时代周刊:“千禧一代”即将成为时代的主宰(5)

The young people who served in Iraq and Afghanistan often have a more comprehensive view of American military engagement than their peers.

相比同龄人，在伊拉克和阿富汗服过役的年轻一代对美国军事活动的看法往往更为全面。

Crenshaw is a vocal¹ supporter of American military abroad and bucked² his party to oppose Trump’s proposed withdrawal³ of troops from Syria.

克伦肖公开支持美国在海外的军事活动，坚决反对其所在党派对特朗普撤兵叙利亚的看法。

He often says, “We go there, so they don’t come here.”

他经常说，“我们去了他们那儿，他们才不会来我们这儿。”

But while the baby boomers endured the Vietnam draft,

尽管整个婴儿潮一代都经历过越战强制征兵一事，

only a small fraction of millennials have served in the military, and many see the wars as folly⁴ at best, immoral⁵ at worst.

千禧一代却只有一小部分人有过军队服役经历，且许多人都认为，那些战争，往好了说是愚蠢的，往坏了说甚至是不道德的。

To many of them, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were expensive fiascoes that shattered their sense of American exceptionalism.

他们中有不少人都认为，伊拉克和阿富汗的战争都是代价高昂的惨败之战，这些战争粉碎了他们的美国例外主义意识。

In 2017, just half of millennials said they thought the U.S. should take an active part in world affairs, compared with almost three-quarters of boomers.

2017年，只有一半的千禧一代表示自己认为美国应该积极参与国际事务，而婴儿潮一代这一比例高达3/4左右。

Only about a third of millennials said they thought the U.S. was the greatest country in the world.

认为美国是世界上最伟大的国家的千禧一代也只有1/3左右。

Meanwhile, young people weren’t doing great at home either.

与其同时，年轻一代在国内的表现也是平平无奇。

Thanks to a series of public-policy moves, including slashing⁶ federal funding for state colleges and institutionalizing debt as a means to pay for it,

大幅削减州立大学的联邦资金，将债务制度化作为支付债务的一种手段，在这一系列公共政策的推动下，

millennials ended up owing nearly four times as much in student loans as their parents did.

千禧一代欠下的学生贷款已经高出其父辈近3倍之多。

The student debt burden in the U.S. now stands at $1.6 trillion, most of which is owed by younger generations.

美国的学生贷款现已高达1.6万亿美元，其中大部分都是年轻一代欠下的。

Then came the financial crisis in 2008, which has had cascading⁷ effects for millennials and shaped many of their young political leaders.

接着，2008年金融危机又来了，这场危机对千禧一代造成了一系列的连锁效应，这一代中的很多政治领袖都是从这一事件中成长起来的。

Ocasio-Cortez’s father died just as the economy was melting down,

奥卡西奥-科特兹的父亲便是在那场经济崩溃中离世的，

and as her mother fought in court to recoup her husband’s assets,

奥卡西奥-科特兹的弟弟盖布里尔注意到，

Ocasio-Cortez’s younger brother Gabriel noticed bank officials prowling around taking photos of their home.

当她母亲在法庭上为追回丈夫的财产据理力争时，银行的人已经在他们家附近四处游荡，给他们家拍照了。

He had read that having a dog on the property can slow down the foreclosure process,

由于在那之前他曾看到过养条狗看家护院能够减缓法院没收其房产的进程，

since the bank would have to compensate⁸ its managers with hazard pay.

因为这样一来，银行便需给那些经理支付危险工作津贴。

He started leaving the family’s Great Dane, Domino, on the porch.

于是，他开始把家里养的大丹犬多米诺留在门廊上。

Between student debt and the financial crisis, millennials are lagging behind boomers and Gen X-ers.

夹在学生贷款和金融危机之间的千禧一代终于被婴儿潮一代和X世代甩在了后面。

One study found that nearly a decade after the recession,

一项研究发现，经济衰退近十年后，

millennial-led households still had 34% less wealth than older generations had at their age,

千禧一代家庭的财富仍比老一辈人的同期财富少34%，

and the recession prevented millennials from substantially increasing their net worth.

经济衰退也阻挡了千禧一代大幅增加净资产的道路。

Youth unemployment spiked⁹ to 20% after the recession,

经济衰退结束后，青年一代的失业率飙升到了20%，

and when millennials did find jobs, they were often in the gig economy, which likely meant irregular hours and no benefits.

就算他们最后找到了工作，大部分人投身的也是零工经济，这就可能意味着工作时间不规律且没有福利。

Between 1989 and 2011, the percentage of graduates covered by employer-sponsored health insurance was halved¹⁰.

1989年至2011年，用人单位承担了医疗保险的毕业生的比例减少了一半。

Millennials, as a group, are more likely to have debt,

整体而言，相比之前的几代人，千禧一代负债的可能性更大，

less likely to have union benefits, and less likely to own a house or a car compared with the generations before them.

享受到工会福利的可能性更小，有车或有房的可能性也更小。

Those who have gotten married have done so later and had fewer children.

结婚年龄更大了，孩子更少了。

No wonder, then, that many young people today feel that 20th century systems aren’t working.

如此一来，也即难怪当下的许多年轻人会认为20世纪的体制已经不再奏效了。

They want to build 21st century solutions for 21st century problems.

所以他们希望能为21世纪的问题寻求21世纪的解决方案。

1 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

2 bucked   

adj.快v.（马等）猛然弓背跃起( buck的过去式和过去分词 )；抵制；猛然震荡；马等尥起后蹄跳跃

参考例句：

• When he tried to ride the horse, it bucked wildly. 当他试图骑上这匹马时，它突然狂暴地跃了起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The plane bucked a strong head wind. 飞机顶着强烈的逆风飞行。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

4 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

5 immoral   

adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的

参考例句：

• She was questioned about his immoral conduct toward her.她被询问过有关他对她的不道德行为的情况。
• It is my belief that nuclear weapons are immoral.我相信使核武器是不邪恶的。

6 slashing   

adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Slashing is the first process in which liquid treatment is involved. 浆纱是液处理的第一过程。 来自辞典例句
• He stopped slashing his horse. 他住了手，不去鞭打他的马了。 来自辞典例句

7 cascading   

流注( cascade的现在分词 )； 大量落下； 大量垂悬； 梯流

参考例句：

• First of all, cascading menus are to be avoided at all costs. 首先，无论如何都要避免使用级联菜单。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Her sounds began cascading gently. 他的声音开始缓缓地低落下来。

8 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

9 spiked   

adj.有穗的；成锥形的；有尖顶的

参考例句：

• The editor spiked the story. 编辑删去了这篇报道。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They wondered whether their drinks had been spiked. 他们有些疑惑自己的饮料里是否被偷偷搀了烈性酒。 来自辞典例句

10 halved   

v.把…分成两半( halve的过去式和过去分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• The shares have halved in value . 股价已经跌了一半。
• Overall operating profits halved to $24 million. 总的营业利润减少了一半，降至2，400 万元。 来自《简明英汉词典》