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Undercover on a Segway
攝位車上進行的“秘密活動”
Tourists beware
游客們當心
A report from the seamy underworld of unlicensed tour guides
關于無證導游這個陰暗地下世界的報道
A TERRIBLE threat stalks the streets ofWashington,DC: unlicensed tour guides. These brazen lawbreakers imperil the public by showing them around the nation's capital without a permit. Your correspondent went undercover to observe at first hand the dangers tourists face in their clutches. It was harrowing. First, your correspondent had to balance on a Segway, a two-wheeled vehicle from which she could have fallen several inches to the cold, hard pavement. “Just try to relax,” purred Bill Main, the outlaw guide, “It's easy.” With white knuckles and a pink helmet, the tour began.
華盛頓特區大街上正蔓延著一個可怕的威脅：無證導游。這些無恥的違法者擾亂公共秩序，在沒有許可的情況下帶領游客們參觀這個國家的首都。記者親歷地下世界去觀察第一手游客們關鍵時刻面臨的危險。這讓人很恐懼。首先，記者必須在攝位車上保持平衡，這種兩輪電動車有讓她從任何一邊摔向冰冷堅硬的人行道上的可能性。“別擔心，”違法導游Bill Main發出喉音說道，“很簡單的。”在興奮、緊張中帶著一個粉色的頭盔，這趟行程開始了。
Mr Main never took the exam to become a tour guide, so your correspondent braced herself to hear a torrent of errors. Would he claim that the White House was once destroyed by aliens, as in the film “Independence Day”? No. Actually, he was pretty good. Yet he could be jailed for 90 days if caught.Washingtonrequires all guides to pay $200 and take an exam. That adds up: Segs in the City, the firm Mr Main runs with his wife, Tonia Edwards, employs a dozen guides.
Main從未參加過成為導游的考試，因此記者準備好了聽到一大串錯誤信息。他會說白宮曾被外星人摧毀過一次么，就像電影“獨立日”中的場景那樣？不會，事實上，他很好。然而如果他被抓到了會被判監禁90天。華盛頓要求所有導游付費200刀然后參加考試。還要加上：Main和太太Tonia Edwards運營的公司城市攝位車公司雇傭的大批導游。
The permit system protects incumbents, raises prices and kills jobs. Mr Main also believes that it violates his right to free speech. Robert McNamara of the Institute for Justice, a libertarian law firm, agrees. “The government cannot restrict speech unless there is evidence the speech is causing harm,” he explains. Tour guide patter hardly qualifies. Mr McNamara helped Segs in the City file a lawsuit against the city government in 2010. The city won; Mr Main's appeal reached a DC federal court on May 5th. The city defends the licence as an essential safeguard for consumers.
許可系統保護了在職者們，提高了價格，削減了崗位Main也相信系統侵犯了他的言語自由權。自由論法律公司——司法研究所的Robert McNamara同意他的話。“政府不能限制Main的言語除非有證據說他造成了傷害，”他說道。導游的話很難界定資格。McNamara在2010年幫助城市攝位車旅游公司起訴了市政府。但是政府勝訴了；Main在5月5號上訴到特區聯邦法庭。市政府辯護到證書是為消費者設置的必要護衛。
In the 1950s only one American worker in 20 needed a permit from the government; today that figure is around one in three. Some jobs, such as doctors, clearly need strict controls. But some states require licences for florists and interior designers. Such permits tend to cost hundreds of dollars and months of extra training, yet offer little benefit to consumers, says Morris Kleiner, an economist at theUniversityofMinnesota. Sometimes customers, like undercover tourists, can look after themselves.
20世紀50年代政府平均20人中之批準了一位美國工人成為導游；今天數據到了大約三個過一個。一些工作，比如說醫生，明確需要嚴格控制。但是一些州要求花匠和室內設計者考取證書。這種許可證需要花費數百美元和長達數月的額外培訓，然而這對消費者來說受益甚微，明尼蘇達大學的經濟學家Morris Kleiner說。一些客戶，比如“從事間諜活動的”旅游者們，能照看好他們自己。譯者:彭威
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