你对美国的14个误会

　　Fourth Of July Lies

　　关于美国的14个谣言

　　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。

　　美国，自由的沃土，勇者的家园.。.屋外环绕着白色尖桩篱笆，屋内奔跑着平均2-3个小孩——典型的“美国现代家庭”图景。而这些都只是我们印象中的美国。

　　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.。.

　　为了庆祝7月4号，这个标志着我们从另一个国家的剥削中解放出来的日子，我们审视了一些关于美国的荒谬传说及谎言，这些东西误导着人们对美国的看法。从黑人球员Jackie Robinson到航海家哥伦布，我们现在来将谣言逐一击破吧!

　　Myth 1: America Is A Democracy

　　谣言1：美国是个民主国家

　　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.

　　当前，“美国”和“民主”似乎已成了同义词。然而绝大部分美国人不知道的是，他们生活的这个国家，并不是个民主国家。美国最初是作为一个宪法共和国而建立的，这一点在《宪法》和《效忠宣誓》中都有体现。在06年《经济学人》进行的一项全球民主国家排名中，美国甚至没有挤进前十。

　　Myth 2: The Founding Fathers Were Christian

　　谣言2：美国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。

　　这句话半对半错。美国的开国者之中有一大批从属于基督教会的不同分支，如新教、路德教。然而，也有很多人公然反对有组织的宗教。Thomas Jefferson就信奉自然神教，该教的主张是：自然世界的推理和观察足以说明世界存在着创始者，并不需要通过组织教会来证明这一点。

　　Myth 3: Thanksgiving

　　谣言3：关于感恩节

　　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.

　　感恩节最初来源于清教徒和印第安人，这点是没错。不过，最初的感恩节足足有3天，是为了用来庆祝本年丰收的(想象一下用现代社会的庆祝方式胡吃海喝三天的情景……)。对于清教徒来说，感恩节是个虔诚的节日，在这段时间里人们禁食和祈祷。不过，1623年的那次感恩节下了场雨，于是节日内容转变成大快朵颐了。

　　Myth 4: The Native Americans were Savages

　　谣言4：原始印第安人都是野蛮人

　　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，身着羽毛和水牛皮饰，整天和满嘴烟草的牛仔盘旋打斗……这是好莱坞塑造的经典“印第安人”形象。然而真实情况并非如此。

　　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《美国人民的历史》一书中，作者Howard Zinn引用了哥伦布登上美洲大陆后对印第安人的第一印象，他是这么说的：“他们没有武器，也不知何为武器——我把剑拿给他们看，他们居然用手去抓剑刃，把自己给弄伤了。他们没有铁器。他们的矛是用藤条做的.。.他们可以做不错的仆人.。.我们五十个人就能彻底征服他们，想让他们做什么就做什么。”

　　Myth 5: It's A Free Country

　　谣言5：这是个自由的国度

　　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。

　　人们普遍认为在美国，想去哪儿都可以，想睡哪儿也没人干涉，为了生存什么都能干。流浪汉们可不这么想。即使多年前法庭就已经废除了“流浪罪”，但在街道或公园里睡觉仍然是违法的，同样，搭便车、行乞等流浪汉们用来赖以生存的“免费的东西”，也都是违法的。

　　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，还有数不清的法规和条例使警察们拥有充足的理由来干预人们的自由。2011年的6月在纽约州的罗切斯特市，一位女士仅仅因为站在自家草坪上拍摄一个停车标记而被捕——这件事证明了我们是不自由的——即使站在自己地盘里，也同样不自由。

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

　　谣言6：美联储是由美国掌控的

　　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。

　　美联储管理着全美的货币政策，却完全不受政府约束，只受美联储主席和理事会成员指挥。要不是有这层限制，央行简直可以为所欲为了。

　　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."

　　最近的证据来自前主席阿兰格林斯潘，他直白地点出：美国政府对美联储货币政策的影响力几乎为零。不久前，据彭博新闻社的消息，央行“拒绝公开2万亿美元紧急贷款的接受人名单，这些贷款均来自于保释金及央行持有的担保资产。”

　　Myth 7: The Bushes Are Texan

　　谣言7：布什家族是得克萨斯人

　　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。

　　尽管布什家族在德州有庞大深厚的石油产业，其中也包括小布什那些失败的投资，但这个家族真正的产业根基其实是在康涅狄格州。布什家族是东北部的银行世家，可往前追溯到英国皇室。小布什的爷爷普利史考特·布什曾是耶鲁大学“骷髅会”秘密精英社团的成员之一，他的儿子、孙子也不例外。普利史考特也曾是深不可测又臭名昭著的华尔街一员，二战时被指控曾为纳粹洗钱。

　　Myth 8: Christopher Columbus Discovered America

　　谣言8：美洲大陆是哥伦布发现的

　　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.

　　这是个经久不衰的传言。从头追溯的话，印第安土著在哥伦布登陆的前几百年就已经占领了这块领土了。斯坎蒂纳维亚人也不例外：维京海盗们先于哥伦布500年登陆了这块土地。但最终还是由西班牙皇室资助的寻金之旅让“哥伦布发现新大陆”的事迹永垂史册。

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

　　谣言9：“自由女神像”是对伟大美国的歌颂

　　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.

　　基于女神脚上破裂的镣铐和原创造者的政治背景，那个关于“自由女神像的建造是为了庆祝奴隶制的终止”的传言不会让人产生丝毫怀疑。不过，巴托尔迪的这个作品，在过去的几十年中，促使美国公园娱乐协会好好地思考了番，并展开了一系列的深度调查。

　　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.

　　调查的结果是：他们发现这个关于奴隶制的传言来自于巴托尔迪的一本营销小册子，且认定其为伪造。但调查同时也发现，自由女神模特是一位非洲裔女性。巴托尔迪曾受托研究过埃及神像中的非洲女性，但该计划后被终止，于是他的研究成就了今日的自由女神。

　　Myth 10: Jackie Robinson

　　谣言10：关于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.

　　并不是要贬低Jackie Robinson或Rosa Parks的重要性，但正如Parks女士并不是第一个拒绝给白人让座的黑人一样，Robinson也不是打破美国棒球界白人垄断局面的第一人。事实上，早在1878-1879年，美国职业棒球赛上就已经有白人和黑人共同上场的记录了。1916年，Jimmy Claxton以美洲印第安人的身份上场比赛了一周，直到后来他的黑人血统被挖掘出来，才被终止了合同。

　　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.

　　后来到了1945年，无论什么血统的男人们都肩并肩地倒在了二战的战场上。那时，新的棒球委员会成员Happy Chandler支持Jackie Robinson与布鲁克林道奇队签约。Robinson于是在1947年的比赛中上场了。同年，另一位黑人，同时也是名人堂成员之一的Larry Doby，为克里夫兰印第安人队效力。

　　Myth 11: "The British Are Coming"

　　谣言11：“英国人要来了”

　　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.

　　莎拉佩林最近的口误让这个传言又红火起来，尽管她重述的历史是瞎编的。事情的真相是：富有的银匠、“警报系统”(用于发布英国人入侵的警报)的组织者Revere，收到了Joseph Warren的密报，说英国军队正在搜捕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通知了每个能通知到的信使和骑手们。当夜，Revere横渡查尔斯河，将“英国人要来了”的消息通知了查尔斯敦的每户居民;与此同时，有近40人向外散布了同样的警告。据当地原始资料记载，为了不泄密，Revere喊的其实不是“英国人要来了”，而是更为隐秘的“统治者要来了”。

　　Myth 12: Dan Quayle Misspelled "Potato"

　　谣言12：丹奎尔拼错了单词“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.

　　丹奎尔是老布什总统手下的副总统。自从有次访问一所新泽西州的小学时，他不小心把“potato”(土豆)这个单词拼错后，似乎就再也没法从公众心中抹去其“呆瓜”的形象。事情的真相是，倒霉的Quayle那天手上拿的拼写卡，本身就是印刷错误的——词尾多加了个“e”，尽管这张卡事先被检查过(不知检查的人是干什么吃的……)。总之，这个事件极大地影响了布什-奎尔竞选集团的选票，于是克林顿-戈尔集团赢了选举。

　　Myth 13: George Washington And The Cherry Tree

　　谣言13：乔治华盛顿和樱桃树的故事

　　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.

　　据弗吉尼亚大学的学者们说，“华盛顿砍倒自家的樱桃树”的故事纯属虚构，这只是给美国第一任总统平白添加的光环，以缓和其自传中“冷酷呆板”的形象。这个故事的寓意是为了体现华盛顿的谦虚和诚实，对这位自动放弃连任、归隐田园的总统加以润饰，与美国独立前统治者独爱权势和暴政的情形产生极大反差。

　　Myth 14: Prison Is Only For Hardened Criminals

　　谣言14：监狱是专为重刑犯准备的

　　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.

　　据多项研究表明，美国监禁率为全球最高，达到每10万人中就有743个蹲监狱的，2011全年共收了220万个罪犯入狱。更恐怖的是，143个成年人里就有一个是罪犯，111个非洲裔美国人里就有一个是蹲大牢的。(与此同时，种族歧视在全美泛滥，从民主党议员到前总统小布什，几乎所有人都指出这是“不符合宪法精神的”以及是“完全错误的”。)可见虽然如今蹲大牢的人这么多，但不可能个个都是重刑犯吧。