不是人人都仇富

    实际上，这项调查显示，公众对于富人的态度基本保持不变——认为富人的金钱源自家庭出身或各种关系的民众人数与认为富人富裕的“主因是其自身努力、雄心壮志和所受教育”的民众人数基本持平。美国民众对于富人的不满情绪并没有出现抬头的迹象；相反，认为美国存在非常严重或严重的贫富冲突的民众人数增加了19个百分点。鉴于媒体对占领华尔街运动连篇累牍的报道，出现这样的结果并不意外。

    实际上，皮尤研究中心为这项研究起的标题是：“公众关心的并不是阶级斗争，而是阶级公平。”那么，皮尤给出了什么样的结论？虽然美国人听到的涉及阶级斗争的信息增加了，但“美国人并没有感到这个国家正处于阶级抗争的边缘；他们只是希望获得更好的机会，实现自身的成功。”

    眼下，媒体和政客在这个大选之年竭力鼓吹收入规模分化。在这个时候，这是一个值得铭记的结论。十九世纪，美国人致力于平等的决心给法国政治思想家托克维尔留下了非常深刻的印象。但他也非常震惊于美国人的另一个性格特征：“对财富的热爱是所有美国人奋斗的起点。”就这一点而言，时代的变迁并没有那么明显。

    译者：任文科

    In fact, the poll showed that public attitudes toward the wealthy remain largely unchanged -- with a near-even split between those who think the rich were born into money or connections and those who think people are rich "mainly because of their own hard work, ambition, or education." There hasn't been an increase in people's own grievances against the rich; rather, there was a 19-point increase in people saying they believe there are very strong or strong conflicts between rich and poor -- not a surprise given all the media attention to the OWS protests.

    Indeed, the headline Pew produced for its research reads "For the Public, It's Not About Class Warfare, but Fairness." Pew's conclusion? While Americans are hearing more about class conflict, "there is no sense that the American people are on the verge of class conflict; they just want a better chance of achieving success themselves."

    That's worth remembering as the media and politicians fuel divisions along the income scale this election year. In the 1800s, French political thinker Alexis de Tocqueville was famously impressed by Americans' dedication to the idea of equality. But he was also struck by another character trait: "The love of wealth ... is at the bottom of all Americans do." On that score, times haven't changed all that much.