你對美國的14個誤會

　　Fourth Of July Lies

　　關(guān)于美國的14個謠言

　　America is the land of the free, home of the brave... the white picket fences, the 2.5 kids in every "modern family." Or so we've been led to believe。

　　美國，自由的沃土，勇者的家園.。.屋外環(huán)繞著白色尖樁籬笆，屋內(nèi)奔跑著平均2-3個小孩——典型的“美國現(xiàn)代家庭”圖景。而這些都只是我們印象中的美國。

　　In honor of the Fourth of July and the celebration of our independence from a country that taxed us without representation, we look at some of the ridiculous myths and outright lies that have people entirely misled about the United States. From Jackie Robinson to who really discovered America, these are the true stories about our history.。.

　　為了慶祝7月4號，這個標志著我們從另一個國家的剝削中解放出來的日子，我們審視了一些關(guān)于美國的荒謬傳說及謊言，這些東西誤導著人們對美國的看法。從黑人球員Jackie Robinson到航海家哥倫布，我們現(xiàn)在來將謠言逐一擊破吧!

　　Myth 1: America Is A Democracy

　　謠言1：美國是個民主國家

　　In the current age, America and democracy are synonymous. Little do most Americans know they don't actually live in a democracy. America was actually founded as a Constitutional Republic, as stated in the Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance. In an Economist ranking of the world's democratic countries in 2006, America didn't even crack the top 10.

　　當前，“美國”和“民主”似乎已成了同義詞。然而絕大部分美國人不知道的是，他們生活的這個國家，并不是個民主國家。美國最初是作為一個憲法共和國而建立的，這一點在《憲法》和《效忠宣誓》中都有體現(xiàn)。在06年《經(jīng)濟學人》進行的一項全球民主國家排名中，美國甚至沒有擠進前十。

　　Myth 2: The Founding Fathers Were Christian

　　謠言2：美國是由一群基督徒建立的

　　This is both true and false. A large number of the Founding Fathers were associated with various sects of the Christian church, like Protestantism and Lutheranism. However, many still openly opposed organized religion. Thomas Jefferson practiced Deism, which contends that reason and observation of the natural world are enough to determine the universe has a creator without the need for organized religion。

　　這句話半對半錯。美國的開國者之中有一大批從屬于基督教會的不同分支，如新教、路德教。然而，也有很多人公然反對有組織的宗教。Thomas Jefferson就信奉自然神教，該教的主張是：自然世界的推理和觀察足以說明世界存在著創(chuàng)始者，并不需要通過組織教會來證明這一點。

　　Myth 3: Thanksgiving

　　謠言3：關(guān)于感恩節(jié)

　　While it's true that the occasion we now know as Thanksgiving first occurred between Pilgrims and nearby Indians, it originally was three days long and served to salute the annual harvest. (Imagine our modern version of stuffing and turkeys for three days。) For the Pilgrims, Thanksgiving was intended to be a religious holiday of fasting and prayer, but only turned to a feast after the rains came during one such period in 1623.

　　感恩節(jié)最初來源于清教徒和印第安人，這點是沒錯。不過，最初的感恩節(jié)足足有3天，是為了用來慶祝本年豐收的(想象一下用現(xiàn)代社會的慶祝方式胡吃海喝三天的情景……)。對于清教徒來說，感恩節(jié)是個虔誠的節(jié)日，在這段時間里人們禁食和祈禱。不過，1623年的那次感恩節(jié)下了場雨，于是節(jié)日內(nèi)容轉(zhuǎn)變成大快朵頤了。

　　Myth 4: The Native Americans were Savages

　　謠言4：原始印第安人都是野蠻人

　　Hollywood has certainly popularized the image of brutes dressed in feathers and buffalo leather, aiming to harm a good-ole tobacco spitting cowboy, but the truth of the matter is a bit more complex。

　　外表粗野，身著羽毛和水牛皮飾，整天和滿嘴煙草的牛仔盤旋打斗……這是好萊塢塑造的經(jīng)典“印第安人”形象。然而真實情況并非如此。

　　In the book "A People's History of the United States," author Howard Zinn quotes Christopher Columbus's first impressions of the Indians, saying "They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane.... They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."

　　在《美國人民的歷史》一書中，作者Howard Zinn引用了哥倫布登上美洲大陸后對印第安人的第一印象，他是這么說的：“他們沒有武器，也不知何為武器——我把劍拿給他們看，他們居然用手去抓劍刃，把自己給弄傷了。他們沒有鐵器。他們的矛是用藤條做的.。.他們可以做不錯的仆人.。.我們五十個人就能徹底征服他們，想讓他們做什么就做什么。”

　　Myth 5: It's A Free Country

　　謠言5：這是個自由的國度

　　There is a general belief that we can walk anywhere, rest anywhere or do whatever we need to do to survive. Tell that to the homeless. Although courts struck down laws against vagrancy years ago, sleeping on the streets or in public parks is still illegal, as is hitchhiking, panhandling and other "freebies" broke people need to survive。

　　人們普遍認為在美國，想去哪兒都可以，想睡哪兒也沒人干涉，為了生存什么都能干。流浪漢們可不這么想。即使多年前法庭就已經(jīng)廢除了“流浪罪”，但在街道或公園里睡覺仍然是違法的，同樣，搭便車、行乞等流浪漢們用來賴以生存的“免費的東西”，也都是違法的。

　　And there are countless laws and ordinances designed to give police officers probable cause to violate our freedoms. In June 2011, a woman in Rochester, New York was arrested simply for filming a traffic stop from her front lawn, proving that we aren't free -- even if we stay in our yards。

　　此外，還有數(shù)不清的法規(guī)和條例使警察們擁有充足的理由來干預人們的自由。2011年的6月在紐約州的羅切斯特市，一位女士僅僅因為站在自家草坪上拍攝一個停車標記而被捕——這件事證明了我們是不自由的——即使站在自己地盤里，也同樣不自由。

　　Myth 6: The Federal Reserve Is U.S. Owned & Operated

　　謠言6：美聯(lián)儲是由美國掌控的

　　The Fed conducts the nation's monetary policy, but faces no regulation from the government aside from the appointment of its President and Board of Governors. Otherwise, the central bank can do what it pleases。

　　美聯(lián)儲管理著全美的貨幣政策，卻完全不受政府約束，只受美聯(lián)儲主席和理事會成員指揮。要不是有這層限制，央行簡直可以為所欲為了。

　　Recent proof comes direct from former Chairman Alan Greenspan, who stated point blank that the U.S. Government cannot do anything to influence the Fed's policy. And, more recently, according to Bloomberg News, the bank refused "to disclose the recipients of more than $2 trillion of emergency loans from [the bailout] and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral."

　　最近的證據(jù)來自前主席阿蘭格林斯潘，他直白地點出：美國政府對美聯(lián)儲貨幣政策的影響力幾乎為零。不久前，據(jù)彭博新聞社的消息，央行“拒絕公開2萬億美元緊急貸款的接受人名單，這些貸款均來自于保釋金及央行持有的擔保資產(chǎn)。”

　　Myth 7: The Bushes Are Texan

　　謠言7：布什家族是得克薩斯人

　　Despite deep ties to the Texas oil business, including failed ventures from G.W., the roots of the Bush family are about as Texan as, say, Connecticut. The Bush's are a northeast elite banking family, whose lineage extends back to the British crown. W's grandfather Prescott Bush was a member of Yale's elite Skull and Bones secret society, as were Bush, Sr. and W. himself. Prescott went on to unfathomable Wall Street riches and infamy, after he was tried and charged with money laundering for the Nazis during WWII。

　　盡管布什家族在德州有龐大深厚的石油產(chǎn)業(yè)，其中也包括小布什那些失敗的投資，但這個家族真正的產(chǎn)業(yè)根基其實是在康涅狄格州。布什家族是東北部的銀行世家，可往前追溯到英國皇室。小布什的爺爺普利史考特·布什曾是耶魯大學“骷髏會”秘密精英社團的成員之一，他的兒子、孫子也不例外。普利史考特也曾是深不可測又臭名昭著的華爾街一員，二戰(zhàn)時被指控曾為納粹洗錢。

　　Myth 8: Christopher Columbus Discovered America

　　謠言8：美洲大陸是哥倫布發(fā)現(xiàn)的

　　The "Columbus discovered America" myth doesn't seem to be dying off. For starters, Native Americans occupied the territory for centuries before his arrival. But the Scandinavians were also here previously: their Vikings were known to have landed 500 years before Columbus did, yet Columbus gets the credit as the man who discovered America during his Spanish Empire-financed voyage in search of gold.

　　這是個經(jīng)久不衰的傳言。從頭追溯的話，印第安土著在哥倫布登陸的前幾百年就已經(jīng)占領(lǐng)了這塊領(lǐng)土了。斯坎蒂納維亞人也不例外：維京海盜們先于哥倫布500年登陸了這塊土地。但最終還是由西班牙皇室資助的尋金之旅讓“哥倫布發(fā)現(xiàn)新大陸”的事跡永垂史冊。

　　Myth 9: The Statue of Liberty Is An Ode to American Greatness

　　謠言9：“自由女神像”是對偉大美國的歌頌

　　Based on the broken shackles at its feet and the politics of its creator, it comes as little surprise that rumors have built up that the Statue of Liberty is a tribute to the end of slavery. Frederic Bartholdi's statue has given the National Office of Parks and Recreations second thoughts in the past couple of years, and the department has conducted a thorough investigation.

　　基于女神腳上破裂的鐐銬和原創(chuàng)造者的政治背景，那個關(guān)于“自由女神像的建造是為了慶祝奴隸制的終止”的傳言不會讓人產(chǎn)生絲毫懷疑。不過，巴托爾迪的這個作品，在過去的幾十年中，促使美國公園娛樂協(xié)會好好地思考了番，并展開了一系列的深度調(diào)查。

　　They found the rumor of slavery was based on a single marketing pamphlet by Bartholdi, which they deemed to be false, but they did find that it is most likely true that Lady Liberty was modeled from the body of an African woman. Bartholdi had studied African women for a prior commission on an Egyptian statue, but when that project was scrapped, the studies became the foundation for the green Lady.

　　調(diào)查的結(jié)果是：他們發(fā)現(xiàn)這個關(guān)于奴隸制的傳言來自于巴托爾迪的一本營銷小冊子，且認定其為偽造。但調(diào)查同時也發(fā)現(xiàn)，自由女神模特是一位非洲裔女性。巴托爾迪曾受托研究過埃及神像中的非洲女性，但該計劃后被終止，于是他的研究成就了今日的自由女神。

　　Myth 10: Jackie Robinson

　　謠言10：關(guān)于Jackie Robinson

　　Not to diminish Jackie Robinson or Rosa Parks, but just as Parks wasn't the first black person to refuse to move her seat, Robinson didn't break the baseball color code. In fact, blacks and whites briefly played professional baseball together in 1878 and 1879. In 1916, Jimmy Claxton, passing as a Native American, played a week until his black roots were found out, ending his contract forthwith.

　　并不是要貶低Jackie Robinson或Rosa Parks的重要性，但正如Parks女士并不是第一個拒絕給白人讓座的黑人一樣，Robinson也不是打破美國棒球界白人壟斷局面的第一人。事實上，早在1878-1879年，美國職業(yè)棒球賽上就已經(jīng)有白人和黑人共同上場的記錄了。1916年，Jimmy Claxton以美洲印第安人的身份上場比賽了一周，直到后來他的黑人血統(tǒng)被挖掘出來，才被終止了合同。

　　Then in 1945, while men of all sorts of ethnic backgrounds were dying beside each other in WWII, Happy Chandler, the new baseball commissioner, supported the signing of Jackie Robinson to the Brooklyn Dodgers. Robinson was called up to play in 1947, the same year Larry Doby, another black American and hall of famer, played for the Cleveland Indians.

　　后來到了1945年，無論什么血統(tǒng)的男人們都肩并肩地倒在了二戰(zhàn)的戰(zhàn)場上。那時，新的棒球委員會成員Happy Chandler支持Jackie Robinson與布魯克林道奇隊簽約。Robinson于是在1947年的比賽中上場了。同年，另一位黑人，同時也是名人堂成員之一的Larry Doby，為克里夫蘭印第安人隊效力。

　　Myth 11: "The British Are Coming"

　　謠言11：“英國人要來了”

　　Sarah Palin's recent flub brought attention to this inexhaustible myth. While her retelling of history was creative, the truth of the matter is that the wealthy silversmith and organizer of the "alarm system" set to warn of British invasion, Revere, was tipped off by Joseph Warren that British troops were heading after Samuel Adams and John Hancock.

　　莎拉佩林最近的口誤讓這個傳言又紅火起來，盡管她重述的歷史是瞎編的。事情的真相是：富有的銀匠、“警報系統(tǒng)”(用于發(fā)布英國人入侵的警報)的組織者Revere，收到了Joseph Warren的密報，說英國軍隊正在搜捕Samuel Adams和John Hancock。

　　Revere set out and informed every messenger and rider he could about the movement. By the end of the night, it's figured nearly 40 men were sending out similar warnings by the time Revere crossed the Charles and warned every home in Charlestown of the British arrival. According to local sources, secrecy needed to be maintained and so Revere actually yelling, "The British are coming" would have been ill-advised, so the more stealthy "The Regulars are coming out" was used.

　　于是Revere通知了每個能通知到的信使和騎手們。當夜，Revere橫渡查爾斯河，將“英國人要來了”的消息通知了查爾斯敦的每戶居民;與此同時，有近40人向外散布了同樣的警告。據(jù)當?shù)卦假Y料記載，為了不泄密，Revere喊的其實不是“英國人要來了”，而是更為隱秘的“統(tǒng)治者要來了”。

　　Myth 12: Dan Quayle Misspelled "Potato"

　　謠言12：丹奎爾拼錯了單詞“Potato”(土豆)

　　Dan Quayle, the VP under President Bush Sr., never seemed to shake his image of a dunce following a much publicized misspelling of the word "potato" to a group of elementary school students in New Jersey. The truth of the matter is, the spelling card Quayle held, and was assured had been checked, was wrong, adding an "e" to the end of the word. The incident seriously damaged the Bush-Quayle presidential ticket and Clinton-Gore went on to win the election.

　　丹奎爾是老布什總統(tǒng)手下的副總統(tǒng)。自從有次訪問一所新澤西州的小學時，他不小心把“potato”(土豆)這個單詞拼錯后，似乎就再也沒法從公眾心中抹去其“呆瓜”的形象。事情的真相是，倒霉的Quayle那天手上拿的拼寫卡，本身就是印刷錯誤的——詞尾多加了個“e”，盡管這張卡事先被檢查過(不知檢查的人是干什么吃的……)。總之，這個事件極大地影響了布什-奎爾競選集團的選票，于是克林頓-戈爾集團贏了選舉。

　　Myth 13: George Washington And The Cherry Tree

　　謠言13：喬治華盛頓和櫻桃樹的故事

　　According to UVA scholars, Washington chopping down his Cherry Tree is pure myth, an attempt to construct a legend around the nation's first President after Washington's initial biography painted him as "cold and colorless." The moral of the Cherry Tree story was Washington's humility and honesty, a fable attributed to the leader's refusal to continue serving, thus contradicting the grab for power and tyranny from which the nation had just escaped.

　　據(jù)弗吉尼亞大學的學者們說，“華盛頓砍倒自家的櫻桃樹”的故事純屬虛構(gòu)，這只是給美國第一任總統(tǒng)平白添加的光環(huán)，以緩和其自傳中“冷酷呆板”的形象。這個故事的寓意是為了體現(xiàn)華盛頓的謙虛和誠實，對這位自動放棄連任、歸隱田園的總統(tǒng)加以潤飾，與美國獨立前統(tǒng)治者獨愛權(quán)勢和暴政的情形產(chǎn)生極大反差。

　　Myth 14: Prison Is Only For Hardened Criminals

　　謠言14：監(jiān)獄是專為重刑犯準備的

　　According to numerous studies, America's incarceration rate is the highest in the world, topping 743 per 100,000 persons, with more than 2.2 million behind bars as of 2011. Scary still, one out of every 143 adults and one in 111 African-Americans are behind bars. (Meanwhile, racial profiling is rampant across the country, to the extent that everyone from Congressional Democrats to former President George W. Bush have called it unconstitutional and just plain "wrong.") With so many behind bars, it's not possible that all of these people are serious thugs.

　　據(jù)多項研究表明，美國監(jiān)禁率為全球最高，達到每10萬人中就有743個蹲監(jiān)獄的，2011全年共收了220萬個罪犯入獄。更恐怖的是，143個成年人里就有一個是罪犯，111個非洲裔美國人里就有一個是蹲大牢的。(與此同時，種族歧視在全美泛濫，從民主黨議員到前總統(tǒng)小布什，幾乎所有人都指出這是“不符合憲法精神的”以及是“完全錯誤的”。)可見雖然如今蹲大牢的人這么多，但不可能個個都是重刑犯吧。