You hear the refrain all the time: the U.S. economy looks good statistically, but it doesn’t feel good.
你一直重复听到：美国的经济从数据上看很不错，但实际上并不觉得很好。

 Why doesn’t ever-greater wealth promote ever-greater happiness?
为什么不断增加的财富却没有促进不断提高的幸福程度呢？

It is a question that dates at least to the appearance in 1958 of The Affluent(富裕的) Societyby John Kenneth Galbraith, who died recently at 97.
这个问题最早要追溯到1958年《富足社会》一书的出现，其作者John Kenneth Galbraith最近去世了，享年97岁。

The Affluent Society is a modern classic because it helped define a new moment in the human condition.
《富足社会》是一本现代名著，因为书中定义了人类境况的一个新时期。

For most of history, “hunger, sickness, and cold” threatened nearly everyone, Galbraith wrote.
在历史上的大多数时期，“饥寒交迫和疾病”几乎威胁了每一个人。Galbraith写道：

“Poverty was found everywhere in that world. Obviously it is not of ours.”
“贫穷出现在那个世界的任何角落。但这显然与我们无关”

After World War II, the dread of another Great Depression gave way to an economic boom. In the 1930s unemployment had averaged 18.2 percent; in the 1950s it was 4.5 percent.
“二战”后，对于新的一次大衰退的恐惧让位于一次经济繁荣。在二十世纪三十年代，失业率高达18.2%，而在二十世纪五十年代，失业率为4.5%。

To Galbraith, materialism had gone mad and would breed discontent.
对于Galbraith而言，物质主义已经疯狂，并且会滋生不满。

Through advertising, companies conditioned consumers to buy things they didn’t really want or need.
公司通过广告让消费者购买他们不需要或者不想要的东西。

 Because so much spending was artificial, it would be unfulfilling.
如此多的花费是虚假的，所以肯定会有不满

Meanwhile, government spending that would make everyone better off was being cut down because people instinctively—and wrongly—labeled government only as “a necessary evil.”
同时，能让每个人生活得更好的政府开销却减少了，因为人们本能地、错误地为政府贴上了“必要的恶魔”的标签。

It’s often said that only the rich are getting ahead; everyone else is standing still or falling behind.
人们常说只有富人在前行，其他人都停留在原地或者落在后面。

Well, there are many undeserving rich—overpaid chief executives, for instance.
例如，是有很多人不应富有的人

But over any meaningful period, most people’s incomes are increasing.
工资过高的首席执行官。但是在经历了很多重要时期之后，大多数人的收入在上升。

From 1995 to 2004, inflation-adjusted average family income rose 14.3 percent, to $43,200.
从1995年到2004年，针对通货膨胀进行调整的普通家庭收入上升了14.3%，达到了43，200美元。

People feel “squeezed” because their rising incomes often don’t satisfy their rising wants—for bigger homes, more health care, more education, faster Internet connections.
人们觉得“被压榨”，是因为他们增加的收入不能满足他们上升的欲望----更大的房子，更多医疗保健，更多教育，更快的网络连接。

The other great frustration is that it has not eliminated insecurity.
另外一大沮丧是不安全感并没有被消除。

People regard job stability as part of their standard of living.
人们把工作的稳定性看成生活标准的一部分。

As corporate layoffs increased, that part has eroded.
随着公司裁员的增加了，这部分被腐蚀了。

More workers fear they’ve become “the disposable American,” as Louis Uchitelle puts it in his book by the same name.
更过的员工害怕自己会成为“被处理的美国人”，这一说法来自于LouisUchtelle的同名著作。

Because so much previous suffering and social conflict stemmed from poverty, the arrival of widespread affluence suggested utopian (乌托邦式的) possibilities.
因为前面提到的痛苦和社会冲突都来源于贫穷，大范围富裕的来临暗示了乌托邦式的可能。

Up to a point, affluence succeeds. There is much les physical misery than before. People are better off. Unfortunately, affluence also creates new complaints and contradictions.
从某种意义来说，富裕成功了。比起以前，身体上的痛苦大大减少。人们比以前更富于了。不幸的是，富足同样创造了新的抱怨和矛盾。

Advanced societies need economic growth to satisfy the multiplying wants of their citizens.
现金的社会需要经济增长，以满足市民日益多样化的需要。

But the quest for growth lets loose new anxieties and economic conflicts that disturb the social order.
但是对增长的追求却产生了新的焦虑和经济冲突，扰乱了社会秩序。

 Affluence liberates the individual, promising that everyone can choose a unique way to self-fulfillment.
富裕解放了个人，承诺每个人可以选择独特方式来达成自己的愿望。

 But the promise is so extravagant that it predestines many disappointments and sometimes inspires choices that have anti-social consequences, including family breakdown and obesity (肥胖症).
但是承诺是如此的奢侈，以至于注定会有失望，有时还会引起带来反社会的选择，包括家庭破裂和肥胖症。

 Statistical indicators of happiness have not risen with incomes.
数据表明，幸福并没有随着收入的增长而增长。

Should we be surprised? Not really. We’ve simply reaffirmed an old truth: the pursuit of affluence does not always end with happiness.
我们是不是应该感到惊讶？不必。我们仅是重新印证了一句老话：对富裕的追求并不会总是以幸福为结局。