三、贫富分化加剧给美国社会带来严重消极影响
III. Serious Negative Implications for American Society文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14240.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14240.html
贫富分化加剧是导致美国社会危机加深的主要原因之一。种族矛盾加深、无家可归者增多、城市骚乱、暴力犯罪严重，都与贫富差距扩大密切相关。文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14240.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14240.html
The widening wealth gap is one of the main causes for the deepening social crisis in the United States. Problems including growing ethnic conflicts, increasing homelessness, urban riots and violent crimes are all closely related to it.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14240.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14240.html
社会动荡加剧。由于贫富差距扩大，美国近年游行示威活动接连不断。从2011年的“占领华尔街”运动，到2020年反对美国警察暴力执法的“黑人的命也是命”游行，一些游行示威甚至演变为暴力事件。大规模游行示威体现美国底层民众对种族歧视、阶级固化和贫富分化的抗争。疫情期间，美国政府实施多轮经济刺激政策，发放大量补贴，虽在短期内缓解了社会矛盾，但积累了更长期的债务危机和更难处理的通胀压力。文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14240.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14240.html
Social unrest is intensifying. Due to the widening polarization between the rich and the poor, the United States has witnessed frequent demonstrations in recent years. From the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011 to the Black Lives Matter protests against police violence in the United States in 2020, some demonstrations have even turned violent. Through these large-scale demonstrations, the underprivileged American people have tried to combat racial discrimination, rigid class stratification and economic polarization. During the COVID-19 pandemic, although the multiple rounds of economic stimulus policies and vast subsidies rolled out by the U.S. government temporarily eased social tensions, such measures have made the debt crisis more entrenched and inflation pressure more difficult to deal with.文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14240.html
文章源自英文巴士-https://www.en84.com/14240.html
人权状况堪忧。贫富分化导致美国人权状况不断恶化。一是人均预期寿命下降。根据美国全国健康状况统计中心数据，2019年至2021年，美国人均预期寿命下降2.7岁，其中男性缩短3.1岁，女性缩短2.3岁。二是高等教育资源不成比例地向富人倾斜，低收入人群失去平等受教育机会，公众对高等教育不满上升。美人口普查局数据显示，高收入家庭18岁至24岁青年中，82%接受高等教育，远高于低收入家庭的45%。三是无家可归者生存状况恶劣。贫富分化加剧，特别是极端贫困问题是导致无家可归的主要原因。据美国住房和城市发展部报告，2020年全美有超过58万人无家可归，其中22.6万人露宿街头、住在汽车或废弃建筑物中。
The human rights situation is worrying. The wealth inequality has further worsened the human rights situation in the United States. First, average life expectancy has declined. According to the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics, the average life expectancy in the country has dropped 2.7 years from 2019 to 2021, with 3.1 years shorter for men and 2.3 years shorter for women. Second, access to higher education is disproportionately skewed toward the rich, while the low-income group has no equal access to education. As a result, public dissatisfaction with higher education is increasing. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 82 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds from high-income families participated in college, compared with just 45 percent of those from low-income families. Third, the homeless are living in a dire situation. The growing wealth disparity, especially extreme poverty, is the main reason for homelessness. A report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development showed that more than 580,000 people were homeless in 2020, with 226,000 sleeping outside, in cars or in abandoned buildings.
新冠疫情“爱贫嫌富”。美国穷人权益组织收集来自美国3200多个县的数据，将美国最贫穷10%的县与最富有10%的县进行比较，发现贫困县因新冠疫情导致的死亡率几乎是富裕县的两倍。在死亡率最高的前300个县中，各县平均45%的人口生活在贫困线以下。死亡率最高的县是弗吉尼亚州加拉克斯县，新冠疫情期间死亡率达到每10万人死亡1134人。纽约市布朗克斯区56%的人口是西班牙裔，29%是黑人，当地超过一半的市镇人口生活在贫困线以下，新冠疫情期间死亡率达到每10万人死亡538人，位于美新冠死亡率最高的前10%县域之内。贫困社区在新冠疫情中付出惨痛代价，进一步暴露了美国在解决贫困问题上的系统性失败。
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the poor the hardest. After collecting data from more than 3,200 counties in the United States, and comparing the poorest 10 percent of the counties with the richest 10 percent, the Poor People’s Campaign found that the poorer counties reported coronavirus death rates nearly double those in the wealthier ones. Within the 300 counties with the highest death rates, 45 percent of the population live below the poverty line. Galax County, Virginia, had the highest death rate, which reached 1,134 deaths per 100,000 people during the pandemic. With 538 deaths per 100,000 people during the pandemic, Bronx, New York, was also among the 10 percent of counties with the highest coronavirus mortality rates. More than half of the borough’s population, 56 percent of them Hispanic and 29 percent Black, live below the poverty line. The fact that COVID-19 took a heavy toll on poorer communities has further highlighted the systemic failure of the United States to address poverty.
“新冠孤儿”加剧贫困难题。美国目前已有超过20万儿童沦为“新冠孤儿”。在18岁以下孤儿中，每12人就有1人是因为新冠疫情失去监护人。在美国公立学校中，失去监护人的西班牙裔和拉丁族裔儿童是白人儿童的两倍多。“新冠孤儿”多数自出生之日起就处于社会底层，疫情中失去父母，让他们的人生陷入更加灰暗无助的困境。新冠疫情发生以来，美国联邦政府发放数万亿美元的纾困金，却没有法律或行政令向这些“新冠孤儿”提供帮助。
COVID-associated orphanhood has aggravated the poverty problem. More than 200,000 children in the United States have been orphaned by the pandemic. One in every 12 orphans under the age of 18 has lost a guardian due to COVID-19. More than twice as many Hispanic and Latino children in American public schools have lost their guardians as white children. Most COVID-19 orphans have been living at the bottom of the social ladder since they were born. Losing their parents in the pandemic has made their lives even more hopeless. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the US federal government has handed out trillions of dollars in bailouts, but no legislation or executive order has been rolled out to provide help to these COVID-19 orphans.
结束语
Conclusion
在世界各地消除一切形式的贫困是联合国可持续发展的重要目标。发展的根本目的是为了人民的共同富裕，应当成为各国的共识与行动。
Ending poverty in all its forms everywhere is an important sustainable development goal of the United Nations. Development is fundamentally for the common prosperity of the people, which should become a consensus and common action of all countries.
美国作为头号资本主义国家，光鲜的面纱遮掩不住贫富分化的冷酷现实。美国贫富分化已成为社会痼疾，是美国民主人权的严重污点。美国应当正视国内贫富差距加剧的严峻现实，倾听底层民众的呼声，正视并解决问题。
In the United States, the world’s number one capitalist country, polarization between the rich and the poor is crying out for attention. The yawning wealth gap has become a chronic malaise of American society, leaving an indelible stain on the country’s democracy and human rights record. The United States should face up to the grim reality of the ever-widening wealth gap at home, reach out to the people at the bottom, and take earnest measures to solve the problem.
