不要把富人当成贫富差距的替罪羊

    学者们还注意到了美国收入两级分化引发的社会问题。保守派社会学家查尔斯•莫瑞在他的新书《分离将至》（Coming Apart）指出，工薪阶层的离婚率高很多，更多子女生活在单亲家庭中。这一趋势也受到了自由派的关注，其中包括哈佛大学的罗伯特•普特南。他说，“这些差距几十年前还不存在，如今正在以令人害怕的速度扩大”，而且富人在子女身上花的时间多得多，更是强化了这一趋势。

    指责有钱人和贪得无厌的富人们，只能解一时之恨。如果我们真想解决收入差距扩大这一问题，就应当想想富有的1%有哪些可取之处，借鉴利用，努力缩小差距。

    尼娜•伊斯顿（Nina Easton）目前是哈佛肯尼迪学院（Harvard Kennedy School）肖伦斯特中心（Shorenstein Center）的研究员。

    译者：早稻米

    Scholars are also taking note of social issues underlying America's income divide. In his new book, Coming Apart, conservative social scientist Charles Murray documents far higher divorce rates and more children living with one parent in working-class communities. That's a trend that has also caught the attention of liberals like Harvard's Robert Putnam, who describes "gaps that didn't exist decades ago but are widening at an alarming rate today" and are reinforced as wealthy parents spend far more time with their children.

    It's entertaining to wail about fat cats and the greedy rich. But if we're serious about addressing widening inequality, we should figure out what the 1% is doing right -- and apply some of those ideas to closing the gap.

    Nina Easton is currently a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School's Shorenstein Center.