of us, because living in a society with high inequality means living in a society with low social trust and high anxiety . 所以社会不平等显然不仅仅 不利于资源最匮乏的人群, 对我们所有人也是如此, 因为生活在高度不平等的社会, 意味着生活在一个 低信任度及高焦虑的社会中。
apparently:adv.显然地;似乎,表面上; resources:n.[计][环境]资源; v.向…提供资金(resource的第三人称单数); anxiety:n.焦虑;渴望;挂念;令人焦虑的事;
So there we are. 所以我们就走到了今天这一步。
We're all reading self-help books, we try to hack our habits, we try to rewire our brains, we meditate . 我们都在阅读自助指南, 我们努力改变习惯, 我们试图重构大脑, 我们冥想。
self-help:n.自助;自救;自立;adj.自助的; hack:n.砍; v.砍; adj.出租的; rewire:vt.给…再打电报;给…换新电线;vi.再发电报;重装电线; meditate:vt.考虑;计划;企图;vi.冥想;沉思;
And it helps, of course, in a way. 当然,在某种程度上 这样做确实有些帮助,
Self-help books help us feel more upbeat . 自助书籍帮助我们感觉乐观。
upbeat:n.兴旺;上升;弱拍;adj.乐观的;上升的;
Meditation can help us feel more connected to others spiritually . 冥想能够帮助我们感觉在精神上 跟他人建立更紧密的链接。
Meditation:n.冥想;沉思,深思; spiritually:adv.在精神上地;
What I think we need is as much awareness of what connects us to one another socially, because social inequality hurts us all. 我认为,我们需要的是 更多地意识到是什么 把我们联系在一起, 因为社会不平等 会伤害我们所有人。
awareness:n.意识,认识;明白,知道;
So we need more compassionate social policies that are aimed less at moral education and more at promotion of social justice and equality. 因此,我们需要更多 富有同情心的社会政策, 更少地着眼于道德教育, 更多地倡导社会公平和平等。
compassionate:adj.慈悲的;富于同情心的;vt.同情;怜悯; justice:n.公平;公正;司法制度;审判;
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （鼓掌）