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Youthquake
青年震蕩
American politics is still defined by the values and priorities of baby boomers.
美國政治當下奉行的依然是嬰兒潮一代的價值觀和偏好。
But not for long.
但不會太久了。
By Charlotte Alter
文/夏洛特·奧爾特
Love'em or hate'em, this much is true: one day soon, millennials will rule America.
喜歡也罷，不喜歡也罷，這一點都是真的：不久之后，千禧一代就要成為美國的主宰者了。
This is neither wish nor warning but fact, rooted in the physics of time and the biology of human cells.
這既不是愿望，也不是警告，而是事實，是根植于時間的物理的物理性質和人類細胞的生物性質的事實。
Millennials—born between 1981 and 1996—are already the largest living generation and the largest age group in the workforce.
出生于1981~1996年之間的千禧一代已經成為當今社會最大的年齡群，也是勞動力市場最大的人口群體。
They outnumber Gen X (born 1965–1980) and will soon outnumber baby boomers (born 1946–1964) among American voters.
在美國的選民中，他們的人數已經超過了X世代(出生于1965~1980年)，不久還會超過嬰兒潮一代(出生于1946-1964年)。
Their startups have revolutionized the economy, their tastes have shifted the culture,
他們成立的初創企業給美國經濟帶來了變革，他們的品味改變了美國文化，
and their enormous appetite for social media has transformed human interaction.
他們對社交媒體的巨大需求改變了人與人的交流方式。
American politics is the next arena ripe for disruption.
美國政壇便是下一個等待顛覆的競技場。
When it occurs, it may feel like a revolution,
屆時，或許會給人一種政壇變革之感，
in part because this generation has different political views than those in power now.
部分原因在于這一代有著與現下的當權者不一樣的政治觀點。
Millennials are more racially diverse, more tuned in to the power of networks and systems
千禧一代種族上更加多元，更加適應網絡和制度的力量，
and more socially progressive than either Gen X or baby boomers on nearly every available metric.
且在現有的幾乎所有指標上，他們都比X世代或嬰兒潮一代更具社會進步性。
They tend to favor government-run health care, student debt relief, marijuana legalization and criminal-justice reform,
他們傾向于支持政府運營的醫保項目，學生債務減免、大麻合法化和刑事司法改革，
and they demand urgent government action on climate change.
要求政府在氣候變化問題上立即行動起來。
The millennial wave is coming: the only questions are when and how fast it will arrive.
千禧一代的浪潮即將到來：唯一的問題是何時帶來，來得是緩是急？
So what’s America going to look like when this generation rises to power?
這一代上臺后美國會變成什么樣？
I spent the past three years trying to answer that question by crisscrossing the country,
過去三年里，我走遍了整個國家，
interviewing the young leaders who are among the first in their cohort to be elected to public office.
采訪了一批率先通過選舉獲得了官職的青年領導人，試圖從中找出這一問題的答案。
I sat down with Democratic stars like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 30,
我采訪了年僅30的眾議員亞歷山德里亞·奧卡西奧-科爾特斯，
and former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg, 38,
38的前印第安納州南本德市市長皮特·巴蒂吉格等民主黨明星人物，
and Republican up-and-comers like Representatives Elise Stefanik and Dan Crenshaw, both 35.
采訪了眾議員埃莉斯·斯特凡尼克和丹·克倫肖等共和黨后起之秀，二人均為35歲。
I interviewed rookie Democratic Congresswomen like Lauren Underwood, 33, and Haley Stevens, 36,
我采訪了33歲的勞倫·安德伍德，36歲的海莉·史蒂文斯這樣初出茅廬的民主黨國會女議員，
and a smattering of local leaders from California to New York,
也采訪了西至加州，東至紐約的幾個地方領導人，
including Stockton, Calif., Mayor Michael Tubbs, 29, and Ithaca, N.Y., Mayor Svante Myrick, 32.
包括29歲的加利福尼亞州斯托克頓市長邁克爾·塔布斯，32歲的紐約州伊薩卡市長斯萬特·麥里克。
The result is my book, The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For.
我將采訪結果匯入了我的新書《我們等待的人》。
If I set out to learn what millennials believe and why,
如果說我一開始的初衷是了解千禧一代相信的是什么及其背后的原因，
I ended up with something more compelling: a glimpse of our country’s future.
那我最后收獲的則是更引人注目的一個問題：管窺我們國家的未來。
Millennials, after all, are starting to gain political power at a time when America looks more like a gerontocracy than ever.
畢竟，千禧一代開始掌權時，美國似乎比以往任何時候都更像一個老年政府治理下的國家。
Donald Trump is the oldest first-term President in U.S. history, elected largely by older, white voters.
特朗普是美國歷史上當選年齡最大的一任總統，支持他的大多都是上了年紀的白人選民。
He is surrounded in Washington by senior citizens like Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, 82,
在華盛頓，他身邊都是82歲的商務部長威爾伯·羅斯這樣的老年人，
who can manage only a small window every day when he can “focus and pay attention and not fall asleep,” according to one Politico report.
新聞網站“政治”的一份報告顯示，后者每天只能“集中注意力，不打瞌睡”地工作很短一段時間。
譯文由可可原創，僅供學習交流使用，未經許可請勿轉載。
