The new American Dream | Courtney Martin

翻译人员: 朗 李 校对人员: Siyan You

I'm a journalist,

我是一名记者

so I like to look for the untold stories,

因此我乐于探寻那些鲜为人知的故事

the lives that quietly play out under the scream of headlines.

那些夸张头条背后的平静生活

I've also been going about the business of putting down roots,

同时我也安家落户

choosing a partner, making babies.

结婚生子

So for the last few years,

因此在过去的几年中

I've been trying to understand

我一直试图理解

what constitutes the 21st-century good life,

是什么，构成了21世纪的美好生活

both because I'm fascinated by the moral and philosophical implications,

因为我对其道德以及哲学上的含义非常感兴趣

but also because I'm in desperate need of answers myself.

并且我自己也迫切的想要知道答案

We live in tenuous times.

我们处于脆弱的年代

In fact, for the first time in American history,

事实上，大部分父母

the majority of parents do not think that their kids will be better off

都不认为自己孩子的未来生活会更好

than they were.

这在美国历史上还是第一次

This is true of rich and poor, men and women.

不论贫富、性别，都是如此

Now, some of you might hear this and feel sad.

可能有些人听到这种说法后感到难过

After all, America is deeply invested

毕竟，美国正致力于

in this idea of economic transcendence,

实现经济超越

that every generation kind of leapfrogs the one before it,

让每一代都超越上一代

earning more, buying more, being more.

收入更多、支出更多、工作更好

We've exported this dream all over the world,

这一梦想也走向世界

so kids in Brazil and China and even Kenya

于是巴西、中国、甚至肯尼亚的儿童

inherit our insatiable expectation

也逐渐变得难以满足

for more.

But when I read this historic poll for the first time,

但是，当我第一次看到这个历史性的调查结果

it didn't actually make me feel sad.

我没有感到难过

It felt like a provocation.

而是有些愤怒

"Better off" -- based on whose standards?

“生活安逸”一词，究竟是根据什么标准来定的？

Is "better off" finding a secure job

是找到了一个稳定的工作，

that you can count on for the rest of your life?

一辈子都不用愁，就意味着“生活安逸”吗？

Those are nearly extinct.

这种情况几乎不存在

People move jobs, on average, every 4.7 years,

人们平均4.7年就换一个工作

and it's estimated that by 2020,

并且，预计到2020年

nearly half of Americans will be freelancers.

会有将近半数美国人是自由职业者

OK, so is better off just a number?

好吧，所以生活安逸只是由一个数字衡量的吗？

Is it about earning as much as you possibly can?

是意味着赚的越多越好吗？

By that singular measurement, we are failing.

用这种单一的衡量方式，我们都算不上生活安逸

Median per capita income has been flat since about 2000,

从2000年开始，去除通货膨胀因素

adjusted for inflation.

人均收入中位数一直偏低

All right, so is better off getting a big house with a white picket fence?

好吧，所以是不是买一栋豪宅，围一圈白色尖桩篱笆，就意味着生活安逸了？

Less of us are doing that.

这样做的人越来越少了

Nearly five million people lost their homes in the Great Recession,

在经济大衰退期间，将近500万人无家可归

and even more of us sobered up about the lengths we were willing to go --

甚至更多的人清楚的意识到买房的困难

or be tricked into going, in many predatory cases --

或者说，从鼓吹买房的陷阱中清醒过来

to hold that deed.

Home-ownership rates are at their lowest since 1995.

从1995年至今，住房自有率处于最低水平

All right, so we're not finding steady employment,

好吧，所以我们没有稳定的工作

we're not earning as much money,

没有赚那么多钱

and we're not living in big fancy houses.

没有豪宅

Toll the funeral bells

为让美国强大的一切

for everything that made America great.

敲响丧钟

But,

然而

are those the best measurements of a country's greatness,

这些是衡量一个国家强大与否

of a life well lived?

生活安逸与否的最佳标准吗？

What I think makes America great is its spirit of reinvention.

我认为，是再创造的精神，使美国强大

In the wake of the Great Recession,

大衰退之后

more and more Americans are redefining what "better off" really means.

越来越多的美国人开始重新定义“生活安逸”

Turns out, it has more to do with community and creativity

他们发现，“生活安逸”和社区生活与创新联系更加紧密

than dollars and cents.

而不是钱

Now, let me be very clear:

我说的再明白一些就是

the 14.8 percent of Americans living in poverty need money,

在美国，穷人占14.8%，他们需要钱

plain and simple.

简单易懂

And all of us need policies that protect us from exploitation

所有人都需要政策保护

by employers and financial institutions.

免受雇主和金融机构的剥削

Nothing that follows is meant to suggest that the gap between rich and poor

这些并不是表明贫富差距

is anything but profoundly immoral.

是道德的

But,

但是

too often we let the conversation stop there.

我们经常谈到这就不说了

We talk about poverty as if it were a monolithic experience;

我们谈起贫穷，就好像它是单独存在的一样

about the poor as if they were solely victims.

谈起穷人，就好像他们只是受害者

Part of what I've learned in my research and reporting

在研究报告中，我发现

is that the art of living well

最为弱势的群体

is often practiced most masterfully

反而最能掌握生活安逸这门艺术

by the most vulnerable.

Now, if necessity is the mother of invention,

如果，需要是发明之母

I've come to believe

那么我就认为

that recession can be the father of consciousness.

衰退是觉醒之父

It confronts us with profound questions,

我们面临诸多问题

questions we might be too lazy or distracted to ask

在生活相对安逸的情况下

in times of relative comfort.

我们可能不能集中注意，或是懒于回答：

How should we work?

我们应当怎样工作？

How should we live?

我们应当怎样生活？

All of us, whether we realize it or not,

不论是否意识到，我们所有人

seek answers to these questions,

都在寻求这些问题的答案

with our ancestors kind of whispering in our ears.

就像是祖先在耳边低语

My great-grandfather was a drunk in Detroit,

我的曾祖父曾经住在底特律，他是个酒鬼

who sometimes managed to hold down a factory job.

有时勉强去工厂工作

He had, as unbelievable as it might sound,

他和我的曾祖母有21个孩子，听起来难以置信

21 children,

with one woman, my great-grandmother,

who died at 47 years old of ovarian cancer.

我的曾祖母因为卵巢癌，于47岁去世

Now, I'm pregnant with my second child,

现在，我怀着第二个孩子

and I cannot even fathom what she must have gone through.

我甚至不敢想象她经历了什么

And if you're trying to do the math -- there were six sets of twins.

如果你们算一下的话，其中有6对双胞胎

So my grandfather, their son,

我的祖父，也就是他们的儿子

became a traveling salesman,

当了一名旅行推销员

and he lived boom and bust.

生活起伏不定

So my dad grew up answering the door for debt collectors

因此我父亲的童年一直就是，给催债的人开门

and pretending his parents weren't home.

假装说父母不在家

He actually took his braces off himself with pliers in the garage,

我祖父说没有钱去看正牙医生了

when his father admitted he didn't have money

我父亲就自己在车库里用钳子把牙套拔掉

to go back to the orthodontist.

So my dad, unsurprisingly,

因此不足为奇，我父亲

became a bankruptcy lawyer.

成了一位破产清算律师

Couldn't write this in a novel, right?

这可不能写在小说里，对吧？

He was obsessed with providing a secure foundation

他一心想为我们姐弟俩

for my brother and I.

提供稳定的生活

So I ask these questions by way of a few generations of struggle.

因此我通过描述几代人的奋斗，回答了刚才的问题

My parents made sure that I grew up on a kind of steady ground

父母想确保我的成长建立在稳固的基础上

that allows one to question and risk and leap.

在这种基础上就会产生质疑、风险、冒险

And ironically, and probably sometimes to their frustration,

具有讽刺意味的是，可能对此我的父母也很失望

it is their steadfast commitment to security

正是因为他们想要为我提供稳定生活的决心

that allows me to question its value,

我才开始质疑其价值

or at least its value as we've historically defined it

或是说，21世纪对其价值的定义

in the 21st century.

So let's dig into this first question:

所以，我们来探讨第一个问题：

How should we work?

我们应当如何工作？

We should work like our mothers.

我们应该像我们的母亲们那样

That's right -- we've spent decades

没错，好几十年的时间里

trying to fit women into a work world built for company men.

我们试图将女性融入男性的工作环境中

And many have done backbends to fit in,

许多人为了融入而拼尽全力

but others have carved a more unconventional path,

但是另一些人不同寻常

creating a patchwork of meaning and money

她们将工作的意义与钱结合在一起

with enough flexibility to do what they need to do

有足够的灵活性去做她们要做的事

for those that they love.

为了她们所爱的人

My mom called it "just making it work."

我母亲称这种工作为“付诸行动”

Today I hear life coaches call it "a portfolio career."

如今，我听到生活导师称其为“组合型职业”

Whatever you call it,

不论何种称呼

more and more men are craving these whole, if not harried, lives.

越来越多的男性渴望这种不慌不忙的生活

They're waking up to their desire and duty to be present fathers and sons.

他们开始意识到自己作为父亲与儿子的责任

Now, artist Ann Hamilton has said,

艺术家安·汉密尔顿说过

"Labor is a way of knowing."

“劳动是一种认知方式”

Labor is a way of knowing.

劳动是一种认知方式

In other words, what we work on

换句话说，我们的工作

is what we understand about the world.

反映了我们对世界的理解

If this is true, and I think it is,

如果这是正确的（我认为是的）

then women who have disproportionately cared for the little ones

那么女人花费更多的精力照顾孩子

and the sick ones and the aging ones,

病人和老人

have disproportionately benefited

也就说明她们有更多的机会

from the most profound kind of knowing there is:

从最深奥的一种认知中获益

knowing the human condition.

也就是对人类状态的认知

By prioritizing care,

将照顾他人放在首位

men are, in a sense, staking their claim

在某种意义上，

to the full range of human existence.

男性向全人类主张自己的权利

Now, this means the nine-to-five no longer works for anyone.

如今，这意味着朝九晚五的工作不再适合所有人

Punch clocks are becoming obsolete, as are career ladders.

打卡和事业的阶梯已经过时了

Whole industries are being born and dying every day.

企业日新月异

It's all nonlinear from here.

起伏不定

So we need to stop asking kids,

因此我们不要再问孩子

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

“你长大后想做什么？”

and start asking them, "How do you want to be when you grow up?"

而是问，“你长大后要如何成为自己想成为的人？”

Their work will constantly change.

他们的工作千变万化

The common denominator is them.

只有他们本身是不变的

So the more they understand their gifts

因此，他们越了解自己的天赋

and create crews of ideal collaborators,

理想的合作伙伴也会越多

the better off they will be.

生活也会更好

The challenge ahead is to reinvent the social safety net

我们面临的挑战就是重建社会保障体系

to fit this increasingly fragmented economy.

以适应逐渐分化的经济

We need portable health benefits.

我们需要便捷的医疗保障

We need policies that reflect that everyone deserves to be vulnerable

我们需要制定政策，规定不仅仅穷人是弱者，每个人都应该是弱者

or care for vulnerable others,

每个人都应当关心其他弱者

without becoming destitute.

We need to seriously consider a universal basic income.

我们需要慎重考虑全民基本收入

We need to reinvent labor organizing.

我们需要重新构建劳动组织

The promise of a work world that is structured to actually fit

工作前景应当是符合

our 21st century values,

21世纪价值观

not some archaic idea about bringing home the bacon,

而不是养家这种过时的观念

is long overdue --

早就应该这样想了

just ask your mother.

问问母亲们就知道了

Now, how about the second question:

现在我们来谈谈第二个问题

How should we live?

我们应该怎么生活？

We should live

我们应该

like our immigrant ancestors.

像移民的祖先一样生活

When they came to America,

他们来到美洲时

they often shared apartments, survival tactics, child care --

经常分享住所、生存手段、和照顾孩子

always knew how to fill one more belly,

不论食物有多少

no matter how small the food available.

总是有办法喂饱新生儿的肚子

But they were told that success meant leaving the village behind

但是人们告诉他们，想要成功，就得离开村庄

and pursuing that iconic symbol of the American Dream,

追寻美国梦的象征：

the white picket fence.

白色尖桩篱笆

And even today, we see a white picket fence

甚至今天，当我们看到白色尖桩篱笆

and we think success, self-possession.

也能联想到成功和沉着冷静

But when you strip away the sentimentality,

但是当你抛开这种表象

what it really does is divides us.

就会发现白篱笆只是将我们分隔开来

Many Americans are rejecting the white picket fence

现在许多美国人都抵制白篱笆

and the kind of highly privatized life that happened within it,

抵制篱笆内的独立封闭式生活

and reclaiming village life,

重新追求乡村生活

reclaiming interdependence instead.

重新追求相互依赖

Fifty million of us, for example,

例如，我们一共有5000万人

live in intergenerational households.

是两代人住在同一屋檐下

This number exploded with the Great Recession,

这个数字在大衰退期间内激增

but it turns out people actually like living this way.

但是人们喜欢这种生活方式

Two-thirds of those who are living with multiple generations under one roof

好几代人住在同一屋檐下的情况下

say it's improved their relationships.

有三分之二的人认为他们的关系更加紧密

Some people are choosing to share homes not with family,

有些人不和家人住在一起

but with other people who understand the health and economic benefits

而是和懂得社会和经济利益一致的人住在一起

of daily community.

CoAbode, an online platform for single moms looking to share homes

CoAbode为单身母亲提供了一个网上平台

with other single moms,

和其他单身母亲合住

has 50,000 users.

共有50000名用户

And people over 65 are especially prone

并且65岁以上的人更倾向于

to be looking for these alternative living arrangements.

这种非传统的生活方式

They understand that their quality of life

他们明白生活质量的提高

depends on a mix of solitude and solidarity.

依靠的是独处与共处的结合

Which is true of all of us when you think about it,

其实想一想，我们所有人都是这样

young and old alike.

年轻人和老人都一样

For too long, we've pretended that happiness is a king in his castle.

长久以来，我们认为国王住在城堡中就是幸福

But all the research proves otherwise.

但是所有研究结果都是相反的

It shows that the healthiest, happiest and even safest --

在美国，最健康、最快乐以及最安全的生活方式

in terms of both climate change disaster, in terms of crime, all of that --

—包括气候变化灾害、犯罪活动，诸如此类—

are Americans who live lives intertwined with their neighbors.

就是睦邻友好

Now, I've experienced this firsthand.

我亲身体验过这种生活

For the last few years, I've been living in a cohousing community.

过去几年中，我生活在一个合作居住社区

It's 1.5 acres of persimmon trees,

社区公园里有1.5英亩柿子树

this prolific blackberry bush that snakes around a community garden,

黑莓丛郁郁葱葱，蜿蜒遍布整个公园

all smack-dab, by the way, in the middle of urban Oakland.

一切都是刚刚好，顺便提一句，这个社区在奥克兰中部

The nine units are all built to be different,

九幢房屋各有特色

different sizes, different shapes,

大小不同，形状也不同

but they're meant to be as green as possible.

但是绿化都是越多越好

So big, shiny black solar cells on our roof

屋顶上是巨大的黑色太阳能板

mean our electricity bill rarely exceeds

我们每个月的电费几乎从来

more than five bucks in a month.

都不超过五美元

The 25 of us who live there are all different ages and political persuasions

我们一共25个人，不同年龄、不同政治信仰

and professions,

不同职业

and we live in homes that have everything a typical home would have.

我们就像普通家庭一样

But additionally,

但是

we share an industrial-sized kitchen and eating area,

大家共同使用一个巨大的厨房和餐厅

where we have common meals twice a week.

我们每周有两天在一起吃饭

Now, people, when I tell them I live like this,

现在每当我告诉别人我的生活方式时

often have one of two extreme reactions.

一般人的反应都是两个极端

Either they say, "Why doesn't everyone live like this?"

一种反应是：“为什么不是所有人都这样生活？“

Or they say, "That sounds totally horrifying.

另一种反应是：”太可怕了，我坚决不要这样生活。”

I would never want to do that."

So let me reassure you: there is a sacred respect for privacy among us,

但是不要担心，我们十分尊重隐私

but also a commitment to what we call "radical hospitality" --

同时也“殷勤好客”

not the kind advertised by the Four Seasons,

不是四季酒店那种

but the kind that says that every single person is worthy of kindness,

而是说每个人都值得友好相待

full stop, end of sentence.

就是这样

The biggest surprise for me of living in a community like this?

对我来说，住在这个社区最大的惊喜是什么？

You share all the domestic labor -- the repairing, the cooking, the weeding --

就是共同分担家务—修理、做饭、除草

but you also share the emotional labor.

同时分享喜怒哀乐

Rather than depending only on the idealized family unit

不是只能向家人

to get all of your emotional needs met,

宣泄自己的情绪

you have two dozen other people that you can go to

而是，你可以和20多个人

to talk about a hard day at work

聊聊一天的辛苦工作

or troubleshoot how to handle an abusive teacher.

或者是讨论如何应付那个满口脏话的老师

Teenagers in our community will often go to an adult that is not their parent

我们社区的青少年经常向其他成年人寻求意见

to ask for advice.

不仅仅是他们的父母

It's what bell hooks called "revolutionary parenting,"

这就是贝尔·胡克斯所说的“革命性教育”

this humble acknowledgment

也就是说

that kids are healthier when they have a wider range of adults

当孩子们可以模仿和依靠更多的成年人时

to emulate and count on.

他们会更加健康

Turns out, adults are healthier, too.

结果，成年人也更健康了

It's a lot of pressure,

维持白篱笆里面的模范家庭

trying to be that perfect family behind that white picket fence.

要承受很大压力

The "new better off," as I've come to call it,

我所说的“新型安逸生活”

is less about investing in the perfect family

不是关于维持完美的家庭

and more about investing in the imperfect village,

而是关于维持不那么完美的村落

whether that's relatives living under one roof,

不论是所有亲戚住在同一屋檐下

a cohousing community like mine,

就像是我的合作居住社区一样

or just a bunch of neighbors who pledge to really know

还是几户邻居

and look out for one another.

想要真正了解彼此

It's good common sense, right?

这都不错，对吗？

And yet, money has often made us dumb

如今，金钱使我们麻木

about reaching out.

不再向他人伸出双手

The most reliable wealth

但是最可靠的财富

is found in relationship.

来源于人际关系之中

The new better off is not an individual prospect at all.

新型安逸生活不是一个人的成功就能达到的

In fact, if you're a failure or you think you're a failure,

事实上，如果你是个失败者，或者你自认为是个失败者

I've got some good news for you:

我有一些好消息给你

you might be a success by standards you have not yet honored.

也许你没达到成功的标准

Maybe you're a mediocre earner but a masterful father.

也许你是个普通的上班族，但是在当父亲这方面很有一套

Maybe you can't afford your dream home,

也许你买不起梦寐以求的房子

but you throw legendary neighborhood parties.

但是你可以举办众所周知的社区聚会

If you're a textbook success,

如果你是个标准的成功者

the implications of what I'm saying could be more grim for you.

我要说的可能对你来说就是个坏消息

You might be a failure by standards you hold dear

可能你自认为的成功标准别人都不买账

but that the world doesn't reward.

这样你可能也是个失败者

Only you can know.

只有你自己知道

I know that I am not a tribute

如果我挣到足够多的钱，让所有人都过上舒适的生活

to my great-grandmother,

这并不是向我的曾祖母致敬

who lived such a short and brutish life,

她的生命如此短暂残酷

if I earn enough money to afford every creature comfort.

You can't buy your way out of suffering or into meaning.

花再多的钱，也不能摆脱痛苦，也不能使人生有意义

There is no home big enough

再大的房子

to erase the pain that she must have endured.

也不能抹去她所承受的痛苦

I am a tribute to her

如果我的生活

if I live a life as connected and courageous as possible.

尽可能地与他人联系紧密，尽可能勇敢，这才是向她致敬

In the midst of such widespread uncertainty,

在这种变幻无常之中

we may, in fact, be insecure.

我们可能会没有安全感

But we can let that insecurity make us brittle

但是我们能让这种不安全感，使我们变得脆弱敏感

or supple.

或是能屈能伸

We can turn inward, lose faith in the power of institutions to change --

我们可以选择封闭自我，服从于惯例，失去改变的信心

even lose faith in ourselves.

甚至对我们自己失去信心

Or we can turn outward,

或者，我们可以选择敞开胸怀

cultivate faith in our ability to reach out, to connect, to create.

培养与他人紧密联系、开拓创新的能力

Turns out, the biggest danger

最危险的

is not failing to achieve the American Dream.

不是没法实现美国梦

The biggest danger is achieving a dream

而是追寻一个

that you don't actually believe in.

连你自己都不相信的梦

So don't do that.

所以不要这样

Do the harder, more interesting thing,

尝试更加困难有趣的事物

which is to compose a life where what you do every single day,

生命中应该每天都是如此

the people you give your best love and ingenuity and energy to,

将你最真切的爱、聪明才智与活力带给他人

aligns as closely as possible with what you believe.

坚定于你所相信的事物

That, not something as mundane as making money,

这不是像赚钱一样世俗的事

is a tribute to your ancestors.

而是向祖先们致敬

That is the beautiful struggle.

这才是美丽的奋斗

Thank you.

谢谢

(Applause)

（掌声）