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And a reasonable argument is often made by organisers of cultural festivals that sponsors pay for these things,
文化节的组织者经常会提出合理的理由，认为赞助商会为这些活动买单，
and pay for events such as Notting Hill Carnival, Pride and Mela to stay free, and accessible to all.
为诺丁山狂欢节、同志游行等活动出钱，人们就能免费参加，而且所有人都可以参加。
But it's hard not to wonder if something is being lost along the way,
但是很难不去想是否有些东西正在丢失，
in an era when venture capital-backed music video platform Boiler Room receives Arts Council funding
在这个时代，风投支持的音乐视频平台Boiler Room获得了艺术委员会的资助，
to broker Notting Hill Carnival sponsorship deals and live-stream its intimate hedonism to the world;
促成诺丁山狂欢节的赞助协议，并向全世界直播其私密的享乐主义；
or popular, long-standing free community festivals such as south London's Lambeth Country Show suddenly have a heavy security presence, prompting outrage and boycotts.
或者，存在已久的自由社区节日，比如伦敦南部的兰贝斯乡村音乐节，突然间部署了大量的安保人员，引发了人们的愤怒和抵制。
Perhaps this is too pessimistic. The 21st-century domestication of the crowd does not in itself snuff out its power.
也许这太悲观了。21世纪对人群的驯化本身并没有消灭人群的力量。
The experience of being part of a crowd can still change us in all manner of unexpected ways.
成为人群中的一员的经历仍能以各种意想不到的方式改变我们。
If one thing should be retained from academics' debunking of the myth of the crowd as a single beast with one brain and a thousand limbs,
学者们揭穿了大众是一只拥有一个大脑和一千只四肢的单个野兽的真相，如果有一件事需要保留，
it is precisely that the diversity of the individuals within the crowd is what makes it so vital.
正是群体中个体的多样性使其如此重要。
Far from behaving as one, everyone has different cooperation thresholds for participation,
远不是作为一个人那样行动，每个人都有不同的参与合作门槛，
and there are some who by their nature will always be the first in the pool.
有些人天生就永远是池子里的第一个。
For better or worse, crowds empower more shy or conservative people to do what they might not have done otherwise:
无论是好是坏，人群让那些比较害羞或保守的人能够做他们在别的情况下不会做的事：
to pronounce their political beliefs or proclaim their sexual orientation in public,
公开宣布他们的政治信仰或性取向，
to sing about their heartfelt feelings for Sergio Aguero, to occupy a bank, to throw a brick,
歌唱他们对塞尔吉奥·阿奎罗的深情，占领银行，扔砖头，
to fight with strangers, to dance to Abba in the concourse of a major intercity railway station.
和陌生人打架，在一个主要的城际火车站的大厅里伴着Abba跳舞。
Being a crowd member is not a muscle that will atrophy through lack of use –
作为一名群众成员，不是肌肉缺乏使用就会萎缩——
our knack for it, and need for it, has a much longer history than the months we will be required to keep our physical distance.
我们的集会诀窍和集会需求的历史，要比我们需要保持物理距离的几个月时间长得多。
The desire to be part of the crowd is a part of who we are, and it will not be dispersed so easily.
渴望成为大众的一部分是我们自身的一部分，它不会那么容易被驱散。
