纽约时报 卡罗琳·卡洛威 成也流行艺术 败也流行艺术(4)（在线收听）

Many people would love to do the same.

许多人都乐意如此。

For millions, “creative” has talismanic allure.

对无数人来说，“创意人士”这一标签都具有护身符般的吸引力。

It holds the possibility of a more meaningful and exciting existence than what was available to previous generations.

有着让当下的“创意人士”比前几代同行活得更有意义，更激动人心的可能。

It points to a new kind of middle-class dream,

它指向的是一种新型的中产阶级梦想，

one free from wearying manual labor or the white-collar drudgery of cubicles and spreadsheets.

一种摆脱令人厌倦的体力劳动，或白领那种在狭小的工位上整天和表格打交道的单调工作的梦想。

It promises a career, a life, that makes room for self-expression, imagination, even beauty.

它许下的是能为自我表达，想象力，甚至是美丽腾出空间的事业和生活。

But “creative” is often a red flag, a signpost marking an insidious trade-off.

不过，“创意人士”这个词通常也是种危险信号，一种提示有权衡得失问题潜伏的路标。

A “creative” job listing may lure you to pursue your destiny, freed from old social strictures — but also freed from traditional benefits and security.

一份招募“创意人士”的招聘启事可能会诱使你去追求自己的命运，摆脱了传统社会束缚——同时也失去了传统的好处和安全——的命运。

For the privilege of doing “creative” work,

为了获得从事“创造性”工作这一荣耀，

we are asked to accept conditions of financial anxiety and precariousness that in previous times were unthinkable to the gainfully employed.

我们被要求接受经济上焦虑和不稳定等问题，而从前，这些问题在有收入的就业者眼里是无法想象的。

“Creative” puts lipstick — or, more precisely, a pair of Warby Parker eyeglasses and a sleeve tattoo — on a pig.

现在的“创意人士”做的都是往猪嘴上抹口红，或者更准确地说，往猪身上戴沃比·帕克的眼镜，给猪纹花臂这种事。

It dresses up a ruptured social compact, the raw deal of the gig economy, as bohemian freedom.

将破裂的社会契约——零工经济的不公平待遇——装扮成波西米亚式的自由。

The struggle to make ends meet while making good work has long defined the existence of those who choose to live as artists.

长期以来，那些选择以艺术家的身份生活的人，他们的生活一直都被打上了明明创作出了好的作品，却还是要为生计发愁的烙印。

Today, countless freelancing creatives are tasting that desperation, often while doing “creative” grunt work for big corporations.

如今，不计其数的自由职业“创意人士”也尝到了这种绝望的滋味，他们大多又是在为大公司做繁重的“出创意”工作时尝到的。

The repercussions ripple through the economy and through personal lives, and, yes, sometimes they pop up on the internet.

其影响波及到了整个经济，也波及到了“创意人士”们的个人生活，没错，有时，这种影响还会出现在互联网上。

Caroline Calloway has been cast as a villainous “scammer,” but the truth may be more complicated.

卡洛琳·卡洛韦被塑造成了一个邪恶的“骗子”，但真相可能并没有这么简单。

Like so many young people — like, for that matter, so many middle-aged people and senior citizens —

和许许多多的年轻人一样——而且，就这件事而言，还和许多中年人和老年人也一样——

she is navigating a system that promises rewards it cannot deliver to people with entrepreneurial spirits and artistic inclinations.

她带领了一个对具有创业精神和艺术倾向的人承诺了它根本兑现不了的回报的体系。

The message we are sending to creatives is clear:

我们想向创意人士们传达的信息很明确：

It may not do much for your bank account, but your work will enrich you emotionally.

你的工作或许对你的银行账户并没有多大帮助，但它能丰富你的情感。

Besides, shouldn’t you be grateful to earn any money at all for doing something you love — something creative?

除此之外，你难道不应该为做自己喜欢的事情——有创意的事情——的时候还能赚到钱，无论多少，而心存感激吗?