Income Inequality is Good - YouTube

有许多谈及收入不平等的论调和文章 There has been a lot said and a lot written about income inequality

少数人非常富裕，而我们却相反，这多不公平 about how unfair it is that a few people are very rich and the rest of us aren’t;

富人和中产阶级的收入差距都非常巨大，更不用提穷人了 that the income gap between the wealthy and even the middle-class, let alone the poor, is so large

这控诉只存在一个问题 There’s only one problem with this complaint

那就是这是错的 It’s wrong.

收入不平等实际上是件好事 Income inequality is actually a good thing

当它是自由市场经济的产物时 when it is the product of a free market economy.

而你自己的生活就是证明 And your own life proves it!

经济是由上百万个体决定如何支配自己的生活组成的 An economy is made up of millions of individuals making decisions about their own lives

他们想在哪里工作，有多愿意工作 where and how much they want to work

他们想购买什么，等等 what they want to buy, and so on.

你就是其中之一 You are one of those individuals.

在美国这样的国家，你能够自由追求你的人生道路 In a country like the United States, you are free to pursue a path in life

你认为最适合你天赋的道路 that you believe best suits your talents.

这种天赋也许是教书 That talent might be teaching

或者做音乐 or making music

或者投资，或者经营小生意，或者养育家庭 or banking, or starting a small business, or raising a family

不管是什么，这种自由帮助生活变得更有趣 Whatever it is, this freedom helps to make life enjoyable

激情和有意义 exciting and meaningful.

但同时也是一种不平等的表现 But it’s also an expression of inequality.

这纯粹因为我们都是不一样的人 This is simply because we’re all different.

我们有不同的才能，不同的性情，不同的志向 We have different talents, different temperaments, different ambitions.

这没关系，因为 That’s okay because

也因为我们是在一个自由社会 again in a free society

我们能找到发挥个人优势的机会 we can seek out opportunities that play to our personal strengths

使我们与别人区别开来 that distinguish us from others.

如果你找到了自己的长处，并且努力工作 If you find what you’re really good at and work hard

你也许能获得巨大的成功和财富 you might have great success and make a lot of money.

如果你是一位出色的运动员，我会买票看你演出 If you’re an outstanding athlete I’ll buy a ticket to see you play

如果你是一位精明的投资家，我会拿出一些钱给你去投资 If you’re a savvy investor, I’ll give you some of my money to invest

只要你能够自由指导自己的命运 As long as you have the freedom to guide your own destiny

你就有机会发掘自己的全部潜力 you have a chance to reach your full potential

去获得成功，无论你如何定义它 achieving success, however you define it.

但如果有人，比如说一个政府官僚 But if someone, say, a government bureaucrat

提醒你你的野心是有限制的 told you that your ambition had limits

存在着一个你无法逾越的天花板 that there was a ceiling above which you could not rise

我怀疑你会开心得起来 I doubt you’d be happy about it

你会感觉自己像是穿着一件约束衣 You’d feel like you were in a straightjacket.

强制平等意味着更少你能使自己变得优秀的机会 Forced equality means less opportunity to pursue what makes you individually great.

那么1% 的富人和我们这些剩下的99% 之间日益增长的差距呢 But what about the growing gap between the rich, the 1%, and the rest of us, the 99%

我们听了非常多这样的论调 that one hears so much about?

这不是坏事吗？ Isn’t that a bad thing?

同样的，答案是否。 Again, the answer is no

下面是理由 Here’s why

在自由市场经济，人们在把今天富人享受的东西 In a free market economy people become wealthy making what the rich enjoy today

变得未来几乎所有人都能享受的过程中变得富有 into something almost everybody can enjoy tomorrow.

富人是小白鼠消费者 The rich are the test buyers.

想想手机 Consider the cellphone.

如今我们人手一台，但当摩托罗拉于1983年制作出第一部手机时 Now we all have them, but when Motorola manufactured the first one in 1983

它足有砖头大小，电池续航只有半小时 1983 it was the size of a brick, had a half-hour of battery life

信号很差，话费也非常贵 reception was terrible, and calls were very expensive.

它要价 4000 美元 It cost $4000.

但如果没人购买那价值4000美元的砖头 But if no one had bought that $4000 brick

今天就不会存在40美元一部的手机 there wouldn’t be a $40 cell phone today.

1960年代，一台计算机价值一百万美元 In the 1960’s a computer cost over a million dollars.

现今，多亏有迈克尔戴尔这样的亿万富翁 Nowadays, thanks to billionaires like Michael Dell

我们才能拥有出色先进的计算机，而只需花费几百美元 we have incredibly advanced computers that cost us a few hundred dollars.

还记得我们曾经遥不可及的豪华平板电视机吗？ Remember what an out-of-reach luxury flat screen TV’s once were?

当时只有富人才有能力购买 Only the rich could afford them.

而今天你的客厅基本上都有私人影院 Today your living room is essentially that your own private cinema.

自由市场把物资稀缺变成物资丰富 The free market is about turning scarcity into abundance.

曾经只供少数人享有的，现在大多数人也能拥有 What was once available to the few is now available to the many.

财富不均是这个事实的必然结果 Wealth inequality is an important corollary to that truth.

那么，我应该怨恨那些变得富有的人，只因为他们比我有钱 So, should I resent the people who became wealthy because they have more money than I do

还是感谢经济体系 or should I be grateful for the economic system

允许他们丰富我和上百万人的生活呢？ that allows them to enrich my life and the lives of millions of other people?

自由市场的特征 This feature of the free market

收入不平等 income inequality

可能表现得非常不公平 can appear terribly unfair.

但稍微深入调查，真相就出来了 But with a little further investigation, the real picture becomes clear.

收入不平等使得几乎人人都能享用曾属于奢侈品的东西 Income inequality makes what once seemed like impossible luxuries available to almost everyone

它鼓励有创造力的人在新想法上冒险 it provides the incentive for creative people to gamble on new ideas

它促进个人自由 it promotes personal freedom

奖赏勤奋，天赋和成就 and rewards hard work, talent, and achievement.

总之，收入不平等预示着个人自由 In sum, income inequality signals that individual liberty

机会，和创新都存在于自由经济 opportunity, and innovation are all present in a free economy.

这看起来是坏事，但其实是好事 Pretty good for something that’s supposed to be so bad.

最后两点想法 Two final points:

1％富人俱乐部是向新人开放的 The 1% Club is always open to new members.

而且你不需要成为那1％也能过上好日子 And you don’t have to be in the top one percent to have a very good life.

这才是最重要的，而不是超级富豪的存在 And that, not the existence of the very wealthy, is what matters most.

我是约翰塔姆尼，Real Clear Markets 的编辑 I’m John Tamny, editor of Real Clear Markets, for Prager University.

翻译：PragerU 校对：FungChuh