PBS高端访谈:零工经济并不适用于各处

Amna Nawaz: Well, the gig economy has opened up a lot of new opportunities for people to work temporary positions for platforms like Uber, Lyft, and TaskRabbit. In tonight's Brief But Spectacular, Terrence Davenport explains why the gig economy doesn't work in his hometown of Dumas, Arkansas. Davenport has worked as a social entrepreneur, coaching low-income people how to participate in the digital economy.

Terrence Davenport: So, in 2012, my brother was murdered. And there were a lot of questions around what happened to him. It was called a suicide. And we found Taser marks on his body. I couldn't get any traction¹ with the police. I was told that I was, I was putting myself in a dangerous situation by raising the questions that I was raising. And so I decided² that the way I would recompense my brother's death is by giving back to the folks that live in this town and making sure that other young men had opportunities that my brother didn't have. Dumas is a small rural town in the Mississippi Delta³. African-American population is about 65 percent. One-third of the population here is below the poverty line. I went to college at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. My pastor⁴ one day said that he needed a Web site done. And so I decided to teach myself. There are not a lot of, you know, employers coming here to employ folks, mostly because of the low skill levels. I was thinking, it would really be interesting to use the skills that I have to teach folks how to earn income, whether it's Web design skills or any other type of digital skill.

Our goal was to give people skills that they can use on digital platforms, like Upwork.com, Freelancer⁵.com. We were dealing⁶ with not only occupational skills, but low digital skills, which is really surprising in a digital age. I had students that didn't know what it meant to right-click, didn't know what a URL was. On most of the popular platforms, I took a look at the top 100 earners.

There wasn't a single African-American in those top 100 earners. And that kind of raised a question about the feasibility for domestic African-Americans to actually earn a living on these platforms. I think, as a nation, we have to take care of our own people. And that's what I see in the gig economy. I see a lack of concern for the well-being⁷ of others. I see decisions being made based on the dollar. The gig economy doesn't work for people that live in the area that I live in. If you live in a big city, you can get on TaskRabbit and go do a job. You can sign up on Uber and make some money. When we're talking about online work platforms that require you to use real digital skills, then these jobs become globalized. It actually works against some of the dreams of the people that I'm surrounded by. My name is Terrence Davenport. This is my Brief But Spectacular take on life and work in rural Arkansas.

阿姆纳·纳瓦兹：零工经济开创了很多的工作机会，可以在优步、来福车、任务兔等平台上找到临时工作。在今晚的《简短而精彩》中，特伦斯·达文波特将为我们阐释零工经济为何在他的家乡——阿肯色州杜马斯不奏效。达文波特一直是一名社会企业家，他的工作是教授薪资低的人如何参与数码经济。

特伦斯·达文波特：2012年，我的哥哥被谋杀。关于他死前经历了什么这件事，我们存在很大的疑惑，虽然外界说他是自杀。我们发现他身体上有泰瑟枪的枪孔，但在警方这里却无法得到任何线索。大家都告诉我：我问的这些问题会为把自己置于危险的境地。于是，我决定唯一弥补哥哥逝去的做法就是回馈给这个镇上的其他人，确保其他年轻人能获得哥哥没有的机会。杜马斯是密西西比三角洲上的一个小乡镇。非裔美国人占比大概在65%左右。这里1/3的人口都生活在贫困线以下。我在费耶特维尔的阿肯色大学读书。有一天，我的牧师说，他需要一个网站，于是我决定自学一下。这里基本没什么雇主来招工，因为这里的技术水平很低。我觉得，如果我能用自己已有的技能来教授大家如何赚钱会是很有意思的一件事，无论是网站设计也好，是其他数码技能也好。我们的目标是让大家获得可以在数码平台上使用的技能，数码平台包括但不限于Upwork.com、Freelancer.com。我们涉及的不只是职业技能，还包括低端的数字技能，这种情况在数字时代是很让人震惊的了。我有一些学生，他们连如何右击鼠标都不知道，也不知道什么是网址。在大多数流量高的平台上，我会关注前100名零工薪资最高的人。

他们之中没有非裔美国人。这就让人不禁疑惑：非裔美国人在这些平台上是否有谋生能力。我认为，作为一个国家，我们必须照顾自己的子民。这是我在零工经济中看到的。我认为，我们对于别人的生活境况关心太少。我看到大家一切都是向钱看。零工经济不适用的人群是住在我这个地区的人。如果生活在大城市里，就可以通过任务兔来找工作了。可以注册优步来赚钱。如果在线求职的平台需要用到切切实实的数码技能，那么这些工作就会全球化。这其实跟很多人的梦想是背道而驰的。我是特伦斯·达文波特，这是我本期带来的与阿肯色州农村生活和工作有关的《简短而精彩》。

1 traction   

n.牵引；附着摩擦力

参考例句：

• I'll show you how the traction is applied.我会让你看如何做这种牵引。
• She's injured her back and is in traction for a month.她背部受伤，正在作一个月的牵引治疗。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

4 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

5 freelancer   

n.自由职业者

参考例句：

• He has great interest in working as a freelancer.他对做个自由职业人很感兴趣。
• It's not always easy to make it as a freelancer.做个自由职业人，要能时常感觉满足，可不容易。

6 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

7 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。