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TED演讲:贫穷的根源是什么?

TED演讲:贫穷的根源是什么?

TED演讲:贫穷的根源是什么?

发布于 2026-10-02 · 时长 14:58

字幕摘录

时间英文中文
0:13I'd like to start with a simple question.我先问个简单的问题
0:18Why do the poor make so many poor decisions?为什么穷人做出如此多的贫穷决定?
0:23I know it's a harsh question,我知道这是一个很苛刻的问题,
0:25but take a look at the data.但看看数据。
0:27The poor borrow more, save less, smoke more,穷人借更多钱,省更少钱,抽烟更多
0:30exercise less, drink more and eat less healthfully.少锻炼,多饮,少食健康.
0:34Why?为什么?
0:36Well, the standard explanation was once summed up嗯,标准的解释 曾经总结
0:39by the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,由英国首相 玛格丽特撒切尔,
0:41and she called poverty a她称贫穷为
展开字幕全文(290 条)
序号英文中文
1I'd like to start with a simple question.我先问个简单的问题
2Why do the poor make so many poor decisions?为什么穷人做出如此多的贫穷决定?
3I know it's a harsh question,我知道这是一个很苛刻的问题,
4but take a look at the data.但看看数据。
5The poor borrow more, save less, smoke more,穷人借更多钱,省更少钱,抽烟更多
6exercise less, drink more and eat less healthfully.少锻炼,多饮,少食健康.
7Why?为什么?
8Well, the standard explanation was once summed up嗯,标准的解释 曾经总结
9by the British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher,由英国首相 玛格丽特撒切尔,
10and she called poverty a她称贫穷为
11personality defect.人格缺陷。
12A lack of character, basically.基本上缺乏性格
13Now, I'm sure not many of you would be so blunt,现在,我敢肯定,你不会 很多人会这么钝,
14but the idea that there's something wrong with the poor themselves但穷人自己有问题的想法
15is not restricted to Mrs. Thatcher.并不限于撒切尔夫人
16Some of you may believe that the poor should be held responsible你们中有些人可能认为应该让穷人负责
17for their own mistakes,因为他们自己的错误,
18and others may argue that we should help them to make better decisions.其他人可能认为,我们应该帮助他们作出更好的决定。
19But the underlying assumption is the same.但基本假设相同.
20There's something wrong with them,他们有问题
21if we could just change them,如果我们能改变他们
22if we could just teach them how to live their lives,如果我们能教他们如何生活
23if they would only listen.如果他们只听。
24And to be honest,说实话,
25this was what I thought for a long time.我很久没这么想了
26It was only a few years ago that I discovered几年前我才发现
27that everything I thought I knew about poverty was wrong.我以为我对贫穷所知道的一切都错了
28It all started when I accidentally stumbled upon a paper这一切开始的时候,我无意中碰上了一张报纸
29by a few American psychologists.美国心理学家
30They had traveled 8,000 miles all the way to India他们远走印度八千英里
31for a fascinating study,以做一个令人感兴趣的研究,
32and it was an experiment with sugarcane farmers.这是对甘蔗农的实验
33You should know that these farmers collect about 60 percent你应该知道,这些农民 收集大约60%
34of their annual income all at once,他们的年收入一次,
35right after the harvest.收割完就回来
36And this means that they're relatively poor one part of the year这意味着他们一年中相对贫穷的一部分
37and rich the other.而富贵彼.
38And the researchers asked them to do an IQ test before and after the harvest.研究人员要求他们在收获前后进行智商测试.
39What they subsequently discovered completely blew my mind.他们后来发现的 完全让我心碎
40The farmers scored much worse on the test,农民在测试中得分更差
41before the harvest.在收获之前。
42The effects of living in poverty, it turns out,生活贫困的影响,结果,
43correspond to losing 14 points of IQ.对应损失智商14点。
44Now, to give you an idea,现在,给你一个想法,
45that's comparable to losing a night's sleep,这相当于失眠
46or the effects of alkalism.或碱的作用.
47A few months later, I heard that Elder Schaffir,几个月后 我听到沙菲尔长老
48a professor at Princeton University and one of the authors of this study,普林斯顿大学教授和这项研究的作者之一,
49was coming over to Holland, where I live.要去荷兰,我住的地方。
50So we met up in Amsterdam我们在阿姆斯特丹相遇
51to talk about his revolutionary new theory of poverty.谈论他关于贫穷的革命性新理论
52And I can sum it up in just two words.我可以用两个字来总结。
53Scarcity.恐惧。
54Mentality.觉性.
55It turns out that people behave differently原来人们的行为不同
56when they perceive a thing to be scarce.当他们发现一件事是稀缺的。
57And what that thing is doesn't much matter,那东西是什么不重要
58whether it's not enough time, money or food.无论是时间、金钱还是食物都不够
59You all know this feeling,你们都知道这种感觉,
60when you've got too much to do当你有太多事情要做的时候
61or when you've put off breaking for lunch and your blood sugar takes a dive.或者当你推迟午餐休息 和你的血糖去潜水。
62You know, this narrows your focus to your immediate lack,你知道,这缩小了你的注意力 到眼前的缺乏,
63{\fn黑体\fs22\bord1\shad0\3aHBE\4aH00\fscx67\fscy66\2cHFFFFFF\3cH808080}你现在得吃三明治了
64the meeting that's starting at five minutes五分钟后开会
65or the bills that have to be paid tomorrow.或者明天必须支付的账单
66So the long-term perspective goes out the window.因此,长远的视角会从窗口走出去.
67You could compare it to a new computer你可以把它比作新的电脑
68that's running 10 heavy programs at once.即刻执行十项重任务
69It gets slower and slower, making errors,越慢越慢 犯错
70eventually freezes,最终冻结,
71not because it's a bad computer,不是因为电脑坏了
72but because it has too much to do at once.但因为它有太多 做一次。
73And the poor have the same problem.而穷人也有同样的问题.
74They're not making dumb decisions because they are dumb,他们不是因为笨才做傻决定的
75but because they're living in a context因为他们生活在一个背景
76in which anyone would make dumb decisions.任何人在其中都会做出愚蠢的决定。
77So suddenly,突然间
78I understood why so many of our anti-poverty programs don't work.我知道为什么我们许多脱贫计划都行不通。
79Investments in education, for example,对教育的投资,例如,
80are often completely ineffective.往往完全无效。
81Poverty is not a lack of knowledge.贫穷不是缺乏知识。
82A recent analysis of 201 studies最近对201项研究的分析
83on the effectiveness of money management training货币管理培训的有效性
84came to the conclusion that it has almost no effect at all.得出的结论是,它几乎没有任何效果。
85Now, don't get me wrong.别误会我
86This is not to say that the poor don't learn anything.此非说贫道无学.
87They can come out wiser, for sure.他们肯定更聪明
88But it's not enough.然则不足矣.
89Or, as Professor Shafir told me,或者,正如沙菲尔教授告诉我,
90it's like teaching someone to swim就像教别人游泳
91and then throwing them in a stormy sea.然后把它们扔在风暴的大海中
92I still remember sitting there, perplexed.我仍然记得坐在那里,很困惑。
93And it struck me that we could have figured this out decades ago.这让我惊讶的是,我们早在几十年前就知道了。
94I mean, these psychologists didn't need any complicated brain scans.这些心理学家不需要任何复杂的脑部扫描
95They only had to measure the farmer's IQ,他们只需要测量农民的智商
96and IQ tests were invented more than 100 years ago.智商测试是100多年前发明的
97Actually, I realized I had read about the psychology of poverty before.事实上,我意识到我以前读过关于贫穷的心理学。
98George Orwell,乔治·奥威尔
99one of the greatest writers who ever lived experienced poverty firsthand有史以来最伟大的作家之一 亲身经历贫困
100in the 1920s.在20世纪20年代。
101The essence of poverty, he wrote back then,贫穷的本质,他回信说,
102is that it annihilates the future.是它毁灭了未来。
103And he marveled at, quote,他惊讶,
104how people take it for granted they have the right to preach at you人们怎么认为这是理所当然的, 他们有权利向你传教
105and pray over you as soon as your income falls below a certain level.只要收入低于一定水平,就为你们祈祷。
106Now, those words are every bit as resonant today.现在,这些话今天几乎都是反响。
107The big question is, of course, what can be done?最大的问题当然是,可以做些什么?
108Modern economists have a few solutions up their sleeves.现代经济学家在袖子上有一些解决方案.
109We could help the poor with their paperwork我们可以帮穷人办文件
110or send them a text message to remind them to pay their bills.或者给他们发条短信 提醒他们支付账单
111Now, this type of solution is hugely popular with modern politicians,现在,这种解决方案在现代政客中非常流行,
112mostly because, well, they cost next to nothing.大部分是因为,嗯,他们花费 旁边什么都没有。
113These solutions are, I think, a symbol of this era,我认为这些解决方案是这个时代的象征
114in which we so often treat the symptoms but ignore the underlying cause.我们经常在其中治疗症状,但忽略根本原因。
115So I wondered,所以我觉得
116why don't we just change the context in which the poor live?为什么我们不改变穷人的生活环境呢?
117Or, going back to our computer analogy,或者回到我们的电脑类比
118why keep tinkering around with the software为什么一直用软件修补?
119when we can easily solve the problem by installing some extra memory instead?当我们可以轻而易举地通过安装一些额外的内存解决问题时?
120Now, at that point, Professor Shafir responded with a blank look.此时,沙菲尔教授以空白的表情回应.
121And after a few seconds, he said,几秒钟后,他说,
122oh, I get it.哦,我懂了,我懂了,我懂了,我懂了
123You mean, you want to just hand out more money to the poor你是说,你想把更多的钱给穷人
124to eradicate poverty?消除贫穷?
125Uh, sure, that'd be great.嗯,当然,这将是伟大的。
126But I'm afraid that brand of left-wing politics you've got in Amsterdam,但我担心你在阿姆斯特丹的左翼政治
127it doesn't exist in the States.它在美国并不存在。
128But is this really an old-fashioned, leftist idea?但这真的是个老套的左派想法吗?
129I remembered reading about an old plan,我记得读到一个旧计划
130something that has been proposed by some of history's leading thinkers.历史上一些主要思想家提出的。
131The philosopher Thomas More first hinted at it in his book,哲学家托马斯·莫尔在他的书中首先暗示了这一点,
132Utopia, more than 500 years ago.乌托邦,500多年前的古迹.
133And its proponents have spent the spectrum from the left to the right,它的支持者从左到右都花光了
134from the civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King民权运动家马丁·路德·金
135to the economist Milton Friedman.给经济学家米尔顿·弗里德曼
136And it's an incredibly simple idea.这是一个非常简单的想法。
137Basic income guarantee.基本收入保障.
138What it is?这是什么?
139Well, that's easy.嗯,这很简单。
140It's a monthly grant, enough to pay for your basic needs.每月补助,足以满足基本需要.
141Food, shelter, education.食物 住所 教育
142It's completely unconditional,这是完全无条件的,
143so no one's going to tell you what you have to do for it,所以没人会告诉你你要为此做什么
144and no one's going to tell you what you have to do with it.没有人会告诉你你该做什么
145The basic income is not a favor, but a right.基本收入不是恩惠而是权利。
146There's absolutely no stigma attached.绝对没有污名
147So as I learned about the true nature of poverty,当我得知贫穷的真正性质时
148I couldn't stop wondering.我忍不住想着
149I mean, is this the idea we've all been waiting for?我的意思是,这是我们一直在等待的主意吗?
150Could it really be that simple?真的那么简单吗?
151And in the three years that followed,在接下来的三年里,
152I read everything I could find about basic income.我读了所有我能找到的基本收入。
153I researched the dozens of experiments that have been conducted我研究了数十个实验
154all over the globe.遍及全球.
155And it didn't take long before I stumbled upon the story of a town不久之后,我发现一个小镇的故事
156that had done it, that actually eradicated poverty,已经做到了,实际上消除贫穷,
157but then nearly everyone forgot about it.但后来几乎所有人都忘了
158This story starts in Dolphin, Canada.这个故事开始于加拿大的海豚.
159In 1974, everybody in this small town was guaranteed a basic income,1974年,这个小镇的每个人都得到了基本收入的保障,
160ensuring that no one fell below the poverty line.确保没有人跌到贫困线以下。
161And at the start of the experiment,在实验开始时,
162an army of researchers descended on the town.一群研究者来到了城里
163For four years, all went well.四年来,一切顺利
164But then, a new government was voted into power,但随后,新政府被投票掌权,
165and the new Canadian cabinet saw little point to the expensive experiment.新的加拿大内阁认为 昂贵的实验没有什么意义
166So when it became clear there was no money left to analyze the results,所以当发现没有钱分析结果时,
167the researchers decided to pack their files away研究者们决定把文件打包
168in some 2,000 boxes.大约两千箱
169Twenty-five years went by,25年过去了,
170and then Evelyn Fragé, a Canadian professor, found the records.之后加拿大教授伊芙琳·弗拉盖发现了这些记录.
171And for three years, she subjected the data to all manner of statistical analysis,三年来 她对数据进行了统计分析
172and no matter what she tried,无论她怎么努力
173the results were the same every time.每次结果都是一样的
174The experiment had been a resounding success.实验取得了巨大成功。
175Evelyn Fragé discovered that the people in Dolphin伊芙琳·弗拉盖发现海豚的人
176had not only become richer, but also smarter and healthier.不仅变得更富,而且更聪明和更健康。
177The school performance of kids improved substantially.儿童的学习成绩大为改善。
178The hospitalization rate decreased by as much as 8.5 percent.住院率下降了8.5%。
179Domestic violence incidents were down, as were mental health complaints,家庭暴力事件减少,心理健康投诉也减少。
180and people didn't quit their jobs.人们没有辞职
181The only ones who worked a little less were new mothers and students工作少一点的只有新生妈妈和学生
182who stayed in school longer.留在学校的时间更长。
183Similar results have since been found此后也发现了类似的结果
184in countless other experiments around the globe,在全球无数其他实验中
185from the US to India.从美国到印度。
186So here's what I've learned.这就是我学到的。
187When it comes to poverty,当涉及到贫困时,
188we, the rich,我们,富人,
189should stop pretending we know best.别再装作我们最清楚
190We should stop sending shoes and teddy bears to the poor我们不要再给穷人送鞋和泰迪熊了
191to people we have never met.我们从未见过的人
192And we should get rid of the vast industry of paternalistic bureaucrats我们应该摆脱家长式官僚的庞大行业
193when we can simply hand over their salaries to the poor they're supposed to help.我们只要把工资交给穷人 他们就应该帮忙
194Because, I mean, the great thing about money因为,我是说,钱的伟大之处
195is that people can use it to buy things they need人们可以用它来买他们需要的东西
196instead of things that self-appointed experts think they need.而不是自我任命的专家认为他们需要的东西。
197I mean, just imagine how many brilliant scientists我的意思是,只是想象 有多少杰出的科学家
198and entrepreneurs and writers like George Orwell以及乔治·奥威尔等企业家和作家
199are now withering away in scarcity.正在消失 在稀缺中。
200Imagine how much energy and talent we would unleash想象一下我们会释放出多少能量和才华
201if we get rid of poverty once and for all.如果我们一劳永逸地摆脱贫困。
202I believe that a basic income would work like venture capital for the people.我相信,基本收入将像人民的风险资本一样发挥作用。
203And we can't afford not to do it,我们不能不这样做,
204because poverty is hugely expensive.因为贫穷是昂贵的。
205Just look at the cost of child poverty in the US, for example.例如,看看美国儿童贫困的代价。
206It's estimated at 500 billion dollars each year估计每年有5000亿美元
207in terms of higher health care spending,保健支出增加;
208higher dropout rates and more crime.辍学率上升,犯罪率上升。
209Now, this is an incredible waste of human potential.这是对人类潜力的难以置信的浪费。
210But let's talk about the elephant in the room.但说室中大象.
211How could we ever afford a basic income guarantee?我们怎么支付基本的收入保障?
212Well, it's actually a lot cheaper than you may think.其实比你想的便宜多了
213What they did in Darwin is they financed it with a negative income tax.他们在达尔文所做的是 他们以负所得税资助它。
214This means that your income is topped up这就是说,你的收入是最高的
215as soon as you fall below the poverty line.一旦你跌到贫困线以下
216And in that scenario,在这种情况下,
217according to our economist's best estimates,根据经济学家的最佳估计
218for a net cost of 175 billion,净成本为1 750亿美元,
219a quarter of US military spending,美国军费的四分之一,
220one percent of GDP,占国内生产总值的1%
221you could lift all impoverished Americans above the poverty line.你可以把所有穷困的美国人 抬到贫困线以上
222You could actually eradicate poverty.你实际上可以消除贫穷。
223Now, that should be our goal.这应该是我们的目标。
224The time for small thoughts and little nudges is past.少思少想,小udge之期已过.
225I really believe that the time has come for radical new ideas,我真的相信,现在该是提出激进的新想法的时候了,
226and basic income is so much more than just another policy.而基本收入远不止于另一种政策。
227It is also a complete rethink of what work actually is.这也是对实际工作的彻底反思。
228And in that sense, it will not only free the poor,从这个意义上讲,它不仅能解放穷人,
229but also the rest of us.还有我们其他人
230Nowadays, millions of people feel that their jobs如今,数百万人感到他们的工作
231have little meaning or significance.没有什么意义或意义。
232A recent poll among 230,000 employees in 142 countries最近对142个国家的23万名雇员进行的民意调查
233found that only 13 percent of workers actually like their job.发现只有13%的工人真正喜欢他们的工作。
234And another poll found that as much as 37 percent of British workers另一项民意调查发现, 多达37%的英国工人
235have a job that they think doesn't even need to exist.有一份他们认为不需要存在的工作
236It's like Brad Pitt says in Fight Club,就像布拉德皮特在"格斗俱乐部"里说的
237too often, we're working jobs we hate so we can buy shit we don't need.我们经常做我们讨厌的工作 所以我们可以买我们不需要的东西
238Now, don't get me wrong.别误会我
239I'm not talking about the teachers and the garbage men我不是说老师和垃圾工
240and the care workers here.还有这里的护理人员
241If they'd stop working,如果他们停止工作,
242we'd be in trouble.我们会有麻烦的。
243I'm talking about all those well-paid professionals我说的是那些高薪的专业人士
244with excellent resumes who earned their money拥有出色的履历 赚了他们的钱
245during strategic, transsector, peer-to-peer meetings在战略、跨部门、同行会议期间
246while brainstorming the value add-on of disruptive co-creation同时集思广益 破坏共创的价值
247in the network society.在网络社会中。
248Or something like that.或有类者.
249Just imagine again how much talent we're wasting再想想我们浪费了多少才华
250simply because we tell our kids they'll have to earn a living.只是因为我们告诉孩子们 他们得谋生
251Or think of what a math whiz, working at Facebook,或者想想在Facebook工作时 算得上什么
252lamented a few years ago.哀叹数年前.
253The best minds of my generation我这一代最好的人才
254are thinking about how to make people click ads.正在思考如何让人们点击广告。
255I'm a historian,我是个历史学家
256and if history teaches us anything,如果历史告诉我们什么,
257it is that things could be different.事情可能不一样
258There is nothing inevitable about the way we structure our society我们社会的结构是不可避免的
259and economy right now.和现在的经济。
260Ideas can and do change the world.思想能够并确实改变世界。
261And I think that especially in the past few years,我认为特别是在过去几年里
262it has become abundantly clear that we cannot stick to the status quo,非常清楚,我们不能坚持现状,
263that we need new ideas.我们需要新的想法。
264I know that many of you may feel pessimistic我知道你们很多人可能感到悲观
265about a future of rising inequality, xenophobia and climate change,关于日益加剧的不平等、仇外心理和气候变化的未来,
266but it's not enough to know what we're against.但这不足以知道我们反对什么
267We also need to be for something.我们还需要有所作为。
268Martin Luther King didn't say,马丁·路德·金没有说
269I have a nightmare.我有一个噩梦。
270He had a dream.他做了个梦
271So here's my dream.这就是我的梦想
272I believe in a future我相信未来
273where the value of your work is not determined by the size of your paycheck,如果工作价值不取决于工资大小,
274but by the amount of happiness you spread但以你们所享受的幸福,
275and the amount of meaning you give.以及你给它的意义
276I believe in a future我相信未来
277where the point of education is not to prepare you for another useless job,教育的重心不是让你做好 另一项无用的工作,
278but for a life well lived.但为生活好。
279I believe in a future where an existence without poverty我相信一个没有贫困的未来
280is not a privilege but a right we all deserve.这不是一种特权,而是我们大家应得的权利。
281So here we are.我们到了
282Here we are.我们到了。
283We've got the research, we've got the evidence and we've got the means.有研究,有证据和手段.
284Now, more than 500 years after Thomas More first wrote about basic income在托马斯·莫尔第一次写到基本收入后500多年
285and 100 years after George Orwell discovered the true nature of poverty,在乔治·奥威尔发现贫穷的真正性质100年后
286we all need to change our worldview.我们都需要改变我们的世界观。
287Thank you.谢谢
288Because poverty is not a lack of character.因为贫穷不是缺乏性格。
289Poverty is a lack of cash.贫穷是缺乏现金。
290Thank you.谢谢
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