Lesson-Two-年轻人的四种选择

Lesson TwoFour Choices for Young People年轻人的四种选择TextShortly before his graduation, Jim Binns, president of the senior class at Stanford University, wrote me about some of his misgivings. “More than any other generation,” he said, “our generation views the adult world with great skepticism… there is also an increased tendency to reject completely that world.”在毕业前不久，斯坦福大学毕业班班主席吉姆·滨丝给我写了一封信，谈到了他的一些不安。

他在信中说：“与其他任何一代人相比，我们这一代人在看待成人世界时抱有更大的疑虑……同时越来越倾向于全盘否定成人世界。

”Apparently he speaks for a lot of his contemporaries. During the last few years, I have listened to scores of young people, in college and out, who were just as nervous about the grown-up world. Roughly, their attitude might be summed up about like this: “The world is in pretty much of a mess, full of injustice, poverty, and war. The people responsible are, presumably, the adults who have been running things. If they can’t do better than that, what have they got to teach our generation? That kind of lesson we can do without.”显然他的话代表了许多同龄人的观点，在过去的几年中，我听到过大学内外许多年轻人的谈话，他们对成人世界同样也感到不安。

大致来说，他们的态度可以归纳如下：“这个世界处于混乱的状态，到处充满不平等、贫困和战争。

对此该负责的大概应该是那些管理这个世界的成年人吧。

如果他们仅能做到这些，他们又能拿什么来教育我们呢？这样的教导，我们根本不需要。

”These conclusions strike me as reasonable, at least from their point of view. The relevant question for the arriving generation is not whether our society is imperfect (we can take that for granted), but how to deal with it. For all its harshness and irrationality, it is the only world we’ve got. Choosing a strategy to cope with it, then, is the first decision young adults have to make, and usually the most important decision of their lifetime. So far as I have been able to discover, there only four basic alternatives:我觉得这些结论合情合理，至少从他们的角度来看是这样的。

对于成长中的这辈人来说，有价值的问题不是社会是否不完美（我们认为那是当然的），而是应该怎样对待这个社会。

尽管这个社会严酷而荒谬，但它毕竟是我们惟一拥有的世界。

因此选择一个策略去应付这个社会是刚刚步入成年的年轻人必须做出的第一个决定。

依我看只有四种基本选择：Ⅰ、Drop Out脱离传统社会This is one of the oldest expedients, and it can be practiced anywhere, at any age, and with or without the use of hallucinogens. It always has been the strategy of choice for people who find the world too brutal or too complex to be endured. By definition, thisway of life is parasitic. In one way or another, its practitioners batten on the society which they scorn and in which they refuse to take any responsibility. Some of us find this distasteful—an undignified kind of life. But for the poor in spirit, with low levels of both energy and pride, it may be the least intolerable choice available.这是最古老的方法之一。

任何年龄的人无论在任何地方，也无论用不用幻觉剂都可以采用。

那些认为这个世界残酷、复杂到令人难以忍受的人通常会选用这个策略。

实质上，这是一种寄生式的生活方式。

通过这样或那样的方式，采取此策略的人取食于这个他们蔑视的社会并且拒绝对这个社会承担责任。

我们中的一些对此很厌恶——认为这种方式很不光彩。

但对于那些卑微、懒惰又缺乏自尊的人来说，这也许是最能忍受的选择了。

Ⅱ、Flee逃避现实社会This strategy also has ancient antecedents. Ever since civilization began, certain individuals have tried to run away from it in hopes of finding a simpler, more pastoral, and more peaceful life. Unlike the dropouts, they are not parasites. They are willing to support themselves and to contribute something to the general community, but they simply don’t like the environment of civilization; that is, the city, with all its ugliness and tension.这个策略早在远古已有先例。

自文明起源以来，就有人想逃避现实社会，希望寻求到一种更为朴素、更富有田园风情、更为宁静的生活。

与那些脱离传统社会的人不同。

这些人不是寄生者。

他们愿意自食其力，并为社区大众做贡献。

但是他们就是不喜欢文明环境，也就是说，不喜欢城市——充满丑恶和紧张的城市。

The trouble with this solution is that it no longer is practical on a large scale. Our planet, unfortunately, is running out of noble savages and unsullied landscapes; except for the polar regions, the frontiers are gone. A few gentleman farmers with plenty of money can still escape to the bucolic life—but in general the stream of migration is flowing the other way.这种方法的问题在于无法大规模地实践。

不幸的是，在我们地球上高尚的野蛮人和未被破坏的风景已越来越少；除了两极地区以外，已经没有未被开发的土地了。

一些特别富有的乡绅还能逃入田园生活——但总的说来迁移的潮流是反向流动的。

Ⅲ、Plot a Revolution策划革命This strategy is always popular among those who have no patience with the tedious workings of the democratic processor who believe that basic institutions can only be changed by force. It attracts some of the more active and idealistic young people of every generation. To them if offers a romantic appeal, usually symbolized by some dashing and charismatic figure.在那些对民主进程单调乏味的运作方式毫无耐心或相信只有武力才能改变基本社会制度的人中，这一策略很受欢迎。

它吸引了每一代年轻人中那些更为活跃和更具理想主义的人。

对他们来说，这种策略具有浪漫的吸引力，通常以某个有闯劲、魅力超凡的人物作为其代表。

It has the even appeal of simplicity: “Since this society is hopelessly bad, let’s smash it and build something better on the ruins.”这一策略因简单明了而具有更大的吸引力：“既然这个社会已坏到无可救药，那就让我们砸碎它，并在废墟上建一个更好的社会。