2021年经济学人 为何人们对职场总是如此悲观(1)

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Bartleby - 'Twas ever thus

巴托比——从来都是这样

Why people are always so gloomy about the world of work

为何人们对职场总是如此悲观

The notion that the modern economy lacks “good jobs” is as uncontroversial as saying that Lionel Messi is good at football.

现代经济缺乏“好工作”的观点，就像莱昂内尔·梅西擅长足球的说法一样毫无争议。

Pundits¹ decry² the disappearance³ of the steady positions of yesteryear, where people did a fair day’s work for a fair day’s pay.

权威人士谴责过去那种稳定的工作岗位的消失，在那种岗位上，人们公平地做一天工作拿一天工资。

“Where have all the good jobs gone?”, wonders one recent book, while another talks about “the rise of polarised and precarious⁴ employment systems”.

最近的一本新书中问道：“好工作都哪儿去了?”，而另一本书则谈到了“两极分化和不稳定的就业体系的兴起”。

President Joe Biden takes after Donald Trump⁵ in promising⁶ to bring good jobs “back”.

美国总统乔·拜登接替了唐纳德·特朗普，承诺把好的就业机会“找回来”。

But what if the whole debate rests on shaky foundations?

但是，如果整个辩论都建立在不可靠的基础上呢?

It certainly lacks historical awareness⁷.

这当然是缺乏历史意识的。

Compare the current discussion with the one during America’s postwar boom.

将当前的讨论与美国战后繁荣时期的讨论进行比较。

Few people back then believed that they were living in a golden age of labour.

当时很少有人相信他们生活在劳动的黄金时代。

Commentators⁸ were instead full of angst, worrying about the “blue-collar blues”.

相反，评论家们却充满了焦虑，担心“蓝领忧郁”。

They said that unionised factory jobs—the very sort that today’s politicians yearn⁹ to restore—consisted of repetitive, dangerous work which involved all brawn¹⁰ and no brain.

他们说，有工会的工厂里的工作——正是今天的政客们渴望恢复的那种——是由重复的、危险的工作组成的，只需要体力，不需要脑力。

Others fretted¹¹ over pay.

其他人则为工资烦恼。

Workers “are getting increasingly frustrated¹² by a system they think is not giving them a satisfactory return for their labours”, proclaimed a high-ranking official at America’s Department of Labour in 1970.

1970年，美国劳工部的一位高级官员宣称，工人们“对一个他们认为不能给他们的劳动带来满意回报的体系越来越感到沮丧”。

In fact the notion that the world of work is in decay is as old as capitalism¹³ itself.

事实上，“职场正在衰落”的观念与资本主义本身一样古老。

Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi, a Swiss writer who inspired Karl Marx, said that factories would turn people into drones.

启发了卡尔·马克思的瑞士作家让·查尔斯·莱昂纳德·德·西斯蒙迪曾说过，工厂会让人变成懒汉。

John Stuart Mill worried in the mid-19th century that the rise of capitalism would provoke social decay.

约翰·斯图尔特·密尔在19世纪中叶曾担心，资本主义的崛起会引发社会衰退。

People would focus on nothing other than earning money, he feared, turning them into dullards (just look at Americans, he warned).

他担心，人们除了赚钱以外什么都不关心，这会让他们变成傻瓜（看看美国人就知道了，他警告说）。

The rise of big business and white-collar work in America provoked a new set of anxieties.

美国大企业和白领工作的兴起引发了一系列新的焦虑。

It was soon predicted that the self-made men of yore would be replaced by effete¹⁴ company drones who did what they were told.

很快就有人预言，昔日靠自己奋斗成功的人将被那些对衰弱的公司唯命是从的懒汉所取代。

This is not the only reason to question today’s pessimistic narrative¹⁵.

这并不是质疑当今悲观论调的唯一理由。

By any reasonable standard work is better today than it was.

以任何合理的标准衡量，今天的工作都比过去要好。

Pay is higher, working hours are shorter and industrial accidents rarer.

工资更高，工作时间更短，工伤事故也更少。

1 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

2 decry   

v.危难，谴责

参考例句：

• Some people will decry this,insisting that President Obama should have tried harder to gain bipartisan support.有些人会对此表示谴责，坚持说奥巴马总统原本应该更加努力获得两党的支持。
• Now you decry him as another Hitler because he is a threat to the controlling interest of oil in the middle east.现在你却因为他对中东石油控制权益构成了威胁而谴责他为另一个希特勒。

3 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

4 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

7 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

8 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 yearn   

v.想念；怀念；渴望

参考例句：

• We yearn to surrender our entire being.我们渴望着放纵我们整个的生命。
• Many people living in big cities yearn for an idyllic country life.现在的很多都市人向往那种田园化的生活。

10 brawn   

n.体力

参考例句：

• In this job you need both brains and brawn.做这份工作既劳神又费力。
• They relied on brains rather than brawn.他们靠的是脑力，而不是体力。

11 fretted   

焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的

参考例句：

• The wind whistled through the twigs and fretted the occasional, dirty-looking crocuses. 寒风穿过枯枝，有时把发脏的藏红花吹刮跑了。 来自英汉文学
• The lady's fame for hitting the mark fretted him. 这位太太看问题深刻的名声在折磨着他。

12 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 capitalism   

n.资本主义

参考例句：

• The essence of his argument is that capitalism cannot succeed.他的论点的核心是资本主义不能成功。
• Capitalism began to develop in Russia in the 19th century.十九世纪资本主义在俄国开始发展。

14 effete   

adj.无生产力的，虚弱的

参考例句：

• People said the aristocracy was effete.人们说贵族阶级已是日薄西山了。
• During the ages,Greek civilization declined and became effete.在中世纪期间，希腊文明开始衰落直至衰败。

15 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。