异类之不一样的成功启示录 第87期:一个行业的发展与年代息息相关

 If you divide the Termites² into two groups, with those born between 1903 and 1911 on one side, and those born between 1912 and 1917 on the other,将“特曼人”分为两组，把1903年至1911年出生的“特曼人”归为一组，然后再把1912年至1917年出生的“特曼人”归为另一组，it turns out that the Termite¹ failures are far more likely to have been born in the earlier group.

或许就可以明显看出，那些来自出生年份较早的群体中的“特曼人”更可能失败。

The explanation has to do with two of the great cataclysmic events of the twentieth century:

这种解释与20世纪的两大灾难事件有关：

the Great Depression and World War II. If you were born after 1912, say in 1915, you got out of college after the worst of the Depression was over, and you were drafted at a young enough age that going away to war for three or four years was as much an opportunity as it was a disruption (provided you weren't killed in combat, of course.)经济大萧条和第二次世界大战。如果你是1912年以后出生，比如1915年，你大学毕业时，经济大萧条的最坏时期已经结束，此后，你被选去服三四年的兵役，这就成了你人生中的一个断点（当然，假设你没有在战争中牺牲的话）。

The Termites born before 1911, though, graduated from college at the height of the Depression,1911年以前出生的、成为“特曼人”的孩子，在经济大萧条最严重的时期刚好大学毕业，when job opportunities were scarce, and they were already in their late thirties when the Second World War hit,那时工作机会很少，并且在第二次世界大战爆发时他们已经快40岁了，meaning that when they were drafted, they had to disrupt career and families and adult lives that were already well under way.

也就是说，当他们被选去服兵役时，他们不得不中断本已步入正轨的事业及家庭生活。

To have been born before 1911 is to have been demographically unlucky.

从人口统计学角度来讲，1911年以前出生的人几乎都是不幸运的。

The most devastating³ event of the twentieth century hits you exactly at the wrong time.

20世纪最大的灾难在不该来的时候恰恰砸中了你。

The same demographic logic⁴ applies to Jewish lawyers in New York like Maurice Janklow.

同样，这种人口统计学的逻辑也可以适用到纽约的犹太裔律师身上，比如说莫里斯·詹克洛。

The doors were closed to them at the big downtown law firms. So they were overwhelmingly solo practitioners⁶, handling wills and divorces and contracts and minor⁷ disputes, and in the Depression, the work of the solo practitioner⁵ all but disappeared.

市中心律师事务所的门是不会向他们敞开的，所以他们蜂拥着独自创业，处理关于遗产、离婚、合同及其它一些小纠纷的案子。在经济大萧条时期，几乎所有的独自创业者都从人们视野中消失了。

"Nearly half of the members of the metropolitan⁸ bar earned less than the minimum subsistence level for American families,"“大城市中，几乎一半的律师从业人员都挣不到能够维持当时美国家庭生活标准的钱，”

Jerold Auerbach writes of the Depression years in New York.

杰罗德·奥尔巴赫（JeroldAuerbach）在讲到纽约大萧条时期，这样写道，"One year later, fifteen hundred lawyers were prepared to take the pauper's oath to qualify for work relief.

“一年以后，1500名律师准备像乞丐一样向社会要求给予相应的救助。

Jewish lawyers (approximately half of the metropolitan bar) discovered that犹太律师们（大约是市内律师从业人数的一半）觉得their practice had become a 'dignified⁹ road to starvation.'"像他们这样继续开业，俨然是‘有尊严地饿死’”。

Regardless of the number of years they spent in practice, their income was "strikingly less" than that of their Christian¹⁰ colleagues.

暂不说他们花了多少年苦心经营，和那些基督同行们相比，他们的收入“少得可怜”。

 

1 termite   

n.白蚁

参考例句：

• The termite control was also probed into further in this text.本文还进一步探讨了白蚁的防治方法。
• Termite often destroys wood.白蚁经常破坏树木。

2 termites   

n.白蚁( termite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Termites are principally tropical in distribution. 白蚁主要分布在热带地区。 来自辞典例句
• This spray will exterminate the termites. 这种喷剂能消灭白蚁。 来自辞典例句

3 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

4 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

5 practitioner   

n.实践者，从事者；(医生或律师等)开业者

参考例句：

• He is an unqualified practitioner of law.他是个无资格的律师。
• She was a medical practitioner before she entered politics.从政前她是个开业医生。

6 practitioners   

n.习艺者，实习者( practitioner的名词复数 )；从业者（尤指医师）

参考例句：

• one of the greatest practitioners of science fiction 最了不起的科幻小说家之一
• The technique is experimental, but the list of its practitioners is growing. 这种技术是试验性的，但是采用它的人正在增加。 来自辞典例句

7 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

8 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

9 dignified   

a.可敬的，高贵的

参考例句：

• Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中，他始终沉默以保持尊严。
• He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。

10 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。