171: Election - This American Life
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00:00 00:00 Transcript Share This American Life Life Partners How to Listen Episodes Recommended About Overview Staff Announcements Fellowships Jobs Music Make Radio On The Road FAQ Submissions Merch Contact Us Our Other Shows Merch Follow Us Life Partners Subscribe to our newsletter Full episode Toggle Audio and Transcript Sync Transcript | Episode #171 | November 3, 2000 171: Election Note: This American Life is produced for the ear and designed to be heard.
00:00 00:00 文字记录 分享此 美国生活 生活伙伴 如何收听 剧集 推荐 关于 概述 员工公告 奖学金 工作 音乐 在路上制作电台 常见问题解答 提交 商品 联系我们 我们的其他节目 商品 关注我们 生活伙伴 订阅我们的时事通讯 整集 切换音频和文字记录同步 文字记录 | 内容第 171 集 | 2000 年 11 月 3 日 171:选举说明:《美国生活》是为耳朵而制作的,旨在让人们听到。
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如果可以的话,我们强烈建议您收听音频,其中包括页面上没有的情感和重点。
Transcripts are generated using a combination of speech recognition software and human transcribers, and may contain errors.
文字记录是使用语音识别软件和人工转录员结合生成的,可能包含错误。
Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print.
请在印刷版引用前检查相应的音频。
Prologue Ira Glass As we head into the final days of this presidential race, consider this story.
序言 艾拉·格拉斯 当我们进入总统竞选的最后几天时,请考虑一下这个故事。
Matt Futterman was running for student government in Mamaroneck High School in New York in 1985.
1985 年,马特·富特曼 (Matt Futterman) 竞选纽约马马罗内克高中的学生会议员。
And he ran a campaign that changed electoral politics in the school, at least for a while.
他发起的一场运动改变了学校的选举政治,至少在一段时间内是这样。
Here's the way the race lined up.
Here's the way the race lined up.
My opponent was a guy named [?
我的对手是一个名叫[?
Dave Levy, ?] who was a year older than I.
Dave Levy, ?] who was a year older than I.
He was going to be a senior, and he was running for this position.
他即将成为一名大四学生,他正在竞选这个职位。
So you had to figure he was going to win that class.
所以你必须认为他会赢得那门课。
I was going to win my class.
I was going to win my class.
And then it was up to the freshmen who were going to decide the election.
然后由新生决定选举。
And it was not looking good for Matt with those key swing voters, the tough-to-please freshmen.
对于马特来说,面对那些关键的摇摆选民、那些难以取悦的新生,情况看起来并不好。
And it came to the final days before the election, just as we are now, with this presidential race.
选举前的最后几天,就像我们现在的总统竞选一样。
And Matt turned to his best friend's brother, Bennett, for advice.
马特向他最好朋友的兄弟贝内特寻求建议。
And Bennett came up with this campaign slogan that turned the race around.
贝内特提出了这个竞选口号,扭转了竞选局面。
Here's Bennett.
这是贝内特。
"Vote for Matt.
“投票给马特。
He is good.
他很好。
He'll give you wood." Essentially, Matt would walk around Mamaroneck Public High School with an armful of various types of wood, twigs and sticks and lumber and such.
他会给你木头。”本质上,马特会抱着各种类型的木头、树枝、木棍和木材等在马马罗内克公立高中走来走去。
And anybody who wanted wood would get a free sample of wood.
任何想要木材的人都可以获得免费的木材样品。
Then Bennett had another idea.
Then Bennett had another idea.
They could make a TV commercial.
They could make a TV commercial.
That's right, a TV commercial.
That's right, a TV commercial.
Nobody had ever done a political TV ad in a high school race, at their school anyway.
无论如何,没有人在高中比赛中做过政治电视广告,至少是在他们的学校。
The school had TVs in every room.
The school had TVs in every room.
The school's morning announcements were done on these television monitors.
学校的早间公告是在这些电视监视器上发布的。
They could play their ad during the morning announcements.
他们可以在早上的公告期间播放广告。
The next day, I met Ben at the beginning of lunch.
第二天,我在午餐开始时遇见了本。
And we went to the video room.
And we went to the video room.
And he signed out the cameras and tripod.
他签下了相机和三脚架。
And we went out back to the parking lot.
And we went out back to the parking lot.
And I think he had brought some logs for me to hold.
我想他带来了一些木头让我拿着。
And the whole thing took about 15 minutes to film.
整个过程拍摄大约需要15分钟。
I'm standing there with wood.
I'm standing there with wood.
The shot opens.
镜头打开。
I'm there.
我在那儿。
I say, "Hi.
我说:“嗨。
I'm Matt Futterman.
我是马特·富特曼。
I'm running for Corresponding Secretary of the Executive Board."
我正在竞选执行委员会通讯秘书。”
I think maybe Matt said, "Vote for me.
我想马特可能会说:“投票给我吧。
I am good.
我很好。
I'll give you wood."
我给你木头。”
Bennett has his arm around me.
Bennett has his arm around me.
He's got a microphone in his hand.
He's got a microphone in his hand.
He pulls it back to his mouth.
He pulls it back to his mouth.
He looks very seriously into the camera, and he says--
他非常严肃地看着镜头,然后说道——
I said, "What do you mean?
I said, "What do you mean?
You're going to give it away for free?" He says, "That's right, Bennett, absolutely for free.
你要免费赠送吗?”他说:“没错,贝内特,完全免费。
You want birch, I got birch.
You want birch, I got birch.
You want oak, I got oak.
你想要橡木,我有橡木。
You want pine, you want twigs--"
你想要松树,你想要树枝——”
"Oak, beech, maple, magnolia, linden."
“橡树、山毛榉、枫树、玉兰树、菩提树。”
"You want sticks, you want two-by-fours, I got it for you."
“你想要棍子,你想要二乘四的,我给你买了。”
And Bennett looks very seriously into the camera and holds up a log and says, "redwood."
贝内特非常严肃地看着镜头,举起一根木头说:“红木。”
Let me just ask you to describe-- just choose one word and describe-- OK, this ad airs for the first time during the morning announcements.
让我请你描述一下——只需选择一个词并描述一下——好吧,这个广告是在早间公告期间第一次播出的。
Describe in one word the reaction from the school.
用一个词描述一下学校的反应。
It would have to be fanaticism.
这一定是狂热。
And like pigeons to the bread-bearer, he was just swarmed upon by students from every grade wanting a piece of wood.
就像鸽子之于养面包的人一样,他被各个年级的学生蜂拥而至,想要一块木头。
People were coming up for seconds, for thirds.
人们上来了几秒钟,三分之二。
And before I know it, I'm looking down in the bag.
在我意识到之前,我低头看着袋子。
And I'm very quickly running out of wood.
我的木材很快就用完了。
And I'm thinking, "I got to get some more wood."
我在想,“我得去买更多的木头。”
It got to the point where he was giving away so much wood, there was such a demand to give away the wood, that he had to stop giving it away to seniors, because they didn't have the right to vote in school-wide elections.
It got to the point where he was giving away so much wood, there was such a demand to give away the wood, that he had to stop giving it away to seniors, because they didn't have the right to vote in school-wide elections.
Did you have to modify the ad with a little, at the end, "Seniors not apply."
您是否需要修改广告,在最后加上“老年人不适用”。
One time was enough, though.
不过,一次就够了。
Come election day, Matt easily swept into office.
选举日到来时,马特轻松当选。
And the next year, because of Matt's commercial, the age of televised politics hit Mamaroneck High full-force.
第二年,由于马特的广告,电视政治时代全面袭击了马马罗内克高中。
Nearly all the candidates had TV ads.
几乎所有候选人都有电视广告。
And interestingly, nearly all of them were dreadfully dull.
有趣的是,几乎所有这些都极其乏味。
They went on TV, and they droned on about their qualifications and what they wanted to do for the school.
他们上了电视,喋喋不休地谈论自己的资格以及想为学校做些什么。
It's as if they missed what it was that made Matt's ad so effective.
就好像他们错过了马特的广告如此有效的原因。
Here's Bennett.
这是贝内特。
It appealed directly to what was most important to the students.
它直接吸引了学生最重要的事情。
And what was most important was not the traditionally defined offices and duties of an elected official.
最重要的不是传统上定义的民选官员的职位和职责。
People did not care about the prom and about the track team's uniforms.
人们不关心舞会和田径队的制服。
What they cared about was being represented.
他们关心的是得到代表。
And this sense of absurdity--
而这种荒诞感——
--the sense of absurdity that Matt was willing to express in the ads does represent who they were.
——马特愿意在广告中表达的荒谬感确实代表了他们是谁。
Which brings us to the current election.
这就引出了当前的选举。
While it's true that we want candidates with whom we agree, more or less, on at least some of the so-called issues, I think we also want, or I want anyway-- and I don't think I'm alone in this-- some moment of spontaneity, of human joy, some "I'll give you wood" moment.
While it's true that we want candidates with whom we agree, more or less, on at least some of the so-called issues, I think we also want, or I want anyway-- and I don't think I'm alone in this-- some moment of spontaneity, of human joy, some "I'll give you wood" moment.
It would make me feel like I could trust these guys.
这会让我觉得我可以信任这些人。
The candidates know this, too.
候选人也知道这一点。
At this point in the evolution of focus-grouped, to poll-driven politics, they have absolutely learned that what we want is some moment that is not focus-grouped and poll-driven.
At this point in the evolution of focus-grouped, to poll-driven politics, they have absolutely learned that what we want is some moment that is not focus-grouped and poll-driven.
So they go onto David Letterman.
所以他们转向了大卫·莱特曼。
They go onto Jay Leno.
他们去找杰·雷诺。
They tell their little jokes.
他们讲自己的小笑话。
They try to charm, all to try to get outside the sound bites.
他们试图表现出魅力,所有这些都是为了摆脱原声片段。
Outside the sound bites.
外面的声音叮叮当当。
Today on our program, driven by the same desperate impulse, we also try to escape the world of the sound bite.
今天在我们的节目中,在同样绝望的冲动的驱使下,我们也试图逃离原声摘要的世界。
We have three different stories about parts of this selection that do not fit into the scripted, pre-planned soundbites that we'll be hearing from the candidates over the next few days.
We have three different stories about parts of this selection that do not fit into the scripted, pre-planned soundbites that we'll be hearing from the candidates over the next few days.
Act One, Fools Rush In, where sound bites fear to tread.
第一幕“傻瓜闯入”,声音震慑着人们的恐惧。
Jack Hitt reports on a multimillionaire who helped swing this winter's Michigan primary by trashing mainstream pols in a very un-focus-grouped way, and what he has planned for these next few days before the general election.
Jack Hitt reports on a multimillionaire who helped swing this winter's Michigan primary by trashing mainstream pols in a very un-focus-grouped way, and what he has planned for these next few days before the general election.
Act Two, Take Out Your Number Two Pencil, in which we look at the issue behind the issue behind a sound bite.
第二幕,拿出你的第二支铅笔,我们在其中探讨原声摘要背后的问题。
And if that's confusing, well, just stay with me.
如果这让你感到困惑,那么,请留在我身边。
Act Three, Nepotism a Beginner's Guide, and a defense.
第三幕,裙带关系初学者指南和辩护。
Adam Davidson discovers that he has the same blue blood ancestors as George W.
亚当·戴维森发现他与乔治·W·布什有着同样的贵族血统。
Bush and wonders where his family went wrong, and where the Bushes went right, and why it takes 220 years to get to the point where you get to say the sound bite.
布什想知道他的家人哪里错了,布什家族哪里错了,以及为什么花了 220 年才达到可以说出原话的地步。
From WBEZ Chicago and Public Radio International, it's This American Life.
来自芝加哥 WBEZ 和国际公共广播电台的《This American Life》。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
And remember, for the next hour, I will fight for you.
请记住,在接下来的一个小时里,我将为你而战。
So stay with me.
所以留在我身边吧。
Act One: Fools Rush In.
第一幕:傻瓜蜂拥而至。
So in these days when we yearn for more of our politicians to shoot from the hip a little more than they do, Jack Hitt found somebody who fit the bill, a former gubernatorial candidate in Michigan.
So in these days when we yearn for more of our politicians to shoot from the hip a little more than they do, Jack Hitt found somebody who fit the bill, a former gubernatorial candidate in Michigan.
Jack tells the story.
杰克讲述了这个故事。
Last February, I was sitting in the office of the multimillionaire Michigan trial lawyer Geoffrey Fieger.
去年二月,我坐在密歇根州千万富翁审判律师杰弗里·菲格的办公室里。
You'll remember he was Jack Kevorkian's lawyer.
你会记得他是杰克·凯沃尔基安的律师。
And he was also the lawyer who once walked into court carrying a big picture of the prosecutor, his opponent, with a clown nose pinned on.
他也是曾经拿着一张对手检察官的大照片走进法庭的律师,照片上还钉着一个小丑鼻子。
I was trying to figure out Fieger wins hundreds of millions of dollars while using tactics most people find outrageous, even insane.
我试图弄清楚菲格赢得了数亿美元,同时使用了大多数人认为令人震惊甚至疯狂的策略。
But I could barely get in a question, because it was just a few days away from the Michigan Republican primary, and Fieger was incensed George W.
But I could barely get in a question, because it was just a few days away from the Michigan Republican primary, and Fieger was incensed George W.
Bush might win.
布什可能会获胜。
Remember how it was last winter.
还记得去年冬天的情景吗?
Bush had just barely defeated John McCain in the South Carolina primary, and Michigan's governor, John Engler, had declared his state to be Bush's, quote, "firewall" against McCain.
布什刚刚在南卡罗来纳州初选中勉强击败了约翰·麦凯恩,密歇根州州长约翰·恩格勒宣布该州是布什针对麦凯恩的“防火墙”。
On that cold afternoon, Fieger's phone rang every two minutes.
那个寒冷的下午,菲格的电话每两分钟就响一次。
It was a couple of his pals, who were encouraging Fieger to make some negative ads attacking Bush in order to humiliate Governor Engler.
是他的几个朋友怂恿菲格制作一些攻击布什的负面广告,以羞辱恩格勒州长。
Less than 24 hours later, Michigan voters began hearing Fieger's ad.
不到 24 小时后,密歇根州选民开始听到菲格的广告。
Hi, this is Geoff Fieger.
大家好,我是杰夫·菲格。
They're back.
他们回来了。
Listen to this.
听听这个。
George W.
乔治·W.
Bush's record of results speaks for itself.
布什的成绩记录是不言而喻的。
As governor, he demanded higher standards for schools--
作为州长,他要求学校有更高的标准——
--fought trial lawyers over lawsuit abuse and beat them.
——因诉讼滥用行为与审判律师打架并殴打他们。
What?
什么?
When they say they ended lawsuit abuse, they mean we got screwed.
当他们说他们结束了诉讼滥用时,他们的意思是我们被搞砸了。
Supporting--
支持——
The ad is a whole minute of in-your-face vitriol, right up to the sign-off.
这则广告从一开始就充满了刻薄的尖酸刻薄,直到最后才结束。
Paid for by Citizens against Dumb and Dumber.
由公民支付对抗阿呆与阿瓜的费用。
Here's the catch: it worked.
问题是:它起作用了。
At least, George Bush thought it did.
至少,乔治·布什认为是这样。
The day he lost Michigan, he was blaming Fieger, by name, for interfering in the Republican primary.
输掉密歇根州的那天,他点名指责菲格干涉共和党初选。
Months later, with Michigan heading towards another incredibly close presidential contest, Fieger and his buddies decided to do it all over again, just one week before election day.
几个月后,密歇根州即将迎来另一场极其激烈的总统竞选,菲格和他的伙伴们决定在选举日前一周再做一次。
I hopped a plane and met with Fieger's pals, the guys who helped write these ads, Eric Humphrey, a radio producer, and Leon Weiss, a lawyer.
我跳上飞机,会见了菲格的朋友,他们帮助撰写了这些广告,还有广播制作人埃里克·汉弗莱 (Eric Humphrey) 和律师莱昂·韦斯 (Leon Weiss)。
I wanted to know, were they a PAC, a special interest group?
我想知道,他们是 PAC,一个特殊利益集团吗?
What were they?
他们是什么?
The best description of us would be Jello.
对我们最好的描述就是果冻。
You can see it, but you just can't get your hands on it.
你可以看到它,但你就是无法接触到它。
It's like we're a loose-knit group of people who have some strong political beliefs.
就好像我们是一群松散的人,有着强烈的政治信仰。
We do not represent the Democratic Party, the Republican Party, the Libertarian Party, or any other organization.
我们不代表民主党、共和党、自由党或任何其他组织。
I'd say that we're probably coffee outside of the cup.
我想说我们可能是杯外的咖啡。
You just don't know what to do with us.
你只是不知道该拿我们做什么。
And they are coffee outside the cup.
它们是杯外的咖啡。
In this day of focus groups and marketing demographics and niches like suburban males, 18 to 24 years old, their idea of a target audience sounds totally antique.
在焦点小组、营销人口统计和 18 至 24 岁郊区男性等利基市场的今天,他们关于目标受众的想法听起来完全过时了。
Somebody who still has an open mind and maybe has a sense of humor.
一个仍然保持开放心态并且可能有幽默感的人。
They only do radio ads, in part because they're so effective in a state obsessed with cars and driving, and also because it's cheaper than one might think to get into the political game.
他们只做广播广告,部分原因是它们在一个痴迷于汽车和驾驶的国家非常有效,而且还因为参与政治游戏比人们想象的要便宜。
On these ads, they might spend $20,000.
他们可能会在这些广告上花费 20,000 美元。
Absolutely.
绝对地。
Leon Weiss $10,000 or $15,000 or maybe $20,000, as opposed to, what, $40 million, $50 million that they spend on television, especially in the last two months.
Leon Weiss 10,000 美元或 15,000 美元或可能 20,000 美元,而不是他们在电视上花费的 4000 万美元、5000 万美元,尤其是在过去两个月。
So it's nothing.
所以这没什么。
It's a mosquito on an elephant's hind quarter.
这是大象后腿上的蚊子。
What do you think about the ads that the two candidates are running these days?
您对两位候选人最近投放的广告有何看法?
What are the ads like here in Michigan?
密歇根州的广告是什么样的?
They are totally ridiculous.
他们完全是荒谬的。
It is sickening.
真是令人作呕。
And boring.
而且很无聊。
Eric Humphrey And boring.
埃里克·汉弗莱 很无聊。
I want to literally throw my television set out of the window.
我真想把电视机扔出窗外。
You've got negative ads against George Bush from Al Gore.
您收到了阿尔·戈尔针对乔治·布什的负面广告。
You've got George Bush with negative ads against Al Gore.
乔治·布什发布了针对阿尔·戈尔的负面广告。
Then you've got Al Gore and George Bush both sitting in classrooms, hugging little black children.
然后,阿尔·戈尔和乔治·布什都坐在教室里,拥抱黑人小孩子。
I mean, c'mon.
我的意思是,来吧。
Knock it off.
把它关掉。
Tell us something.
告诉我们一些事情。
By late afternoon, we had adjourned to the offices of WJR Radio in Detroit to work further on the scripts, when there was a commotion.
下午晚些时候,我们休会到底特律 WJR 广播电台的办公室,进一步处理剧本,这时发生了一阵骚动。
Feiger swept into the studio like a conquering hero, dressed in an expensive blue pinstripe suit and muted red tie.
费格像一位征服英雄一样走进工作室,穿着昂贵的蓝色细条纹西装和柔和的红色领带。
He looked like Bush or Gore during the first debate, except for his hair, shaggy '70s retro.
在第一次辩论中,他看起来就像布什或戈尔,除了他的头发,蓬松的 70 年代复古风格。
He was obviously still high from the euphoria one must experience from asking a jury for $150 million dollars and knowing you might get it.
显然,他还沉浸在向陪审团索要 1.5 亿美元并知道自己可能会得到它的喜悦中。
Once Fieger took his seat in front of the studio microphone, Eric and Leon became noticeably more subdued, a typical moment.
当菲格在录音室麦克风前坐下时,埃里克和莱昂明显变得更加柔和,这是一个典型的时刻。
Eric had come up with a new line for Fieger.
埃里克为菲格想出了一条新路线。
OK.
好的。
Geoffrey Fieger You could write that out right now.
杰弗里·菲格(Geoffrey Fieger) 你现在就可以把它写出来。
I like that.
我喜欢这样。
I am.
我是。
Geoffrey Fieger But you got to have a lot more than just that.
杰弗里·菲格 (Geoffrey Fieger) 但你必须拥有的不仅仅是这些。
That's about 10 seconds.
也就是大约10秒。
Talk about Al-- OK.
谈谈艾尔——好吧。
I gave you one pen.
我给了你一支笔。
I gave him the other one.
我把另一张给了他。
Here's your pen back.
这是你的笔回来了。
No, you can't have my pen back.
不,你不能拿回我的笔。
Ah, the creative process.
啊,创作过程。
So Feiger took his pen back.
于是费格收回了笔。
Just a minute.
请等一下。
Jack Hitt I thought by coming to WJR, what I would witness was the contemporary making of a Willie Horton ad, the most famous attack ad in contemporary politics, not officially sanctioned by either party, and so, able to put out a distorted, racist message about Michael Dukakis in 1988.
杰克·希特(Jack Hitt) 我想,通过来到 WJR,我将见证威利·霍顿广告的当代制作,这是当代政治中最著名的攻击性广告,没有得到任何一方的正式批准,因此能够在 1988 年发布有关迈克尔·杜卡基斯的扭曲的种族主义信息。
But all day long, I was amazed to witness an unusual integrity on display.
但一整天,我都惊讶地目睹了一种不同寻常的正直表现。
Fieger and his pals wanted to ridicule Bush viciously, but they were sort of prissy about it, surprisingly concerned that everything in the ad be true.
菲格和他的朋友们想恶毒地嘲笑布什,但他们对此有点拘谨,令人惊讶的是,他们担心广告中的一切都是真的。
When Leon wanted a line saying "Texas leads the country in water pollution," Eric struck it, arguing that Texas was only 49th.
当莱昂想要一句“得克萨斯州在水污染方面领先全国”时,埃里克击中了它,认为得克萨斯州仅排名第 49 位。
Again, here's Fieger.
菲格又来了。
The general political ads that are out there are horrible, just absolutely horrible.
一般的政治广告都很可怕,绝对可怕。
They're an insult to my intelligence, because they're lies, generally lies, just out-and-out complete lies.
它们是对我智商的侮辱,因为它们是谎言,通常是谎言,是彻头彻尾的谎言。
Our ads, frankly, are impeccably researched and empirically correct.
坦率地说,我们的广告经过了无可挑剔的研究,并且根据经验是正确的。
There was a kind of internal logic even to the boundaries of their own bad taste.
甚至在他们自己的低俗品味的范围内,也有一种内在的逻辑。
A Monica Lewinsky ad?
莫妮卡·莱温斯基的广告?
No. A bunch of bad Jewish jokes about how Lieberman would save the country money by buying wholesale?
不。关于利伯曼如何通过批发购买来为国家省钱的一堆糟糕的犹太笑话?
Nixed.
取消了。
At one point, Geoffrey started scribbling madly on a yellow legal pad and then told everyone to hush.
有一次,杰弗里开始在黄色便笺簿上疯狂地乱写乱画,然后告诉大家安静。
He said he'd had a divine inspiration and wanted to try out a new ad concept.
他说他得到了神圣的灵感,想要尝试一种新的广告概念。
Hi, this is Jesus Christ.
嗨,这是耶稣基督。
And I'm a little pissed.
我有点生气。
I said, "Thou shall not kill." What don't you understand about that?
我说:“你不可杀人。”你对此有何不明白?
For example, George W.
例如,乔治·W.
Bush.
布什。
He's got a death toll higher than Slobodan Milosevic.
他的死亡人数比斯洛博丹·米洛舍维奇还要高。
And you guys want to make him the most powerful man in the world?
你们想让他成为世界上最有权势的人吗?
Are you nuts?
你疯了吗?
Vote for Bush and piss off the Lord.
投票给布什并激怒上帝。
Oh, cut it out.
哦,把它剪掉。
Cut it out.
把它剪掉。
Leon Weiss Piss off the Lord.
莱昂·韦斯 惹恼了上帝。
What was amazing about the whole experience was how much fun they were all having.
整个体验的奇妙之处在于他们都玩得很开心。
It's hard to capture the madness and pleasure that filled the room.
很难捕捉到充满房间的疯狂和快乐。
Obviously, it was mean-spirited, but it's a pleasure you almost never see in our formal public politics.
显然,这是卑鄙的,但这是一种在我们正式的公共政治中几乎从未见过的乐趣。
I don't think anyone has fun.
我认为没有人有乐趣。
But everything that we do, at least me, I can't speak for everybody else, it's only interesting for me if I have fun.
但我们所做的一切,至少是我,我不能代表其他人,只有当我玩得开心时,这对我来说才有趣。
Now for some reason, the idea of fun in this whole thing is either not accepted or rejected, or looked down upon.
现在,出于某种原因,整个事情中的乐趣的想法要么不被接受,要么被拒绝,要么被鄙视。
I don't know why.
我不知道为什么。
But I'll tell you that that's the way I feel about everything that I do.
但我会告诉你,这就是我对我所做的一切的感受。
I mean life is so short.
我的意思是生命如此短暂。
I just looked around, and I was 18 years old.
我环顾四周,我已经18岁了。
And I'm 49, going on 50.
我今年49岁,马上就要50岁了。
Man, that's so fast.
伙计,这速度真快。
If you don't have fun, what's your excuse for being?
如果你不开心,你还有什么借口呢?
Isn't this the kind of unscripted spirit most of us say is missing from our mainstream politicians?
这难道不是我们大多数人所说的我们的主流政客所缺少的那种即兴精神吗?
While it's easy to do this from the sidelines, the question is, can you have this much fun if you're the candidate and then go on to win?
虽然在场外很容易做到这一点,但问题是,如果你是候选人,然后继续获胜,你能享受这么多乐趣吗?
In fact, Fieger ran for governor in 1998 and lost.
事实上,菲格曾在 1998 年竞选州长,但失败了。
He lost, in large part, because his opponent reminded voters that Fieger regularly said shocking things, like the time he referred to Jesus as, quote, "just some goofball that got nailed to the cross."
他输了,很大程度上是因为他的对手提醒选民,菲格经常说一些令人震惊的话,比如他称耶稣为“只是一个被钉在十字架上的傻瓜”。
If you ask Fieger about it, he'll tell you it's taken out of context.
如果你问菲格这件事,他会告诉你这是断章取义的。
But I've read the full quote.
但我已经阅读了完整的引文。
And it's pretty bad.
这很糟糕。
He says believing in Jesus is just as silly as Elvis mania.
他说相信耶稣就像猫王狂热一样愚蠢。
People had a reason to be insulted.
人们有理由受到侮辱。
And that's the problem with shoot-from-the-hip politics.
这就是鲁莽政治的问题所在。
And yet, maybe the whole experience made him a little more careful.
然而,也许整个经历让他变得更加小心了。
Over the course of two hours, he calls every soul who passes the glass window into the studio.
在两个小时的时间里,他把每一个经过玻璃窗的灵魂都叫进了工作室。
Go bring that girl in here.
去把那个女孩带进来吧。
And I want to see what she thinks of it.
我想看看她对此有何看法。
I don't know where she is.
我不知道她在哪里。
Geoffrey Fieger Just go ask.
杰弗里·菲格 去问问吧。
They'll get her.
他们会抓住她的。
And to every one, he plays his "Hi, this is Jesus Christ" ad.
他向每个人播放“嗨,这是耶稣基督”的广告。
Hi.
你好。
This is Jesus Christ.
这是耶稣基督。
And I'm a little pissed.
我有点生气。
Every time, it cracks everybody up.
每一次,都让大家心潮澎湃。
And every time, Leon and Eric try to talk him out of it.
每次,莱昂和埃里克都会试图劝说他不要这样做。
Right now, you've got the Jews, the blacks, and the Catholics all over your ass.
现在,犹太人、黑人和天主教徒都在你的屁股上。
And this is the one time I watch them oppose Fieger on a big issue and actually convince him.
这是我第一次看到他们在一个重大问题上反对菲格并真正说服了他。
After two and a half hours, they finish two 60-second ads complete with sound effects and music.
两个半小时后,他们完成了两个 60 秒的广告,并配有音效和音乐。
"We're like the Beatles," Fieger says.
“我们就像披头士乐队,”菲格说。
Here's one of the ads.
这是其中一则广告。
Hi, this is Geoff Fieger.
大家好,我是杰夫·菲格。
George W.
乔治·W.
Bush has never accomplished anything on his own in his entire life.
布什一生中从未凭借一己之力取得过任何成就。
Let's take a look.
我们来看一下。
You don't have the qualifications for Yale, my boy.
你没有资格进入耶鲁大学,我的孩子。
My daddy's George Bush.
我爸爸是乔治·布什。
Man 5 Welcome to Yale, my boy.
Man 5 欢迎来到耶鲁,我的孩子。
You don't have the qualifications for Harvard Business School.
你没有哈佛商学院的资格。
My daddy's George Bush.
我爸爸是乔治·布什。
Jack Hitt His ads sound highly produced and planned out, yet the whole process was so improvisational.
杰克·希特(Jack Hitt) 他的广告听起来制作精良、计划周密,但整个过程却是那么即兴创作。
And Fieger himself is completely unreflective, to the point that when I kept asking him to talk about the strategy of the ad, he got a little mad at me.
而菲格本人则完全没有反思能力,以至于当我不断要求他谈论广告策略时,他对我有点生气。
And who, in your mind, whose vote do you think you're swaying?
在你看来,你认为你在动摇谁的选票?
I don't know.
我不知道。
I'm telling you, if it's possible--
我告诉你,如果可能的话——
How do you think this reacts on somebody who hears it?
你认为听到这句话的人会有什么反应?
I don't know.
我不知道。
You're asking me to analyze this, and then be absolutely serious and intellectually delve into the thing.
你要求我分析这个问题,然后绝对认真地深入研究这个问题。
And I don't do that.
我不这样做。
It would ruin the spontaneity.
这会破坏自发性。
And let me just tell you this, OK?
让我告诉你这个,好吗?
That's why it's so good.
这就是为什么它这么好。
The political ads that Fieger makes are the ones we voters allegedly find the most horrifying, unaccountable attacks not affiliated with any candidate saying the worst possible things.
据称,菲格制作的政治广告是我们选民认为最可怕、最不负责任的攻击,与任何候选人所说的最糟糕的事情无关。
And I wondered if the populist part of Fieger might think there's something wrong with the idea that any rich guy can get on the air and take potshots at any politician he wants.
我想知道菲格的民粹主义部分是否会认为任何有钱人都可以在广播中对任何他想要的政客进行猛烈攻击的想法有问题。
But I was wrong.
但我错了。
Fieger thinks there should be more of these ads, that everyone should get in on the game.
菲格认为应该有更多这样的广告,每个人都应该参与其中。
And when he told me this, I realized that what Fieger's up to isn't part of the new wave of negative advertising, but actually is connected to something very old-fashioned in American politics, the pure public glee of calling the other side names.
当他告诉我这些时,我意识到菲格的所作所为并不是新一波负面广告的一部分,而实际上与美国政治中非常老式的东西有关,即纯粹的公开辱骂对方的欢乐。
This is the way it always was.
一直都是这样。
In 1884, the fact that Grover Cleveland had had a child out of wedlock had Republicans marching down the street, delightedly singing, "Ma, Ma, where's my pa?" And Democrats would shout back, "Gone to the White House, ha, ha, ha."
1884 年,格罗弗·克利夫兰 (Grover Cleveland) 未婚生子的事实让共和党人在街上游行,高兴地唱着:“妈妈,妈妈,我爸爸在哪里?”民主党人会大喊:“去白宫了,哈,哈,哈。”
It does seem like you're all having a lot of fun in there.
看起来你们都在那里玩得很开心。
That's why it's so good.
这就是为什么它这么好。
If it's not fun, we wouldn't do it.
如果不有趣,我们就不会这样做。
Do you think they're having fun over at the Gore campaign tonight?
你认为他们今晚在戈尔竞选活动中玩得开心吗?
No. They're talking about prescription drugs and Social Security and $1,500 and $30,000 and $20,000.
不。他们谈论的是处方药和社会保障以及 1,500 美元、30,000 美元和 20,000 美元。
We just have fun.
我们只是玩得开心。
We have fun.
我们玩得很开心。
It's fun.
很有趣。
That's what it is.
就是这样。
How many people have you heard, just today, say, "I can't wait until this damn election is over"?
就在今天,你听到有多少人说,“我等不及这场该死的选举结束了”?
Everybody hates it.
每个人都讨厌它。
There is no joy in our politics, no pleasure.
我们的政治没有乐趣,没有快乐。
No one's laughing, except, it seems, Geoffrey Fieger, who's having a ball, and now signs all of his ads with his trademark bellowing laugh.
没有人在笑,除了杰弗里·菲格(Geoffrey Fieger),他似乎玩得很开心,现在在他所有的广告上都用他标志性的大笑来签名。
Paid for by the Committee against Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest.
由反阿呆、阿瓜和阿呆委员会支付费用。
[LAUGHTER] Ira Glass Jack Hitt lives in Connecticut.
[笑声] Ira Glass Jack Hitt 住在康涅狄格州。
Coming up, how many grandparents and great-grandparents and great-great-grandparents do you have to have with the middle names Herbert and Walker for you to become president yourself?
接下来,你必须有多少祖父母、曾祖父母和曾曾祖父母的中间名赫伯特和沃克才能成为总统?
You ain't seen nothing yet.
你还什么都没看到。
In a minute, from Public Radio International, when our program continues.
稍后,国际公共广播电台将继续我们的节目。
It's This American Life.
这就是美国生活。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
Today on our program, Outside the Sound Bites, in which we try to avoid, sidestep, or look beneath the presidential candidates' talking points in these final days before the election.
今天,在我们的节目《声音之外》中,我们在选举前的最后几天试图避免、回避或审视总统候选人的谈话要点。
We've arrived at Act Two of our show, Take Out Your Number Two Pencil.
我们已经到了节目的第二幕,拿出你的二号铅笔。
One thing that is striking about this presidential race is that the two big issues, that the two big candidates debate most, are two things that most of us do not really understand at all, prescription drug policy and school accountability.
这次总统竞选中引人注目的一件事是,两位大候选人争论最多的两个大问题是我们大多数人根本不真正理解的两个问题:处方药政策和学校责任。
And so the candidates throw their little catchwords back and forth.
因此,候选人们不断地抛出他们的小口号。
And how are we supposed to evaluate that?
我们应该如何评价这一点?
It is as if we're supposed to choose between them based on their stances on Fermat's Last Theorem.
就好像我们应该根据他们对费马大定理的立场在他们之间进行选择。
So our producer, Alex Blumberg, looked behind what they have to say about education, and found that the reality is dismayingly different from their little speeches.
因此,我们的制片人亚历克斯·布隆伯格(Alex Blumberg)仔细研究了他们对教育的看法,发现现实与他们的小演讲大相径庭。
There are differences, fairly big ones, between the Bush and Gore education plans.
布什和戈尔的教育计划之间存在相当大的差异。
Gore wants more money for early childhood education and teacher training.
戈尔希望为幼儿教育和教师培训提供更多资金。
Bush wants vouchers for families in failing schools.
布什希望为失败学校的家庭提供代金券。
But at the heart of both their education plans is the idea that kids should be tested and tested often, to be sure they're being taught well.
但他们教育计划的核心理念是孩子们应该经常接受测试,以确保他们得到良好的教育。
Look, we agree on a couple of things on education.
看,我们在教育方面的一些事情上达成了一致。
I strongly support new accountability.
我强烈支持新的问责制。
So does Governor Bush.
布什州长也是如此。
I'm in favor of testing as a way of measuring performance, every school, every school district.
我赞成将测试作为衡量每所学校、每个学区表现的一种方式。
Have every state test the children.
让每个州对孩子进行测试。
I've also proposed--
我还提议——
We're going to say, if you receive federal money, measure third grade, fourth grade, fifth grade, sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade, and show us whether or not children are learning to read and write and add and subtract.
我们会说,如果你收到联邦资金,衡量三年级、四年级、五年级、六年级、七年级、八年级,并向我们展示孩子们是否正在学习读写和加减法。
And if so, there'll be a bonus plan, instead of continuing to subsidize failure.
如果是这样,就会有一个奖金计划,而不是继续补贴失败。
Testing is the cornerstone of reform.
测试是改革的基石。
You know how I know?
你知道我是怎么知道的吗?
In the first presidential debate, the only argument about tests was who had more of them, and whose were tougher on kids and teachers.
在第一场总统辩论中,关于测试的唯一争论是谁的测试更多,以及谁对孩子和老师更严厉。
Well, first of all, I do have mandatory testing.
嗯,首先,我确实有强制性测试。
I think the governor may not have heard what I said clearly.
我想州长可能没有听清楚我说的话。
All schools, all school districts, students themselves, and required teacher testing, which goes a step farther than Governor Bush has been willing to go.
所有学校、所有学区、学生本身以及要求的教师测试,这比布什州长愿意走的更进一步。
North Carolina is one of a handful of states in the country that's already adopted an education plan similar to what both candidates are talking about.
北卡罗来纳州是该国少数几个已经采用了与两位候选人所谈论的教育计划类似的教育计划的州之一。
It's called the ABC program, and it's based on the same simple premise both candidates propose.
它被称为 ABC 计划,它基于两位候选人提出的相同简单前提。
We hold schools accountable for teaching our kids.
我们要求学校负责教育我们的孩子。
The schools that do well, we reward.
表现好的学校,我们给予奖励。
The ones that don't, we demand changes.
对于那些不这样做的人,我们要求改变。
And the way we tell, a standardized test.
我们所说的方式是标准化测试。
I talked to teachers from five schools across the state.
我与全州五所学校的老师进行了交谈。
And what they said is the reality isn't as simple as the campaign rhetoric makes it seem, and that North Carolina's accountability program has consequences, both good and bad, that interestingly, neither candidate seems to mention.
他们所说的现实并不像竞选言辞所表现的那么简单,北卡罗来纳州的问责计划会产生好的和坏的后果,有趣的是,两位候选人似乎都没有提到。
So how many tests have you taken this year?
那么今年你参加了多少次考试呢?
About four, the computer competency test, the end of quarter test, the reading end of quarter test, and there was a practice computer competency test.
大约四次,计算机能力测试,季末测试,季末阅读测试,还有计算机能力测试练习。
And what's the date today?
今天是几号?
Boy October 18.
男孩 10 月 18 日。
Kids in North Carolina take a lot of tests.
北卡罗来纳州的孩子们要参加很多考试。
In some schools, as many as 30 days out of the year are given over to tests.
在一些学校,一年中有多达 30 天用于考试。
And the most important tests of all, the tests everyone talks about, the tests from which all other tests originate, are called the EOGs, or End-of-Grade tests.
最重要的测试,每个人都在谈论的测试,所有其他测试的起源,被称为 EOG 或年级结束测试。
Every kid from third grade to eighth grade takes them.
从三年级到八年级的每个孩子都会参加。
Nearly all the teachers I talked to said that a lot has improved since North Carolina started its educational reforms in 1996.
几乎所有与我交谈过的老师都表示,自 1996 年北卡罗来纳州开始教育改革以来,情况已经有了很大改善。
There's a new curriculum, which the teachers like.
有老师喜欢的新课程。
Teacher salaries have increased.
教师工资增加了。
And more resources are going to early childhood programs.
更多的资源将用于幼儿项目。
But when talking about the EOGs, a lot of the teachers use words like frenzy, mania, or in some cases monster.
但在谈论 EOG 时,许多老师使用“疯狂”、“狂热”等词语,有时甚至使用“怪物”等词语。
That's because a lot is riding on the EOGs.
这是因为 EOG 发挥了很大作用。
School scores are published in local papers and on the internet.
学校成绩公布在当地报纸和互联网上。
They show up in real estate listings.
它们出现在房地产列表中。
Principals of chronically low-performing schools can be fired.
长期表现不佳的学校的校长可能会被解雇。
Teachers at schools that score well on the tests or show marked improvement receive bonuses that go as high as $1,500 per teacher.
在考试中取得良好成绩或表现出显着进步的学校教师将获得每名教师高达 1,500 美元的奖金。
But teachers have enough questions about the testing that some of them have turned down the money when it's offered.
但老师们对测试有足够多的疑问,以至于他们中的一些人拒绝了这笔钱。
And in North Carolina's fifth year of reform, the issues have heated up enough that many educators get edgy talking about it publicly.
在北卡罗来纳州改革的第五个年头,这些问题已经变得足够激烈,以至于许多教育工作者在公开场合谈论这个问题变得急躁。
One state official hung up on me in the middle of a conversation.
一位州官员在谈话中挂断了我的电话。
At a school in Hallsboro, the principal, Lynn Spaulding wouldn't let me talk to any of his teachers without him being present.
在霍尔斯伯勒的一所学校,校长林恩·斯波尔丁不允许我在他不在场的情况下与他的任何老师交谈。
And then there's Teresa Glenn.
然后是特蕾莎·格伦。
My name is Teresa Glenn.
我叫特蕾莎·格伦。
I teach eighth grade language arts and social studies.
我教八年级的语言艺术和社会研究。
And I've been teaching for three and a half years.
我已经教书三年半了。
And where do you teach?
你在哪里教书?
Teresa Glenn I teach in Montgomery County, North Carolina, which is in the south-central part of North Carolina.
特蕾莎·格伦(Teresa Glenn) 我在北卡罗来纳州蒙哥马利县任教,该县位于北卡罗来纳州中南部。
All right.
好的。
And are you in school right now?
你现在在学校吗?
No, I'm not in school.
不,我不在学校。
Alex Blumberg And why is that?
亚历克斯·布隆伯格 这是为什么呢?
I'm serving a suspension for discussing the North Carolina End-of-Grade tests.
我因讨论北卡罗来纳州期末考试而被停职。
On May 28 of this year, Teresa Glenn posted an impassioned email message to a North Carolina educational list server, hosted by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction.
今年 5 月 28 日,特蕾莎·格伦向北卡罗来纳州公共教育部托管的北卡罗来纳州教育列表服务器发布了一封热情洋溢的电子邮件。
In nine paragraphs, she outlined her various concerns with the EOGs.
她在九段中概述了她对 EOG 的各种担忧。
In the last one, she summarized.
在最后一篇中,她总结道。
And the last paragraph, I talked about some of the things I saw last year with my students.
最后一段,我讲了去年我和学生们看到的一些事情。
And I said, "I apologize if anyone is offended by any of the above.
我说:“如果有人被上述任何事情冒犯,我深表歉意。
I'm personally offended by the EOG tests.
我个人对眼电图测试感到愤怒。
I've seen students, good, solid, A, B students crying because of the tests.
我见过学生,优秀的,优秀的,A,B的学生因为考试而哭泣。
I've seen students who work hard but lack the native intelligence to pass a two-hour multiple choice test retained.
我见过一些学生虽然努力学习,但缺乏天生的智力,无法通过两小时的多项选择题考试。
I've seen teachers do nothing for the last 6 to 10 weeks of school but work on EOG preparation.
我见过老师在学校的最后 6 到 10 周里除了做眼电图准备外什么也没做。
I've seen teachers publicly humiliated because they had lower test scores than the year before.
我见过老师因为考试成绩比前一年低而受到公开羞辱。
I've seen children made fun of, called names, and put down based on their EOG scores.
我见过孩子们被取笑、辱骂,并根据他们的眼电图分数进行贬低。
I've seen teachers look down their noses because a child is a three, three on the EOG test and not a three, four.
我见过老师们瞧不起他们的鼻子,因为孩子在眼电图测试中是三、三,而不是三、四。
The entire spectacle is disgusting."
整个场面令人恶心。”
The part of the email that got her in trouble was the part where she discussed the specific content of two questions on last year's reading EOG.
邮件中让她遇到麻烦的部分是她讨论了去年阅读EOG的两个问题的具体内容的部分。
She pointed out that the two questions required students to know information that wasn't in the reading passage they were supposedly being tested on.
她指出,这两个问题要求学生了解他们应该测试的阅读文章中没有的信息。
Not long after that email, her principal called her into his office and told her the state was considering revoking her teaching certificate.
那封电子邮件后不久,她的校长把她叫到办公室,告诉她州政府正在考虑吊销她的教师证书。
To be perfectly honest with you, I was absolutely floored.
To be perfectly honest with you, I was absolutely floored.
And my principal called me.
我的校长打电话给我。
And I really like my principal.
我真的很喜欢我的校长。
I think he's a very upstanding man.
我认为他是一个非常正直的人。
He called me into his office and said, "Did you say something on an email forum about the tests this year?" And I said, "Of course I did." And maybe I'm just naive, but it didn't occur to me that you can get in trouble for discussing the shortcomings of these tests, particularly when they are almost life and death, at least academically, for students.
他把我叫进他的办公室,说道:“你在电子邮件论坛上说过关于今年测试的事情吗?”我说:“我当然知道了。”也许我只是太天真了,但我没有想到你会因为讨论这些测试的缺点而陷入麻烦,特别是当它们对学生来说至少在学术上几乎是生死攸关的时候。
So I was very surprised.
所以我很惊讶。
They eventually told Teresa that she'd violated an agreement she'd signed as part of the testing program that forbade her from paraphrasing any of the questions on the test in public.
他们最终告诉特蕾莎,她违反了她作为测试计划的一部分签署的协议,该协议禁止她公开解释测试中的任何问题。
Teresa says the only reason she was allowed to keep your job, and got away with just a suspension, was that one of the local school board members present at her hearing owed her a favor.
特蕾莎说,她被允许保住工作并只被停职的唯一原因是,出席她听证会的当地学校董事会成员之一欠了她一个人情。
She says the big problem with the tests is how much time and resources have been diverted to them.
她说,测试的最大问题是分配了多少时间和资源。
Some teachers in her school, she says, spend 50% to 75% of their classroom time on test prep.
她说,她学校的一些老师将 50% 到 75% 的课堂时间花在备考上。
A huge chunk of the school's book budget has gone to buying four different test prep books for each student.
学校图书预算的很大一部分用于为每个学生购买四本不同的考试准备书籍。
She says no wonder administrators are so touchy.
她说难怪管理人员如此敏感。
The amount of money that's been poured into this is immense.
为此投入的资金是巨大的。
If somebody says, "This is not working.
如果有人说:“这不起作用。
And you just wasted $500 million dollars on this program that's actually hurting kids," you have to think that there's going to be some kind of serious ramification for that person.
你只是在这个实际上伤害了孩子的项目上浪费了 5 亿美元,”你必须认为这会给那个人带来某种严重的后果。
And you think that's what's happening, that $500 million has been poured into a program that's hurting kids?
你认为这就是正在发生的事情吗? 5 亿美元投入到一个伤害儿童的项目中?
Well, I just got something yesterday in the mail from the Department of Public Instruction sort of bragging that somewhere over $100 million had been handed out in bonuses this year alone to teachers who were at these schools that have made the biggest gains.
嗯,昨天我刚刚收到公共教育部发来的邮件,里面吹嘘说,仅今年就向这些收益最大的学校的教师发放了超过 1 亿美元的奖金。
What do you make of that?
你对此有何看法?
Teresa Glenn Well, on the personal level, it depresses me, because I've been asking still for the same two novel sets for the last two years, and I haven't gotten them.
特蕾莎·格伦:嗯,就个人而言,这让我很沮丧,因为过去两年我一直在要求同样的两套小说,但我还没有得到。
What are you trying to get?
你想得到什么?
Teresa Glenn I just want Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, who actually lives here in North Carolina.
特蕾莎·格伦(Teresa Glenn) 我只想看奥森·斯科特·卡德(Orson Scott Card)的《安德的游戏》,他实际上住在北卡罗来纳州。
I just want 30 copies of it.
我只想要 30 份。
And then there's another novel that I'd like, the Jon Krakauer Into Thin Air .
我还想要另一本小说,乔恩·克拉考尔的《进入稀薄空气》。
That's the book about the climb to Mount Everest.
那是一本关于攀登珠穆朗玛峰的书。
The kids would love that.
孩子们会喜欢的。
They would be totally into it.
他们会完全投入其中。
Because it's gory enough that they'd be interested in it too.
因为这太血腥了,他们也会对此感兴趣。
That's all I want in my pitiful life as an eighth grade teacher.
这就是我作为一名八年级老师的可怜生活所想要的一切。
And I don't foresee myself getting it.
我预计自己不会得到它。
And I know we talk about high standards, but in my mind, just teaching students to answer multiple choice questions is about the lowest standard I can possibly imagine.
我知道我们谈论的是高标准,但在我看来,仅仅教学生回答多项选择题就是我能想象的最低标准。
That's not the same thing as having the skills to live a productive life in a democratic society.
这与拥有在民主社会过上富有成效的生活的技能不是一回事。
I think we're robbing the students of what education should be, which is a love of knowledge and the ability to pursue gaining more knowledge as you want to.
我认为我们正在剥夺学生应有的教育,即对知识的热爱以及追求获得更多知识的能力。
And we're saying that the purpose of education is to pass these tests.
我们说教育的目的是通过这些测试。
When I asked the North Carolina State Board of Education for a school where their plan was working, they sent me to Allenbrook Elementary in Charlotte.
当我向北卡罗来纳州教育委员会询问他们的计划在哪里可行时,他们把我送到了夏洛特的艾伦布鲁克小学。
It's in a poor neighborhood and has a history of poor performance on the tests.
它位于一个贫穷的社区,并且在测试中表现不佳。
Four years ago, the state assistance team came to Allenbrook to help it improve, the kind of thing Al Gore would like to see adopted everywhere.
四年前,州援助小组来到艾伦布鲁克帮助其改进,阿尔·戈尔希望看到各地都采用这种做法。
If it's a failing school, shut it down and reopen it under a new principal with a turnaround team of specialists, the way Governor Jim Hunt does in North Carolina.
如果这是一所失败的学校,请关闭它,然后在新校长和专家团队的带领下重新开放它,就像北卡罗来纳州州长吉姆·亨特所做的那样。
If it's a--
如果它是一个——
Actually, they don't shut the school down.
事实上,他们并没有关闭学校。
But there was a team of specialists.
但有一个专家团队。
And 70% of the staff either quit or was transferred.
70%的员工要么辞职,要么被调动。
And the principal was removed.
并且校长被免职了。
Cathy Hammond was his replacement.
凯茜·哈蒙德是他的替代者。
And under her leadership, the school has made remarkable gains on the test scores.
在她的领导下,学校的考试成绩取得了显着的进步。
And she readily credits the accountability program.
她欣然赞扬了问责计划。
I think our state is doing a phenomenal job of addressing the needs in education.
我认为我们的州在满足教育需求方面做得非常出色。
When I taught, and I taught for 16 years in a middle school, I never had an administrator ask me, "Why are you teaching that?
当我教书时,我在一所中学教了 16 年书,从来没有一位管理人员问过我:“你为什么要教这个?
What is it you want your children to know that they didn't know before you started?" No one cared.
在你开始之前,你想让你的孩子知道什么是他们不知道的?”没有人关心。
As long as the children were in the room, everyone was quiet, the parents were happy, I could've been teaching leapfrog.
只要孩子们在房间里,大家都很安静,家长们都很高兴,我就可以教蛙跳了。
So I like the idea that we have a set of standards that all children need to know, and that we're responsible for teaching them.
所以我喜欢这样的想法:我们有一套所有孩子都需要知道的标准,并且我们有责任教导他们。
Here's what they found when they tried to fix the school.
以下是他们在尝试修复学校时发现的情况。
First, the problem wasn't the teachers' ability.
首先,问题不在于教师的能力。
The state team evaluated all the teachers, and only one was rated below competent.
国家团队对所有教师进行了评估,只有一名教师的评级为合格以下。
The problem was there simply weren't enough of them, especially for the task of bringing Allenbrook's student population up to grade level.
问题是他们的人数根本不够,特别是对于将艾伦布鲁克的学生人口提升到年级水平的任务而言。
For whatever sociological reasons, kids from poor neighborhoods tend to do worse in school and worse on standardized tests.
无论出于何种社会学原因,来自贫困社区的孩子往往在学校表现较差,在标准化考试中表现也较差。
You can bring them up to speed, but you need extra teachers to do it.
你可以让他们加快速度,但你需要额外的老师来做到这一点。
If you have a child that's coming to you that's coming out of an environment where they have not had a bed to sleep in, they've lost their parent for whatever reason, to incarceration or anything else, what do we as a school do about it in order to put support in for that child and that family?
如果你的孩子来自一个没有床睡觉的环境,他们因某种原因失去了父母,比如被监禁或其他任何原因,我们作为学校应该采取什么措施来为那个孩子和那个家庭提供支持?
You cannot do that without adequate staff.
如果没有足够的员工,你就无法做到这一点。
You can't do that in a classroom with 25 children and one teacher.
在有 25 个孩子和一名老师的教室里,你无法做到这一点。
Which raises the question, did the state need a test to fix Allenbrook School?
这就提出了一个问题,该州是否需要进行测试来修复艾伦布鲁克学校?
Principal Hammond says what actually improved things was extra money, which she used to hire more reading teachers and a full-time social worker and a school psychologist.
哈蒙德校长说,真正改善情况的是额外的钱,她用这些钱聘请了更多的阅读老师、一名全职社会工作者和一名学校心理学家。
Why bother with the test?
为什么要费力去测试呢?
Why not just supply that?
为什么不直接提供那个呢?
We know enough about how children learn and how children are successful to fix every school in America.
We know enough about how children learn and how children are successful to fix every school in America.
It comes down to the question, do we have the will to do it, and are we willing to put the resources in the places that need them.
归根结底就是我们有没有意愿去做,愿意把资源放到需要的地方吗?
I am not opposed to accountability.
我并不反对问责制。
I think accountability is a great thing.
我认为问责制是一件伟大的事情。
I think sometimes we get carried away with the way we measure accountability, because it's more complex than a score on a test.
我认为有时我们会被衡量责任的方式冲昏了头脑,因为它比测试分数更复杂。
If what comes out of the national debate, say, is that the only thing that we need to make our schools better is a tough national test for everybody?
比如说,如果全国辩论的结果是,我们唯一需要让我们的学校变得更好的是对每个人进行严格的全国考试吗?
It scares me.
这让我害怕。
It frustrates me that people think it's a simple fix, that we don't spend time talking about what does work.
让我感到沮丧的是,人们认为这是一个简单的解决方案,我们没有花时间讨论什么是有效的。
And one of the reasons we don't want to talk about what does work is because it takes a different level of commitment.
And one of the reasons we don't want to talk about what does work is because it takes a different level of commitment.
It takes a different level of resources.
它需要不同级别的资源。
And it takes a different kind of dialogue than a statement like, "I'm going to fix all of the schools in America."
And it takes a different kind of dialogue than a statement like, "I'm going to fix all of the schools in America."
She is maybe unintentionally proving our point, that if it had not been for the ABC Program and Allenbrook being embarrassed about being on the front page of The Charlotte Observer, the local community would have never put those additional resources in.
她也许无意中证明了我们的观点,即如果没有 ABC 节目和艾伦布鲁克因登上《夏洛特观察家报》头版而感到尴尬,当地社区永远不会投入这些额外资源。
This is Phil Kirk, Chairman of the North Carolina State Board of Education, and one of the two guys in charge of the ABC Program.
我是菲尔·柯克 (Phil Kirk),北卡罗来纳州教育委员会主席,也是 ABC 项目的两个负责人之一。
Allenbrook would not have ever gotten those additional resources if the ABC Program hadn't embarrassed the school board.
如果 ABC 项目没有让学校董事会难堪,艾伦布鲁克永远不会获得这些额外资源。
So she's made our point better than I could have.
所以她比我更清楚地表达了我们的观点。
Phil Kirk says that he agrees with Principal Hammond, that it's harder to teach kids from poor backgrounds.
Phil Kirk says that he agrees with Principal Hammond, that it's harder to teach kids from poor backgrounds.
You need more resources, more staff.
你需要更多的资源、更多的员工。
He says he's gotten those things for poor schools, and he's trying to get even more.
He says he's gotten those things for poor schools, and he's trying to get even more.
But the political reality is it's easier to get money from a state legislature if you can show them results.
But the political reality is it's easier to get money from a state legislature if you can show them results.
If we didn't have ABC, we wouldn't be getting the additional resources for the low-performing schools.
If we didn't have ABC, we wouldn't be getting the additional resources for the low-performing schools.
I believe that strongly.
我坚信这一点。
The state's investing a lot of money in the schools, and they want teachers to be more accountable.
The state's investing a lot of money in the schools, and they want teachers to be more accountable.
And we're not going to back off accountability.
我们不会放弃责任。
A lot of teachers complain that politicians and people from the state use the language of business when talking about education.
A lot of teachers complain that politicians and people from the state use the language of business when talking about education.
And many people are suspicious of the fact that Kirk is head of both the State Board of Education and the State Chamber of Commerce, in other words, the main education lobby and the main business lobby.
许多人对柯克同时担任州教育委员会和州商会的负责人这一事实表示怀疑,换句话说,他是主要的教育游说团体和主要的商业游说团体。
But it's entirely possible that the same business vocabulary that raises suspicions among teachers is the very thing that makes him successful at getting money out of the legislature.
但完全有可能的是,引起教师怀疑的商业词汇正是让他成功从立法机关获取资金的原因。
He puts the concerns of education in language the legislature understands.
He puts the concerns of education in language the legislature understands.
Still, he can be pretty abrasive.
尽管如此,他还是很粗鲁。
He describes teachers who don't like the tests this way.
He describes teachers who don't like the tests this way.
They want business as usual.
他们希望一切如常。
They can come up with every whiny excuse that they want to.
They can come up with every whiny excuse that they want to.
But if anybody thinks their whining and complaining is going to cause us to get weak-kneed as we end social promotion and put in an exit exam, they've got another thought coming, because it's not going to happen.
但如果有人认为他们的牢骚和抱怨会导致我们在结束社会晋升并进行毕业考试时变得软弱无力,那么他们就会有另一种想法,因为这不会发生。
This is a letter that I received.
这是我收到的一封信。
And it's a report of student performance on the second retest with the North Carolina Integrated Test.
这是学生在北卡罗来纳州综合测试第二次复试时的表现报告。
Cathy Rouse's youngest son, Carlton, was in third grade last year at Hallsboro-Artesia Elementary School.
凯茜·劳斯最小的儿子卡尔顿去年在霍尔斯伯勒-阿蒂西亚小学上三年级。
He got A's and B's.
他得了A和B。
But he didn't pass his EOGs at the end of the year.
但他在年底没有通过 EOG。
And then he failed his two allowed retests, which meant he had to repeat third grade.
And then he failed his two allowed retests, which meant he had to repeat third grade.
I told him that I went to the school, and what the teacher had told me, that he hadn't passed.
我告诉他我去了学校,老师告诉我的,他没有通过。
And I said, that means that they'll hold you back.
And I said, that means that they'll hold you back.
And he cried hot tears.
他流下了热泪。
And he asked me, "Mama, what's wrong with me?" And that right there, that was it.
他问我:“妈妈,我怎么了?”就在那里,就是这样。
It's more than a reading problem.
这不仅仅是一个阅读问题。
That, to me, is the beginning of the onslaught on our children's psyche.
That, to me, is the beginning of the onslaught on our children's psyche.
Cathy protested and put her case before the county board, and finally had Carlton promoted.
凯茜提出抗议,并将她的案子提交给县委员会,最终卡尔顿得到了晋升。
He's in fourth grade this year.
他今年读四年级。
Between 1991 and 1997, 66 studies were done on holding kids back.
1991 年至 1997 年间,进行了 66 项关于阻碍孩子的研究。
65 of them showed it to be either ineffectual or damaging in the long run.
其中 65 份报告表明,从长远来看,这种做法要么无效,要么有害。
And a lot of times, it's just not necessary.
很多时候,这是没有必要的。
Even in schools that start aggressive remediation in kindergarten, it's common not to see higher test scores until seventh or eighth grade.
即使在幼儿园就开始积极补救的学校,通常要到七年级或八年级才能看到更高的考试成绩。
Third grade is just too early to tell if things are working.
三年级现在判断事情是否有效还为时过早。
To Cathy Rouse, this is just common sense.
对于 Cathy Rouse 来说,这只是常识。
No test or anyone, especially anyone considering themselves an educator, can indicate what you're going to be when you're eight years old.
没有任何测试或任何人,尤其是任何自认为是教育家的人,可以表明你八岁时会成为什么样的人。
We do not begin to categorize our children at eight years old, and stamp them and have them believe at eight years old that there's something wrong with them.
我们不会在孩子八岁时就开始对他们进行分类,然后在他们八岁时就给他们盖上印记,让他们相信自己有问题。
And I told them, I don't know where I have to go.
我告诉他们,我不知道我该去哪里。
But I will not have that done to my child.
但我不会让我的孩子这么做。
I will not have him see himself as less than.
我不会让他认为自己低人一等。
Because seriously at eight years old, that's criminal.
因为说实话,八岁的时候,那是犯罪行为。
There are studies and all that on that, how much self-image and self-perception plays into learning.
有一些研究表明自我形象和自我认知对学习有多大影响。
Even among teachers who think the tests have made education better in North Carolina, like math teacher [?
即使是那些认为测试使北卡罗来纳州的教育变得更好的教师,例如数学老师[?
Mary Ann ?] Davis, this is a big worry.
玛丽·安?] 戴维斯,这是一个大担忧。
Not everyone will pass the tests.
不是每个人都会通过测试。
In the worst schools, over half the kids fail.
在最差的学校,超过一半的孩子不及格。
Even in the very best, it's 10%.
即使在最好的情况下,这个比例也只有 10%。
What happens to those kids?
那些孩子会怎样?
?] Perhaps we are just assuming a higher level of competency than is possible for all children.
?]也许我们只是假设比所有儿童都具有更高的能力水平。
?] The danger of that is that we're asking them to be something that they just can't be.
?]这样做的危险在于,我们要求他们成为他们无法成为的人。
Putting a child at a desk with a chair and saying, "We're going to test you over and over until you can pass this, until you get it right," it's just not always going to happen.
把一个孩子放在桌子和椅子上并说:“我们将一遍又一遍地测试你,直到你能通过这个,直到你做对,”这并不总是会发生。
That's what I'm saying.
这就是我所说的。
To expect that every child in the state of North Carolina is going to reach a level three or four so that they can be promoted and so they can graduate is an unrealistic expectation.
期望北卡罗来纳州的每个孩子都能达到三级或四级,以便他们能够升职并毕业,这是一个不切实际的期望。
And having that unrealistic expectation is not fair to the children.
这种不切实际的期望对孩子们来说是不公平的。
We're taking it out on the kids, when it's not always the kids' fault.
我们把怒气发泄在孩子身上,而这并不总是孩子的错。
And that's sad.
这很悲伤。
We shouldn't do that to children.
我们不应该这样对待孩子。
That's abusive.
这太侮辱人了。
This gets us to the crux of what Governor Bush might call "a difference in philosophy," the philosophy of teaching.
这让我们找到了布什州长所说的“哲学差异”的症结所在,即教学哲学。
How much should you demand results from students, on the one hand, versus how much you should nurture them on the other.
一方面,你应该对学生的成果有多少要求,另一方面,你应该对他们进行多少培养。
Phil Kirk and the state legislature think things went too far towards nurture, and that it's time to go back the other way.
菲尔·柯克和州立法机构认为,事情在培育方面走得太远了,是时候回到另一个方向了。
A lot of the liberal-thinking people are more worried about self-esteem than they are about whether children can read and write.
许多自由派思想的人更担心自尊,而不是孩子是否会读书写字。
We don't buy that line.
我们不买那条线。
At a school assembly in the Jefferson Elementary School gymnasium, I saw this philosophical divide for the gulf it truly is.
在杰斐逊小学体育馆举行的一次学校集会上,我看到了这种哲学鸿沟的真实情况。
Jefferson Elementary is set in a Winston-Salem suburb, filled with mature oaks and sprawling split-levels.
杰斐逊小学位于温斯顿塞勒姆郊区,到处都是成熟的橡树和广阔的错层建筑。
Inside the school's carpeted classrooms, kids sit around work tables, not at desks, and quietly read or write in journals.
在学校铺着地毯的教室里,孩子们坐在工作台周围,而不是课桌旁,安静地阅读或写日记。
Their art hangs from the walls, right above the height-appropriate bookshelves, next to the hamster cages and various aquaria.
他们的艺术品悬挂在墙上,就在高度合适的书架上方,旁边是仓鼠笼和各种水族箱。
Jefferson Elementary does very well on the EOGs, and today's assembly is because people from the state are here to congratulate them for it.
杰斐逊小学在 EOG 上表现非常好,今天的集会是因为州里的人们来这里祝贺他们。
Last year, for the first time, over 90% percent of Jefferson students scored above average on the EOGs, making it what the state calls "a school of excellence." Dr. Brad Sneeden, one of the state administrators, explains what this means.
去年,超过 90% 的杰斐逊学生首次在 EOG 中取得了高于平均水平的成绩,使其成为州政府所称的“卓越学校”。州行政人员之一布拉德·斯尼登博士解释了这意味着什么。
What has to be added to all that powerful leadership, that powerful teaching, that powerful nurturing, that powerful participation by others?
除了强大的领导力、强大的教导、强大的培育以及其他人的强大参与之外,还必须添加什么?
What does it take to really get a school to a school of excellence?
真正让一所学校成为卓越学校需要什么?
It takes you, doesn't it?
这需要你,不是吗?
It takes you to decide, "I'm here to learn." And you have done that.
你需要做出决定:“我来这里是为了学习。”你已经做到了。
You're leaders.
你们是领导者。
You are a leader.
你是一位领导者。
You're setting the stage.
你正在搭建舞台。
And we want many, many more to follow.
我们希望有更多、更多的人效仿。
Keep in mind, the group of leaders being addressed here is an auditorium full of schoolchildren with missing teeth and those gym shoes that light up.
请记住,这里正在演讲的领导者群体是一个礼堂,里面挤满了牙齿缺失、运动鞋发光的小学生。
They're sitting cross-legged on the floor.
他们盘腿坐在地板上。
And the shy ones are leaning against their teachers.
害羞的孩子则靠在老师身上。
Whatever message is reaching them from all this, it's probably not the one the speakers are intending.
无论这一切向他们传达了什么信息,这可能都不是演讲者想要传达的信息。
Witness this failed call-and-response attempt from Dr. Martin, the second presenter.
见证第二位演讲者马丁博士失败的呼叫和响应尝试。
Now you all heard Dr. Sneeden.
现在你们都听到斯尼登博士的话了。
You all heard Dr. Sneeden speak about responsibility for doing your work.
你们都听过斯尼登博士谈论工作责任。
Remember, he said the final ingredient, after we have capable administrators, excellent teachers.
请记住,他说最后的要素是我们拥有有能力的管理者和优秀的教师。
I believe he used the word powerful teachers.
我相信他用了“强大的老师”这个词。
The final ingredient is you guys, right?
最后的成分是你们,对吧?
And so it takes responsibility for you doing your work and learning.
因此,它对你的工作和学习负责。
Now, where's the third grade?
那么,三年级在哪里呢?
Third grade, why don't you guys stand up, because you're going to be taking the test this year for the first time.
三年级,你们为什么不站起来,因为今年你们将第一次参加考试。
You'll be a part.
你将成为其中的一部分。
So all of you are going to do what?
那么大家打算做什么呢?
Take responsibility.
承担责任。
Good.
好的。
All right.
好的。
You guys can have a seat.
你们可以坐下了。
Then Dr. Moser, Jefferson's principal, took the stage.
然后杰斐逊的校长莫泽博士上台。
He's an easy guy to love.
他是一个容易让人爱的人。
He's sweet and soft-spoken and, if anything, a little embarrassed about this assembly.
他很和蔼可亲,说话轻声细语,但如果说有什么不同的话,那就是他对这次集会感到有点尴尬。
He readily admits that a large part of the reason his students score so well on the EOGs is simply that they come from well-off families.
他欣然承认,他的学生在 EOG 上取得如此高的成绩,很大一部分原因就是他们来自富裕家庭。
And when he addresses the students, he doesn't mention responsibility or leadership.
当他向学生讲话时,他没有提到责任或领导力。
It's all nurturing.
都是养性啊
You all look so good.
你们看起来都很好。
And it's always nice to get to look straight at you every day.
每天都能直视你总是很高兴。
Boys and girls, you know that we're very proud of you.
男孩女孩们,你们知道我们为你们感到骄傲。
We're proud of the work you do every day.
我们为您每天所做的工作感到自豪。
Teachers, I couldn't be more proud of the relationship and the atmospheres in your classrooms that allow our children to come every day and have a good experience here at school.
老师们,我为你们教室里的关系和氛围感到无比自豪,它们让我们的孩子每天都能来到学校并获得良好的体验。
You do a great job taking care of our boys and girls.
你照顾我们的男孩和女孩做得很好。
And that's very important.
这非常重要。
And I think it's time for lunch.
我想该吃午饭了。
[CHEERING] Alex Blumberg What's obvious is that each philosophy comes with its own language, the language of leadership versus the language of lunch.
[欢呼] Alex Blumberg 显而易见的是,每种哲学都有自己的语言,领导力语言与午餐语言。
And each language emphasizes different things.
每种语言强调的东西不同。
In the teacher's lounge after the assembly, I'm swamped by teachers who are angry about the testing and how heavily it's being emphasized and how high the stakes are now.
集会结束后,在教师休息室里,我挤满了老师,他们对测试感到愤怒,对测试的重视程度以及现在的风险有多大感到愤怒。
If the two competing impulses in American education are accountability on the one hand versus nurturing on the other, the consensus of these teachers and all the teachers I talked to across the state, is that obviously, you need both.
如果美国教育中的两种相互竞争的动力一方面是责任,另一方面是培育,那么这些老师以及我在全州采访过的所有老师的共识是,显然,你需要两者。
And even if the pendulum has swung too far in the direction of nurturing in the past, what George Bush and Al Gore are both proposing is to push it far in the other direction.
即使钟摆过去在培育的方向上摆得太远,乔治·布什和阿尔·戈尔都建议将钟摆推向另一个方向。
What's needed is balance, the teachers said.
老师们说,我们需要的是平衡。
But whichever man wins, that's probably not what we're going to see.
但无论谁获胜,我们都可能不会看到这样的情况。
Alex Blumberg.
亚历克斯·布隆伯格。
Act Three: Nepotism: A Beginner's Guide Ira Glass Act Three.
第三幕:裙带关系:初学者指南 Ira Glass 第三幕。
So before we end our little election special, let's have a quick word about nepotism.
因此,在结束我们的小选举特别节目之前,让我们简单谈谈裙带关系。
In this country, where supposedly anybody can grow up to be president, we have one candidate who was raised in Washington, DC, son of a US senator, the other guy son of a president.
在这个据说任何人都可以长大成为总统的国家,我们有一位在华盛顿特区长大的候选人,他是一位美国参议员的儿子,另一位是总统的儿子。
And it's confusing to some of us, especially our contributor, Adam Davidson, who discovered recently that he and George Bush share six, that's right, six common ancestors, all of whom lived in 17th century England.
这让我们中的一些人感到困惑,尤其是我们的撰稿人亚当·戴维森,他最近发现他和乔治·布什有六个,没错,六个共同的祖先,他们都生活在 17 世纪的英国。
Adam is wondering, how did this happen?
亚当想知道这是怎么发生的?
Where did my side of the dynasty go wrong?
我的王朝到底哪里出了问题?
And what did his side do so right?
他的球队做对了什么?
Why did he get the presidential nomination handed to him, and I have to borrow money from my girlfriend to pay the rent?
为什么他拿到了总统提名,而我却要向女朋友借钱交房租?
I think it's probably true that George W.
我认为乔治·W.
Bush is not all that bright.
布什并不是那么聪明。
But he knows something, his whole family knows something.
但他知道一些事情,他的全家人都知道一些事情。
They know power.
他们了解权力。
And they know how to get more and more power every generation.
他们知道如何每一代人都获得越来越多的权力。
Well, Adam, you and George Bush are both descended from Experience Mitchell.
嗯,亚当,你和乔治·布什都是米切尔经历的后裔。
And from the sister of Experience Mitchell was descended the late Princess of Wales.
已故威尔士王妃米切尔的妹妹的后裔。
Presidential genealogist Gary Boyd Roberts.
总统家谱学家加里·博伊德·罗伯茨。
And so you, Prince William, and George Bush Senior and Junior are all about 9th or 10th cousins of each other through this one forebear.
因此,您,威廉王子,以及老布什和小布什,都是这位祖先的第九或第十代堂兄弟姐妹。
So this is a matter of one set of sixth to eighth cousins becoming social registerite American leaders, and the others remaining in small towns or small cities.
因此,这是一个第六到第八个堂兄弟姐妹中的一组成为美国社会领袖的问题,而其他人则留在小城镇或小城市。
And the ugly term for is quote, quote, "Swamp Yankee."
丑陋的术语是引用,引用,“沼泽洋基”。
This is Gary Boyd Roberts's favorite game.
这是加里·博伊德·罗伯茨最喜欢的游戏。
He loves linking people.
他喜欢与人建立联系。
For him, there are no distant cousins.
对他来说,没有远房表兄弟。
Mention any New England name, and he'll link them right up to queens and kings, to the Mayflower, to you, to me, to himself.
提到任何新英格兰的名字,他都会把它们与女王和国王、五月花号、你、我、他自己联系起来。
He's a great genealogist.
他是一位伟大的家谱学家。
And he told me we could find out exactly where the Bushes went right and where my family went wrong.
他告诉我,我们可以准确地找出布什家族的正确之处和我的家人的错误之处。
It all goes back to 1783, when my folks had a better piece of land than George's.
这一切都可以追溯到 1783 年,当时我的父母拥有一块比乔治的更好的土地。
That's where things started going south.
这就是事情开始向南发展的地方。
It seems that the Bushes were forced to move out of town that year to get better farmland, while my family stayed put.
看来布什一家在那一年被迫搬出城镇以获得更好的农田,而我的家人则留在原地。
Well, you see, these are people staying roughly-- I mean they may go five or six towns away-- but they stay in the Plymouth area from 1620 until 1886.
嗯,你看,这些人大致停留在——我的意思是他们可能会离开五六个城镇——但他们从 1620 年到 1886 年一直住在普利茅斯地区。
That is 250 years.
那是250年。
Staying in the same spot.
留在同一个地方。
Whereas the world was moving elsewhere, meaning economic development and serious cities and finance and education had long since moved out of Plymouth.
然而世界正在向其他地方转移,这意味着经济发展和严肃的城市以及金融和教育早已从普利茅斯搬走了。
Maybe that economic deprivation didn't force them to go anywhere.
也许经济匮乏并没有迫使他们去任何地方。
So they might have been just successful enough not to become incredibly successfully.
因此,他们可能只是取得了足够的成功,并没有取得令人难以置信的成功。
Just successful enough not to feel they wanted to move, exactly.
确切地说,他们足够成功,以至于不想搬家。
So let me recap this for you.
让我为您回顾一下这一点。
The Bushes were our poor cousins.
布什一家是我们可怜的表兄弟。
They weren't doing that well, so they decided to go somewhere else.
他们的表现并不好,所以他们决定去别的地方。
The move started a tradition.
此举开创了一项传统。
Each successive generation went to wherever the next big thing was, first to Vermont for a better farm, then to Ohio for steel, Wall Street for finance, and eventually, Texas for oil.
每一代人都会去下一个伟大的地方,首先是佛蒙特州为了更好的农场,然后到俄亥俄州为了钢铁,华尔街为了金融,最后到德克萨斯州为了石油。
And it only took a little bit of wealth to make everything a lot easier.
而且只需要一点点财富就能让一切变得容易很多。
You see, they use the prep schools.
你看,他们使用预科学校。
They use Yale.
他们使用耶鲁大学。
They use the whole summer connection to meet wives, which means a kind of use of the social register world.
他们利用整个夏天的联系来结识妻子,这意味着一种对社交名域世界的利用。
And they instill senses of duty and sportsmanship and fair play, but they also introduce this issue, call it sense of entitlement, which many people have labeled smugness in the candidates or whatever.
他们灌输责任感、体育精神和公平竞争意识,但他们也引入了这个问题,称之为权利感,许多人将其称为候选人的自鸣得意或其他什么。
And they've now been in the forefront of American politics for about three generations.
他们现在已经在美国政治的最前沿工作了大约三代人。
Each generation, starting in the 1800s, would make the family a little richer, a little more blue blood, and then would use their money and friends to create a network of political allies.
从 1800 年代开始,每一代人都会让家族变得更富有一点,拥有更多的贵族血统,然后利用他们的金钱和朋友来建立一个政治盟友网络。
And only once that network was in place do they run for office.
只有当这个网络到位后,他们才会竞选公职。
All the Bushes do this.
所有布什都这样做。
Prescott Bush got richer than his dad on Wall Street, then made friends, then went to the Senate.
普雷斯科特·布什在华尔街比他的父亲更富有,然后结交了朋友,然后进入了参议院。
George Herbert Walker Bush got even richer in Texas, then made even more friends, then became president.
乔治·赫伯特·沃克·布什在德克萨斯州变得更加富有,然后结识了更多的朋友,然后成为总统。
George W.
乔治·W.
hopes he'll do the exact same thing.
希望他也会做同样的事情。
All the while, my family stayed.
一直以来,我的家人都留下来。
And each generation, the family land got smaller.
每一代人,家庭的土地都在变小。
Their only friends were other farmers.
他们唯一的朋友是其他农民。
So when things finally got bad enough that they had to leave, about 100 years ago, the only place to go was a blue collar job in the city.
因此,大约 100 年前,当事情最终变得严重到他们不得不离开时,唯一的去处就是城里的蓝领工作。
By then, our family went from being the Bushes' superiors to being nothing but Swamp Yankee trash, while our poor Bush cousins stopped having to work so hard.
到那时,我们一家从布什家族的上级变成了沼泽洋基队的垃圾,而我们可怜的布什堂兄弟们也不再需要那么辛苦地工作了。
Now, what makes the Bushes interesting is that they have, like all dynastic families, a mythology, and a set of traditions and values that they pass on from one generation to the next.
现在,布什家族的有趣之处在于,他们像所有王朝家族一样,拥有一个神话,以及一套代代相传的传统和价值观。
This is Adam Bellow.
这是亚当·贝娄。
He's writing a book about nepotism.
他正在写一本关于裙带关系的书。
His father is Saul Bellow, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature.
他的父亲是诺贝尔文学奖获得者索尔·贝娄。
And in the Bush family, it's considered important to be, or to appear to be, a self-made man.
在布什家族中,白手起家或表现得白手起家被认为很重要。
Therefore, the younger Bush, George Senior, George Herbert Walker Bush, likes to tell the story that he, after graduating from Yale, got into his car with his wife and his infant son, George Junior, and drove off to Texas to get into the oil business.
因此,小布什,老乔治,乔治·赫伯特·沃克·布什,喜欢讲这样的故事:他从耶鲁大学毕业后,带着妻子和尚在襁褓中的儿子小乔治坐上自己的车,开车前往德克萨斯州,从事石油生意。
He doesn't mention that he used his father's connections to start an oil company.
他没有提到他利用父亲的关系创办了一家石油公司。
And the same thing is true, of course, of his son, George Junior, and Jeb Bush.
当然,同样的情况也适用于他的儿子小乔治和杰布·布什。
Not that Adam Bellow thinks there's anything wrong with that.
亚当·贝娄并不认为这有什么问题。
Nepotism is not good.
裙带关系是不好的。
It's not bad.
这还不错。
It's how the world works.
世界就是这样运转的。
Only in America does anyone get upset about this, anyway.
无论如何,只有在美国才有人对此感到不安。
Because ever since Benjamin Franklin filled his Poor Richard's Almanac with advice on how to be prosperous, there's been this idea that anyone can make it here with pluck and hard work.
因为自从本杰明·富兰克林在他的《穷理查德年鉴》中充满了如何致富的建议以来,人们就认为任何人只要有勇气和努力就可以在这里取得成功。
A self-made man.
一个白手起家的人。
Adam Bellow A self-made man.
亚当·贝娄 (Adam Bellow) 一个白手起家的人。
And interestingly, when he became Postmaster General of the colonies, in the 1730s, he gave all the jobs that he had under his control, in all the 13 colonies, to his relatives.
有趣的是,当他在 1730 年代成为殖民地邮政局长时,他将他控制下的所有 13 个殖民地的所有工作都交给了他的亲戚。
All the postmasters in all the colonies were nephews and cousins and relatives of Ben Franklin, and he moved them around at will.
所有殖民地的邮政局长都是本·富兰克林的侄子、表兄弟和亲戚,他随意调动他们。
And when one of them died, he would give the job to another relative.
当其中一个人去世后,他会把这份工作交给另一位亲戚。
And this is the great self-made man of American history.
这就是美国历史上白手起家的伟大人物。
It sounds like what you're saying is not only do the wealthy know how to use it better and have more raw material with which to work, but they also are the only part of our society that doesn't have a stigma against it, or at least is very happy to overcome that stigma.
听起来你所说的是,富人不仅知道如何更好地利用它,拥有更多的原材料来工作,而且他们也是我们社会中唯一没有反对它的耻辱的部分,或者至少很高兴克服这种耻辱。
And so I wonder if it would be good for us to open up America to nepotism, to say here today, everybody use it, use it all you can, and let's make this a major tool in getting everybody the best advantage they can.
所以我想知道,让美国向裙带关系开放,对我们来说是否有好处,今天在这里说,每个人都使用它,尽你所能地使用它,让我们把它作为一个主要工具,让每个人都获得最大的优势。
Where I come down on this is that it's never going away.
我对此的看法是它永远不会消失。
Studies of the labor market, that is, how people get jobs, indicate that most people continue to get jobs through their relatives.
对劳动力市场(即人们如何找到工作)的研究表明,大多数人继续通过亲戚找到工作。
It is just the way things are done.
这就是做事的方式。
Adam Bellow has been studying nepotism for years.
亚当·贝娄多年来一直在研究裙带关系。
And he hasn't found any level of society, anywhere in the world, that doesn't use it.
他还没有发现世界上任何一个社会阶层不使用它。
So how do you feel good about yourself when you're sitting there in that nice office that you didn't really earn?
那么,当你坐在那间并非你真正挣来的漂亮办公室里时,你对自己感觉如何?
Well for one thing, says Adam Bellow, you can have some humility about how you got the job.
亚当·贝洛说,一方面,你可以对自己是如何得到这份工作保持谦虚的态度。
And you can work your ass off.
你可以拼命工作。
You can work so hard that you earn the privilege that you lucked into.
你可以努力工作,从而赢得你幸运获得的特权。
Take the two George Bushes.
以两位乔治·布什为例。
Elizabeth Mitchell, who wrote W: the Revenge of the Bush Dynasty, told me that they both say they are self-made men.
《W:布什王朝的复仇》的作者伊丽莎白·米切尔告诉我,他们都说自己是白手起家的人。
And they're both obviously fooling themselves.
他们俩显然都在自欺欺人。
Their families gave them tremendous head starts.
他们的家庭给了他们巨大的先机。
When George Herbert Walker Bush, the father, the former president, moved to Odessa, Texas, and worked the lowest jobs at an oil company, painting rigs and handling supplies, the company he worked for was Dresser Industries.
当乔治·赫伯特·沃克·布什(George Herbert Walker Bush)的父亲、前总统搬到得克萨斯州敖德萨并在一家石油公司从事最底层的工作时,负责喷漆设备和处理物资,他工作的公司是德莱赛工业公司(Dresser Industries)。
It was owned by his father's best friend and Yale roommate, Neil Mallon.
它的所有者是他父亲最好的朋友、耶鲁大学室友尼尔·马伦 (Neil Mallon)。
In fact, Senator Prescott Bush gave the company to Mallon to run.
事实上,参议员普雷斯科特·布什将公司交给了马伦来管理。
George Senior worked hard, and he ultimately started his own business.
老乔治努力工作,最终开创了自己的事业。
He was actually kind of brilliant.
他实际上很聪明。
He was a pioneer in offshore drilling.
他是海上钻探的先驱。
When he became rich, richer than his dad, he earned it.
当他变得富有,比他父亲还富有时,他就赚到了。
Now take his son.
现在带上他的儿子。
When George W.
当乔治·W.
drove to Midland, Texas, right after graduating from Yale, he went straight to his father's best friend, his father's former campaign manager, Jimmy Allison, who set him up in a low-level oil industry job.
从耶鲁大学毕业后,他开车来到得克萨斯州米德兰,直接去找了他父亲最好的朋友、他父亲的前竞选经理吉米·艾利森,后者为他安排了一份石油行业的低级工作。
That went nowhere.
那毫无进展。
Then he ran for Congress, lost, and then started a huge oil company himself.
然后他竞选国会议员,失败了,然后自己创办了一家大型石油公司。
He didn't start at the bottom.
他并不是从底层开始的。
He just called his uncle, Jonathan Bush, who quickly raised the money to create Arbusto.
他刚刚打电话给他的叔叔乔纳森·布什,后者很快筹集了资金创建了阿布斯托。
The primary funder was Philip Uzielli, James Baker's best friend and college roommate, a man who said he knew he probably wouldn't make any money, but felt loyal to W's dad.
主要资助者是 Philip Uzielli,詹姆斯·贝克最好的朋友和大学室友,他说他知道自己可能赚不到任何钱,但对 W 的父亲感到忠诚。
Sure enough, Arbusto went belly-up.
果然,阿布斯托破产了。
George W.
乔治·W.
went on to get family friends to buy him two other oil companies that also went bankrupt.
随后,他又说服家人朋友购买了另外两家同样破产的石油公司。
He didn't have any money, no successes to be proud of.
他没有钱,也没有值得骄傲的成功。
And that is when his dad's pal, Bill DeWitt, invited him to become a co-owner and the CEO of the Texas Rangers.
就在那时,他父亲的朋友比尔·德威特邀请他成为德克萨斯游骑兵队的共同所有者和首席执行官。
George W.
乔治·W.
had to borrow money to buy in, because he was broke.
不得不借钱买房子,因为他破产了。
People say he did do a good job with the Rangers.
人们说他在流浪者队确实做得很好。
He got taxpayers to give $135 million for a new stadium.
他让纳税人出资 1.35 亿美元修建新体育场。
And he finally made himself and his dad's friends some money.
他终于为自己和他父亲的朋友们赚到了一些钱。
In tracing the Bush family tree, I found that every single generation since 1780 has found new ways to make money and gain power.
在追溯布什家谱时,我发现自 1780 年以来的每一代人都找到了赚钱和获得权力的新方法。
They were visionaries.
他们是有远见的人。
They figured out what the next big thing would be, and then they took risks and reaped the rewards.
他们弄清楚下一件大事是什么,然后他们承担风险并获得回报。
And my family didn't.
而我的家人却没有。
Bush's family has been working towards this Tuesday's election carefully and steadily for the last 220 years, while we Swamp Yankees have been watching it on TV.
过去 220 年来,布什家族一直在谨慎、稳定地为周二的选举而努力,而我们沼泽洋基队却一直在电视上观看。
And at some level, it doesn't seem unfair.
在某种程度上,这似乎并不公平。
The only thing that bothers me is that they're sending in George W.
唯一让我烦恼的是他们要派乔治·W·布什来。
to take the big prize.
去拿大奖。
He hasn't been a visionary or a risk-taker.
他不是一个有远见的人,也不是一个敢于冒险的人。
If he'd followed the family tradition, he'd have gone to Silicon Valley and started a dot com.
如果他遵循家族传统,他就会去硅谷并创办一家网络公司。
Instead, he entered the west Texas oil business when it was on its way out, and was bailed out repeatedly by family and friends.
相反,他在西得克萨斯石油公司濒临破产之际进入了该公司,并多次得到家人和朋友的救助。
And he could be our next president.
他可能成为我们的下一任总统。
Or we'll get the other guy, the son of the senator from Tennessee.
或者我们会找另一个人,田纳西州参议员的儿子。
Well, our program was produced today by Alex Blumberg and myself, with Blue Chevigny and Julie Snyder, contributing editors Paul Tough, Jack Hitt, Margy Rochlin, Alix Spiegel, Nancy Updike, and consigliere Sarah Vowell.
好吧,我们今天的节目由 Alex Blumberg 和我本人制作,还有 Blue Chevigny 和 Julie Snyder、特约编辑 Paul Tough、Jack Hitt、Margy Rochlin、Alix Spiegel、Nancy Updike 和顾问 Sarah Vowell。
Elizabeth Meister runs our website.
伊丽莎白·梅斯特 (Elizabeth Meister) 负责运营我们的网站。
Production help from Todd Bachmann, [?
托德·巴赫曼 (Todd Bachmann) 提供制作帮助,[?
Eric Haverston, ?] and the amazing Hillary Frank.
埃里克·哈弗斯顿,?]和令人惊叹的希拉里·弗兰克。
Musical help from Mr. John Connors, also Marika Partridge and Terry Hecker.
约翰·康纳斯 (John Connors) 先生、玛丽卡·帕特里奇 (Marika Partridge) 和特里·赫克 (Terry Hecker) 提供音乐帮助。
[ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS] This American Life is distributed by Public Radio International.
[致谢]《美国生活》由国际公共广播电台发行。
[FUNDING CREDITS] WBEZ management by Torey Malatia, who believes above all in sharing.
[资金来源] WBEZ 由 Torey Malatia 管理,他首先相信共享。
Here's your pen back.
这是你的笔回来了。
No, you can't have my pen back.
不,你不能拿回我的笔。
I'm Ira Glass.
我是艾拉·格拉斯。
Don't forget to vote.
别忘了投票。
God bless you, and God bless America.
上帝保佑你们,上帝保佑美国。
This American Life is produced in collaboration with WBEZ Chicago and delivered to stations by PRX The Public Radio Exchange.
《This American Life》与 WBEZ Chicago 合作制作,并由 PRX 公共广播电台传送到各电台。