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布隆伯格2019华大毕业典礼演讲 来自小e英语 00:00 20:41

圣路易斯华盛顿大学（Washington University in St. Louis），以美国国父乔治·华盛顿命名，始建于1853年，位于美国密苏里州圣路易斯市，是美国历史上建校最早也是最负盛名的“华盛顿大学”，美国9所“新常春藤”名校之一，属世界一流大学。历史上共有23位诺贝尔奖得主在此学习或从事教学研究工作。华盛顿大学分为四个校区：丹佛斯（Danforth Campus）校区、医学院校区、西校区、北校区和泰森研究中心。在众多学科领域，华盛顿大学具备与美国其他一流大学相抗衡的实力。譬如，在理工科方面，华盛顿大学的生物化学、生物物理、生物分子和土木工程在美国高校中处于领先地位。在人文学科和社会科学方面，它的德语、政治学、语音学和经济学都在美国高校的同类学科中名列前茅。华盛顿大学的医学院多次被评为全美最佳五所医学院之一，它的商学院也数次跻身于全美“十佳”商学院之列。

迈克尔·鲁本斯·布隆伯格，美国商人，第三代沙俄犹太移民，彭博有限合伙企业创始人，2001年至2013年间担任纽约市市长，C40城市气候领导组织主席。迈克尔·布隆伯格在《福布斯》2018年亿万富翁排行榜中名列第11位，资产达到500亿美元。

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Well good morning, everyone. Hello, WashU.（编注：圣路易斯华盛顿大学的昵称。）How is everyone doing?

各位，早上好。你好，华大。大家今天过得怎么样？

Let me start with the most important words I can say today: Congratulations to the distinguished graduates of the great class of 2019.

让我从今天最重要的一句话开始：祝贺你们！了不起的2019届毕业生！

I’d like to welcome everyone here – and Chancellor Wrighton for extending the invitation. I’ve known the chancellor for more than a decade, and I want to congratulate him for everything he has done to both transform this campus and raise academic standards.

欢迎在座的诸位——也感谢莱顿校长的邀请。我认识莱顿校长已经十多年了，祝贺他为提升华大实力和科研学术水平所做的一切。

If there are any older alumni present, be glad you applied back when you did. I can just tell you that certainly I would not have gotten into WashU today. For the record, I was the kind of student who always made the top half of the class possible.

在场的还有老校友吧，欢迎回来。说实话，如果现在让我申请华大，可能很难被录取。我得郑重声明，当年我在班里可一直是中等偏上的。

Graduates, it’s a great honor to be your Commencement speaker. I accept the fact that I wasn’t your first choice. But unfortunately, T-Pain couldn’t make it. Mandatory vocal rest, he said. Actually, that’s the same reason I didn’t go out last night and sing karaoke at T’s.

各位毕业生，很荣幸能成为你们的毕业典礼的演讲人。我承认，我本来不是演讲嘉宾的首选。但不巧的是，T-Pain 来不了了。他说他最近必须保护嗓子。实际上，这也是我昨晚没有出门去T’s唱卡拉OK的原因。

T-Pain  ：艺术家，成功的非裔歌手

Today is a beautiful day. But this is St. Louis, and so before leaving my hotel this morning, I also packed a winter parka.

今天天气棒极了。但这里是圣路易斯，所以今天早上离开酒店前，我还是带了件冬天穿的派克大衣。

I drove over here, and I was lucky: I found a very convenient parking space – on West Campus – so I took the shuttle over. It was worth it. What an amazing place this is. Where else could I see the bunny? And the DUC.

我开车来的，很幸运，在西校区找到了一个非常方便的停车位，然后坐校车来到这里。这么做很值得。多么美妙的校园。除了这里，还有哪里能看到兔子？看得到DUC。（编注：华大校园建筑，丹佛斯大学中心）

Still, I was disappointed that, in all my walking around, I did not get to see the school’s most famous icon: Ninja Turtle Backpack Guy. Demetri, way to dance to your own beat.

不过，我还是有点遗憾，这一路上，没有看到学校最著名的形象：忍者神龟。德米特里，跟随自己的节拍起舞吧。

Graduates, you’re probably asking yourself some big, important questions right now on this important day, like how am I going to make a living? Will I ever have a mattress as nice as the one I had in the Forty? Will I ever again experience the magic of free Uber rides?

在座的毕业生们，在今天这个重要的日子里，你们可能会问自己一些重要的问题，比如：我将如何谋生？我会成为买得起Forty昂贵床垫的富人吗？我还会再次享受到免费乘坐优步的优惠吗？

And the biggest question of all, after Chancellor Wrighton retires, will he still wear double-breasted suits? I’m going to say yes to that one.

而最重要的问题是：莱顿校长退休后，还会穿双排扣西装吗？对这个问题，我要回答“是”。

Today, you’ll have to say farewell to many of the things that served as your support system and that got you through these stressful times, like Ted Drewes, toasted ravs, John’s Donuts, gooey butter cake. Thank goodness, WashU has also one of the world’s best medical centers.

今天，你们将不得不和老泰的啤酒、烤饺子、老约翰甜甜圈、粘粘的黄油蛋糕等说再见，这些美食曾在你们紧张困难时提供支持，帮助你们渡过难关。谢天谢地，华大的医疗中心是全世界最好的医疗中心之一。

Now, before I go any further, let me take a moment to congratulate another group who is here today and does deserve a lot of credit, and I’m talking about your parents and your family. What about a nice round of applause for them?

现在，在我继续演讲之前，让我先祝贺今天在座的另一群人，他们绝对值得赞誉，我指的是你们的父母和家人。让我们一起来为他们鼓掌吧。

They’re out there beaming, not even thinking about the cost of tuition, and I’m sure they are just thrilled that some of you will be moving back into their basements.

他们现在喜气洋洋，甚至忘记了为你们付的学费。我敢肯定，他们激动只是因为你们之中有些人将重新住回家里的地下室。

Wherever you’re headed in the days and months ahead, I want to leave you with some food for thought, so let me turn to the real message of my speech.

无论未来的岁月你们往哪里去，我都想跟大家分享一些思考，让我言归正传。

In composing my remarks, I thought about the fact that WashU was originally named Eliot Seminary after one of the founders, Reverend William Eliot. Apparently, he was uncomfortable naming things after himself. So the Board of Trustees at the time changed the name of the school to honor George Washington.

在撰写讲稿时，我想到华大最初的名字：艾略特神学院——这是以学校创始人之一威廉·艾略特牧师的名字命名的。很显然，他并不喜欢以自己名字命名这个或那个。因此，当时的董事会给学校改名以纪念乔治·华盛顿。

Now, I can appreciate what Reverend Eliot was thinking. I hate it when people name things after themselves – we had a story about that recently on Bloomberg Television and Bloomberg Radio, maybe it was in Bloomberg Businessweek or Bloomberg News, who knows.

我现在很能理解艾略特牧师的想法。我讨厌那种喜欢拿自己名字命名东西的人——我们最近在彭博电视和彭博电台上听到过这种故事，也可能是在《彭博商业周刊》或彭博新闻上看到的，天晓得。（编注：这几家媒体都是布隆伯格以自己名字命名的公司旗下机构。）

In all seriousness, the board back then made an inspiring decision to choose Washington. And anyone who thinks this school is in D.C. or near Seattle clearly hasn’t been paying attention.

说真的，董事会当时选择华盛顿作为校名挺鼓舞人心的。有些糊里糊涂的人会以为华大是在首都华盛顿或在西雅图附近。

乔治·华盛顿：美国第一任总统

It seems fitting that an institution named for Washington has played such an important role in presidential elections in recent decades. WashU has hosted a number of nationally televised debates, including the last one you saw in 2016.

近几十年，一个以华盛顿命名的机构在总统选举中发挥了如此重要的作用，似乎还挺相称的。华大主持了多场（总统选举）全国电视辩论，包括2016年看到的最后那场。

Hosting a presidential debate is an experience that few schools or students get. But I can’t stand here and tell you it provided a great civics lesson. I wish I could.

没几个学校或学生有机会主持总统竞选辩论。但我今天很想说，这场辩论是一堂宝贵的公民课，我希望如此。

Instead of focusing on the critical issues facing the country, that debate was more about locker room talk and ‘lock her up.’ Lincoln-Douglas, I think it’s fair to say, it was not.

但那场辩论并没有关注国家所面临的各种重大问题，讨论更多的却是“更衣室（男性）谈话”和“把她关进监狱”。公平地说，这完全不是林肯与道格拉斯之间那样的高水平总统竞选辩论。

And that brings me to the topic du jour. It would be easy to blame the candidates or the moderators for the poor quality of that debate. But the problem runs much deeper.

这让我想到了当红话题。我们可以把辩论的低质量轻易归结成候选人或主持人的水平差。但其实问题严重得多。

All across America – at family gatherings, in social settings and workplaces, on college campuses, and certainly on social media, Americans are losing the ability to conduct civil and productive dialogue with those who hold different political views.

整个美国——无论是家庭聚会、社交场所、工作场所、大学校园，还是社交媒体，美国人正在失去与持有不同政治观点的人进行文明而富有成效的对话的能力。

And that has profound effect…profound implications for our ability to function as a society. After all, when you can’t talk with one another, you can’t understand one another. When we can’t understand one another, we can’t work together. When we can’t work together, we can’t do anything, at least not anything big and important.

这会深深影响我们整个社会的运转。毕竟，当我们无法互相交谈，就无法互相理解。无法互相理解，就无法一起工作。无法一起工作，就会一事无成，至少无法做成重要的事情。

We face a lot of hard challenges in America today – from climate change to gun violence, to failing schools to the opioid epidemic, and on campuses, from the frightening trend towards racism, sexism, hatred, anti-Semitism and intolerance of unpopular views and opinions.

今天的美国面临许多艰难的挑战——从气候变化到枪支暴力，到失败的学校教育，再到阿片类药物泛滥；甚至校园里也出现了可怕的趋势，种族主义、性别歧视、仇恨、反犹太主义，以及对不认可的观点和意见缺乏包容。

To have any hope of overcoming these challenges, we have to start by reclaiming our civic dialogue from those who are debasing and degrading it – and preventing us from getting things done.

如果想克服这些困难，我们必须让那些阻止我们实现目标和贬低文明对话的人无法得逞。

All of you can help do that – no matter what your politics are and no matter what line of work you pursue later on. Maybe your passion is science or education, or the arts or education, or medicine or health care, or business. There is not a single issue that isn’t affected by political debates. And there is not a single issue that isn’t threatened by the breakdown in our civic discourse.

你们每个人都可以参与其中——无论你的政治观点是什么，无论你以后从事哪一行。也许你的兴趣点是科学或教育、艺术或教育、医药或保健，或者是经商。没有一个不受到政治辩论的影响。并且，没有一个不会因社会文明的倒退而受到威胁。

So if…even if you hate politics – and there are certainly plenty of good reasons to hate politics these days – you will have to engage in political dialogue, if only to survive Thanksgiving dinner with your crazy uncle. And you will have to judge the arguments made by candidates if you are going to vote intelligently.

因此，即使你讨厌政治——而且现在有很多理由讨厌政治——你也往往无法逃避涉及政治的对话，譬如只是为了能与你疯狂的叔叔一起共进感恩节晚餐。如果要理智地投票，你将不得不对候选人的观点做出判断。

The question I hope you will ask yourself is: on what basis will you make those judgments?

我希望你们会问问自己：我做出判断的依据是什么？

It would be natural to think that a degree from one of America’s top colleges has prepared you as a skilled judge of political debates. But unfortunately, a recent study found that the smartest and most knowledgeable voters can actually be the worst judges. And the reason is they are most likely to make judgments based on which party is making the argument rather than on the argument itself.

大家可能很自然地认为，美国一流大学毕业的学生具有成熟的政治判断力。但不幸的是，最近的一项研究发现，即使最聪明、知识最渊博的选民，其实也可能做出最糟糕的判断。原因在于他们极有可能是根据提出论点的党派站队，而不是根据论点本身作出判断。

Now, I know what you’re thinking. ‘I would never do that,’ you say. But it happens unconsciously all the time. People have a tendency to assume the worst about those on the other side of the aisle. And when it comes to those on your side, they tend to see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil. And that’s why educated and knowledgeable people excuse these actions that are ethically wrong and defend statements that are blatant lies.

听到这儿，我知道你们在想什么。“我永远不会那样做。”你们心里说。但这些事情总是无意识发生的。人们往往觉得，只有跟自己立场相对的人才会有糟糕的表现。当遇到那些跟自己观点类似的人时，他们往往看不到恶，听不到恶，并对恶选择沉默。这就是为什么受过教育和知识渊博的人会为不道德的行为辩解，甚至捍卫无耻的谎言。

Of course, some people say defending the indefensible is just politics as usual, but I don’t accept that – and I hope you won’t, either.

当然，有些人会说，根据立场强词夺理不就是政治的常态吗，我可不接受这种解释——我希望你们也不会。

When extreme partisanship replaces reason, logic, facts and data, the country suffers – and special interests win. I’ve seen it time and time again, on issue after issue: gun violence, education, public health, and even one that threatens life as we know it: climate change.

当极端的党派关系取代理性、逻辑、事实和数据时，特殊利益集团就会获得胜利，国家利益则受到损害。当触及枪支暴力、教育、公共卫生，甚至威胁我们未来生活的气候变化问题时，我一次又一次看到这些现象的存在。

Yesterday, I stood with WashU’s next chancellor, Andrew Martin, and the president of Ohio State University to announce that Bloomberg Philanthropies will help sponsor the first-ever climate summit of Midwestern universities next year right here on this campus.

昨天，我与华盛顿大学的下一任校长安德鲁·马丁和俄亥俄州立大学校长一起宣布，布隆伯格慈善基金将在明年赞助华大举办有史以来的第一届中西部大学气候峰会。

We were joined by your mayor here, Lyda Krewson, because St. Louis, and WashU, has never…has always been a real leader on climate change.

市长莱达·克雷森也加入了我们的行列，因为圣路易斯市和华大一样，一直是气候变化问题的真正领导者。

Last year, this city was one of the winners of a climate competition my foundation ran. And we are now providing about $2.5 million of resources to help St. Louis increase energy efficiency and expand solar power – a goal that WashU is helping the city to achieve. Thank you very much.

去年，圣路易斯市是我的基金会举办的气候竞赛的获胜者之一。我们将提供约250万美元的资源帮助圣路易斯提高能源效率和推广太阳能——这是华大帮助自己所在城市取得的目标之一。非常感谢你们。

Universities have a critical role to play in helping our country tackle this challenge, and I want to thank everyone at WashU who has been part of that work.

大学可以在我们的国家应对这些挑战时发挥关键作用，我要感谢华大所有参与了这项工作的人。

There really is no time to waste. The problems driven by climate change are getting worse – and that’s something you’ve seen right here during your lifetime.

真的没有时间可以再浪费了。气候变化带来的问题正在恶化——这是你们这一生都要面对的。

The recent Mississippi River floods have affected life in St. Louis and they have devastated farmers across the Midwest. Those types of natural disasters will continue to get more severe with climate change, according to the best scientific data.

密西西比河最近的洪灾摧毁了中西部的一些农业地带，也影响了圣路易斯人的生活。最可靠的科学数据表明，随着气候变化问题的不断加剧，这类自然灾害将继续恶化。

The trouble is too many politicians aren’t interested in hard science. They’re only interested in political science and winning their next election. So they ignore the data, they try to cut funding for climate research – because they know it will undermine their political argument. Sometimes they even try to block public employees from uttering the words – climate change.

问题是，太多政治家对实实在在的科学不感兴趣。他们只对政治学感兴趣，只在意赢得选举。因此，他们忽略了这些数据，试图削减气候研究的资金——因为他们知道，这将导致他们的政治立场站不住脚。有时候，他们甚至试图阻止公职人员说“气候变化”这个词。

You can’t make this stuff up. You just have to wonder, what are they trying to hide? And the only conclusion I have drawn is that they’re either hiding their own ignorance or their own bad faith.

不能无视这个问题。必须想想，他们试图隐藏什么？我得出的唯一结论是，他们要么在隐藏自己的无知，要么在隐藏自己的阴谋。

Either way, when government tries to gag scientists and censor our conclusions, watch out and speak up.

无论哪种情况，当政府试图歪曲抹黑科学家，并审查我们的结论时，请小心提防，并勇敢说不。

America’s progress depends on a dialogue that treats these issues not as pawns in a political battle, but as problems to be solved. Ignoring data and facts – and defending indefensible positions – happens in both parties. But during your time on campus, it has enabled new levels of dishonesty and wrongdoing and it has reached a point that, I believe, no democracy can long sustain.

美国的进步依赖于对话，这种对话并非把这些问题当作政治斗争的筹码，而是亟待解决的难题。两党都有人无视数据和事实——并捍卫错误立场。在你们读大学的这几年，党派政治中充斥的虚假和错误信息又创新高，美国已经到了临界点，我认为，这样下去任何民主都难以为继。

Our democracy, as the Founding Fathers understood, relies on more than just votes. George Washington wrote in his farewell address, ‘Virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.’

正如开国元勋所理解的那样，我们的民主不仅仅依赖于选票。乔治·华盛顿在他的告别演说中写道：“道德或美德的清泉是受民众欢迎的政府的基础。”

If the spring runs dry, democracy withers away – and the rights that we hold disappear.

如果清泉干涸，民主就会枯萎——而我们所拥有的权利就会消失。

Graduates, that spring of virtue is now yours to protect. And make no mistake, it is more polluted with toxic dialogue than it has ever been in modern history.

毕业生们，现在需要你们去保护美德的清泉。毫无疑问，当下是美国现代史上毒性对话污染最严重的时期。

The good news is the way to clean up the pollution can be found in the three words written on the cover of your diploma. It’s the motto of this great university: ‘Per Veritatem Vis’ (strength through truth). And it’s a motto that fits perfectly with a university named for George Washington.

好消息是，在你们毕业文凭封面上的三个单词中可以找到治理这种污染的方法。这就是伟大的华盛顿大学的座右铭：Per Veritatem Vis（力量源自真理）。这是一个与乔治·华盛顿大学完美契合的座右铭。

In 1794, during President Washington’s second term, there was a faction ginning up support for secession. Washington recognized the threat it was…threat it posed –and he was confident that it would not succeed. He wrote in a letter, and I quote, ‘It is not difficult by concealment of some facts, and exaggeration of others to bias a well-meaning mind, at least for a while.’

1794年，在华盛顿总统的第二任期内，有一个派系开始想分裂国家。华盛顿认识到它所构成的威胁——但他相信他们不会成功。他在一封信中写道：“通过隐瞒事实并夸大歪曲其他人来误导善良的人并不难，至少短期内如此。”

But, he continued quote, ‘Truth will ultimately prevail where pains is taken to bring it to light.’

他继续写道：“但是，经过曲折和磨难（pains is taken…），真相最终会重见光明。”

Now, I know the phrase ‘pains is taken’ probably just horrified every English major here. As kids, we were taught that Washington never told a lie, but they never told us he had trouble with subject-verb agreements.

我知道pains is taken这样的措辞可能会让每个英语专业的老师同学感到不适。早在孩童时代，我们就被告知华盛顿总统从不说谎，但他们从未告诉我们，华盛顿在语法上也会遇到麻烦。

In fairness to George, ‘pains is taken’ is the way they spoke back then. Today, Washington would probably say ‘take pains.’ Or maybe T-Pain.

说句公道话，pains is taken是华盛顿总统那个时代的说话方式。如果在今天，华盛顿可能会说take pains。也可能说T-Pain。（编注：用前文提及的歌手名字开玩笑。）

But Washington, really, Washington’s point, and Washington U.’s motto, are principles I hope that all of you will take to heart: truth will prevail where pains are taken to bring it to light. And with truth comes strength.

但实际上，我希望你们所有人都能牢记——这也跟华盛顿的观点以及华大的座右铭一致——经过曲折和磨难，真理最终会重见光明。力量源自真理。

The pains that every generation has taken to bring light are why secession didn’t succeed…secession didn’t succeed in 1794 or 1861. The pains taken by abolitionists, and suffragettes, and civil rights marchers, and marriage equality advocates brought America’s core truth to light: that all people are created equal.

每一代人为追求真理和进步都经历了痛苦和牺牲，这也是美国在1794年或1861年没有分裂的原因。废奴主义者、女权主义者和民权游行者以及平等婚姻倡导者所经历的磨难和付出，让美国被核心真理照亮：人人生而平等。

And today…today, the necessity of taking pains to bring truth to light is greater than ever because the tools for spreading lies are more powerful than ever.

今天，传播谎言的工具比以往任何时候都强大，因此坚守真理需要付出比以往任何时代都要大的代价。

Since the dawn of democracy, there have always been those, to paraphrase Socrates, who try to make the weaker argument appear the stronger and who care more about winning debates than being truthful.

华大 华盛顿 华盛顿大学 政治 美国