They're beset by these terrible economic trends, built around industries like coal and steel that make it harder for folks to get ahead. 它们的经济趋势很不好，当年依靠煤炭和钢铁起家，这些产业如今已经没落。

That's certainly one problem. There's also the problem of brain drain, where the really talented people, 这肯定是原因之一。还有一个问题就是人才流失，很多有才华的人，

because they can't find high-skilled work at home, end up moving elsewhere,  因为在家乡找不到有技术含量的工作，只能远走他乡，

so they don't build a business or non-profit where they're from, they end up going elsewhere and taking their talents with them. 他们无法在老家创业或造福社会，就只能带着自己的才华远赴他乡。

There are failing schools in a lot of these communities, 这些地区有很多衰败的学校，

failing to give kids the educational leg up that really makes it possible for kids to have opportunities later in life. 无法给予孩子们更好的教育，因此无法帮助他们在未来占得先机。

These things are all important. I don't mean to discount these structural barriers. 这些事都很重要。我并不是说要忽视（之前提到的）结构壁垒。

But when I look back at my life and my community, something else was going on, something else mattered. 但是当我回首人生，回想我们社区的时候，发现还有一些其他的事情也与之有关。

It's difficult to quantify, but it was no less real. 这些事情很难量化，但是却真实存在。

So for starters, there was a very real sense of hopelessness in the community that I grew up in. 首先，在我成长的社区，你能真切感受到那种无望的氛围。

There was a sense that kids had that their choices didn't matter. 孩子们觉得自己的选择毫无意义。

No matter what happened, no matter how hard they worked, no matter how hard they tried to get ahead, nothing good would happen. 无论他们如何努力，如何努力向前，结果都是一样。

So that's a tough feeling to grow up around. That's a tough mindset to penetrate, and it leads sometimes to very conspiratorial places. 这种消极的情绪四处蔓延。命定论甚嚣尘上，甚至有点阴谋论的感觉。

So let's just take one political issue that's pretty hot, affirmative action. 以非常热门的一个政治话题为例，平权法案。

So depending on your politics, you might think that affirmative action is either a wise or an unwise way 根据政治观点（不同），你也许会认为平权法案在

to promote diversity in the workplace or the classroom. 推动工作场所或者学校的多样性上是明智的或者不明智的。

But if you grow up in an area like this, you see affirmative action as a tool to hold people like you back. 但如果你成长于这样的社区，你可能会把平权法案看作是一种限制。

That's especially true if you're a member of the white working class. 尤其当你是白人工人阶级的一员时。

You see it as something that isn't just about good or bad policy. 在你眼里，它不再简单的是一个好政策或者坏政策。

You see it as something that's actively conspiring, where people with political and financial power are working against you. 你会把它看成是那些握有政治或财政大权的人来压迫你的工具。

And there are a lot of ways that you see that conspiracy against you -- perceived, real, but it's there, and it warps expectations. 你可以从不同角度来看待这种针对你的阴谋论--可察觉的、真实的，但它确实存在，而且会扭曲你的期望。