盖茨:机器人也应缴所得税

 　　Robots have at least one unfair advantage over human workers: they do not pay income tax.

　　与人类劳动者相比，机器人至少有一个不公平的优势：不用缴所得税。

　　Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and the world’s richest man, thinks that should change. It is an idea that until now has been associated more with European socialists² than tech industry leaders, and puts him in the unusual position of explicitly³ arguing for taxes to slow the adoption⁴ of new technology.

　　微软(Microsoft)联合创始人、世界首富比尔?盖茨(Bill Gates)认为，这一点应该改变。到目前为止，支持这种想法的更多是欧洲的社会主义者，而不是科技行业的领袖。这也体现了盖茨不同寻常的立场：明确支持通过征税来延缓新技术的应用。

　　Mr Gates made his fortune from the spread of PCs, which helped to erase⁵ whole categories of workers, from typists to travel agents. But, speaking in an interview with Quartz⁶, he argued that it may be time to deliberately⁷ slow the advance of the next job-killing technologies.

　　盖茨从个人电脑(PC)的普及中发家，电脑普及是导致从打字员到旅行代理商等许多行业消失的因素之一。但他在接受Quartz采访时提出，当前或许应该有意地延缓下一批夺走工作岗位的技术的进步。

　　“It is really bad if people overall have more fear about what innovation is going to do than they have enthusiasm,” he said. “That means they won’t shape it for the positive things it can do. And, you know, taxation⁸ is certainly a better way to handle it than just banning some elements of it.”

　　“如果人们对创新所带来的结果的恐惧总体上超过了他们对创新的热情，这真的很糟糕，”他说，“这意味着他们不会从积极的方面去塑造创新。而且，你知道，跟禁止创新的某些方面相比，征税当然是解决问题的更好办法。”

　　The idea of using taxes to support people put out of work by automation has been catching⁹ on in the tech world, but Mr Gates went further, pushing for a direct levy¹⁰ on robots that would match what human workers pay.

　　利用税收来支持因自动化普及而失业的人们的想法，在科技界变得越来越流行，但盖茨更进一步，呼吁对机器人直接征收与人类工人水平相当的税金。

　　“Right now, the human worker who does, say, $50,000 worth of work in a factory, that income is taxed and you get income tax, social security tax, all those things,” he said. “If a robot comes in to do the same thing, you’d think that we’d tax the robot at a similar level.”

　　“现在，人类工人在工厂里工作，他创造了比如说5万美元的价值，这笔收入会被征税，要缴所得税、社会保障税等等，”他说，“如果一个机器人来做同样的工作，你会认为我们应该对机器人征收同样水平的税金。”

　　The extra money should be used to retrain people the robots have replaced, Mr Gates said, with “communities where this has a particularly big impact” first in line for support.

　　盖茨表示，针对机器人征收的税款应该用于对被机器人取代的人进行再培训，“受到特别大影响的群体”应该首先获得支持。

　　Some politicans have also joined the fray¹¹. Beno?t Hamon, France’s Socialist¹ candidate in this year’s presidential elections, has called for a tax on robots to fund a minimum income for all.

　　一些政治家也加入了这场争论。今年法国总统选举的社会党候选人伯努瓦?阿蒙(Beno?t Hamon)呼吁对机器人征税，以便为所有人提供最低收入。

　　Some tech leaders have hinted that the tech companies’ customers — rather than the industry itself — should foot a higher tax bill. In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s current chief executive, said: “Whenever somebody cuts cost, that means, hopefully, a surplus is getting created. You can always tax surplus.”

　　一些科技企业领袖暗示，科技公司的客户——而不是行业本身——应该支付更高的税金。最近，微软首席执行官萨蒂亚?纳德拉(Satya Nadella)在接受《金融时报》采访时表示：“每当有人削减成本，就意味着有希望创造盈余。你总可以对盈余征税。”

　　Mr Gates echoed that suggestion, though he also struck a more radical¹² stance with his levy on the machines’ producers. “I don’t think the robot companies are going to be outraged¹³ that there might be a tax,” he said. “It’s OK.”

　　盖茨呼应了这一说法，而且提出了对机器人制造商征税的更激进立场。“我认为，机器人公司不会对可能被征税感到愤怒，”他说，“这没什么。”

1 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

2 socialists   

社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The socialists saw themselves as true heirs of the Enlightenment. 社会主义者认为自己是启蒙运动的真正继承者。
• The Socialists junked dogma when they came to office in 1982. 社会党人1982年上台执政后，就把其政治信条弃之不顾。

3 explicitly   

ad.明确地，显然地

参考例句：

• The plan does not explicitly endorse the private ownership of land. 该计划没有明确地支持土地私有制。
• SARA amended section 113 to provide explicitly for a right to contribution. 《最高基金修正与再授权法案》修正了第123条，清楚地规定了分配权。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

5 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

6 quartz   

n.石英

参考例句：

• There is a great deal quartz in those mountains.那些山里蕴藏着大量石英。
• The quartz watch keeps good time.石英表走时准。

7 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

8 taxation   

n.征税，税收，税金

参考例句：

• He made a number of simplifications in the taxation system.他在税制上作了一些简化。
• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。

9 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

10 levy   

n.征收税或其他款项，征收额

参考例句：

• They levy a tax on him.他们向他征税。
• A direct food levy was imposed by the local government.地方政府征收了食品税。

11 fray   

v.争吵；打斗；磨损，磨破；n.吵架；打斗

参考例句：

• Why should you get involved in their fray?你为什么要介入他们的争吵呢？
• Tempers began to fray in the hot weather.大热天脾气烦燥。

12 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

13 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。