The decline in moral standards—which has long concerned social analysts—has at last captured the attention of average Americans. And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.
道德标准的下降——长期以来一直引起社会分析人士的关注——终于引起了普通美国人的注意。这让·贝斯特克·埃尔什坦很高兴。
The fact the ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation’s moral climate, says this ethics professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.
这位芝加哥大学的伦理学教授说，普通公民现在开始认真思考国家的道德氛围，是希望有新的想法来改善它的原因。
But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and individualism in American society are the biggest obstacles. “The thought that ‘I’m in it for me’ has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness,” Ms. Elshtain says.
但挑战很大，美国社会的物质主义和个人主义是最大的障碍。埃尔什坦女士说：“‘我为我而存在’的想法已经深深植根于民族意识中”。
Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today’s greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.
她说，其中一些原因可以归因于传统社区的解体，在传统社区中，邻居们互相照顾。随着当今社会流动性越来越大，越来越多的夫妻都在工作，这些纽带已经被削弱，取而代之的是对自我的更加重视。
In a 1996 poll of Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the U.S. and Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.
在1996年的一项针对美国人的民意调查中，道德缺失是美国面临的最大问题之一。埃尔什坦说，公众的感觉是正确的：数据显示，美国人正在与20世纪50年代闻所未闻的问题作斗争，比如课堂暴力和未婚妈妈的高出生率。
The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament for some nonexistent “golden age,” Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.
埃尔什坦说，对更高道德标准的渴望并不是对某个不存在的“黄金时代”的哀叹，也不是对一个剥夺妇女和少数民族机会的时代的一厢情愿的渴望。事实上，大多数人都赞成减少偏见。
Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. “Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that cant’ be bought.”
她说，除非人们找到方法来对抗社会中的物质主义，否则道德沦丧是不会逆转的。“慢慢地，你会意识到重要的是那些买不到的东西。”
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