《共和党人对穷人的关怀是虚伪的》赏析.docVIP

Hammock Fallacy（吊床谬论） 共和党人对穷人的关怀是虚伪的 １．Hypocrisy is the tribute vice pays to virtue. So when you see something like the current scramble by Republicans to declare their deep concern for America’s poor, it’s a good sign, indicating a positive change in social norms. Goodbye, sneering at the 47 percent; hello, fake compassion. 虚伪是恶毒向美德的致敬。所以当你看到，共和党人争先恐后地宣称对美国的穷人抱有深切关怀，这是一个好迹象，显示出社会规范有了积极的转变。不再蔑视47%的民众，而是要去表达虚伪的同情。Keyword：hypocrisy: Republican’s concern for the poor 2. And the big new poverty report from the House Budget Committee, led by Representative Paul Ryan, offers additional reasons for optimism. Mr. Ryan used to rely on “scholarship” from places like the Heritage Foundation. Remember when Heritage declared that the Ryan budget would reduce unemployment to a ludicrous 2.8 percent, then tried to cover its tracks? This time, however, Mr. Ryan is citing a lot of actual social science research. 由保罗·瑞安(Paul Ryan)众议员领导的众议院预算委员会(House Budget Committee)新近发布的关于贫困的宏大报告，又给出了更多让我们保持乐观的理由。瑞安曾经需要依赖传统基金会(Heritage Foundation)等机构提供的“奖学金”。（学术成就）还记得吗？传统基金会曾颇为荒唐地宣称，瑞安的预算提案能把失业率降低到2.8%，之后又努力掩盖这种说法。然而这一次，瑞安倒是引述了很多真实的社会科学研究。 Why is the poverty report offering reasons for optimism? Irony. Poverty report by Ryan 3. Unfortunately, the research he cites doesn’t actually support his assertions. Even more important, his whole premise about why poverty persists is demonstrably wrong. 不幸的是，他引用的那些研究，并不能支撑其论断。更重要的是，他在论述贫困为何能持续时，整个前提具有明显谬误。Both his evidence and hypothesis are wrong. 4. To understand where the new report is coming from, it helps to recall something Mr. Ryan said two years ago: “We don’t want to turn the safety net into a hammock that lulls able-bodied people to lives of dependency and complacency, that drains them of their will and their incentive to make the most of their lives.” There are actually two assertions here. First, antipoverty programs breed complacency; that is, they discourage work. Second, complacency — the failure of the poor to work as much as they