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VOA慢速英语2014 亿万富豪的人数增多 影响力不断增强

时间:2014-11-19 22:37:02

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AS IT IS 2014-11-17 Billionaires Grow in Numbers, Influence 亿万富豪的人数增多 影响力不断增强

They are the same as you and me in many ways. But in one important way they are very different. They have more power, more influence and more money -- in fact, a lot more money. Billions more.

The world’s super-rich are the subject of a new book called “Billionaires: Reflections on the Upper Crust.” In American English, the term “upper crust” describes people who belong to the highest social class. Members of this class are not always wealthy, but often are.

Darrell West wrote the new book. Mr. West is the director of governance studies at the Brookings Institution, a policy group based in Washington, DC.

Mr. West says the wealthiest one percent of Americans own about one-third of the country’s “assets” -- another word for money and property. The wealthiest one percent of individuals worldwide own 40 percent of the world’s assets.

“What I wanted to do was just kind of do a serious analysis of billionaires in terms of who they are, how they got their money, how they’re using their money, and also just what they’re like personally because I think many people are just curious about these individuals."

Who exactly are the world’s billionaires? Mr. West examined the Forbes billionaires list. He found that 90 percent of those listed are male, “65 percent are white and 60 percent are 60 years of age or older.” Twenty-six percent are of Asian ancestry1 “and only two percent are under the age of 40.” Mark Zuckerberg, for example, is the founder2 of the social networking service Facebook. He is 30 years old. Forbes estimates he is worth over $33 billion.

Darrell West found that the United States is home to nearly one-third of all known billionaires, and eight of the 10 wealthiest people in the world. A group that reports on billionaires says about 65 percent of them created their wealth. In other words, it was not given to them by their parents.

Years ago, great wealth was made in areas like steel manufacturing, finance, automobiles3, mining, energy and communications. But today, the richest Americans are more likely to have ties to computer software companies, business investments and retail4 businesses.

Microsoft’s founder and former chairman Bill Gates is at the top of the list. He is reported to be worth more than $82 billion. Another famous billionaire is investor5 Warren Buffet6. Forbes says he is worth about $70 billion.

American billionaires spend tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in support of political campaigns. Some own media companies and use them to influence issues, candidates and office-holders. They often use their power in secret to gain special treatment for their interests. Mr. West says he is worried about this “combination of wealth and secrecy7.” He believes it affects how governments operate and may limit social and economic opportunity.

But billionaires are not always successful in their efforts to influence politics. Many wealthy Americans supported former Massachusetts Governor Mitt8 Romney in the US presidential election two years ago. But Mr. Romney lost to President Barack Obama.   

Some billionaires have been supporting immigration reform and gun control. But they have not been successful in persuading Congress to change the laws governing those issues.

Some billionaires have attempted to change the country’s education system. Marshall Tuck was a candidate for the top education position in California. He received campaign donations from a number of billionaires who support reforms in education. The group included Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York City. But earlier this month, Mr. Tuck lost in his effort to become California’s superintendent9 of education.

?Writer William Lind believes that American billionaires are not as powerful as one might think. Mr. Lind is a fellow at the New America Foundation.

He recently wrote about billionaires for Politico magazine. He says American billionaires have successfully influenced only a few social policies. He says they have failed in their attempts to reform America’s immigration policy. He says billionaires have not succeeded at forcing changes to government programs set up to help older Americans and pay for their health care. And they have not been able to change the education system in the way they want.

“I think the idea that the rich get their policy preferences without any significant opposition10, that’s simply not the case. There are issues where wealthy people do get their way, and those tend to be issues where the public is inattentive or doesn’t have strong views.”

William Lind says politicians in democratic countries often like to please people who give them money for their campaigns -- especially rich donors11. But he says an officeholder may act differently if he or she believes that supporting a position will lead to his or her removal from office.

“Voters still count. They make a difference. The voters actually do have their own views. In a way this narrative12 that the rich own all the politicians and brainwash all of the people to vote against their interests it shows not only a lack of acknowledgement of the extent to which voters still have independent power, but it, it shows a kind of a contempt for the intelligence of voters -- it assumes they’re just easily brainwashed by advertisements bought by rich people.”   

Darrell West says billionaires have a lot of power. But he agrees with William Lind that people in democracies also have power, helped by the news media. He says the more billionaires there are in a country, the less power each one has.

“I think the United States is well-positioned to have a politically-competitive system, just because we have 500 billionaires, they often don’t agree on the issues -- and so there’s a classic ‘divide and conquer’ phenomenon. When you go to other countries, where they have a very small number of billionaires and they’re often in cahoots with the government leaders, I would be much more worried about that situation than the American situation.”

Darrell West says governments need to put in place policies that help citizens know more about the activities of rich people in their country.

Words in This Story 

super-rich – adj. very or extremely wealthy; having a lot of money and possessions

social class – n. a group of people in a society who are at the same economic and social level

influence – n. the power to change or affect someone or something; the power to cause changes without directly forcing them to happen

assets – n. something that is owned by a person or company -- usually plural


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1 ancestry BNvzf     
n.祖先,家世
参考例句:
  • Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
  • He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。
2 Founder wigxF     
n.创始者,缔造者
参考例句:
  • He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
  • According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说,罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。
3 automobiles 760a1b7b6ea4a07c12e5f64cc766962b     
n.汽车( automobile的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • When automobiles become popular,the use of the horse and buggy passed away. 汽车普及后,就不再使用马和马车了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Automobiles speed in an endless stream along the boulevard. 宽阔的林荫道上,汽车川流不息。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
4 retail VWoxC     
v./n.零售;adv.以零售价格
参考例句:
  • In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
  • These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。
5 investor aq4zNm     
n.投资者,投资人
参考例句:
  • My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
  • The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。
6 buffet 8sXzg     
n.自助餐;饮食柜台;餐台
参考例句:
  • Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐?
  • Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗?
7 secrecy NZbxH     
n.秘密,保密,隐蔽
参考例句:
  • All the researchers on the project are sworn to secrecy.该项目的所有研究人员都按要求起誓保守秘密。
  • Complete secrecy surrounded the meeting.会议在绝对机密的环境中进行。
8 mitt Znszwo     
n.棒球手套,拳击手套,无指手套;vt.铐住,握手
参考例句:
  • I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日,我送给他一只棒球手套。
  • Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。
9 superintendent vsTwV     
n.监督人,主管,总监;(英国)警务长
参考例句:
  • He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
  • He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。
10 opposition eIUxU     
n.反对,敌对
参考例句:
  • The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
  • The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。
11 donors 89b49c2bd44d6d6906d17dca7315044b     
n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 );献血者;捐血者;器官捐献者
参考例句:
  • Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去,请给我们发电子邮件。
  • About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
12 narrative CFmxS     
n.叙述,故事;adj.叙事的,故事体的
参考例句:
  • He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
  • Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

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