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【原文标题】Living Beyond Your Means 【中文标题】不真实的生活
【登载媒体】纽约时报
【来源地址】http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/03/21/rising-wealth-inequality-should-we-care/living-beyond-your-means-when-youre-not-rich 【译 者】 yangfuguang
【原文库链接】http://bbs.m4.cn/thread-315237-1-1.html
【声 明】 本翻译供Anti-CNN使用，未经AC或译者许可，不得转载。
【译 文】
Living Beyond Your Means Updated March 22, 2011, 12:18 PM Michael I. Norton is an associate professor at the Harvard Business School. He is currently co-writing a book on money and happiness. 迈克·诺顿是哈佛商学院的副教授，最近他在和别人共同完成一本书，关于钱和幸福关系的书。
In a recent survey of Americans, my colleague Dan Ariely and I found that Americans drastically underestimated the level of wealth inequality in the United States. While recent data indicates that the richest 20 percent of Americans own 84 percent of all wealth, people estimated that this group owned just 59 percent – believing that total wealth in this country is far more evenly divided among poorer Americans. 在最近的一个对美国人的调查中，我的同事Dan Ariely和我发现，美国人民严重低估了美国财富不均的水平。尽管最近的数字显示最富有的20%的群体拥有全国84%的财富，人们却估计这些群体只有全国59%的财富，人们相信社会总财富在穷人间是更加均衡地分配着。
What’s more, when we asked them how they thought wealth should be distributed, they told us they wanted an even more equitable distribution, with the richest 20 percent owning just 32 percent of the wealth. This was true of Democrats and Republicans, rich and poor – all groups we surveyed approved of some inequality, but their ideal was far more equal than the current level. 而且当被问及他们愿意财富以怎样的方式分配，他们告诉我们想要一种更加平等的分配方式，让20%最富有的人士占有全部财富的32%。这个结论无论是对于民主党、共和党，穷人还是富人——所以我们调查的集体都持有这种观点，但是他们的想法比现在的要公平得多得多。
Why then, given the consensus on this more equal America, are Americans not clamoring for redistribution? 那么，面对这个调查揭示的结果，美国人就不想要财富再分配吗?
First, the expansion of consumer credit in the United States has allowed middle class and poor Americans to live beyond their means, masking their lack of wealth by increasing their debt. We might think that people who have "zero net worth” have nothing. But in fact, having zero net worth increasingly means owning a lot (cars, televisions, even houses) – but also owing a lot. As a result people with zero net worth, and even negative net worth, can still feel that they are living the American dream, doing “better” than their parents did while keeping up with the Joneses. 首先，消防信贷的扩张，使得美国的中产阶级和穷人能生活在他们实际生活水平线之上，通过不断膨胀的债务掩盖他们贫穷的真面目。我们可以说这些资产零净值的人一无所有，但是零净值却意味着拥有跟多（车子，电视，甚至房子）——也拥有了很多东西。
Second, poorer Americans’ belief in social mobility – despite strong evidence of its rarity – causes negative reactions to policies that would seem to benefit them, like raising taxes on those who earn and own a lot more. Why would the poor oppose taxes on the wealthy? Because many believe that they, or at least their children, will eventually be wealthy, voting for taxes on the rich may feel like voting for taxes on themselves. As a result, even the word “redistribution” has negative connotations. 其次，贫穷滴美国人相信社会流动——尽管证据表明这是很不靠谱的——这使得原本对他们有利的政策反而会引起他们的反对，比如增加富人的税收。为何穷人也反对向富人征税？因为他们中的很多人相信，他们或者他们的至少他们的孩子，会最终成为有钱人，支持收税感觉就像在收自己的一样。结果就是，就连“再分配”这个词都显得邪恶了。
My colleagues and I are now exploring whether educating Americans about the current level of wealth inequality (by showing them charts and pictures) might increase their support for policies that reduce this inequality. In addition, we are assessing whether different forms of redistribution – for example, raising the minimum wage, or longer term interventions like reducing disparities in education – are less likely to evoke heated opposition, and perhaps increase advocacy for greater wealth equality. 我的同事和我是不是该向美国人民普及现在财富不均的知识（把那些图表和图片给他们看看），也许这会增加他们支持那些可以减少这些不公的政策。另外，我们也在考虑不同的再分配的方式——例如，增加最低工资标准，或者长期的介入，比如减少不等的教育——会不会更多地激发他们支持的热情，这或许会使他们呼吁要求得到更加平等的财富分配方式。 | 
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发表于 2011-3-24 17:10
