英国卫报:走向失控的博姿药妆(20)

Jesse Boot was steeped in a culture that expected much more of its leading businessmen.

杰西·布特浸透在一种文化中，这种文化对它的主要商人期望更多。

In 1919, in the first issue of the company newsletter, the Beacon¹, Boot wrote to his staff:

1919年，在公司第一期通讯《灯塔》中，布特给他的员工写道：

“Fellowship in recreation, fellowship in ideals, common hope, common sympathies,

“休闲的伙伴关系，理想的伙伴关系，共同的希望，共同的同情，

and common humanity bind² us together; and whatever fosters this happy union is valuable.”

共同的人性将我们团结在一起；任何能促进这一幸福结合的东西都是有价值的。”

Today we know to smile at this as paternalism.

今天，我们知道这是一种家长式的管理方式。

Yet we have no popular term to describe the worldview of business leaders such as Pessina.

然而，我们没有一个流行的词汇来描述像佩西纳这样的商业领袖的世界观。

A Yiddish joke has it that to a worm in horseradish the whole world is horseradish.

意第绪语中有个笑话说，对于辣根中的虫子来说，整个世界都是辣根。

When it comes to the culture of modern business, we are that worm.

当涉及到现代商业文化时，我们就是那条虫子。

You hear it when the BBC and the press treat the economy as it were merely a synonym³ for business – and business as if it were just a synonym for finance.

当BBC和媒体把经济仅仅当作商业的同义词时，你会听到这种说法，而商业似乎仅仅是金融的同义词。

You hear it when the term “entrepreneur” is applied⁴ to a carpetbagger with a good PR,

当你听到“企业家”这个词被用来形容一个有着良好公关的冒险家时，

or when chief executives defend corporate⁵ tax-dodging as being their duty to shareholders⁶.

或者首席执行官们辩解说，公司逃税是他们对股东应尽的责任。

Jesse Boot reminds us that this was not always so.

杰西·布特提醒我们，情况并非一直如此。

He would surely have recognised some of himself in Stefano Pessina: the wheeler-dealing, the gusto for marketing⁷, the tireless expansionism. Jesse Boot was steeped in a culture that expected much more of its leading businessmen.

他肯定会在斯蒂法诺·佩希纳身上看到一些自己的影子：精明的手腕，对营销的热情，不知疲倦的扩张主义。但是布特浸透在一种文化中，这种文化对它的主要商人期望更多。

The point about Pessina is not that he is uniquely bad, but that he operates in a milieu⁸ that asks so little of its capitalists – even when they are reliant on public money.

佩西纳的问题不在于他的坏是独一无二的，而在于他所处的环境对资本家要求甚少——甚至在他们依赖公共资金时也是如此。

1 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

2 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

3 synonym   

n.同义词，换喻词

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• The term 'industrial democracy' is often used as a synonym for worker participation. “工业民主”这个词常被用作“工人参与”的同义词。

4 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

5 corporate   

adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的

参考例句：

• This is our corporate responsibility.这是我们共同的责任。
• His corporate's life will be as short as a rabbit's tail.他的公司的寿命是兔子尾巴长不了。

6 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

7 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

8 milieu   

n.环境；出身背景；(个人所处的)社会环境

参考例句：

• Foods usually provide a good milieu for the persistence of viruses.食品通常为病毒存续提供了一个良好的栖身所。
• He was born in a social milieu where further education was a luxury.他生在一个受较高教育就被认为是奢侈的社会环境里。