2019.3.17 己亥二月十一 周日

    I have a brilliant but morose acquaintance who,when I allow him to,will speak unceasingly and eloquently of the oppressive forces in our society:racism,sexism,the military-industrial establishment,and the country police who pick on him and his friends because of their long hair.Again and again I have tried to point out to him that he is not a child.As chidren,by virture of our real and extensive dependency,our parents have real and extensive power over us.They are,in fact,largely responsible for our well-being,and we are,in fact,largely at their mercy.When parents are oppressive,as so often they are,we as children are largely powerless to do anything about it;our choices are limited.But as adults,when we are physically healthy,our choices are almost unlimited.That does not mean they are not painful.Frequently our choices lie between the lesser of two evils,but it is still within our power to make these choices.Yes,I agree with my acquaintance,there are indeed oppressive forces at work within the world.We have,however,the freedom to choose every step of the way the manner "long-haired types" and still grow his hair long.He has the freedom to move to the city,or to cut his hair,or even to wage a campaign for the office of police commissioner.But despite his brilliance,he does not acknowledge these freedoms.He choose to lament his lack of political power instead of accepting and exulting in his immense personal power.He speaks of his love of freedom and of the oppressive forces that thwart it,but every time he speaks of how he is victimized by these forces he actually is giving away his freedom.I hope that some day soon he wil stop resenting life simply because some of its choices are painful.

      有一个熟人，他才华出众但却整天垂头丧气，游手好闲，当他得到我的允许后，他便滔滔不绝地讲述着我们社会上那些令人压抑的方方面面：种族歧视、性别歧视、军事工业化建设，还有由于他和朋友们留有长发而捉弄他们的乡村警察的一系列的事情。我一次又一次地向他说明他不是小孩了。作为一个小孩子由于我们完全且全面（完完全全）的依赖，父母对我们有完全且全面（完完全全）的操控力。其实一般说来父母是为我们生活安宁负责，而我们其实完全由他们支配。当父母感到压抑，正如他们经常的那样，作为小孩子一般说对这些无能为力做任何事；我们的选择是有限的。但是作为成年人，当我们身体健全，我们的选择几乎没有限制。那并不意味着不痛苦，我们的选择往往是两害相权取其轻，但这仍在我们有能力选择的范围内。 是的，我同意我的老熟人，这个世界里的确有令人压抑的东西存在，然而我们每一步都有选择去回应、处理这些东西的方式的自由。 这是他自己的选择去住在一个警察不喜欢长头发的地方而他又留着长头发。他有自由搬到这个城市，或者剪掉长头发，或者甚至针对警察专员的办公室发动政治运动。但尽管他很聪明，但他仍然没有认识到这些自由。 他选择哀声叹气他缺少的政治权利而不兴高采烈承认他拥有的广大个人权利。 他谈到他对自由的热爱和令人压抑的方方面面对他的阻碍，但当他每次谈到受到这些令人压抑的力量之害实际上他是在失去自由。他希望将来不久有一天他会停止仅仅是因为他的选择是艰难的而怨恨生活。