新闻周刊:马斯克的豪赌:特斯拉能为汽车制造带来革新吗?(7)（在线收听）

One would think that as high-tech companies excised workers from the economy, they would at least treat those they continue to employ with some consideration. But Silicon Valley’s famous table tennis and smoothies perks don’t extend to the blue-collar jobs in the region. Reports have detailed how Tesla workers have faced safety risks (including injuries that the company didn’t properly report), excessive hours (Red Bulls were reportedly handed out to workers to keep them on their feet) and filthy conditions (some workers allegedly had to move through a raw sewage spill to keep the assembly lines going). The United Auto Workers has accused Tesla of union-busting tactics, and in March the National Labor Relations Board filed a second complaint against the company.

有人会认为，高科技公司随着经济发展不再需要人类员工，至少会对那些继续聘用的员工有所考虑。但硅谷著名的乒乓球和果汁福利并不包括该地区的蓝领工作。报告详细描述了特斯拉员工如何面临安全风险(包括公司没有正确报告的伤害)，工作时间过长(据报道，公司给工人分发红牛以便保持站立)，以及肮脏的环境(据称，一些工人不得不穿过未经处理的污水溢出处，以维持装配线的运转)。美国汽车工人联合会指责特斯拉采取破坏工会的策略，今年3月，美国国家劳资关系委员会对该公司提起了第二起诉讼。

Such erosion of labor standards and job displacement is a concern across all of America’s industries, of course. But high-tech companies are making the displacement of humans a central mission and executing it with stunning efficiency. “Silicon Valley could be a big contributor to a manufacturing rebirth in the U.S.,” says Chuck Darrah, an anthropology professor at San Jose State University in the heart of valley who studies the region’s high-tech industry. “But so much of it now is about automation, and the price of robots in the U.S. is pretty much the same as in China and Mexico.”

当然，这种劳动标准的下降和工作岗位的流失是美国所有行业都关心的问题。但高科技公司正把取代人类作为一项核心任务，并以惊人的效率执行这项任务。“硅谷可能是美国制造业复兴的重要贡献者。位于硅谷中心的圣何塞州立大学研究该地区高科技产业的人类学教授查克?达拉表示。“但现在很多都是自动化，美国的机器人价格与中国和墨西哥差不多。”

In other words, labor may be cheaper overseas, but robots aren’t, so why not just replace workers with smart machines and build it here?

换句话说，海外劳动力可能更便宜，但机器人不是，所以为什么不干脆用智能机器取代工人，在这里生产呢?

So where does that leave American workers who lose their jobs? Many of Silicon Valley’s successful insiders favor a “universal basic income” scheme, in which the government would send everyone in America a monthly check for around $2,000. “People here understand that if they can’t find a solution to the job loss they’re causing, they could face a civil uprising,” says ResetSecurity’s Lackey. “They’re so worried about it that they’re also buying houses in the middle of nowhere, like New Zealand or Wyoming.”

那么，那些失去工作的美国工人该怎么办呢? 许多硅谷成功的内部人士支持一项“普遍基本收入”计划，在该计划中，政府每月给每个美国人发一张大约2000美元的支票。ResetSecurity公司的拉基说:“这里的人们明白，如果他们无法找到解决失业问题的办法，他们可能会面临一场国内起义。他们非常担心这个问题，甚至还在新西兰或怀俄明州等偏远地区买房。”