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SebastianJunger_2015P-_让退伍军人归途难行的孤独社会_
I worked as a war reporter for 15 years before I realized that I really had a problem. 我曾经当了十五年的战地记者, 直到我意识到我有一个问题。
There was something really wrong with me. 这个问题一直在困扰着我。
This was about a year before 9/11, and America wasn't at war yet. 那距离 911 事件发生还有一年,美国还没有向阿富汗宣战。
We weren't talking about PTSD . 当时大家还没有开始谈论「创伤后压力症候群」
PTSD:abbr.创伤后精神紧张性精神障碍(post-traumaticstressdisorder);
We were not yet talking about the effect of trauma and war on the human psyche . 大家还没有讨论战争和精神创伤 对人类心理的影响。
psyche:n.灵魂;心智;
I'd been in Afghanistan for a couple of months with the Northern Alliance as they were fighting the Taliban . 我曾经在阿富汗和北方联盟一起待过几个月。 当时他们正在和塔利班作战。
Afghanistan:n.阿富汗(国家名称,位于亚洲); Alliance:n.联盟,联合;联姻; Taliban:塔利班;
And at that point the Taliban had an air force , they had fighter planes, they had tanks, they had artillery , and we really got hammered pretty badly a couple of times. 当时塔利班他们有空军, 他们有战机,有坦克,有大炮, 而我们的确有几次受到了重创。
air force:n.空军; artillery:n.火炮;大炮;炮队;炮术; hammered:adj.烂醉;v.锤打;反复敲打;猛踢;猛击;(hammer的过去分词和过去式)
We saw some very ugly things. 我们看到了非常悲惨的事情。
ugly:adj.丑陋的;邪恶的;令人厌恶的;
But I didn't really think it affected me. 但我不觉得它影响了我。
I didn't think much about it. 我甚至不会回想起它。
I came home to New York, where I live. 后来我回到我生活的纽约。
Then one day I went down into the subway, and for the first time in my life, 有一天我去到地铁站, 人生中第一次,
I knew real fear. 我感受到了真正的恐惧。
I had a massive panic attack. 严重的恐慌症突然发作。
massive:adj.大量的;巨大的,厚重的;魁伟的; panic:adj.恐慌的;n.惊恐;恐慌;惶恐不安;v.惊慌失措;
I was way more scared than I had ever been in Afghanistan. 这要比我在阿富汗经历过的更使我害怕。
Everything I was looking at seemed like it was going to kill me, but I couldn't explain why. 我能看到的所有东西都像将要杀了我一样, 但我不能解释这是为什么。
The trains were going too fast. 地铁看上去开得太快了。
There were too many people. 人群看上去实在是太多了。
The lights were too bright. 灯光太亮。
Everything was too loud, everything was moving too quickly. 所有的事情都太吵、都动的太快了。
I backed up against a support column and just waited for it. 我靠在一根柱子上等待这阵恐慌过去。
column:n.栏目,纵队;
When I couldn't take it any longer, I ran out of the subway station and walked wherever I was going. 当我再也忍受不了的时候,我跑出了地铁站, 毫无目的地走在路上。
Later, I found out that what I had was short-term PTSD: post-traumatic stress disorder . 后来我发现我患上了短期的 PTSD: 也就是「创伤后压力症候群」。
short-term:adj.短期的; post-traumatic stress disorder:n.创伤后精神紧张性障碍;
We evolved as animals, as primates , to survive periods of danger, and if your life has been in danger, you want to react to unfamiliar noises. 我们从动物、人猿演化而来,在危险情境中生存了下来, 如果你的生命处于危险的情境当中, 你会想对不熟悉的噪音作出反应。
evolved:v.(使)逐渐形成;进化;进化形成;(evolve的过去分词和过去式) primates:n.灵长类; react:v.起反应;回应;(对食物等)有不良反应,过敏;起化学反应; unfamiliar:adj.不熟悉的;不常见的;没有经验的;
You want to sleep lightly , wake up easily. 你会浅眠,而且很容易惊醒。
lightly:adv.轻轻地;轻松地;容易地;不费力地;
You want to have nightmares and flashbacks of the thing that could kill you. 你就会做噩梦并回忆起 那些差点把你杀掉的事情。
nightmares:n.噩梦;梦魇;极其糟糕的情况;(nightmare的复数) flashbacks:n.倒叙(flashback的复数形式);(痛苦的往事的)重现;急转;
You want to be angry because it makes you predisposed to fight, or depressed , because it keeps you out of circulation a little bit. 你会变得很生气,因为它会让你进入准备战斗的状态, 或者变得绝望,因为它会让你有点喘不过气来,
predisposed:adj.先有倾向的,先有意向的; v.预先有倾向的; depressed:adj.沮丧的; v.使抑郁; (depress的过去式和过去分词) out of circulation:不在社会上或事业上活跃;不再流通的;
Keeps you safe. 你会想随时保持自己的安全。
It's not very pleasant, but it's better than getting eaten. 这并不令人愉快,但总比死亡要好。
Most people recover from that pretty quickly. 大部分的人很快就可以从这精神障碍中康复。
It takes a few weeks, a few months. 这个过程要几周,或者几个月。
I kept having panic attacks, but they eventually went away. 我一直经历着这种痛苦的打击,但我最后还是康复了。
eventually:adv.最后,终于;
I had no idea it was connected to the war that I'd seen. 我从不知道他们和我目睹过的战争有联系。
I just thought I was going crazy, and then I thought, well, now I'm not going crazy anymore. 我只觉得我快要疯了。 然后我只是觉得,现在我不会再发疯了。
About 20 percent of people, however, wind up with chronic , long-term PTSD. 然而,大概有 20% 的人, 遭受着慢性的、长期的创伤后压力症。
chronic:adj.慢性的;长期的;习惯性的; long-term:adj.长期的;从长远来看;
They are not adapted to temporary danger. 他们不是要去面对短期的危险,
adapted:adj.适于…的; v.使适应,使适合; (adapt的过去分词和过去式) temporary:adj.暂时的,临时的;n.临时工,临时雇员;
They are maladapted for everyday life, unless they get help. 而是不能适应日常的生活, 除非他们寻求幫助。
maladapted:adj.不适应的;v.使不适应(maladapt的过去分词);
We know that the people who are vulnerable to long-term PTSD are people who were abused as children, who suffered trauma as children, people who have low education levels, people who have psychiatric disorders in their family. 我们知道有些人比较容易得长期的创伤后压力症: 这些人也许是童年时受过虐待, 也许是童年时遭受过精神创伤, 也许是没有受过高等教育的人, 也许是有精神病的家庭遗传,
vulnerable:adj.易受攻击的,易受…的攻击;易受伤害的;有弱点的; abused:v.滥用(以致危害健康); (abuse的过去分词和过去式) psychiatric:adj.精神病学的;精神病治疗的; disorders:n.无秩序,混乱; v.[电子]扰乱(disorder的单三形式);
If you served in Vietnam and your brother is schizophrenic , you're way more likely to get long-term PTSD from Vietnam. 假如你曾经在越南服役 而且你有一个患精神分裂症的兄弟, 那你在越南回国后,有更大的可能会患上长期的创伤后压力症。
schizophrenic:adj.精神分裂症的;n.精神分裂症的患者;
So I started to study this as a journalist , and I realized that there was something really strange going on. 所以作为一个记者,我开始研究这个问题, 我意识到有一些奇怪的事情存在。
journalist:n.新闻工作者;报人;记日志者;
The numbers seemed to be going in the wrong direction. 数据看上去正在往一个错误的方向变化。
Every war that we have fought as a country, starting with the Civil War, the intensity of the combat has gone down. 每一次我们国家参与的战争, ——从独立战争开始, 战争的强度开始下降。
Civil:adj.公民的;民间的;文职的;有礼貌的;根据民法的; intensity:n.强度;强烈;[电子]亮度;紧张; combat:v.战斗;防止;减轻;与…搏斗;n.战斗;搏斗;打仗;
As a result , the casualty rates have gone down. 所以,伤亡率也开始下降。
As a result:结果; casualty:n.意外事故;伤亡人员;急诊室;
But disability rates have gone up. 但是残疾率却开始上升。
disability:n.残疾;无能;无资格;不利条件;
They should be going in the same direction, but they're going in different directions. 它们本应该按同样的方向变化, 但是它们变化的方向却相反。
The recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have produced, thank God, a casualty rate about one third of what it was in Vietnam. 感谢上帝,最近在伊拉克和阿富汗的战争仅造成
But they've also created -- they've also produced three times the disability rates. 但是它们也造成了, 越战残疾率的三倍。
Around 10 percent of the US military is actively engaged in combat, 10 percent or under. 将近有 10% 的美国军人经历过战场, ——将近 10% 或者 10% 以下。
military:adj.军事的;军人的;适于战争的;n.军队;军人; engaged in:从事于;忙于;
They're shooting at people, killing people, getting shot at, seeing their friends get killed. 他们在战场上开火、杀人、 中弹、或者看着他们的战友倒下。
It's incredibly traumatic. 这真的是十分痛苦。
incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地;
But it's only about 10 percent of our military. 但这只是我们军队的 10%。
But about half of our military has filed for some kind of PTSD compensation from the government. 然而从政府的檔案中,我们看到有一半的军人 正在领取创伤后压力症候群的救济金。
compensation:n.补偿;报酬;赔偿金;
And suicide doesn't even fit into this in a very logical way. 从逻辑看来,自杀人数根本不符合这个数据。
suicide:n.自杀;自杀行为;自杀者;adj.自杀的;v.自杀;vi.自杀; logical:adj.合逻辑的,合理的;逻辑学的;
We've all heard the tragic statistic of 22 vets a day, on average, in this country, killing themselves. 我们都听过一个悲惨的统计数据, 这个国家平均一天,有 22 位退伍军人选择自杀。
tragic:adj.悲剧的;悲痛的,不幸的; statistic:n.统计学;统计数字;统计资料;(一项)统计数据;adj.统计(上)的; vets:abbr.退伍军人(veteransadjustmentscale);
Most people don't realize that the majority of those suicides are veterans of the Vietnam War, that generation, and their decision to take their own lives actually might not be related to the war they fought 50 years earlier. 多数人没有意识到 这些自杀者的大多数是从越南战争回国的军人, 在那一个年代, 他们选择结束生命的方式也许和他们在五十年前 参与过的战争不太有关连性。
majority:n.大部分:大多数:多数票:成年人: suicides:n.自杀;自毁;自杀者;(suicide的复数) veterans:n.老兵;退伍军人(veteran的复数形式);
In fact, there's no statistical connection between combat and suicide. 事实上,还没有战争与自杀率相关性的统计数据。
statistical:adj.统计的;统计学的;
If you're in the military and you're in a lot of combat, you're no more likely to kill yourself than if you weren't. 假如你在军队中参与过很多场战役, 你更不会倾向于选择自杀,
In fact, one study found that if you deploy to Iraq or Afghanistan, you're actually slightly less likely to commit suicide later. 事实上,一个研究表明 假如你参与过伊拉克或者阿富汗战争, 其实你是更不可能在以后选择自杀的。
deploy:v.部署;利用;[军事]展开;(使)张开; slightly:adv.些微地,轻微地;纤细地; commit:v.犯(罪等);干(坏事等);[法]提(审);判处;
I studied anthropology in college. 我在大学学习的是人类学。
anthropology:n.人类学;人类学家;
I did my fieldwork on the Navajo reservation . 我在纳瓦霍族遗址做过实地调查,
fieldwork:n.野外工作;现场工作;野战工事; Navajo:n.纳瓦霍人(美国最大的印第安部落); reservation:n.预约,预订;保留;
I wrote a thesis on Navajo long-distance runners. 写过关于纳瓦霍族长跑者的论文。
thesis:n.论文;论点; long-distance:adj.[通信][交]长途的;长距离的;vt.打长途电话给;adv.通过长途电话;
And recently , while I was researching PTSD, 最近我在研究创伤后压力症候群的时候,
recently:adv.最近;新近;
I had this thought. 我有了一个想法。
I thought back to the work I did when I was young, and I thought, I bet the Navajo, the Apache, the Comanche -- 我想起我年轻时做过的研究, 我在想纳瓦霍人、阿帕奇人、科曼奇人,
bet:n.打赌;赌注;预计;估计;v.下赌注(于);用…打赌;敢说;八成儿; Comanche:n.(北美印第安人的)科曼奇族(语);
I mean, these are very warlike nations -- ——这些好战的民族——
warlike:adj.战争的;好战的;有战争危险的;
I bet they weren't getting PTSD like we do. 我猜他们不会像我们一样患上创伤后压力症。
When their warriors came back from fighting the US military or fighting each other, 当他们的战士从抵抗美国军队的战争中回到家乡 或者从互相攻击的战争中回来,
warriors:n.(尤指旧时的)武士,勇士,斗士(warrior的复数)
I bet they pretty much just slipped right back into tribal life. 我猜他们肯定很容易就重新融入部落生活。
slipped:adj.打滑的;v.滑倒;滑落;脱落;(slip的过去分词和过去式) tribal:adj.部落的;部族的;n.(尤指南亚的)部落成员;
And maybe what determines the rate of long-term PTSD isn't what happened out there, but the kind of society you come back to. 也许决定长期创伤后压力症的因素 不是在战场上发生了什么, 而是你回到了什么样的社会。
determines:v.查明;测定;准确算出;决定;裁决;安排;(determine的第三人称单数)
And maybe if you come back to a close, cohesive , tribal society, you can get over trauma pretty quickly. 也许假如你回到一个紧密联系的、团结的、部落化的社会, 你很快就能从精神创伤中康复。
cohesive:adj.有结合力的;紧密结合的;有粘着力的;
And if you come back to an alienating , modern society, you might remain traumatized your entire life. 但假如你回到一个人与人疏远的现代的社会, 你可能在以后的一辈子都遭受精神创伤。
alienating:使疏远;离间;转让(alienate的现在分词); traumatized:adj.心理受到创伤的;v.使受创伤(traumatize的过去式和过去分词);
In other words, maybe the problem isn't them, the vets; maybe the problem is us. 也就是说,也许问题不在于退伍军人本身; 而在于社会上的我们。
Certainly, modern society is hard on the human psyche by every metric that we have. 的确,现代社会对人类的精神带来了重大的压力, 这些压力来自于我们社会上各种的衡量标准。
metric:adj.米制的;公制的;按公制制作的;用公制测量的;
As wealth goes up in a society, the suicide rate goes up instead of down. 随着社会财富的积累, 自杀率上升而不是下降。
wealth:n.财富;大量;富有;
If you live in modern society, you're up to eight times more likely to suffer from depression in your lifetime than if you live in a poor, agrarian society. 假如你生活在现代社会, 你患上抑郁症的可能性 相比于你在贫穷的农業社会生活要高八倍。
depression:n.沮丧;洼地;不景气;忧愁; agrarian:adj.土地的;耕地的;有关土地的;
Modern society has probably produced the highest rates of suicide and depression and anxiety and loneliness and child abuse ever in human history. 现代社会也许产生了最高的自杀率 抑郁症、焦虑症、孤僻症和受到童年虐待的可能, 这比例要比历史任一时代都高。
anxiety:n.焦虑;渴望;挂念;令人焦虑的事; child abuse:n.摧残儿童;虐待儿童;
I saw one study that compared women in Nigeria, one of the most chaotic and violent and corrupt and poorest countries in Africa, to women in North America . 我看过一个研究, 它把奈吉利亚的妇女, 也就是非洲最混乱、最暴力、最腐败 最贫穷的国家之一, 和北美的女性进行比较。
compared:adj.比较的,对照的; v.相比; (compare的过去式和过去分词) chaotic:adj.混沌的;混乱的,无秩序的; violent:adj.暴力的;猛烈的; corrupt:v.损坏;破坏;使腐化;使堕落;adj.贪污的;受贿的;腐败的;营私舞弊的; North America:n.北美洲;
And the highest rates of depression were urban women in North America. 北美的城市女性是忧郁症患病率最高的。
urban:adj.城市的;都市的;城镇的;都市音乐的;
That was also the wealthiest group. 她们也是最富裕的群体。
So let's go back to the US military. 我们回头来看美军的状况。
Ten percent are in combat. 10% 的军人经历过战争。
Around 50 percent have filed for PTSD compensation. 这里面有将近 50% 的军人登记在案,领取创伤后压力症候群的补偿。
So about 40 percent of veterans really were not traumatized overseas but have come home to discover they are dangerously alienated and depressed. 所以大概 40% 的退休军人并不是在海外受到精神创伤, 而是回到家后发现他们被孤立 并感到沮丧绝望。
overseas:adv.在海外,海外;adj.海外的,国外的; come home to:被完全领会;使…认识到; dangerously:adv.危险地;不安全; alienated:adj.疏远的;被疏远的;v.使疏离(alienate的过去式);
So what is happening with them? 那么他们遭遇了什么？
What's going on with those people, the phantom 40 percent that are troubled but don't understand why? 在他们身上究竟发生了什么, 我们让 40% 的人,患上创伤后压力症,却不清楚成因？
phantom:n.幽灵;幻影;虚位;adj.幽灵的;幻觉的;有名无实的;
Maybe it's this: maybe they had an experience of sort of tribal closeness in their unit when they were overseas. 也许是这样的: 也许当时他们在海外, 经历过部队亲密的战友关系。
closeness:n.亲密;接近;密闭;严密;
They were eating together, sleeping together, doing tasks and missions together. 他们一起吃饭,一起睡觉, 一起完成任务。
missions:n.任务; v.给…交代任务; (mission的复数)
They were trusting each other with their lives. 他们以生命维护彼此的信任。
And then they come home and they have to give all that up and they're coming back to a society, a modern society, which is hard on people who weren't even in the military. 当他们回到家, 他们必须舍弃战场上的所有情谊, 他们回到社会,这个现代社会, 这个即使没有入过伍的人都觉得艰难的社会。
It's just hard on everybody. 所有人在这社会都活得艰苦。
And we keep focusing on trauma, PTSD. 而我们却一直关注精神创伤、创伤后压力症,
But for a lot of these people, maybe it's not trauma. 但对大部分人来说, 也许这不是精神创伤。
I mean, certainly, soldiers are traumatized and the ones who are have to be treated for that. 我的意思是,士兵的确是受过精神创伤, 也有士兵接受过治疗。
treated:v.以…态度对待;把…看作;(treat的过去分词和过去式)
But a lot of them -- maybe what's bothering them is actually a kind of alienation . 但他们中的很多人—— 也许困扰他们的只是一种隔离感。
bothering:v.使某人烦恼或担忧;打扰;(bother的现在分词) alienation:n.异化;疏远;转让;[内科]精神错乱;间离效果(alienationeffect);
I mean, maybe we just have the wrong word for some of it, and just changing our language, our understanding, would help a little bit. 我的意思是,也许我们只是错用了词语去形容他们, 只要改变我们的语言、我们的认知, 就能幫助改变现状。
'"Post-deployment alienation disorder." 「 战后孤独感症候群 」
Maybe even just calling it that for some of these people would allow them to stop imagining trying to imagine a trauma that didn't really happen in order to explain a feeling that really is happening. 也许只要这样称呼他们其中的一部分人, 就能幫助他们停止联想 一个根本没有发生过的创伤, 这是为了解释一种他们正在经历的感受。
And in fact, it's an extremely dangerous feeling. 而事实上,这是一种非常危险的感觉。
extremely:adv.非常,极其;极端地;
That alienation and depression can lead to suicide. 隔离感和抑郁会导致自杀。
These people are in danger. 这些人正处于危险中。
It's very important to understand why. 瞭解成因是非常重要的事情。
The Israeli military has a PTSD rate of around one percent. 以色列军队的创伤后压力症比例在1%左右。
Israeli:adj.以色列的;以色列人的;n.以色列人;
The theory is that everyone in Israel is supposed to serve in the military. 有一种理论是说,因为以色列的所有人都需要服兵役。
supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式)
When soldiers come back from the front line , they're not going from a military environment to a civilian environment. 当军人从前线回来, 他们不是要从军队环境回到文明社会,
front line:adj.前线的;第一线的; civilian:adj.民用的;百姓的,平民的;n.平民,百姓;
They're coming back to a community where everyone understands about the military. 而是回到一个人人都瞭解甚么是当兵的社会。
community:n.社区;[生态]群落;共同体;团体;
Everyone's been in it or is going to be in it. 每个人都曾经服役、或者准备去服役。
Everyone understands the situation they're all in. 每个人都瞭解他们处于的环境,
It's as if they're all in one big tribe . 就像他们都处于一个大部落。
tribe:n.部落;族;宗族;一伙;
We know that if you take a lab rat and traumatize it and put it in a cage by itself, you can maintain its trauma symptoms almost indefinitely . 我们知道假如你用一只实验鼠, 让它受到精神创伤,再把它独自放在笼子里, 你可以永无止境地让牠保持在精神创伤的状态。
maintain:v.维持;保持;维修;保养;坚持(意见); symptoms:n.症状;征候;征兆;(symptom的复数) indefinitely:adv.不确定地,无限期地;模糊地,不明确地;
And if you take that same lab rat and put it in a cage with other rats, after a couple of weeks, it's pretty much OK. 但假如你把同样的实验鼠放在有其他老鼠的笼子里, 几个星期后,牠的表现就会回复正常了。
After 9/11, the murder rate in New York City went down by 40 percent. 9/11事件以后, 纽约市的谋杀率降低了 40%,
The suicide rate went down. 自杀率也下降了,
The violent crime rate in New York went down after 9/11. 纽约市暴力犯罪率在911 事件后也下降了。
Even combat veterans of previous wars who suffered from PTSD said that their symptoms went down after 9/11 happened. 即使经历过之前的战争、患有创伤后压力症候群的退伍军人 也说他们的症状在911 事件之后减轻了。
previous:adj.以前的;早先的;过早的;adv.在先;在…以前;
The reason is that if you traumatize an entire society, we don't fall apart and turn on one another. 原因是,假如你让整个社会受到精神创伤, 我们不会瓦解崩溃并和别人针锋相对。
fall apart:崩溃;土崩瓦解;破碎;
We come together. We unify . 我们会团结起来。
unify:vt.统一;使相同,使一致;
Basically , we tribalize , and that process of unifying feels so good and is so good for us, that it even helps people who are struggling with mental health issues . 从根本上说,我们部落化了, 团结一起的过程让人感觉很好,也对我们有益, 而且它甚至可以幫助那些 正在精神障碍中挣扎的人们。
Basically:adv.主要地,基本上; tribalize:使部落化; process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的; unifying:使统一;(unify的现在分词)使成一体; mental:adj.精神的;脑力的;疯的;n.精神病患者; issues:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;(issue的第三人称单数和复数)
During the blitz in London, admissions to psychiatric wards went down during the bombings . 在二战伦敦被德国轰炸的期间, 精神病医院的患者减少了。
blitz:n.闪电战;vt.以闪电战攻击;vi.进行闪击;adj.闪击的;凌厉的; admissions:n.许可;承认;入会费;入场券(admission的复数形式); wards:n.[医]病房(ward的复数); v.守卫; bombings:n.[军]轰炸,[军]投弹;v.轰击;引爆炸弹(bomb的ing形式);
For a while , that was the kind of country that American soldiers came back to -- a unified country. 有一段时间,美军从海外返回的国家 是一个团结的国家。
For a while:adv.片刻;暂时;一会儿;一时; unified:adj.统一的;一致标准的;v.统一;使一致(unify的过去分词);
We were sticking together. 我们团结在一起。
We were trying to understand the threat against us. 我们尝试去瞭解我们面对的威胁。
We were trying to help ourselves and the world. 我们尝试去幫助自己以至于整个世界。
But that's changed. 但情况改变了。
Now, American soldiers, 现在美军,
American veterans are coming back to a country that is so bitterly divided that the two political parties are literally accusing each other of treason , of being an enemy of the state, of trying to undermine the security and the welfare of their own country. 美国的退伍军人正在回到一个极其分裂的国家, 两党互相指控对方叛国、 是国家的敌人、 或者暗中顛覆国家的国土安全和福利。
bitterly:adv.苦涩地,悲痛地;残酷地;怨恨地; literally:adv.按字面:字面上:确实地: accusing:adj.谴责的;指责的;v.控告;控诉;谴责;(accuse的现在分词) treason:n.[法]叛国罪;不忠; undermine:vt.破坏,渐渐破坏;挖掘地基; welfare:n.福祉;(政府给予的)福利;
The gap between rich and poor is the biggest it's ever been. 贫富差距是有史以来最大的。
gap:n.差距;间隙;缺口;间隔;v.使豁裂;豁开;
It's just getting worse. 现状还在恶化。
Race relations are terrible. 族群关系也很糟糕。
Race relations:n.种族关系;
There are demonstrations and even riots in the streets because of racial injustice . 因为种族的不平等, 街上有抗议活动,甚至暴乱。
demonstrations:n.示范,展示(demonstration复数); riots:n.暴动(riot的复数);v.骚乱(riot的第三人称单数形式);闹事; racial:adj.种族的;人种的; injustice:n.不公正;不讲道义;
And veterans know that any tribe that treated itself that way -- in fact, any platoon that treated itself that way -- would never survive. 退伍军人知道任何一个部落或者连队 以这样的方式对待自己的战友,都不会存活。
platoon:n.排,团;一组;
We've gotten used to it. 我们却已经习惯了。
Veterans have gone away and are coming back and seeing their own country with fresh eyes. 退伍军人曾经离开,现在重新回来 以全新的角度看待自己的国家。
And they see what's going on. 他们看到现在正在发生的事。
This is the country they fought for. 这就是他们为之奋斗的国家。
No wonder they're depressed. 难怪他们会绝望。
No wonder they're scared. 难怪他们会害怕。
Sometimes, we ask ourselves if we can save the vets. 有时我们问自己我们能不能拯救退伍军人。
I think the real question is if we can save ourselves. 我觉得真正的问题在于我们能不能拯救自己。
If we can, 假如我们可以,
I think the vets are going to be fine. 那么我觉得退伍军人就能康复。
It's time for this country to unite , if only to help the men and women who fought to protect us. 现在这个国家需要团结起来了, 只愿能幫助那些为了保护我们而战争的男人和女人。
unite:v.联合;团结;统一;n.由奈特;
Thank you very much. 谢谢大家。
(Applause) （掌声）