自由企业的承诺

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中英对照文本

翻译：佳璇

校对：FungChuh

When you hear the words “free enterprise,” or “capitalism” or “free markets,” what’s the first thought that comes into your head? For just about everyone it would have to do with making money.

当你听到「自由企业」、「资本主义」或者「自由市场」这些词的时候，你的第一想法是什么？几乎所有人都会把它们与赚钱联系起来。

But there’s another side to free enterprise that’s actually more important. Free enterprise matters not just because of its unparalleled material benefits, but because of its unparalleled moral benefits.

但自由企业还有另一个更重要的作用。自由企业的重要，不仅在于它无可比拟的物质好处，更在于它无可比拟的道德好处。

Now, this might seem counterintuitive to you, especially if you’ve been spending a lot of time hanging around college professors. For decades, so many of them have preached that free enterprise is mostly about selfishness and greed.

或许你会觉得这个说法违反直觉，尤其如果你长期接受着大学教授们的观点的话。数十年来，他们中许多人一直宣扬自由企业几乎是自私和贪婪的。

But after the fall of the Soviet Union, and communism was repudiated, even the left grudgingly acknowledged the utility of free enterprise -- but only as a necessary evil. Sure, they said, free enterprise benefits us materially. But the cost isn’t worth it. People become too materialistic, corporations become too powerful, profits are corrupting, and there’s just too much material inequality.

但是在苏联解体、共产主义被否定后，甚至连左派都不情愿地承认了自由企业的实用性——但也只承认它是必要的恶。他们说，自由企业的确给我们带来了物质上的好处，但代价并不值得。人们变得太过物质主义，企业变得过于强势，利润在腐化，到处都有巨大财富不平等。

Is that a fair assessment? No, it isn’t. And here’s why: free enterprise is not just materially fulfilling, it’s a moral imperative. One big reason is that only free enterprise enables us to become truly happy -- because it enables us to earn our success.

这个评价是中肯的吗？不是。原因如下：自由企业不仅在于物质上的满足，而且在道德上也是必要的。因为只有自由企业才能让我们变得真正快乐，因为它让我们能够通过自身努力去获得成功。

Now what do I mean by this? Earned success is the satisfaction and happiness that we derive from having dreams and working hard to achieve them. This is only possible in a system where rewards are based on earning them rather than having the right connections, and where you have to please customers and not politicians.

这意味着什么呢？「应得的成功」是一种幸福和满足感，它来源于我们拥有梦想并努力实现它们的过程。它只有在一个回报是基于个人努力程度而非拥有对的社会关系，在一个你需要讨好顾客而非政客的体制中才可能存在。

Think about the things in your life that make you happy. It’s probably your personal relationships, your family, and maybe your job; in other words, the things that represent hard work and personal virtue and achievement. Sure, we all want nice things. But if they are just given to us, if we don’t earn them, they don’t really make us happy.

想想生命中那些让你快乐的事物吧，它们很可能是你的人际关系，你的家庭或者你的工作；换句话说，是那些代表着努力、个人美德和成就的事物。当然，我们都渴望着美好的事物，但如果这些美好事物是施舍给我们而不是自己挣来的，它们就不会真正让我们快乐。

You’ve probably thought what you’d do if you won the lottery, right? We’ve all played that game. Maybe you say you’d buy a big house, a new wardrobe, or take a great trip around the world. Maybe you’d do it all!

你很可能想过如果中了彩票后要做什么，对吧？我们都这样幻想过。也许你想买个大房子，买个新衣柜，或者环游世界；也许你全都想做！

The truth is, according to studies from researchers at the University of Michigan, you’re actually more likely to be less happy after you win than before you bought the ticket.

事实是，根据密歇根大学一些学者的研究，人们中奖后的幸福感其实还不如买彩票之前。

People who win the lottery typically buy a bunch of stuff they don’t want, get new friends, some even become alcoholics. This hardly makes for a great Powerball ad campaign, but it’s the truth.

中了彩票的人通常会买一大堆他们不需要的东西，结识新朋友，有些人甚至成了酒鬼。这可不是个强力球的好广告，但事实就是如此。

Why is this? For the same reason that your parents probably always taught you: that money doesn’t buy happiness.

为什么会这样呢？同样的道理你父母可能早就教过你了：钱买不来幸福。

Still, critics on the left tell us that if we only had more equal incomes we’d be a happier society. That’s just not true.

同样地，左翼批评家们说只要我们收入更平等，这个社会就会更幸福。这完全是错误的。

Happiness is earned, not given by others. Look at entrepreneurs. People who own their own businesses rate themselves as happier than just about any other job category. And why? What’s their secret?

幸福是挣来的，不是靠别人给的。看看企业家们吧，这些经营着自己生意的人认为自己比其他类型的职业都要幸福。为什么？他们幸福的秘密是什么？

It’s not as if they’re working short hours, or making lots of money. Neither of these things are the case. Entrepreneurs earn 20 percent less than government managers, on average. Rather, it’s because their businesses allow them to earn their own success. It’s this success that makes them happy. And this is really only possible through free enterprise. The government giving us stuff we didn’t earn doesn’t make us happy, and it’s really that simple.

他们幸福并不是因为他们只需工作很短的时间，或者能挣很多钱。这些都不是关键，企业家们的平均收入比政府官员低 20%。他们幸福更多是因为他们的生意能够让他们去挣得自己的成功，是这种成功让他们幸福。并且它真的只有通过自由企业才有可能。政府白白施舍给我们的，不是自己挣来的东西不能带给我们幸福，事实就是这么简单。

Now, this insight is hardly one I came up with. In fact, no one in my field of social science can claim credit for it. It was America’s founding fathers who first put together happiness and earned success.

这个观点并不是我发明的，事实上，社会科学领域的任何人都无法将这一观点归功于自己。是美国建国之父们首先将幸福和应得的成功联系在一起。

You probably remember that the Declaration of Independence talks about the rights to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Think about those words - pursuit of happiness. Our founders didn’t say that you have the right to be happy. Only that you have the right to pursue your happiness.

你大概记得独立宣言中所说的：「人人都有生存权、自由权和追求幸福的权利。」仔细想想这个词吧——「追求幸福」。开国元勋们没有说「你有幸福的权利」，你所拥有的只是追求幸福的权利。

And that’s what free enterprise does, and why it matters. Only free enterprise lets us decide what makes us happy and then go do it.

这就是自由企业的作用和重要性。只有自由企业能让我们判断什么使我们幸福并去亲手实现它们。

The pursuit of happiness that’s at the root of America’s moral promise can only happen if we have the opportunity to earn our success. Happiness is not about materialism or government redistribution of wealth. It’s about defining our lives and our goals, and achieving happiness on our own terms.

根植于美国道德承诺中的「追求幸福」，只在我们有机会通过自身努力获得成功的时候才有可能。幸福不在于物质上的满足或者政府的财富再分配，而在于确立我们生活和目标，并凭借自己的意愿找到幸福。

That’s the moral promise of free enterprise.

这就是自由企业的承诺。

I’m Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute, for Prager University.

我是亚瑟·布鲁克斯，美国企业研究所的主席，为 PragerU 制作。