美国人的忧郁癖性

美国人的忧郁癖性
In the course of my travels in America I have been impressed by a kind of fundamental malaise which seems to me extremely common and which poses difficult problems for the social reformer. Most social reformers have held the opinion that, if poverty were abolished and there were no more economic insecurity, the millennium would have arrived. But when I look at the faces of people in opulent cars, whether in your country or in mine, I do not see that look of radiant happiness which the aforesaid social reformers had led me to expect. In nine cases out of ten, I see instead a look of boredom and discontent and an almost frantic longing for something that might tickle the jaded palate.
But it is not only the very rich who suffer in this way. Professional men very frequently feel hopelessly thwarted. There is something that they long to do or some public object that they long to work for. But if they were to indulge their wishes in these respects, they fear that they would lose their livelihood. Their wives are equally unsatisfied, for their neighbor, Mrs. So-and-So, has gone ahead more quickly, has a better car, a larger apartment and grander friends.
Life for almost everybody is a long competitive struggle where very few can win the race, and those who do not win are unhappy. On social occasions when it is de rigueur to seem cheerful, the necessary demeanor is stimulated by alcohol. But the gaiety does not ring true and anybody who has just one drink too many is apt to lapse into lachrymose melancholy.
When I try to understand what it is that prevents so many Americans from being as happy as one might expect, it seems to me that there are two causes, of which one goes much deeper than the other. The one that goes least deep is the necessity of subservience in some large organization. If you are an energetic man with strong views as to the right way of doing the job with which you are concerned, you find yourself invariably under the orders of some big man at the top who is elderly, weary and cynical. Whenever you have a bright idea, the boss puts a stopper on it. The more energetic you are and the more vision you have, the more you will suffer from the impossibility of doing any of the things that you feel ought to be done. When you go home and moan to your wife, she tells you that you are a silly fellow and that if you became the proper sort of yes-man your income would soon be doubled. If you try divorce and remarriage it is very unlikely that there will be any change in this respect. And so you are condemned to gastric ulcers and premature old age.
——————Bertrand Russell The Unhappy American Way
我在美国旅行期间，注意到了一种根深蒂固的忧郁症。

我觉得这种忧郁症似乎极其普遍，这就给社会改革家出了难题。

大多数社会改革家认为，若是消除了贫困，有了经济保障，太平盛世会到来。

但是，无论在贵国还是在敝国，看看坐在豪华轿车里的人们的面孔，却见不到社会改革家引导人们期待的那种喜气洋洋的神情。

相反，十有八九，我看到的是一副副厌倦不满的神情，以及近乎疯狂的渴望，想找点东西吊起早已发腻的胃口。

然而忍受这般苦楚的还不仅仅是那些富豪们。

专业人员也经常感到百般无奈，一筹莫展。

他们希望有点事情可做，希望为某项公共事业做点贡献。

但是，要想满足这些愿望，又担心会失去生计。

他们的太太也同样不满足，因为邻居某某太太转眼间又超到前头去了，有了更豪华的轿车，更宽敞的住宅，更高贵的朋友。

几乎对每个人而言，生活是一场持久竞争，很少有人能成为羸家，而羸不了的人便要
垂头丧气。

在按照礼仪需要兴高采烈的社交场合，这种必要的仪态却是靠酒精激发的。

但是这种欢乐听上去并不真实，任何人只要多喝一杯，就会悲从中来，潸然泪下。

我想弄清楚为什么那么多美国人不像人们预想的那样快乐，觉得似乎有两个原因，其中一个比另一个深刻得多。

那个浅显的原因是，在大机构里供职必须俯首帖耳。

如果你是个精力充沛的人，对于如何恰当地完成你的工作有着独到的见解，你发现自己总要听命于上面的某个大人物，他上了年纪，精力不支，还爱吹毛求疵。

你一有个好主意，老板就一棍子打死。

你越是积极，越有见地，你就越苦于无法完成你觉得自己应该完成的工作。

你回到家向妻子抱怨时，妻子会说你是个蠢货，还说你若是个唯唯诺诺的人，你的收入很快就会翻一番。

如果你想离婚再娶一个女人，这种状况不会发生任何变化。

因此，你注定要得胃溃疡，未老先衰。