J.D. Vance: America's forgotten working class
J.D. 范思: 被遺忘的美國勞工階層家庭與他們的困境
Former Marine and Yale Law School graduate J.D. Vance writes about how upward mobility really feels. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
I went to a nice restaurant,
去一家不錯的餐廳的時候,
律師事務所舉行的招聘晚餐,
the waitress walked around
有一位女侍者在四處走動
I'll take some white wine."
or chardonnay?"
還是夏多內呢?」
stop with the fancy French words
說這些花俏的法語了,
and sauvignon blanc
that I would take the chardonnay,
the easiest one to pronounce for me.
是最容易發音的。
as a law student at Yale,
法學生的開始幾年。
I'm a cultural outsider.
我其實是一名文化局外人。
or from San Francisco.
struggling in a lot of ways,
都存在掙扎的城市,
of the broader struggles
and divorce have torn apart families.
sense of pessimism that's moved in.
很獨特的悲觀情緒。
in these communities
for a lot of these folks,
in their own communities,
死亡率上升的真實原因,
真實的掙扎感。
to that struggle.
觀看的那種掙扎。
for a very long time.
都是那種掙扎的一部份。
that doesn't have a whole lot of money.
and even, sadly, my own mom.
甚至是,可悲地,我的母親。
that I saw in my own family,
見過了非常多的問題,
by a lack of money,
of access to resources and social capital
和社會資本所導致的問題,
when I was 14 years old
to happen to this kid?"
發生到這孩子身上呢?」
that I would have struggled
很抽象的詞語,
that's very core
are going to live a better life,
是否能過更好的生活,
to live a materially better existence,
過上物質更豐富的生活,
in the circumstances where they came from.
原有的狀況中。
we've learned, unfortunately,
很不幸地,
as we'd like it to be in this country,
並沒有達到我們想要它達到的高度,
it's very geographically distributed.
and their part in the American Dream.
享受自己的份額和角色。
in southern Ohio,
在俄亥俄南部,
that kids like that will rise.
in those parts of the country
economic or structural.
terrible economic trends,
like coal and steel
for folks to get ahead.
where the really talented people,
在那裡有才華的人們,
high-skilled work at home,
商業或者非營利的組織,
or non-profit where they're from,
離開去了別的地方。
and taking their talents with them.
in a lot of these communities,
the educational leg up
to have opportunities later in life.
在將來的人生中獲得機會。
這些結構上的障礙。
these structural barriers.
還有我的故鄉,
and my community,
something else mattered.
重要的事情。
but it was no less real.
但是它是無比真實的。
a very real sense of hopelessness
that their choices didn't matter.
他們的選擇毫不重要的感覺。
no matter how hard they worked,
無論他們有多用功,
they tried to get ahead,
to grow up around.
to very conspiratorial places.
導致一些陰謀論的產生。
political issue that's pretty hot,
熱門的政治話題作為例子,
you might think that affirmative action
你也許會視平權法案為
to promote diversity in the workplace
以促進工作場所
as a tool to hold people like you back.
抑制同類的工具。
a member of the white working class.
這種感覺會尤其真實。
that isn't just about good or bad policy.
一種好的或者不好的政策,
that's actively conspiring,
and financial power
that conspiracy against you --
看到這種陰謀對你的妨礙—
when you grow up in that world,
如果你思考一下你要做什麼,
"I'm not going to work hard,
「我並不打算去努力奮鬥,
it's not going to matter."
那些傳統的成功標誌,
after the traditional markers of success,
or a prestigious job,
about those things are unlike me.
和我並不一樣。
a family member asked me
我的家人問我
以獲得錄取委員會的認可。
to get by the admissions committee.
that there was a liberal box to check
申請表中並不存在著
insecurity in these places
存在著一種很真實的不安全感,
to be somebody you're not
to that hopelessness,
and you want to make the good choices,
而且你想要做出好的選擇,
for yourself and for your family,
為了家人做得更好,
to even know what those choices are
in a community like I did.
我成長的這種社區中。
to law school to be a lawyer.
as research consistently tells us,
就如研究一貫地告訴我們,
have bigger endowments,
比別的學校更大的捐款,
from Yale for myself,
in need-based aid,
when I got that letter and said,
我去找了我的阿姨並和她說:
that for the first time in my life,
這是我有生以來第一次
to that information
didn't have access to that information.
無法獲得那種情報。
how to shoot a gun, how to shoot it well.
怎樣才算用得好。
a damn good biscuit recipe.
is frozen butter, not warm butter.
要用冷凍奶油,不是溫奶油。
the good decisions
in this 21st century knowledge economy.
知識經濟中享有機會。
that we gain from our informal networks,
非正式的人際關係網絡,
and family "social capital."
價值觀稱為「社會資本」。
wasn't built for 21st century America,
並不是為了 21 世紀而構建的,
that's really important that's going on
doesn't like to talk about,
adverse childhood experiences,
for childhood trauma:
好聽點的代名詞:
put down by a parent repeatedly,
or abuse alcohol.
of childhood trauma,
commonplace in my family.
commonplace in my family right now.
「現在」在我家常見而已。
were going to raise them in a way
撫養他們的孩子,
a good wage in a steel mill.
賺取不錯的工資。
to a lot of the childhood trauma
my grandma set my grandfather on fire.
我的外婆要燒我的外公,
I'm gonna kill you."
that that affects a child's mind.
對孩子心靈造成的影響。
as especially rare,
Children's Trust Fund found
兒童信託基金的研究發現,
multiple instances of childhood trauma,
會面對各種各樣的童年創傷,
for upper-income kids.
家庭孩子會這樣。
instances of childhood trauma.
會經歷各種各樣的童年創傷。
to the kids who experience that life.
孩子身上會發生什麼。
more likely to go to jail,
很有可能會入獄,
to do to their children
very worst gift to our children,
一份最糟糕的禮物,
just another statistic,
from college, I went to law school,
我去了法學院,
is that my grandparents,
of setting someone on fire fame,
by the time I came around.
他們的關係進展得不錯。
to do the things that kids need,
did two things that really matter.
that allowed me to focus on homework
讓我能夠把注意力集中在作業,
should be focused on.
做的其他事情上。
this incredibly perceptive woman,
a middle school education.
that my community had for me,
傳遞給我的訊息,
the deck is stacked against them.
一樣認為自己的處境很不利。
that life wasn't fair.
the reality that their choices matter.
選擇的確很重要的現實。
to strike that balance.
was the United States Marine Corps.
美國海軍陸戰隊。
一個軍事機構,當然它的確是的,
as a military outfit, and of course it is,
was a four-year crash course
怎麼去洗衣服,
how to do laundry,
how to manage my finances.
my community didn't teach me.
to go buy a car for the very first time,
low, low interest rate of 21.9 percent,
「很低很低」的利率,
to sign on the dotted line.
and get a better deal."
去尋求一筆更實惠的交易吧。」
to that knowledge.
a financial calamity, frankly.
一場財務災難。
is that I had a lot of good fortune
我獲得了很多的好運氣,
an important role in my life.
扮演了重要角色的人得到。
from Ohio State, from Yale,
來自俄亥俄州,來自耶魯,
that social capital gap
我的社會資本中的缺口,
apparently, that I had.
很明顯的一個缺口。
aren't going to have that good fortune,
really important questions for all of us
所有人提出了重要的問題,
how we're going to give low-income kids
我們怎麼給低收入家庭的孩子
access to a loving home.
從破碎的家走到充滿愛的家?
to teach low-income parents
with their children,
about how we give social capital,
我們怎麼提供社會資本
who don't have it.
低收入家庭的孩子?
how we teach working class children
教育工人階級的孩子?
and financial management.
to this problem,
所有解決方法,
anxiously awaiting their dad,
等待著他的父親,
when he comes through the door,
還是醉醺醺地踉蹌著。
why she doesn't cook him dinner,
為什麼她不給他做晚餐,
no hope for the future
wants to live a better life.
to show it to them.
starts asking better questions
開始提出更好的問題,
to more of our communities
送給更多我們社區
to have a very significant problem.
一個很重大的問題。
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
J.D. Vance - AuthorFormer Marine and Yale Law School graduate J.D. Vance writes about how upward mobility really feels.
Why you should listen
J.D. Vance grew up in the Rust Belt city of Middletown, Ohio, and the Appalachian town of Jackson, Kentucky. He enlisted in the Marine Corps after high school and served in Iraq. A graduate of the Ohio State University and Yale Law School, he has contributed to the National Review and is a principal at a leading Silicon Valley investment firm. He is the author of Hillbilly Elegy, a number one New York Times Best Seller. Vance lives in San Francisco with his wife and two dogs.
J.D. Vance | Speaker | TED.com