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THE STORY OF HOW ALL THIS CAME TO BE IS LIKE a movie in which everything seems clear only if it is played back from the start in slow motion.
這一切仿佛是一場電影，只有從一開始就用慢鏡頭回放，一切才會清晰起來。
Beginning about 50 years ago, each scene unfolded slowly, usually without any sign of its ultimate impact.
故事大致還要從50年前開始說起，那時，每一幕的節奏都很慢，通常慢到似乎不會產生任何長遠的影響。
The story of America's tailspin is not about villains, though there are some.
美國股市的失控并不是一個關于惡棍的故事，雖然也的確有這種人。
It is not about a conspiracy to bring the country down, nor did it spring from one single source.
也不是關于一場推翻這個國家的陰謀的故事，甚至，這一故事的源頭都不止一個。
But there is a theme that threads through and ties together all the strands:
但這個故事里依然存在一個貫穿所有線索并將它們全部串連起來的主題：
many of the most talented, driven Americans used what makes America great—
很多最富才華，也最有動力的美國人都利用了讓美國變得偉大的那些因素——
the First Amendment, due process, financial and legal ingenuity,
第一修正案、正當程序、金融和法律的獨創性、
free markets and free trade, meritocracy, even democracy itself—to chase the American Dream.
自由市場和自由貿易、精英制度，甚至民主本身——來追逐他們的美國夢。
And they won it, for themselves.
而且，他們贏了，為他們自己贏了。
Then, in a way unprecedented in history, they were able to consolidate their winnings, outsmart and coopt the forces that might have reined them in,
隨后，他們便以前所未有的方式鞏固了他們的勝利，還智勝并收服了原本可能主宰他們的力量，
and pull up the ladder so more could not share in their success or challenge their primacy.
然后收起梯子，讓其他人無法分享他們的成功或挑戰他們的主導地位。
By continuing to get better at what they do,
通過進一步諳熟上述操作，
by knocking away the guardrails limiting their winnings, aggressively engineering changes in the political landscape,
通過打破限制他們所能獲得的戰利品的護欄，強勢策劃政治格局的變化,
and by dint of the often unanticipated consequences of their innovations,
并憑借他們那些往往出人意料的創新成果,
they created a nation of moats that protected them from accountability and from the damage their triumphs caused in the larger community.
他們給這個國家建起了護城河，保護他們不被問責，保護他們以犧牲全體社會為代價追逐個人勝利之際不必承受損失。
Most of the time, our elected and appointed representatives were no match for these.
大多數時候，我們選舉并任命的代表們都根本無法與這些成就異常突出的人相提并論。
As a result of their savvy, their drive and their resources
他們有頭腦，有動力，有資源
(and a certain degree of privilege, as these strivers may have come from humble circumstances but are mostly white men),
(還有一定程度的特權，因為這些奮斗者或許也有出身卑微的，但他們大多都是白人),
America all but abandoned its most ambitious and proudest ideal:
美國差點就放棄了它最具雄心壯志，也最為自豪的理想；
the never perfect, always debated and perpetually sought after balance
從來都不完美，總是被爭論不休卻永遠都被吹捧著的，
between the energizing inequality of achievement in a competitive economy and the community-binding equality promised by democracy.
激勵大家在競爭激烈的經濟體里追求不平等成就的做法與民主體制所承諾的，約束整個社會群體的平等之間的平衡。
In a battle that began a half-century ago, the achievers won.
在這場半個世紀前就已開始的戰爭中，成功的人取得了勝利。
The result is a new, divided America.
結果是，美國變成了一個新的、分裂的美國。
On one side are the protected few—the winners—
一頭是被保護的少數人——也即那些贏家——
who don't need government for much and even have a stake in sabotaging the government's responsibility to all of its citizens.
這些人并不太需要政府，破壞政府對所有公民的責任反倒關系著他們的利益。
For them, the new, broken America works fine, at least in the short term.
對他們而言，破碎的新美國也挺好，至少短期內是這樣。
An understaffed IRS is a plus for people most likely to be the target of audits.
對那些最有可能成為審計目標的人來說，國稅局人手不足反倒成了一件好事。
Underfunded customer service at the Social Security Administration is irrelevant to those not living week to week, waiting for their checks.
社會保障總署客戶服務部資金不足跟那些不用每周都要等著支票才能維持生計的人并不相干。
Except for the most civic-minded among them, corporate executives are not likely to worry that their government doesn't produce a comprehensive budget.
除非是最具公益意識的部分企業高管，其他人不太可能因為他們的政府沒有制定全面的預算而擔憂。
They don't worry about the straitjacket their government faces in recruiting and rewarding talent
他們并不擔心政府在招聘和獎勵人才、
or in training or dismissing the untalented because of a broken civil-service system.
培訓或因公務員制度失靈而解雇沒有才能的人方面所面臨的限制。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
