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But, politics can be abstract; it can be complicated; people are busy living.
问题是，政治有时抽象有时复杂，而人们仅仅是忙着生活就已自顾不暇。
Politics often benefits from scandal, from prominent misbehavior, from a dramatization of the discourse.
另一方面，政治往往要从丑闻，从显眼的不当行为与戏剧化的语言中汲取养分。
And this was what was so remarkable about 2019: because of the coming election in these populist times,
而2019年格外引人注目的地方在于：面对这个民粹主义时代下即将到来的这场选举，
it was already a year potentially full of trouble for the plutocrats—
对于巨富阶层——我喜欢叫他们“巨富”（为了节省篇幅，继而节省纸张，由此节省树木）——而言，
or plutes, as I like to call them (to save space and, thus, paper and, therefore, trees).
2019年已经是危机四伏的一年。
But, almost as if to assist the cause, the plutes seemed this year to put on an extended exhibit of performance art
然而，仿佛他们也想为环保事业添砖加瓦，巨富们今年似乎格外努力地在践行一门行为艺术，
whose plain, if unstated, thesis is that plutocracy is maybe a bad idea.
这一艺术秉承的思想其实很简单，如果说大家对此都已经心照不宣了的话，那就是，富豪统治或许并不是什么好主意。
Exhibit A: Early in the year, Amazon, run by one of the world's richest people, Jeff Bezos,
证据A：今年早些时候，全世界最大的富豪之一杰夫·贝佐斯创办的亚马逊宣布，
announced it was pulling out of its planned Hydra-like "second headquarters" in New York City.
亚马逊将停止推进在纽约市成立九头蛇式的“第二总部”的计划。
It seemed to come as a surprise to Bezos that in a city where a significant number of people struggle to keep up with rising costs and stagnant pay,
让贝佐斯感到惊讶的是，在纽约这个相当一部分人连适应不断上涨的物价和停滞不前的工资都觉得吃力的城市，
many weren't excited by the idea of the state and city giving his company a few billion dollars in tax breaks
州和市给予他公司的数十亿美元的税收减免优惠分明是普通创业者不可企及的优惠，
that wouldn't be available to a regular Joe starting a business.
并未引起很多人的兴趣。
In the debate that erupted, the conventional wisdom that it is always better to attract jobs,
在接下来引发的辩论中，认为吸引就业总是上上之举——即便要给企业更具吸引力的激励举措——
even by offering companies major incentives, came to be questioned.
的传统观点开始受到质疑。
Exhibit B: The college-bribery scandal.
证据B：大学招生舞弊丑闻。
Wealth and privilege are already great guarantors of securing a spot in a university.
如今，财富和特权已经成为获取大学通行证的重要保证。
What the scandal unearthed by federal prosecutors illustrated is that many very rich people are not satisfied with the general advantage of hyper privilege,
但联邦检察官所揭露的丑闻表明，不少大富大贵之人已经不再满足于超级特权这一已经十分普遍的优势，
not even with the specific advantage of donations to universities that give you an edge but not a guarantee.
甚至不再满足于校友捐赠所带来的，不能为大学通行打包票的特定优势。
The ascendant critics of capitalism in American politics have called the system "rigged" for years.
多年来，美国政坛上日益响亮的资本主义批评之声反复表示，资本主义体系已经“被操控了”。
But here was a biopsy of the rigging.
然而，这一操控也存在着这样一个切面。
The most revealing subplot of the college scandal was the arrest of Bill McGlashan.
比尔·麦格拉汉被捕一事成了大学招生贿赂风波最能说明问题的小插曲。
Many others ensnared in the scheme had bolder-faced names, but McGlashan was significant
很多被此案牵连的人的名头都比麦格拉汉响亮，但他舞弊之事格外重大，
because he had become a symbol of the hope, promoted by so many of the winners of our age,
原因在于我们这个时代的无数成功人士都扬言要带领大家迈向更公平的社会，
that they would lead the charge toward a fairer society.
麦格拉汉已然成了这一希望的代表。
McGlashan, through the Rise Fund that he helped create and is managed by his private-equity firm, TPG Growth,
麦格拉汉，通过他帮助创立，现由他名下的私募股权公司TPG Growth管理的投资团队Rise Fund,
had helped popularize the growing field of "impact investing"—
帮助推广了“影响力投资”——即投资不仅要以经济效益为追求，
in which a fund pursues not only economic returns but also the betterment of the world.
还要以让世界的明天变得更加美好为追求——领域的不断发展。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
