2022年经济学人 不堪安全焦虑，旧金山选民罢免地区检察官(2)

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Rising crime has led some to avoid walking or driving around whole neighbourhoods.

不断上升的犯罪率导致一些人尽量不在街上步行或者开车逛。

The question of what to do about drugs is especially controversial.

如何处理毒品的问题尤其有争议。

The city has opened a supervised drug-injection centre in United Nations Plaza¹, just down the road from City Hall, contravening² federal and state law.

该市在联合国广场开设了一家受监督的注射毒品中心，就在市政厅旁边的那条路上，这违反了联邦和州法律。

This has done nothing to change the open use and sale of drugs on the street, which Mr Boudin chose not to prioritise for prosecution³.

这并没有改变街头公开使用和销售毒品的行为，布丁选择不优先起诉这一行为。

When your correspondent walked around the Tenderloin district for an hour from 11am, she counted more than 20 drug-dealers, recognisable in a “uniform” of black clothes and hats, with grey or black backpacks.

当记者从上午11点开始在田德隆区区走了一个小时后，她认出了20多个毒贩，他们穿着黑色衣服和帽子，背着灰色或黑色的背包。

Being noticed did not seem to worry them, and there’s a reason.

他们似乎并不担心被注意到，这是有原因的。

In 2021 Mr Boudin’s office managed only three convictions for drug-dealing, despite a record 711 overdose deaths the previous year.

2021年，布丁的办公室只对三起毒品交易定罪，尽管前一年有创纪录的711起过量致死案件。

His predecessor⁴ achieved 90 convictions for drug-dealing in 2018.

他的前任在2018年因毒品交易定罪90次。

Supporters felt Mr Boudin was a scapegoat⁵ for the city’s problems of homelessness, addiction⁶ and crime, which have been stirred by covid-19 but preceded it.

支持者认为，布丁是该市无家可归、吸毒和犯罪等问题的替罪羊，这些问题是由新冠肺炎引发的，但在此之前就存在。

Recalls should be reserved for booting someone out of office after they commit a specific crime, they said.

他们说，罢免只适用于在某人犯下特定罪行后将其赶出办公室的情况。

Yet Mr Boudin’s was the fifth recall election in California this year, including a successful vote against three school-board members who had refused to reopen schools while debating name changes for them, says Josh Spivak, an expert on recalls.

然而，罢免专家乔希·斯皮瓦克表示，布丁的罢免选举是加州今年的第五次罢免选举，包括成功投票反对三名学校董事会成员，这三名成员在为学校更名进行辩论时拒绝重新开学。

Some 60% of voters chose to give Mr Boudin the boot.

大约60%的选民选择让布丁下台。

Asians, who account for more than a third of San Francisco’s population, were unhappy with his handling of several assaults.

亚裔占旧金山人口的三分之一以上，他们对他处理几起袭击事件的方式感到不满。

Mr Boudin painted the recall as a partisan⁷ drive, but San Franciscans of all political persuasions⁸ supported it.

布丁将这次罢免描述为一场党派运动，但旧金山所有政治派别的人都表示支持。

They will continue to argue over whether the city suffered due to his specific policies or plain incompetence⁹.

他们将继续争论，究竟是他的具体政策造成了该市的损失，还是因为他的无能。

(The answer is probably both.)

(答案可能是两者都有。)

And the story may not be over.

而且故事可能还没有结束。

Mr Boudin may try to run again for his old job in November.

布丁可能会在11月再次竞选他的旧职位。

The recall election has wider lessons.

罢免选举有更广泛的教训。

First, it highlights the conflict within the Democratic Party that hampers¹⁰ functional¹¹ government.

首先，它突显了阻碍职能政府的民主党内部矛盾。

In San Francisco Democrats¹² have unilateral control, but progressives are butting¹³ heads with moderates, trying to cast them as closet Republicans.

在旧金山，民主党人拥有单方面的控制权，但进步派与温和派针锋相对，试图将他们塑造成秘密的共和党人。

Recent redistricting conversations became “borderline violent”, says one observer.

一位观察人士说，最近重新划分选区的对话变得“近乎暴力”。

Sheriffs had to be called in.

警长们不得不被叫来。

This reflects a degradation¹⁴ of discourse¹⁵ that is occurring not just between parties but within them.

这反映出，不仅在政党之间，而且在政党内部，话语都在退化。

Second, it shows that voters are cooling on progressive policies, after seeing real-world consequences.

其次，它表明，选民在看到现实世界的后果后，对进步政策的态度开始冷淡。

There is pushback in other cities with progressive district attorneys, including Philadelphia and Los Angeles.

在其他城市，包括费城和洛杉矶，进步的地方检察官也在抵制。

Calls to “defund the police” have shifted to “refunding”.

呼吁“撤资警察”的呼声已经转变为“退款”。

“The problem is, many progressive policies don’t appear to be very effective,” says Jonathan Weber, editor-in-chief of the San Francisco Standard, a news site.

新闻网站《旧金山标准报》的主编乔纳森·韦伯说：“问题是，许多进步的政策似乎并不是十分有效。”

“I don’t think this is a blip,” Mr Weber predicts.

韦伯预测：“我不认为这是昙花一现。”

San Franciscans, known for their embrace of progressivism, may be turning towards moderation.

以拥护进步派而闻名的旧金山人可能正在转向温和派。

1 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

2 contravening   

v.取消，违反( contravene的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The company was found guilty of contravening safety regulations. 那家公司被判违反了安全条例。
• You are contravening the regulations. 你违反了规定。 来自辞典例句

3 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

4 predecessor   

n.前辈，前任

参考例句：

• It will share the fate of its predecessor.它将遭受与前者同样的命运。
• The new ambassador is more mature than his predecessor.新大使比他的前任更成熟一些。

5 scapegoat   

n.替罪的羔羊，替人顶罪者；v.使…成为替罪羊

参考例句：

• He has been made a scapegoat for the company's failures.他成了公司倒闭的替罪羊。
• They ask me to join the party so that I'll be their scapegoat when trouble comes.他们想叫我入伙，出了乱子，好让我替他们垫背。

6 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

7 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

8 persuasions   

n.劝说，说服（力）( persuasion的名词复数 )；信仰

参考例句：

• To obtain more advertisting it needed readers of all political persuasions. 为获得更多的广告，它需要迎合各种政治见解的读者。 来自辞典例句
• She lingered, and resisted my persuasions to departure a tiresome while. 她踌躇不去，我好说歹说地劝她走，她就是不听。 来自辞典例句

9 incompetence   

n.不胜任，不称职

参考例句：

• He was dismissed for incompetence. 他因不称职而被解雇。
• She felt she had been made a scapegoat for her boss's incompetence. 她觉得，本是老板无能，但她却成了替罪羊。

10 hampers   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Prejudice sometimes hampers a person from doing the right thing. 有时候，偏见会妨碍人正确行事。
• This behavior is the opposite of modeless feedback, and it hampers flow. 这个行为有悖于非模态的反馈，它阻碍了流。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

11 functional   

adj.为实用而设计的，具备功能的，起作用的

参考例句：

• The telephone was out of order,but is functional now.电话刚才坏了，但现在可以用了。
• The furniture is not fancy,just functional.这些家具不是摆着好看的，只是为了实用。

12 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 butting   

用头撞人（犯规动作）

参考例句：

• When they were talking Mary kept butting in. 当他们在谈话时，玛丽老是插嘴。
• A couple of goats are butting each other. 两只山羊在用角互相顶撞。

14 degradation   

n.降级；低落；退化；陵削；降解；衰变

参考例句：

• There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
• Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。

15 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。