【翻譯練習】道德的底線
Morality's Bottom Line
日期：May 25, 2015
作者：TOM BRADY
來源：http://newtelegraphonline.com/moralitys-bottom-line/
When Dan Price told his 120 employees last month that he was raising the pay of his lowest-paid workers to $70,000 a year, the video of his announcement went viral. Mr. Price, who founded a credit card payment processing company in Seattle, reported learning about a study that claimed an income of $70,000 made a big difference in a worker’s life.
西雅圖一間信用卡付款處理公司「重力付款」(Gravity Payments)的創辦人丹．普萊斯(Dan Price)，上個月向120位員工宣布，每人最低薪資將調升為年薪7萬美元，這段影片隨即在網路上瘋傳。普萊斯表示，他看過一項研究，其中指出年收入7萬美元能夠為員工的生活帶來重大改變。
The nearly million dollars he earned seemed hard to justify when others were struggling, so he decided to cut his salary until the company, Gravity Payments, gets its profits back to where they are today. Mr. Price was either the best boss ever or a foolish businessman, depending on who was speaking in the ensuing media frenzy. Some wondered if he was at the forefront of a new moral code in business. One trend among affluent urbanites is the elevated status of handmade goods, which many believe show their virtue, interest in sustainability and commitment to social justice, The Times reported. A hand-knit sweater strikes a blow against sweatshop labor. Supporting an artisan who makes soap is a way to support your community.
普萊斯擁有將近百萬美元的收入，這與其他奮力掙錢的人相比之下，似乎很難說得過去，因此他決定為自己減薪，直到公司獲利恢復現今水平。媒體瘋狂報導，有人稱讚普萊斯是有史以來最佛心來著的好老闆，也有人不屑地認為他只不過是個愚蠢的生意人。更有人猜測，普萊斯是否搶先遵從商業界的新一波道德準則。時代雜誌報導，在富有都市人的社交圈中，手作商品的地位漸受推崇，許多人認為，使用手作商品，足以令他們顯現出對於永續發展的價值認同與高雅情操，以及對於社會正義的信奉承諾。購買手工編織的毛衣，便能打擊血汗工廠的壓榨勞工情形。支持一位製作手工皂的藝術家，就是支持你的社區發展。
"Once a mark of poverty, handmade is hot these days," Emily Matchar wrote in The Times. "Nothing seems to shout 'upper-middle-class values' like hand-carved wooden children's toys, handmade lavender soap from the farmers’ market, artisan country bread and chunky hand-knit scarves." The problem is equating this consumer approach to a social good. "Like locavorism and 'eco consumerism,' it’s part of a troubling trend for neoliberal ‘all change begins with your personal choices’ ideology," Ms. Matchar wrote.
Emily Matchar在時代雜誌寫道：「手作以往被視為貧窮的象徵，如今卻搖身一變，成為炙手可熱的話題。想要大肆宣揚『上層中產階級價值』，請與手作沾上邊：孩子把玩著手工雕刻的木製玩具，主婦在農民市集選購薰衣草手工皂，捧著歐式鄉村手工麵包，脖子上 少了手工編織的圍巾。」這個問題把「手工製作」的消費者運動，帶向與社會公益相同的層級來討論。艾蜜利寫著：「手工製作的議題，有如在地飲食主義與綠色消費主義，同樣是這股新自由主義的危害潮流，大聲嚷嚷著『所有改變，始於你的決定』的心態。」
"This ideology is attractive: Buy something nice, do something good. But it doesn’t work, at least not very well." Most people let value guide their buying, and few will pay for a $50 handmade scarf on a site like Etsy when they can get a perfectly good one at a chain store for $5. Buying local is not a solution to exploitative labor practices — better regulations, trade agreements and factory monitoring are more effective tools for that, Ms. Matchar said. And the myth of eco-friendliness is questionable.
Matchar寫著：「買好物就是做好事，這個心態的確誘人，然而事實上卻毫無用處，或者說不太管用。」她說，大部分人仍以價錢決定消費行為，既然在連鎖店就能以美金5元的價錢購買一條精美圍巾，有誰還願意特地上Etsy之類的網站(維基百科：Etsy是一個網路商店平台，以手工藝成品買賣為主要特色)買一條美金50元的手工圍巾。欲解決勞工剝削的情形，並非單純標榜購買在地物品便能見效，較為有效的作法，應是採取較佳的管控規範、合理的交易協定、以及落實工廠監控。所謂的「環境友善」迷思，確實令人質疑。
"Buying handmade (especially really locally) can greatly reduce your carbon footprint on the world," reads a post on Handmadeology, one of the dozens of handmade- goods websites that have sprung up. But most economists believe that the economies of scale inherent in mass production outweigh the benefits of local buying, according to The Times.
「購買手作商品(真正在地的手作商品尤佳)，能夠大幅減少您的碳足跡」，這是一間手作商品網站Handmadeology的標語，近來大幅竄出這類型的手作商品網站。不過時代雜誌報導指出，大多數的經濟學家認為，大量生產所衍生的規模經濟，比起購買在地商品的利益而言，利大於弊。
And when the idea of "buying local" goes too far, it can work against those whose practices really are environmentally friendly. When the urban food movement goes hyperlocal and consumers pledge to eat only food produced within 160 kilometers of home, it ignores farmers like Jerry Habets, a barley and lentil grower in Conrad, Montana. Mr. Habets converted to organic so his soil could store more water, but hyperlocal foodies on either coast exclude his crops because of his location.
而當「在地購買」的觀念過份渲染，對於真正推行環境友善的人而言，可能只會帶來適得其反的效果。當都市食物移動變得超越地域，當消費者誓言只食用離家方圓160公里內生產的食物，此時Jerry Habets這般的農民，便遭到埋沒。Jerry Habets在蒙大拿州康拉德鎮上種植大麥與扁豆，他轉換成為有機農作方式，使土壤能夠貯存更多水分，但是美國東岸與西岸堅持在地購買的饕客，恐怕無緣品嚐到Jerry Habets種植於美國西北部蒙大拿州的農產品了。
Again, economists said the local approach was not particularly eco-friendly since transportation accounts for about 4 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the average American diet. "Even if you live hundreds of miles away from Montana," Liz Carlisle wrote in The Times, "eating organic lentils grown there helps farmers responsibly steward their land."
再次提醒，經濟學家表示，堅持在地購買並不必然代表對環境友善，原因是美國飲食因素相關的溫室氣體排放量中，運輸約只佔了百分之四。Liz Carlisle在時代雜誌寫道：「即使你的住所距離蒙大拿州有千里之遙，但食用種植於蒙大拿州的有機扁豆，仍能夠幫助在地農民負責任對待他們的土地。」
日期：May 25, 2015
作者：TOM BRADY
來源：http://newtelegraphonline.com/moralitys-bottom-line/
When Dan Price told his 120 employees last month that he was raising the pay of his lowest-paid workers to $70,000 a year, the video of his announcement went viral. Mr. Price, who founded a credit card payment processing company in Seattle, reported learning about a study that claimed an income of $70,000 made a big difference in a worker’s life.
西雅圖一間信用卡付款處理公司「重力付款」(Gravity Payments)的創辦人丹．普萊斯(Dan Price)，上個月向120位員工宣布，每人最低薪資將調升為年薪7萬美元，這段影片隨即在網路上瘋傳。普萊斯表示，他看過一項研究，其中指出年收入7萬美元能夠為員工的生活帶來重大改變。
The nearly million dollars he earned seemed hard to justify when others were struggling, so he decided to cut his salary until the company, Gravity Payments, gets its profits back to where they are today. Mr. Price was either the best boss ever or a foolish businessman, depending on who was speaking in the ensuing media frenzy. Some wondered if he was at the forefront of a new moral code in business. One trend among affluent urbanites is the elevated status of handmade goods, which many believe show their virtue, interest in sustainability and commitment to social justice, The Times reported. A hand-knit sweater strikes a blow against sweatshop labor. Supporting an artisan who makes soap is a way to support your community.
普萊斯擁有將近百萬美元的收入，這與其他奮力掙錢的人相比之下，似乎很難說得過去，因此他決定為自己減薪，直到公司獲利恢復現今水平。媒體瘋狂報導，有人稱讚普萊斯是有史以來最佛心來著的好老闆，也有人不屑地認為他只不過是個愚蠢的生意人。更有人猜測，普萊斯是否搶先遵從商業界的新一波道德準則。時代雜誌報導，在富有都市人的社交圈中，手作商品的地位漸受推崇，許多人認為，使用手作商品，足以令他們顯現出對於永續發展的價值認同與高雅情操，以及對於社會正義的信奉承諾。購買手工編織的毛衣，便能打擊血汗工廠的壓榨勞工情形。支持一位製作手工皂的藝術家，就是支持你的社區發展。
"Once a mark of poverty, handmade is hot these days," Emily Matchar wrote in The Times. "Nothing seems to shout 'upper-middle-class values' like hand-carved wooden children's toys, handmade lavender soap from the farmers’ market, artisan country bread and chunky hand-knit scarves." The problem is equating this consumer approach to a social good. "Like locavorism and 'eco consumerism,' it’s part of a troubling trend for neoliberal ‘all change begins with your personal choices’ ideology," Ms. Matchar wrote.
Emily Matchar在時代雜誌寫道：「手作以往被視為貧窮的象徵，如今卻搖身一變，成為炙手可熱的話題。想要大肆宣揚『上層中產階級價值』，請與手作沾上邊：孩子把玩著手工雕刻的木製玩具，主婦在農民市集選購薰衣草手工皂，捧著歐式鄉村手工麵包，脖子上 少了手工編織的圍巾。」這個問題把「手工製作」的消費者運動，帶向與社會公益相同的層級來討論。艾蜜利寫著：「手工製作的議題，有如在地飲食主義與綠色消費主義，同樣是這股新自由主義的危害潮流，大聲嚷嚷著『所有改變，始於你的決定』的心態。」
"This ideology is attractive: Buy something nice, do something good. But it doesn’t work, at least not very well." Most people let value guide their buying, and few will pay for a $50 handmade scarf on a site like Etsy when they can get a perfectly good one at a chain store for $5. Buying local is not a solution to exploitative labor practices — better regulations, trade agreements and factory monitoring are more effective tools for that, Ms. Matchar said. And the myth of eco-friendliness is questionable.
Matchar寫著：「買好物就是做好事，這個心態的確誘人，然而事實上卻毫無用處，或者說不太管用。」她說，大部分人仍以價錢決定消費行為，既然在連鎖店就能以美金5元的價錢購買一條精美圍巾，有誰還願意特地上Etsy之類的網站(維基百科：Etsy是一個網路商店平台，以手工藝成品買賣為主要特色)買一條美金50元的手工圍巾。欲解決勞工剝削的情形，並非單純標榜購買在地物品便能見效，較為有效的作法，應是採取較佳的管控規範、合理的交易協定、以及落實工廠監控。所謂的「環境友善」迷思，確實令人質疑。
"Buying handmade (especially really locally) can greatly reduce your carbon footprint on the world," reads a post on Handmadeology, one of the dozens of handmade- goods websites that have sprung up. But most economists believe that the economies of scale inherent in mass production outweigh the benefits of local buying, according to The Times.
「購買手作商品(真正在地的手作商品尤佳)，能夠大幅減少您的碳足跡」，這是一間手作商品網站Handmadeology的標語，近來大幅竄出這類型的手作商品網站。不過時代雜誌報導指出，大多數的經濟學家認為，大量生產所衍生的規模經濟，比起購買在地商品的利益而言，利大於弊。
And when the idea of "buying local" goes too far, it can work against those whose practices really are environmentally friendly. When the urban food movement goes hyperlocal and consumers pledge to eat only food produced within 160 kilometers of home, it ignores farmers like Jerry Habets, a barley and lentil grower in Conrad, Montana. Mr. Habets converted to organic so his soil could store more water, but hyperlocal foodies on either coast exclude his crops because of his location.
而當「在地購買」的觀念過份渲染，對於真正推行環境友善的人而言，可能只會帶來適得其反的效果。當都市食物移動變得超越地域，當消費者誓言只食用離家方圓160公里內生產的食物，此時Jerry Habets這般的農民，便遭到埋沒。Jerry Habets在蒙大拿州康拉德鎮上種植大麥與扁豆，他轉換成為有機農作方式，使土壤能夠貯存更多水分，但是美國東岸與西岸堅持在地購買的饕客，恐怕無緣品嚐到Jerry Habets種植於美國西北部蒙大拿州的農產品了。
Again, economists said the local approach was not particularly eco-friendly since transportation accounts for about 4 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the average American diet. "Even if you live hundreds of miles away from Montana," Liz Carlisle wrote in The Times, "eating organic lentils grown there helps farmers responsibly steward their land."
再次提醒，經濟學家表示，堅持在地購買並不必然代表對環境友善，原因是美國飲食因素相關的溫室氣體排放量中，運輸約只佔了百分之四。Liz Carlisle在時代雜誌寫道：「即使你的住所距離蒙大拿州有千里之遙，但食用種植於蒙大拿州的有機扁豆，仍能夠幫助在地農民負責任對待他們的土地。」