英国新闻听力 如何实现社会公平和公正（在线收听）

There are two words with a common root which have been dancing with each other in my mind over the weekend.

The first is equality – a term popular in social and political discourse. In a democracy like ours, most people prize equality of opportunity as regards education or work, or equality of access to health and welfare services. And we want such things especially for people who have historically been marginalised – women, ethnic minorities, children born into poverty, people with learning difficulties and so on.

The goal of equality has, of course, some disadvantages. We don't all start on a level playing field. The family we are born into, the wealth that does or doesn't surround us, and to some extent our genetic inheritance can create a negative or positive bias. The fact that some are gifted with superb intellectual abilities, artistic talents and creative skills also makes equality a difficult goal to strive for.

The other word in my mind is equity. Its etymology is the same as equality, but its associations are more to do with the law than politics. Equity also features in the vocabulary of religion. Time and again in the Hebrew scriptures, especially the psalms and the prophets, God is celebrated as one who judges with equity, and God wills that those who govern should rule with equity.

Equity is about fair-mindedness; not equality of opportunity, but equality in the way in which citizens of a nation are treated. When we speak about everyone being 'equal under the law' we are referring to one of the most positive aspects of how a good society functions. It is a keystone of democracy.

This year I've worked in eight European nations and have been pondering what equity might mean when governments have to deal with financial deficits. One implication which strikes me is that those who are the most advantaged in terms of wealth, power and privilege should feel the effect of austerity measures as much as those who are least advantaged.

I'm drawn to an incident in the Gospels where Jesus is observing people putting money in the plate. Wealthy men seem to donate a lot, but it is a poor window giving her last two coins who is praised for her generosity. The wealthy gave from their excess, but she gave all she had.

That she decided to be so selflessly generous was her choice. To my mind an equitable society is one in which the poorest as much the wealthiest should always be able to make that kind of choice.

这个周末，有着相同词根的两个单词一直萦绕在我的脑海里。

第一个是平等——这个术语在社会和政治演说中非常常见。在我们这样的民主制度下，大部分人崇尚机会，教育，工作，医疗和福利体系的平等。我们希望在历史上一直被边缘化的群体也得到平等——妇女，少数民族，贫困地区儿童，学习障碍人群等等。

当然，平等的目标也有一些弊端。我们不能所有的一切都从同一起跑线上开始。我们所出生的家庭，我们所拥有或没有的财富，而且从某种程度上讲，我们的基因遗传也会造成消极或积极的偏颇。一些人与生俱来的高超的智力，艺术才能和创造力也让平等成为一个很难实现的目标。

我脑海中的另外一个词是公正。其词源和平等一词是相同的，但是其跟法律的联系超过政治。公正也是宗教学中的词汇。在希伯来经文中，尤其是在圣经旧约和先知书中，上帝多次被誉为判断公正的人，上帝希望统治者能够公正地统治。

公正指的是思想的平等，而不是机会的平等，但是平等指的是一个国家的公民被对待的方式。当我们说到“法律面前人人民等”的时候，我们指的是社会运作良好的前提下最乐观的情况。这是民主制度的基石。

今年，我曾在八个欧洲国家工作，我一直在思考，当政府不得不应对财政赤字的时候，公正意味着什么。其中给我冲击最大的一方面就是，在财富，权利和权益方面有着最大优势的人应该和处于劣势的群体同样感受到紧缩措施的影响。

<新约>四福音书中有一个情节吸引着我，耶稣观察人们向盘子里扔钱。有钱的人看上去捐赠了很多，但是他却赞扬了一位慷慨地把最后两个硬币捐赠出来的贫困寡妇。有钱人给出的只是多余的一部分，但是她付出的却是全部。

她决定无私慷慨地奉献是她的选择。在我心中，在公平公正的社会，最贫困的人和最富有的人应该都能做出这种善良的选择。