《共和党人对穷人的关怀是虚伪的》赏析.doc

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1、Hammock Fallacy（吊床谬论）共和党人对穷人的关怀是虚伪的Hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue. So when you see something like the current scramble by Republicans to declare their deep concern for Americas poor, its a good sign, indicating a positive change in social norms. Goodbye, sneering at the 47 percent; hel

2、lo, fake compassion.虚伪是恶毒向美德的致敬。所以当你看到，共和党人争先恐后地宣称对美国的穷人抱有深切关怀，这是一个好迹象，显示出社会规范有了积极的转变。不再蔑视47%的民众，而是要去表达虚伪的同情。Keyword：hypocrisy: Republicans concern for the poor2. And the big new poverty report from the House Budget Committee, led by Representative Paul Ryan, offers additional reasons for optimism.

3、Mr. Ryan used to rely on “scholarship” from places like the Heritage Foundation. Remember when Heritage declared that the Ryan budget would reduce unemployment to a ludicrous 2.8 percent, then tried to cover its tracks? This time, however, Mr. Ryan is citing a lot of actual social science research.由

4、保罗瑞安(Paul Ryan)众议员领导的众议院预算委员会(House Budget Committee)新近发布的关于贫困的宏大报告，又给出了更多让我们保持乐观的理由。瑞安曾经需要依赖传统基金会(Heritage Foundation)等机构提供的“奖学金”。（学术成就）还记得吗？传统基金会曾颇为荒唐地宣称，瑞安的预算提案能把失业率降低到2.8%，之后又努力掩盖这种说法。然而这一次，瑞安倒是引述了很多真实的社会科学研究。 Why is the poverty report offering reasons for optimism? Irony. Poverty report by Ryan

5、3. Unfortunately, the research he cites doesnt actually support his assertions. Even more important, his whole premise about why poverty persists is demonstrably wrong.不幸的是，他引用的那些研究，并不能支撑其论断。更重要的是，他在论述贫困为何能持续时，整个前提具有明显谬误。Both his evidence and hypothesis are wrong.4. To understand where the new repor

6、t is coming from, it helps to recall something Mr. Ryan said two years ago: “We dont want to turn the safety net into a hammock that lulls able-bodied people to lives of dependency and complacency, that drains them of their will and their incentive to make the most of their lives.” There are actuall

7、y two assertions here. First, antipoverty programs breed complacency; that is, they discourage work. Second, complacency the failure of the poor to work as much as they should is what perpetuates poverty.要想理解这份新报告从何而来，不妨回顾一下瑞安两年前说过的话：“我们不想把安全网转变成吊床，诱使健全的人去心满意足地过依赖他人的生活，消磨他们的意志力和努力追求完满生活的意愿。”他其实在这里提出

8、了两个论断，首先，消除贫困的项目会让人滋生自满情绪，也就是说抑制工作的意愿。其次，自满，也就是穷人做不到尽其所能地去工作，是延续贫困的原因。Ryans assertions (theory), hammock lulls people to lives of complacency discourages to work, and perpetuates poverty.5. The budget committee report is almost entirely concerned with the first assertion. It notes that there has bee

9、n a large decline in labor force participation, and it claims that antipoverty programs, which reduce the incentive to work, are a major reason for this decline. Then come 200 pages of text and 683 footnotes, designed to create the impression that the scholarly research literature supports the repor

10、ts claims.预算委员会的报告几乎完全是在讨论第一个论断。文中提到劳动力参与率出现了大幅下滑，还宣称下滑的原因是缓解贫困的项目，因为这种项目打消了工作的意愿。接着，报告就给出了200页文本和683个脚注，如此设计是为了制造一种印象，让人们以为学术研究文献支持报告的论断。The report notes that there has been a large decline in labor force participation, and it claims that antipoverty programs, are a major reason for this decline. T

11、hen come 200 pages of text and 683 footnotes, designed to create the impression that the scholarly research literature supports the reports claims.6. But it doesnt. In some cases, Mr. Ryan and colleagues outright misstate what the research says, drawing outraged protests from a number of prominent s

12、cholars about the misrepresentation of their work. More often, however, the report engages in argument by innuendo. It makes an assertion about the bad effects of a program, then mentions a number of studies of that program, and thereby leaves the impression that those studies support its assertion,

13、 even though they dont.可惜实情并非如此。在一些情况下，瑞安和他的同事们完全错误地表述了研究的结论，导致许多知名学者因为自己的研究受到误读，愤而表示抗议。然而，报告中更常见的做法是，通过暗示来表达观点。比如，它会先就一个项目的不良后果做出论断，接着提到若干个关于该项目的研究，这样就会产生那些研究支持其论断的印象，即使研究结论恰恰相反。But Mr. Ryan misstate what the research says, drawing outraged protests from a number of prominent scholars. More often,

14、however, the report engages in argument by innuendo7. What does scholarly research on antipoverty programs actually say? We have quite good evidence on the effects of food stamps and Medicaid, which draw most of Mr. Ryans ire and which his budgets propose slashing drastically. Food stamps, it seems,

15、 do lead to a reduction in work and working hours, but the effect is modest. Medicaid has little, if any, effect on work effort.对于消除贫困的项目，学术界的研究到底持什么观点？关于食品券和联邦医疗补助(Medicaid)的效果，就有很好的证据支撑。这两个项目招致了瑞安最大的怨恨，而他的预算案也计划大幅削减它们。食品券似乎的确会导致工作和工时数量下降，但影响是有限的。而联邦医疗补助对工作热情几乎不会产生影响，或影响极小。What does scholarly resea

16、rch on antipoverty programs actually say8. Over all, heres the verdict of one comprehensive survey: “While there are significant behavioral side effects of many programs, their aggregate impact is very small.” In short, Mr. Ryans poverty report, like his famous budget plan, is a con job.一项全面研究得出的结论是

17、，总体而言，“尽管许多项目都会对人的行为产生显著的副作用，但它们的总体影响是很微小的。”简而言之，瑞安的贫困报告，就像他著名的预算计划一样，是诈骗。Conclusion: 1. The total impact is small; 2. Mr Ryans report is a con job9. Now, you can still argue that making antipoverty programs much more generous would indeed reduce the incentive to work. If you look at cross-county co

18、mparisons, you find that low-income households in the United States, which does less to help the poor than any other major advanced nation, work much more than their counterparts abroad. So, yes, incentives do have some effect on work effort.现在仍然可以说，大幅增加反贫困项目的资金投入，的确会削减工作的意愿。但是与其他国家比较一下，就会发现美国的低收入家庭

19、远比其他国家的低收入家庭工作得更多，因为美国与其他任何主要发达国家相比，向穷人给予的帮助都更少。这样说来，激励的确会对工作意愿产生一些影响。反方论点之二：you can still argue that would indeed reduce So, yes they do have some effect on10. But why, exactly, should that be such a concern? Mr. Ryan would have us believe that the “hammock” created by the social safety net is the

20、reason so many Americans remain trapped in poverty. But the evidence says nothing of the kind.但我们到底为什么需要如此担心这个问题呢？瑞安想让我们相信，社会安全网编织出的“吊床”正是如此之多的美国人一直陷于贫困的原因。但是没有证据支持这样的说法。反方论点之二“Hammock” perpetuates poverty or the reason for being poor11. After all, if generous aid to the poor perpetuates poverty, th

21、e United States which treats its poor far more harshly than other rich countries, and induces them to work much longer hours should lead the West in social mobility, in the fraction of those born poor who work their way up the scale. In fact, its just the opposite: America has less social mobility t

22、han most other advanced countries.毕竟，如果向穷人给予慷慨的援助会固化贫困，鉴于美国对待穷人远比其他富国要恶劣，于是他们的工作时间要长得多，那么美国的社会流动性（即生来贫穷，但通过努力提高了社会阶层的人的比例）应该在西方世界领先才对。但事实完全相反：美国的社会流动性要比多数其他发达国家更差。反设：If generous aid to the poor causes poverty, the US should lead the world in Social MobilityBut it is just the opposite.12. And theres

23、no puzzle why: its hard for young people to get ahead when they suffer from poor nutrition, inadequate medical care, and lack of access to good education. The antipoverty programs that we have actually do a lot to help people rise. For example, Americans who received early access to food stamps were

24、 healthier and more productive in later life than those who didnt. But we dont do enough along these lines. The reason so many Americans remain trapped in poverty isnt that the government helps them too much; its that it helps them too little.原因不难猜测：如果营养不良、缺乏充足的医疗服务、缺乏良好的教育机会，年轻人很难出人头地。实际上，我们现有的反贫困项

25、目能帮助人们上进。例如，较早得到食品券的美国人，在之后的生活中比没有得到食品券的人更健康，工作效率也更高。但我们在这方面做得还不够。之所以有这么多美国人还陷于贫困当中，原因并不是政府对他们的帮助太多了，而是政府的帮助太少了。Real reason for being poor13. Which brings us back to the hypocrisy issue. It is, in a way, nice to see the likes of Mr. Ryan at least talking about the need to help the poor. But somehow

26、their notion of aiding the poor involves slashing benefits while cutting taxes on the rich. Funny how that works.于是又回到了“虚伪”这个话题。看到瑞安这样的人至少开始讨论帮助穷人，在某种意义上也是好事。但不知道怎么回事儿，他们帮助穷人的设想，涉及削减福利并且为富人减税。很好笑，这怎么能行呢。呼应“虚伪”， 结论吊床谬论 欣赏Keywords: 注意同义词（synonyms）1. Hypocrisy, concern (compassion) for the poor, 2. Sch

27、olarship social science research, 3. hammock , complacency Incentive to work, 4. anti-poverty program, aiding the poor, generous aid , social safety net, 5. benefits, food stamp, Medicaid 6. social mobility( the fraction of those born poor who work their way up the social scale) 解构分析：Part I（paragrap

28、h 1-3）： BeginningPart II （4-5） Introduction of the opponents viewPart III （6-8）objective analysis of the opponents first assertionPart IV (9-12) Further discussion of the opponents view1) 反方论点引入（9-11）2) 反向假设（12）Part V (13) 结论 呼应“虚伪”文体特色：政治，反讽论战对象和内容：共和党预算报告，对解决贫困的虚伪Chinas Hard Line: No Room for Comp

29、romise中国外长王毅就领土争议强硬表态BEIJING The Chinese foreign minister took a strong stand Saturday on Chinas growing territorial disputes with neighboring nations, saying that “there is no room for compromise” with Japan and that China would “never accept unreasonable demands from smaller countries,” an apparen

30、t reference to Southeast Asian nations.北京周六，中国外交部长在与邻国日渐升温的边界争议问题上展现出了强硬的态度，表示在与日本的问题上，“没有妥协的余地”，还说中国“绝不接受以小取闹”，此处显然是指东南亚国家。The foreign minister, Wang Yi, a former ambassador to Japan, made his comments at a news conference on the fourth day of the National Peoples Congress, an annual meeting of Chi

31、nas rubber-stamp legislature. Mr. Wang took questions from foreign and Chinese news organizations on the same morning he learned that a Malaysia Airlines flight bound for Beijing had disappeared, and he spoke on a range of subjects that included Ukraine, the Korean Peninsula and relations between Ch

32、ina and the United States. Mr. Wang stressed several times that China was committed to regional peace.外交部长王毅曾担任驻日大使。周六是中国“橡皮图章”式的立法机构全国人民代表大会的年度会议第四天，王毅在一场新闻发布会上发表了此番言论。就在他回答中外新闻机构各种问题的同一天早上，他也获知一架马来西亚航空公司(Malaysia Airlines)飞北京的客机失去了联系。王毅在会上谈及了乌克兰、朝鲜半岛、中美关系等一系列问题，并数次强调了中国维护区域和平的决心。But Mr. Wang did n

33、ot mince words on the subject of Japan and its prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who has angered Chinese leaders with recent public remarks on China-Japan relations and with a visit in December to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, where Japanese war dead are honored, including 14 Class A war criminals. In the

34、 East China Sea, China refuses to accept Japans administration of, or its claims to, islands that Japan calls the Senkaku and China calls the Diaoyu.但王毅在谈到日本及其首相安倍晋三(Shinzo Abe)时却毫不客气。安倍去年12月参观了位于东京的的靖国神社，那里供奉着日本战争亡灵，其中就有14名甲级战犯。他还在最近就中日关系公开发表了一系列言论，这都触怒了中国领导人。对于东海上那些日本称为尖阁诸岛，中国称为钓鱼岛的岛屿，中国拒绝承认日本的控制，

35、或是其相关领土主张。“On the two issues of principle history and territory there is no room for compromise,” Mr. Wang said in answer to a question from a Japanese reporter on the deterioration of China-Japan relations. “If some people in Japan insist on overturning the verdict on its past aggression, I dont th

36、ink the international community and all peace-loving people in the world will ever tolerate or condone that.”“在历史和领土这两个原则问题上，没有妥协的余地，”王毅在回答一位日本记者提出的中日关系僵局问题时这样回答。“如果日本某些人执意要为当年的侵略历史翻案，我相信国际社会以及世界上一切爱好和平的人士也都绝不会容忍和姑息。”Tensions between China and Japan have been playing out in diplomacy around the glob

37、e. In January, the Chinese ambassador to Britain and his Japanese counterpart both wrote op-ed articles for The Daily Telegraph in which they equated the other country to Lord Voldemort, the villain in the Harry Potter series. The two ambassadors even refused to sit at the same table during a televi

38、sed BBC interview. Also in January, Mr. Abe told an audience at the Davos conference in Switzerland that the rivalry between China and Japan was similar to that between Germany and Britain before World War I, meaning their differences could supersede their close trade ties.中日之间的紧张关系不断显现在国际外交的各个领域里。1

39、月，中国驻英国大使与日本驻英国大使在给每日电讯报(the Daily Telegraph)的观点文章中，都将对方国家比作哈利波特系列中的反面人物伏地魔(Lord Voldemort)。这两位大使甚至拒绝在BBC播出的一次访谈中同桌而坐。1月，安倍晋三在瑞士达沃斯讲话时对众人说，中日之间的竞争类似于一战前德国和英国之间的竞争，意指两者的差异可能会压倒它们之间紧密的贸易纽带。“I wish to emphasize that 2014 is not 1914, still less 1894,” Mr. Wang said Saturday. “Instead of using Germany b

40、efore the First World War as an object lesson, why not use Germany after the Second World War as a role model?”“我想强调的是，2014不是1914，2014更不是1894，”王毅周六说道，“与其拿一战前的德国做文章，不如以二战后的德国作榜样。”He added, “Only by making a clean break with the past and stopping going back on ones own words can the relationship emerg

41、e from the current impasse and have a future.”他还表示，“只有认真清算过去，不再出尔反尔，才能走出僵局，开辟未来。”In the South China Sea, China has been trying to stake sovereignty to islands and waters that are also claimed by Southeast Asian nations. Vietnam, the Philippines and Malaysia are among the opponents to Chinas claims.

42、The United States has said it takes no side on sovereignty issues but will maintain freedom of navigation. More recently, it has asserted that the so-called nine dashes map that some Chinese officials say defines Chinas ambitious claims in the South China Sea violates international law because the t

43、erritorial boundaries are not based on land features.在南海，中国一直声称对一些东南亚国家宣布主权的岛屿和水域也拥有主权。越南、菲律宾及马来西亚等国反对中国的主权要求。美国已经表示在主权问题上不站队，但要保持自由通航权。一些中国官员表示，所谓的九段线地图定义了中国在南海的宏伟主张。但最近美国称，这违反了了国际法，因为其领海边界并不以陆地架构为基础。“As for Chinas territorial and maritime disputes with some countries,” Mr. Wang said, “China would

44、like to carry out equal-footing consultation and negotiation and properly handle by peaceful means on the basis of respecting historical facts and international law. There will not be any change to this position.”“对于我们同一些国家存在的领土和海洋权益争议，”王毅说，“我们愿意在尊重历史事实和国际法的基础上，坚持通过平等协商谈判，以和平的方式妥善处理，这一点今后也不会改变。”“We

45、will never bully smaller countries, yet we will never accept unreasonable demands from smaller countries,” he added.他还表示，“我们绝不会以大压小，但也绝不接受以小取闹。”As for relations with the United States, which is expected to remain the supreme military power in the Pacific for years to come, Mr. Wang said, “We stand r

46、eady to work with the United States to uphold peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. We believe the Asia-Pacific region should be the testing ground for our commitment to building a new model of major-power relations, and not a competitive arena.”未来几年，美国仍将是太平洋地区最重要的军事力量，对于美中关系，王毅表示，“我们愿意同美国

47、一起来共同维护亚太地区的和平与稳定。我们认为，亚太地区应该成为中美构建新型大国关系的实验田，而不是相互争斗的博弈场。”The United States, which is Japans most powerful ally, has pushed back against some of Chinas moves in the East China Sea. In November, China declared an air defense identification zone over the disputed islands in the sea and said any forei

48、gn flights, civilian or military, would have to notify China of their plans. The United States sent two B-52 bombers into the zone, ignoring Chinas request for advance notification, and has continued to do so with other military flights.美国是日本最强大的盟友，美国曾回击了中国在东海的一些举措。去年11月，中国宣布在东海争议岛屿上空设立防空识别区，并称任何外国飞机，无论是民用还是军用，必须告知中国方面其飞行计划。美国派了两架B-52轰炸机进入该区域，无视中国的提前告知要求，而且还在继续派遣其他军用飞机前往该区域。But the United States has been lobbying China for its help on other regional stability issues, notably in Afghanistan and North Korea, both of which have borders with China