TED演讲:被遗忘的美国工人阶级(5)

 So I didn't have access to that information because the social networks around me didn't have access to that information. 我之前不了解这方面的信息，是因为我周围的圈子都不知道这些信息。

I learned from my community how to shoot a gun, how to shoot it well. 我从社区学到的是如何开枪，如何打得准。

I learned how to make a damn good biscuit recipe.  我学到的是如何做好吃的饼干。

The trick, by the way, is frozen butter, not warm butter. But I didn't learn how to get ahead. 顺便提一句，诀窍就是用冰冻的黄油，不要用加热的。但我不知道如何出人头地。

I didn't learn how to make the good decisions about education and opportunity that you need to make 不知道在关键时刻如何抉择，比如选择大学，面临机遇，怎样才能做出对的选择，

to actually have a chance in this 21st century knowledge economy. 从而在21世纪这个知识经济时代赢得一席之地。

Economists¹ call the value that we gain from our informal networks, from our friends and colleagues and family "social capital." 经济学家将我们从人脉圈子中获取的价值，比如朋友、同事和家人，叫做“社会资本”。

The social capital that I had wasn't built for 21st century America, and it showed. 而我过去的社会资本根本不适用于21世纪的美国，事实也证明了这一点。

There's something else that's really important that's going on that our community doesn't like to talk about, but it's very real. 还有一些非常重要的事情我们的社区不愿意谈起，但它们又真实存在。

Working-class kids are much more likely to face what's called adverse² childhood experiences, which is just a fancy word for childhood trauma³: 工人阶级的孩子更多的要面临所谓的“不利的童年经历”，其实这就是对童年创伤一种比较委婉的说法：

getting hit or yelled at, put down by a parent repeatedly, watching someone hit or beat your parent, watching someone do drugs or abuse alcohol. 被家长不停打骂和惩罚，目睹他人殴打自己的父母，目睹别人吸毒或者酗酒。

These are all instances of childhood trauma, and they're pretty commonplace in my family. 这都是童年创伤的例子，在我家这些现象很常见。

Importantly, they're not just commonplace in my family right now. They're also multigenerational. 重要的是，这种情况不是现在才有。而是延续了好几代人。

So my grandparents, the very first time that they had kids, 我的外公外婆，在他们刚有了孩子的时候，

they expected that they were going to raise them in a way that was uniquely good. 他们原本也期望用好的方法将孩子养育成人。

They were middle class, they were able to earn a good wage in a steel mill. 他们曾属于中产阶级，在炼钢厂有不错的薪水。

But what ended up happening is that they exposed their kids to a lot of the childhood trauma that had gone back many generations. 但结果却是，他们给孩子们带来了许多童年创伤，跟早几代人的处境没什么区别。

My mom was 12 when she saw my grandma set my grandfather on fire. 我母亲12岁那年，看见我外婆在我外公身上点火。

His crime was that he came home drunk after she told him, "If you come home drunk, I'm gonna kill you." 就因为他喝得醉醺醺地回家，而外婆事先警告过他，“如果你喝醉酒回家，我就要杀了你。”

She tried to do it. Think about the way that that affects a child's mind. 结果，她真的试着这么做了。想想这样的事会对孩子的心灵产生怎样的影响。

1 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 adverse   

adj.不利的；有害的；敌对的，不友好的

参考例句：

• He is adverse to going abroad.他反对出国。
• The improper use of medicine could lead to severe adverse reactions.用药不当会产生严重的不良反应。

3 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。