身份的焦虑：英语精读讲义

The first question you tend to get asked when you meet someone at a party is,

在聚会上认识新朋友时，你最常被问到的第一个问题往往是，

"So what do you do?" 語氣意圖

“那么，你是做什么的？”

And according to how impressive your answer is,

根据你的回答有多令人印象深刻，

people are either really keen to get to know you better 講解

人们要么非常渴望进一步了解你，

or swiftly leave you behind by the nuts.

要么迅速把你撇在坚果碟旁。

We're anxious because we live in a world of snobs,

我们感到焦虑，是因为我们生活在一个势利眼的世界，

people who take a tiny part of us, our professional identities,

这些人只取我们身上的一小部分——即我们的职业身份，

and use these to come to a complete verdict 短語搭配

并以此来下达一个彻底的定论，

about how valuable we are as humans.

评判我们作为人的价值。

The opposite of a snob is your mother.

势利眼的对立面是你的母亲。

She doesn't care about your status,

她不在乎你的地位，

she cares about your soul.

她在乎的是你的灵魂。

Yet most people aren't our mothers,

然而，大多数人并不是我们的母亲，

and that's why we worry so much about judgment and humiliation.

这就是为什么我们如此担心评判和羞辱。

It's said we live in materialistic times,

人们常说我们生活在一个物质主义的时代，

but it's more poignant than that.

但事实比这更加令人心酸。

We live in times where emotional rewards

我们生活的时代，情感上的回报

have been pegged to the acquisition of material things. 習語

已经与获取物质财富挂钩。

What people want when they go after money, big jobs, or fancy cars 短語動詞

当人们追求金钱、高薪工作或豪华汽车时，他们想要的

is rarely the things in themselves, 語法

往往不是这些东西本身，

so much as the attention and respect,

而是由此带来的关注和尊重，

if you like, the love, 語氣意圖

或者说，是爱，

that are given to those who have them.

那些给予拥有这些东西的人的爱。

Next time you see a guy driving by in a Ferrari,

下次当你看到一个开着法拉利驶过的人时，

don't think it's someone unusually greedy, 表達脈絡

不要认为他异常贪婪，

think it's someone with a particularly intense vulnerability and need for love.

请把他看作是一个特别脆弱、极度需要爱的人。

We're also anxious because we're constantly told

我们感到焦虑也是因为我们不断被告知

that we could become anything.

我们有可能成为任何想成为的人。

We hear it from our earliest days.

我们从小就听到这种说法。

It should be great that there's so much opportunity in the modern world,

在现代世界里有如此多的机会本来是件好事，

but what if we fail in such a world? 語法

但如果我们在这个世界里失败了呢？

What if you don't manage to get to the top 習語

如果你没能成功登顶，

when there was said to be every chance?

尽管据说每个人都有机会呢？

The self-help shelves of bookstores

书店里的自助类书架上

are filled with two kinds of books

摆满了两种书籍，

that capture the modern anxious condition.

它们捕捉到了现代人的焦虑状态。

The first have titles like,

第一种书的书名诸如，

"How to make it big in 15 minutes" 習語

“如何在15分钟内大获成功”

or "Be an overnight millionaire".

或者“成为一夜暴富的百万富翁”。

The second have titles like,

第二种书的书名则像是，

"How to cope with low self-esteem". 短語搭配

“如何应对低自尊”。

The two genres are related.

这两种类型是相关的。

A society that tells people they could have everything,

一个告诉人们他们可以拥有一切的社会，

but where in fact only a tiny minority can,

但实际上只有极少数人能做到，

will end up with a lot of dissatisfaction and grief. 短語動詞

最终会产生大量的不满与悲伤。

There's a related problem.

还有一个相关的问题。

Our societies are to a large extent 短語搭配

我们的社会在很大程度上

deemed to be fair. 用詞

被认为是公平的。

Back in the olden days,

回到过去的日子，

you knew the system was totally rigged. 用詞

你知道制度是完全被操纵的。

It wasn't your fault if you were a peasant,

如果你是个农民，那不是你的错，

and not to your credit if you were the lord. 短語搭配

如果你是个领主，那也不是你的功劳。

But now we're told our societies are meritocracies, 文化背景

但现在我们被告知我们的社会是精英治国，

places where the rewards go to those who really merit them,

在这种社会里，回报归于那些真正配得上的人，

the hard-working clever among us.

也就是我们之中那些勤奋又聪明的人。

It sounds lovely,

这听起来很美好，

but there's a nasty sting in the tail. 習語

但其背后隐藏着可怕的刺。

If you really believe in a society

如果你真的相信在一个社会中

where those at the top deserve to get there,

处于顶层的人理应得到那个位置，

that has to mean that those at the bottom 表達脈絡

那么这也必然意味着处于底层的人

deserve to be there too.

同样是咎由自取。

Meritocracies make poverty 語法

精英社会让贫穷

seem not just unpleasant, 語法

看起来不仅令人不快，

but also somehow deserved.

而且在某种程度上是罪有应得的。

In medieval England,

在中世纪的英格兰，

people used to call the poor unfortunates, 文化背景

人们曾经称呼穷人为“不幸的人”，

literally people who had not been blessed

字面意思是那些没有得到

by the goddess of fortune.

幸运女神眷顾的人。

Nowadays, especially in the United States,

如今，特别是在美国，

where meritocracy is big,

这个十分推崇精英理念的地方，

they call them, rather tellingly, 表達脈絡

他们用一种相当说明问题的词来称呼穷人：

losers.

“卢瑟”（失败者）。

We scarcely believe in luck nowadays anymore

如今我们几乎不再相信运气

as something that can explain where we end up.

可以用来解释我们最终的命运。

No one will believe you

没人会相信你，

if you say you were fired because of bad luck.

如果你说你是因为运气不好而被解雇的。

Your professional position has become

你的职业地位已经成为

the central verdict on your character. 習語

评判你品格的核心标准。

No wonder suicide rates rise exponentially 短語搭配

难怪一旦一个社会加入了所谓的现代世界，

the moment a society joins the so-called modern world. 用詞

自杀率就会呈指数级上升。

How can we cope?

我们该如何应对？

Well, first off,

那么，首先，

by refusing to believe that any society really ever can be meritocratic.

拒绝相信任何社会能真正实现彻底的优胜劣汰。

Luck or accident continue to determine

运气或意外依然决定了

a critical share

很大一部分的因素，

of where people end up in the hierarchy.

决定了人们最终在阶层中的位置。

Treat no one, not least yourself, 短語搭配

不要把任何人——尤其是你自己——

as though they entirely deserve to be where they are. 語法

当作是完全理应处于他们目前的位置。

Secondly,

其次，

make up your own definition of success 短語動詞

建立你自己对成功的定义，

instead of uncritically leaning on society's. 短語動詞

而不是不加批判地依赖社会的定义。

There are so many ways to succeed,

成功的方法有很多，

and many of them have nothing to do with status 短語搭配

其中很多与地位无关，

as it's currently defined

至少不是按照当前

within the value system of industrial capitalism.

工业资本主义价值体系所定义的那种。

Those who succeed at making money

那些在赚钱方面成功的人，

rarely succeed at empathy or family life.

很少能在同理心或家庭生活上同样成功。

Thirdly, and most importantly,

第三，也是最重要的一点，

we should refuse to let our outer achievements 語法

我们应该拒绝让我们的外在成就

define our sense of self entirely.

完全定义我们的自我认知。

There remain so many vital sides of us

我们身上仍然有很多重要的一面

that will never appear on our business cards,

永远不会出现在名片上，

that don't stand a chance of being captured 短語搭配

也完全不可能被捕捉到，

by that maddeningly blunt

尤其是通过那个令人发狂般生硬

and unimaginative question,

且毫无想象力的问题：

"So, what do you do?" 表達脈絡

“那么，你是做什么的？”