There Is Only One Way Out of Poverty - YouTube

帮助穷人摆脱贫困最好的方法是什么？ What’s the best way to help poor people escape poverty?

对此进步主义者和保守主义者有不同的答案 Progressives and conservatives have very different answers to this question

但在我们探讨这些答案前,我们先达成以下共识 but before we explore those answers, let’s agree on this:

进步主义者和保守主义者都认同 Both progressives and conservatives believe

政府有道义责任帮助那些 that the government has a moral obligation to help those who

无法自救的运气不好或身处不幸境况的人 through bad luck or unfortunate circumstances, can’t help themselves

以下是保守派偶像，诺贝尔经济学奖得主 Here’s what a conservative icon, Nobel Prize-winning economist

哈耶克关于这个话题的观点 Frederic Hayek, said on the subject:

“在我们这样一个已达到一定富裕程度的社会 “There is no reason why, in a society that has reached the general level of wealth ours has attained

我们要做的第一件事应该是保证人人都能享受到。。。 the first kind of security should not be guaranteed to all…

一些最低限度的食物，住所 some minimum of food, shelter, and

足以保持健康的衣服和工作的能力” clothing sufficient to preserve health and the capacity to work.”

不管媒体告诉你什么 Whatever the media might tell you

没有保守主义者会不同意哈耶克的说法 there isn’t a conservative out there who would not agree with Hayek’s statement.

我在我写的书《谁才真的关心》里记录过 As I have documented in my book, Who Really Cares

在博爱和慈善捐助方面 when it comes to philanthropy and charitable giving

保守派实际上甩了进步主义者一大截 conservatives actually out-give progressives -- by a lot.

双方的分歧在于政府扮演的角色 Where the two sides disagree is on the role the government plays

不是在让穷人免受贫困这方面上 not in protecting the poor from poverty

而是帮助他们摆脱贫困 but in lifting them out of it

这里有一条令人不安的数据： Here’s a disturbing piece of data:

总的来说 On balance

自从民主党总统林登詹森于1966年打响脱贫战争以来 since President Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty programs came fully online in 1966

美国贫困率几乎没有移动过 the poverty rate in America has hardly budged

1966年的贫困率，由政府统计的 That rate, as computed by the United States government

是14.7% was 14.7 percent in 1966

今时今日呢？ And today?

是13.5% It’s 13.5 percent.

贫困率在数十年来小幅波动 The rate has fluctuated a few points up and down over the decades.

最终结果只有一个百分点的进步 The net result is just one percentage point of progress.

而这还是在政府斥 And this is after the government has spent

超20万亿美元巨资投入到贫困救济项目之后 over 20 trillion dollars on poverty relief programs.

20万亿美元 20 trillion dollars

相当于目前美国债务总额 the current size of the US debt

却收效甚微 and the needle has barely moved

现在官方贫困率已不能用来衡量消费量倒是真的 Now, it’s true that the official poverty rate doesn’t measure consumption

毫无疑问，今天穷人所拥有的东西比1970年的穷人多很多 Certainly, poor people today have many more things than poor people did in 1970.

纵观不同收入阶层，包括穷人 Across all income levels, including the poor

美国人更有可能拥有手机 Americans are likely to have cell phones

空调，平板电视机，电脑和汽车 air conditioners, flat screen TVs, computers and a car

预期寿命也大幅增长 And life expectancy has lengthened

这得益于全面完善的健康保险 considerably thanks to overall improvements in health care.

但说这些物质上的进步 But it demeans poor people to say that this material progress

使得贫困不怎么能算一个问题，是对穷人的羞辱 makes poverty less of a problem

我们的目标永远不应该是 Our goal should never be

仅仅让贫困对于人们来说没那么难以忍受 to merely make poverty less miserable for people.

我们的目标必须是使贫困更容易被摆脱 Our goal must be to make poverty more escapable.

许多进步主义者给出了一个直接了当的方案 Many progressives offer a straightforward solution

给贫困项目注入更多资金 more funding for poverty programs.

他们相信，我们应该通过政府税收 They believe that we need to transfer more wealth

把更多财富从有钱人手上转移到穷人手上 through government taxation -- from people who have money to people who don’t

这是基于收入不平等的观点 This is the income inequality argument.

对此保守派有不同的答案： Conservatives have a different answer

更多的机会 more opportunity.

保守派如此定义成功 Conservatives define success by

越少人需要政府的帮助 how few people need help from the government

而不是我们能吸收多少人进政府项目 not by how many people we can enroll in government programs.

当他们看到经济衰退后 When they see sixty percent more people on food stamps

与平时相比有高达60%的人口需要食品券时 after the recession than we had before it started

保守派说：“这不是成功。这是失败！” conservatives say, “That’s not success. That’s failure!”

你看，保守派相信单纯地给人们钱无法帮助他们摆脱贫困 You see, conservatives believe that simply giving people money doesn’t help them escape poverty

相反，这使他们深陷其中 on the contrary, it can keep them locked into it.

不劳而获是个非常难以改变的习惯 Getting things without working for them is a very hard habit to break

以至于这会成为一种生活方式 so much so, that it can become a way of life.

根据我的调查 According to my research

通过自己努力摆脱贫困是种更自主和持久的途径 earning your way out of poverty is much more empowering and enduring than being supported by a variety of government programs

与之相比 接受各种各样政府项目的资助会让人们甘于贫困 which do little more than maintain people in their poverty.

这不意味着政府就不需要做任何事 This doesn’t mean that government doesn’t have a role to play.

实际上，政府或者慈善机构 Indeed, wherever possible, the government and private charities

应该尽可能地要求人们以劳动来换取社会救济 should require people to work in exchange for social assistance.

当我们这样做时，我们就在两个方面帮助了人们 When we do this, we help people in two ways.

第一，通过福利，我们帮助他们解决迫切的物质需求 First, through welfare, we are helping them meet their immediate material needs.

第二，通过工作，我们帮助他们得到个人成就感 And second, through work, we are helping them earn their own success

获得充实的和有尊严的生活的关键 the key to a fulfilling and dignified life

不管我们是进步主义者还是保守主义者 Whether we’re progressive or conservative

那不正是我们希望公民同胞们能拥有的吗？ shouldn’t that be what we want for our fellow citizens?

我是阿瑟布鲁克斯，美国企业研究院主席 I’m Arthur Brooks, President of the American Enterprise Institute

为PragerU录制 for Prager University.

【翻译： PragerU，校对：FungChuh】