时代周刊:“千禧一代”即将成为时代的主宰(1)

Youthquake

青年震荡

American politics is still defined by the values and priorities of baby boomers.

美国政治当下奉行的依然是婴儿潮一代的价值观和偏好。

But not for long.

但不会太久了。

By Charlotte Alter

文/夏洛特·奥尔特

Love'em or hate'em, this much is true: one day soon, millennials will rule America.

喜欢也罢，不喜欢也罢，这一点都是真的：不久之后，千禧一代就要成为美国的主宰者了。

This is neither wish nor warning but fact, rooted in the physics of time and the biology of human cells.

这既不是愿望，也不是警告，而是事实，是根植于时间的物理的物理性质和人类细胞的生物性质的事实。

Millennials—born between 1981 and 1996—are already the largest living generation and the largest age group in the workforce².

出生于1981~1996年之间的千禧一代已经成为当今社会最大的年龄群，也是劳动力市场最大的人口群体。

They outnumber Gen X (born 1965–1980) and will soon outnumber baby boomers (born 1946–1964) among American voters.

在美国的选民中，他们的人数已经超过了X世代(出生于1965~1980年)，不久还会超过婴儿潮一代(出生于1946-1964年)。

Their startups have revolutionized the economy, their tastes have shifted the culture,

他们成立的初创企业给美国经济带来了变革，他们的品味改变了美国文化，

and their enormous appetite for social media has transformed human interaction.

他们对社交媒体的巨大需求改变了人与人的交流方式。

American politics is the next arena³ ripe for disruption.

美国政坛便是下一个等待颠覆的竞技场。

When it occurs, it may feel like a revolution,

届时，或许会给人一种政坛变革之感，

in part because this generation has different political views than those in power now.

部分原因在于这一代有着与现下的当权者不一样的政治观点。

Millennials are more racially diverse, more tuned⁴ in to the power of networks and systems

千禧一代种族上更加多元，更加适应网络和制度的力量，

and more socially progressive than either Gen X or baby boomers on nearly every available metric.

且在现有的几乎所有指标上，他们都比X世代或婴儿潮一代更具社会进步性。

They tend to favor government-run health care, student debt relief, marijuana legalization and criminal-justice reform,

他们倾向于支持政府运营的医保项目，学生债务减免、大麻合法化和刑事司法改革，

and they demand urgent government action on climate change.

要求政府在气候变化问题上立即行动起来。

The millennial¹ wave is coming: the only questions are when and how fast it will arrive.

千禧一代的浪潮即将到来：唯一的问题是何时带来，来得是缓是急？

So what’s America going to look like when this generation rises to power?

这一代上台后美国会变成什么样？

I spent the past three years trying to answer that question by crisscrossing the country,

过去三年里，我走遍了整个国家，

interviewing the young leaders who are among the first in their cohort to be elected to public office.

采访了一批率先通过选举获得了官职的青年领导人，试图从中找出这一问题的答案。

I sat down with Democratic stars like Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 30,

我采访了年仅30的众议员亚历山德里亚·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯，

and former South Bend, Ind., mayor Pete Buttigieg, 38,

38的前印第安纳州南本德市市长皮特·巴蒂吉格等民主党明星人物，

and Republican up-and-comers like Representatives Elise Stefanik and Dan Crenshaw, both 35.

采访了众议员埃莉斯·斯特凡尼克和丹·克伦肖等共和党后起之秀，二人均为35岁。

I interviewed rookie Democratic Congresswomen like Lauren Underwood, 33, and Haley Stevens, 36,

我采访了33岁的劳伦·安德伍德，36岁的海莉·史蒂文斯这样初出茅庐的民主党国会女议员，

and a smattering of local leaders from California to New York,

也采访了西至加州，东至纽约的几个地方领导人，

including Stockton, Calif., Mayor Michael Tubbs, 29, and Ithaca, N.Y., Mayor Svante Myrick, 32.

包括29岁的加利福尼亚州斯托克顿市长迈克尔·塔布斯，32岁的纽约州伊萨卡市长斯万特·麦里克。

The result is my book, The Ones We’ve Been Waiting For.

我将采访结果汇入了我的新书《我们等待的人》。

If I set out to learn what millennials believe and why,

如果说我一开始的初衷是了解千禧一代相信的是什么及其背后的原因，

I ended up with something more compelling: a glimpse of our country’s future.

那我最后收获的则是更引人注目的一个问题：管窥我们国家的未来。

Millennials, after all, are starting to gain political power at a time when America looks more like a gerontocracy than ever.

毕竟，千禧一代开始掌权时，美国似乎比以往任何时候都更像一个老年政府治理下的国家。

Donald Trump⁵ is the oldest first-term President in U.S. history, elected largely by older, white voters.

特朗普是美国历史上当选年龄最大的一任总统，支持他的大多都是上了年纪的白人选民。

He is surrounded in Washington by senior citizens like Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross, 82,

在华盛顿，他身边都是82岁的商务部长威尔伯·罗斯这样的老年人，

who can manage only a small window every day when he can “focus and pay attention and not fall asleep,” according to one Politico report.

新闻网站“政治”的一份报告显示，后者每天只能“集中注意力，不打瞌睡”地工作很短一段时间。

1 millennial   

一千年的，千福年的

参考例句：

• Both Russia and America looked to the future to fulfill their millennial expectations. 俄国和美国都把实现他们黄金时代的希望寄托于未来。
• The millennial generation is celebrating the global commons every day, apparently unmindful of Hardin's warning. 千禧一代显然对哈丁的警告不以为然，每天都在颂扬全球“公地”。

2 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

3 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

4 tuned   

adj.调谐的，已调谐的v.调音( tune的过去式和过去分词 )；调整；（给收音机、电视等）调谐；使协调

参考例句：

• The resort is tuned in to the tastes of young and old alike. 这个度假胜地适合各种口味，老少皆宜。
• The instruments should be tuned up before each performance. 每次演出开始前都应将乐器调好音。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。