时代周刊:王室的意义 谁需要王室(2)

THIS REBRANDING EFFORT has allowed royalists

重塑品牌形象这一努力让保皇党有了以“王室对英国经济的价值”为由，

to justify¹ the cost to the public purse on the grounds of “value to the economy.”

宣称王室从公众钱包支出这笔钱是合理消费的借口。

But the story of the royal family’s value to the British economy

而王室对英国经济的价值本身不过是

was simply dreamed up by smart PR professionals to save an institution in crisis.

精明的公关专家们为了拯救王室于危机而编造出来的故事。

In reality, according to our research,

事实上，根据我们的研究，

British taxpayers² lose about $468 million a year just to have a head of state—

英国的纳税人每年在国家元首身上损失的钱就高达4.68亿美元左右——

a lot more than the official figure released by Buckingham Palace, which was $58 million last year.

远远高出了白金汉宫去年公布的5800万美元这一官方数字。

In fact, our monarch³ is one of the most expensive nonpolitical heads of state in Europe,

事实上，我们的王室也是欧洲最昂贵的非政治性质的国家元首之一，

at least 12 times as expensive as Ireland’s elected equivalent.

起码是爱尔兰选举产生的王室开支的12倍。

Even if it were true that the royals represent an investment by the British people,

即便王室代表着英国人民的投资，

why should the royals spend taxpayers’ money with no checks and balances?

王室为什么要毫无节制地把纳税人的钱呢？

That, after all, is why the monarchy⁴ costs so much—

毕竟这恰好就是王室开支过大的原因——

not because it’s expensive to run the office of head of state

不是因为经营王室这一国家领袖机构烧钱，

but because the royals spend tens of millions of pounds on their palatial⁵ apartments, security and luxury vacations.

而是无数的钱财都被王室花到了购置富丽堂皇的公寓、安保和奢华的度假上。

Brits increasingly resent this—

英国民众对此已经越来越反感——

a recent poll we commissioned shows that 57% believe the royal family should pay not only for the wedding but also for police costs.

最近我们委托进行的一项民意调查显示，57%的人都认为王室不仅应该自己为婚礼买单，还应该自己为调动警察买单。

Any claim about how the royals boost British tourism, trade and retail⁶ sales needs to be set against the high costs.

任何有关王室带动了英国的旅游业、贸易和零售额的说法都应该考虑考虑王室本身的高额开支。

Pundits⁷ claim events like Harry⁸ and Meghan’s wedding will trigger huge spending sprees—

评论专家们称，类似哈里王子和梅根婚礼这样的事件会引发巨大的消费热潮——

but in 2012 Pew Research showed most Americans said they did not follow news of the British royals,

但2012年皮尤研究中心的调查显示，大多数美国人都表示他们没有关注英国王室的新闻，

while a November YouGov poll showed more than half of Brits were indifferent to the news of Harry and Meghan’s engagement.

而舆观去年11月的一项民意调查显示，超半数的英国人都对哈里王子和梅根订婚的消息不感兴趣。

Any imagined or real spike⁹ from royal weddings is so brief and infrequent as to make no difference to British prosperity.

王室婚礼带来的提振，无论是想象的也好真实的也好，都太过短暂、太过偶然，对英国的繁荣起不了什么作用。

The discussion about the value of the monarchy misses the most important point of all: the damage it does to our democracy.

关于王室价值的讨论忽略了最重要的一点：王室破坏了我们的民主。

The Crown is the centerpiece of Britain’s rotten constitution,

王室是腐朽的英国宪法的核心所在，

giving us a head of state who lacks independence or purpose,

王室给我们的是一个缺乏独立性和目的性，

who can do only what she’s told by our Prime Minister.

只会按照首相的吩咐行事的这样一个国家首脑机构。

The costs of the monarchy are considerable, the gains fleeting¹⁰, mythical¹¹ or the stuff of PR fantasies.

王室的开支是巨大的，收益却显得转瞬即逝，虚无缥缈或像是公关的幻想。

While Britain may not be a nation of republicans yet, it’s certainly no longer a nation of royalists.

尽管英国或许还不是一个共和党国家，但它也绝对已经不再是一个保皇党国家了。

1 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

2 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

3 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。

4 monarchy   

n.君主，最高统治者；君主政体，君主国

参考例句：

• The monarchy in England plays an important role in British culture.英格兰的君主政体在英国文化中起重要作用。
• The power of the monarchy in Britain today is more symbolical than real.今日英国君主的权力多为象徵性的，无甚实际意义。

5 palatial   

adj.宫殿般的，宏伟的

参考例句：

• Palatial office buildings are being constructed in the city.那个城市正在兴建一些宫殿式办公大楼。
• He bought a palatial house.他买了套富丽堂皇的大房子。

6 retail   

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。

7 pundits   

n.某一学科的权威，专家( pundit的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The pundits disagree on the best way of dealing with the problem. 如何妥善处理这一问题，专家众说纷纭。 来自辞典例句
• That did not stop Chinese pundits from making a fuss over it. 这并没有阻止中国的博学之士对此大惊小怪。 来自互联网

8 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

9 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

10 fleeting   

adj.短暂的，飞逝的

参考例句：

• The girls caught only a fleeting glimpse of the driver.女孩们只匆匆瞥了一眼司机。
• Knowing the life fleeting,she set herself to enjoy if as best as she could.她知道这种日子转瞬即逝，于是让自已尽情地享受。

11 mythical   

adj.神话的；虚构的；想像的

参考例句：

• Undeniably,he is a man of mythical status.不可否认，他是一个神话般的人物。
• Their wealth is merely mythical.他们的财富完全是虚构的。