政治理论 - 亚当·斯密：英语精读讲义

Adam Smith is our guide to perhaps the most pressing dilemma of our time, 短語搭配

亚当·斯密或许是我们应对这个时代最紧迫困境的向导，

how to make a capitalistic economy more humane and more meaningful. 語法

那就是如何让资本主义经济变得更加人性化、更具意义。

He was born in Scotland in Kirkcaldy,

他出生在苏格兰的柯科迪，

a small manufacturing town near Edinburgh in 1723.

这是1723年爱丁堡附近的一个小制造业城镇。

He was a hard-working student and very close to his mother.

他是一个勤奋的学生，与母亲关系非常亲密。

He then became an academic philosopher,

后来他成为了一名学术哲学家，

wrote a major book about the importance of sympathy

写了一本关于同情心重要性的重要著作，

and lectured on logic and aesthetics.

并讲授逻辑学和美学。

He was also one of the greatest thinkers in the history of economics,

他也是经济学史上最伟大的思想家之一，

in part because his concerns went far beyond the economic. 短語搭配

部分原因在于他的关注点远超出了经济领域。

He wanted to understand the money system

他想弄清货币体系的运作方式，

because his underlying ambition was to make nations and people happier.

因为他的根本抱负是让国家和人民过得更幸福。

Smith remains an invaluable guide to four ideas.

对于以下四个观点，斯密依然是我们宝贵的指南。

When one considers the modern world of work,

当我们审视现代的职场世界时，

two facts stand out. 短語動詞

有两个事实尤为突出。

Modern economies produce unprecedented amounts of wealth

现代经济创造了空前庞大的财富，

and many ordinary people find work rather boring 語法

但许多普通人却觉得工作相当无聊，

and, a key complaint, meaningless.

而且，一个关键的抱怨是：工作毫无意义。

The two phenomena are in fact intimately related,

这两种现象其实密切相关，

as Adam Smith was the first to understand

亚当·斯密是第一个通过他的劳动分工理论

through his theory of specialization.

理解这一点的人。

He observed that in modern businesses,

他观察到，在现代企业中，

tasks formerly done by one person in a single day

以前由一个人在一天内完成的工作，

could far more profitably be split into many tasks 語法

如果能拆分成多项任务，

carried out by multiple people over whole careers.

交由多人在整个职业生涯中分别完成，利润将丰厚得多。

Smith hailed this as a momentous development.

斯密将此誉为一项重大发展。

He predicted that national economies would become hugely richer 語法

他预言，劳动力越是专业化，

the more specialized their workforces became.

国家的经济就会变得越发富裕。

One sign our world is now so rich,

斯密可能会告诉我们，

Smith could tell us,

我们的世界如今如此富裕的一个标志是：

is that every time we meet a stranger

每当我们在聚会上遇到陌生人时，

at a party we're unlikely to understand what they do.

我们往往搞不懂他们究竟是做什么工作的。

The mania for incomprehensible job titles like 用詞

人们对那些令人费解的头衔的狂热，比如

logistics supply manager,

物流供应经理、

packaging coordinator,

包装协调员、

or communications and learning officer

或者是沟通与学习主管，

prove the economic logic of Smith's insight.

都证明了斯密洞见背后的经济学逻辑。

But there is one special problem with specialization,

但专业化有一个特殊的问题，

meaning.

那就是意义。

When businesses are small and their processes contained,

当企业规模较小且流程集中时，

a sense of helping others is readily available.

人们很容易获得一种帮助了别人的感觉。

But when everything is industrialised, one ends up as a tiny cog in a gigantic machine 習語

但当一切都工业化之后，一个人最终成了巨大机器里的一颗小齿轮，

whose overall logic is liable to be absent from the minds of people lower down in the organization. 用詞

而这台机器的整体逻辑，很容易被处于组织底层的人们所忽略。

A company with 150,000 employees distributed across four continents,

一家拥有分布在四大洲的15万名员工的公司，

making things that take five years from conception to delivery, 短語搭配

制造着从构思到交付需要花费五年的产品，

will struggle to maintain any sense of purpose or cohesion. 短語搭配

将会很难保持任何目标感或凝聚力。

So Smith discerned that bosses of the specialized corporations of modernity

因此斯密敏锐地指出，现代专业化公司的老板们

have an extra responsibility to their workers,

对员工负有额外的责任，

to remind them of their purpose, role, and ultimate dignity of their labor.

那就是提醒员工他们的目标、角色以及其劳动最终的尊严所在。

Smith's age saw the development of what we'd now call consumer capitalism. 語法

斯密的时代见证了我们现在称之为消费资本主义的发展。

Manufacturers began turning out luxury goods for a broadening middle class. 短語動詞

制造商开始为不断扩大的中产阶级生产奢侈品。

Some commentators were appalled.

一些评论家对此感到震惊。

The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wished to ban luxury from his native Geneva.

哲学家让-雅克·卢梭希望在他的故乡日内瓦彻底禁止奢侈品。

He was a particular fan of ancient Sparta and argued that his city should copy its austere martial lifestyle. 文化背景

他特别推崇古斯巴达，并主张他的城市应该效仿其简朴尚武的生活方式。

Disagreeing violently,

斯密对此坚决反对，

Smith pointed out to the Swiss philosopher that luxury consumerism in fact had a very serious role to play in a good society. 講解

他向这位瑞士哲学家指出，奢侈品消费实际上在良好社会中扮演着非常重要的角色。

It generated the surplus wealth that allowed societies to look after their weakest members. 短語動詞

它产生了剩余财富，使社会能够照顾那些最弱势的群体。

Consumer societies, despite their frivolity,

消费社会尽管看似轻浮，

didn't let young children and the old starve,

但并未让幼儿和老人挨饿，

for they could afford hospitals and poor relief. 文化背景

因为他们负担得起医院和贫困救济。

So Smith defended consumer capitalism on the basis that it did more good for the poor than societies devoted to high ideals. 講解

因此，斯密为消费资本主义辩护的理由是，相比那些致力于崇高理想的社会，它为穷人带来了更多好处。

That said, 表達脈絡

尽管如此，

Smith held out some fascinating hopes for the future of capitalism. 短語搭配

斯密对资本主义的未来仍抱有一些令人着迷的期望。

He didn't want it to stay stuck at the frivolous level forever. 短語搭配

他不希望它永远停留在轻浮的层面上。

He observed that humans have many higher needs that currently lie outside of capitalist enterprise. 短語搭配

他观察到人类有许多目前处于资本主义企业之外的更高层次的需求。

Among them, our need for emotional education,

其中包括我们需要情感教育，

for self-understanding,

需要自我了解，

for beautiful cities,

需要美丽的城市，

and for rewarding social lives.

以及需要有价值的社交生活。

The hope for the future is that we'll learn to generate sizable profits from helping people in truly important ambitious ways. 短語搭配

对未来的期望在于，我们将学会通过以真正重要和具有抱负的方式帮助他人来创造可观的利润。

Properly developed capitalism shouldn't just service our basic material needs while exciting us to buy frivolous things. 用詞

发展良好的资本主义不应仅仅服务于我们基本的物质需求并刺激我们购买轻浮的东西。

It should make money from goods and services that deliver true fulfillment. 短語搭配

它应该通过提供能带来真正满足感的商品和服务来赚钱。

Then as now, 表達脈絡

过去和现在一样，

the great question was how to get the rich to behave well towards the rest of society. 語法

最大的问题是如何让富人善待社会上的其他人。

The Christian answer to this was,

基督教对此的答案是，

make them feel guilty.

让他们感到内疚。

Meanwhile,

同时，

the radical left-wing answer was then and now,

激进左翼过去和现在的答案都是，

raise taxes.

提高税收。

But Smith disagreed with both approaches.

但斯密不同意这两种方法。

The hearts of the rich were likely to remain cold and high taxes would simply lead the rich to flee the country.

富人的心可能依然冷漠，而高税收只会导致富人逃离国家。

He proposed that contrary to what one might expect, 表達脈絡

他提出，与人们可能预想的相反，

it isn't money that the rich really care about, 語法

富人真正关心的并不是钱，

it's honor and respect.

而是荣誉和尊重。

The rich accumulate money not because they're materially greedy, 語法

富人积累金钱并不是因为他们在物质上贪婪，

but primarily in order to be liked and approved of. 語法

而主要是为了受到他人的喜爱和认可。

So rather than taxing the rich, 語法

所以，与其对富人征税，

governments should understand the vanity at the heart of the rich and their motivations. 習語

政府更应该理解富人内心的虚荣以及他们的动机。

They should therefore give the rich plenty of honors and status

因此，政府应该给予富人大量的荣誉和地位，

in return for doing all the good things that these narcissists wouldn't normally bother with, 講解

作为回报，让他们去做那些自恋者通常不屑一顾的好事，

like funding schools and hospitals and paying their workers well.

比如资助学校和医院，以及给工人支付优厚的报酬。

As Smith put it, 表達脈絡

正如斯密所言：

"The great secret of education is to direct vanity to proper objects."

“教育的巨大秘密在于将虚荣心引向适当的对象。”

Big corporations feel very evil to us now,

现在大公司让我们觉得非常邪恶，

the natural targets of blame for low-paying jobs,

它们自然成为了低薪工作、

environmental abuse, and sickening ingredients.

破坏环境以及令人作呕的成分的指责目标。

But Adam Smith knew that there was an unexpected and more important element responsible for these ills,

但亚当·斯密知道，还有一个意想不到且更为重要的因素导致了这些弊病，

our taste. 用詞

那就是我们的品味。

It's not companies that primarily degrade the world,

主要使世界退化的并不是公司，

it's our appetites which they merely serve.

而是我们的欲望，公司只是在迎合这些欲望。

As a result,

因此，

the reform of capitalism hinges on an odd-sounding but critical task, 習語

资本主义改革的关键在于一项听起来有些奇怪却至关重要的任务：

the education of the consumer.

消费者的教育。

We need to be taught to want better quality things and pay a proper price for them,

我们需要被教导去追求更高质量的东西，并为此支付合理的价格，

one that reflects the true burden on workers and the environment. 短語搭配

这个价格能反映出工人和环境所承受的真实负担。

A good capitalist society doesn't just offer customers choice, 語法

一个优秀的资本主义社会不仅为顾客提供选择，

it also teaches people to exercise this choice in judicious ways. 短語搭配

还会教导人们以明智的方式行使这种选择权。

Capitalism can, Smith suggests,

斯密认为，资本主义可以

be saved by elevating the quality of consumer demand. 語法

通过提升消费者需求的品质而得到拯救。

The economic state of the world can seem at once so wrong and yet so complicated 語法

世界的经济状况有时看起来如此糟糕却又如此复杂，

we end up collapsing into despair and passivity. 短語動詞

以至于我们最终陷入了绝望与被动之中。

Adam Smith is on hand to lend us confidence and hope. 講解

而亚当·斯密就在这里为我们提供信心与希望。

His work is full of ideas about how human values can be reconciled with the needs of businesses. 短語搭配

他的著作充满了关于如何让人类价值观与商业需求相调和的思想。

He deserves our ongoing attention because he was interested in an issue that has become a leading priority of our own times,

他值得我们持续关注，因为他所关心的议题已经成为我们这个时代的首要优先事项，

how to create an economy that is at once profitable and civilized. 語法

那就是如何创造一个既有利可图又文明的经济体。