Status Anxiety 我爱身份地位

The past 200 years in the West have seen staggering increases in wealth and economic opportunity, and yet, there have been no comparable increases in our level of happiness. Despite being so much richer than a few generations ago, we are often more anxious about our own importance and achievements than our grandparents were. I call this modern state of restlessness and dissatisfaction status anxiety, I want to explain where, I think, much of it has come from, how it affects our lives? And what I believe we could do about it.

If we are surprised that being richer hasn't made us happy and secure, it’s because we don't understand the psychology¹ of satisfaction. When do we feel we have enough? What enables us to feel prosperous and content? Chiefly, a comparison with other people. But it’s not good enough to compare ourselves to people who are very remote from us in time and place. It’s not gonna help anyone to feel very rich to be told that they have infinitely² more money than one of their medieval ancestors who lived in a mud-wood cottage. We only feel content when we compare ourselves to people who are like us, our friends and colleagues, our neighbors. In short, the sense of being a success is all relative.

No one spends much time resenting the queen or Bill Gates. But we’re liable to get extremely resentful if someone we think is basically just like us moves into a bigger house or gets a slightly better job, we most envy people who we take to be our equals.

The modern world is based around the idea that we are all essentially³ equal, not necessarily financially equal, but equal in terms of rights and opportunities. It's a lovely idea which brings with it one nasty side effect. In a world in which you could believe that those at the top belonged to an inherently superior caste. You didn't need to feel humiliated⁴ by anything you didn't have. You might detest⁵ those who had more than you. But you didn't need to feel ashamed or anxious. But in a world in which everyone is supposed to be equal, but where there is still a lot of inequality around, it’s hard not to take the achievements of others as implicit⁶ reproach for everything you don't have and haven't done.

A best place to go to understand all this is the country where the idea of equality first took hold some two hundred years ago---America. (Young, ready and hungry)

In 1776, America had a revolution which changed the world. (help us to discover the secrets to our dream) The new democracy abolished the rigid⁷ class-based hierarchies⁸ of Europe. (To save yourself everyday is possible) From the first, this basic sense of equality energized⁹ America. But it also, quite unintentionally increased Americans' anxieties about what their true place was.

You may help the others adopt the subjects of all-time war--prehaps blessed and important!

Their anxieties were destined¹⁰ to become our anxieties.


phrases to remember
liable: 倾向于，容易，负责，可能

对......负责:
be liable for damages
I am not liable for other people's debts.

倾向于......:
be liable to catch cold
He is liable to come today.

1 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

2 infinitely   

adv.无限地，无穷地

参考例句：

• There is an infinitely bright future ahead of us.我们有无限光明的前途。
• The universe is infinitely large.宇宙是无限大的。

3 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

4 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

5 detest   

vt.痛恨，憎恶

参考例句：

• I detest people who tell lies.我恨说谎的人。
• The workers detest his overbearing manner.工人们很讨厌他那盛气凌人的态度。

6 implicit   

a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的

参考例句：

• A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
• Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。

7 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

8 hierarchies   

等级制度( hierarchy的名词复数 )； 统治集团； 领导层； 层次体系

参考例句：

• That's a trip of two hierarchies. 那是两个领导层之间的互访。
• Hierarchies of authority, spans of control, long-range plans, and budgets. 等级森严的权力机构，控制范围，长期计划，预算。 来自英汉文学 - 廊桥遗梦

9 energized   

v.给予…精力，能量( energize的过去式和过去分词 )；使通电

参考例句：

• We are energized by love if we put our energy into loving. 如果我们付出能量去表现爱意，爱就会使我们充满活力。 来自辞典例句
• I am completely energized and feeling terrific. 我充满了活力，感觉非常好。 来自辞典例句

10 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。