智慧人生篇章 第35期:新生代的煩惱—二戰(zhàn)重演

　　My younger son said something to me the other daythat took me completely by surprise and haunts mestill. We were sitting in a café at St Pancras Station,where we occasionally meet when I'm in London,talking about the financial crisis and the unrest thatseems to be building across Europe - the backgroundto the weekend G8 summit. He suddenly looked upand said very earnestly, "Have you ever feltfrightened for the future?" I was startled. I've neverfelt frightened for the future, but clearly he did.This was not the result of our different generationalcircumstances. My generation has enjoyed a welfare state, steady employment and may bedebt-free before the end of the working life. His generation starts with student debts, quicklyadds a mortgage and the cost of child care, and faces insecure employment prospects. No,his worries were wider. He spoke about pre-war Europe when recession and austerity led tocivil unrest and the rise of the dictators. Was history going to repeat itself?

　　某天我小兒子跟我說(shuō)的話(huà)讓我大吃一驚，直到現(xiàn)在還縈繞在我耳邊。我在倫敦時(shí)跟他偶遇，于是在St Pancras車(chē)站附近的一家咖啡店小坐，談?wù)撝?jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)和在歐洲正不斷蔓延的動(dòng)蕩 - 這也是周末G8峰會(huì)召開(kāi)的背景。他突然抬頭然后熱切的說(shuō)：“你擔(dān)憂(yōu)過(guò)未來(lái)嗎?”我震驚了。我從來(lái)不擔(dān)心未來(lái)，但顯然他很擔(dān)心。這不是我們之間代溝的問(wèn)題。我們這一代人福利好，工作穩(wěn)定，可能到職業(yè)生涯快結(jié)束時(shí)一直都沒(méi)負(fù)債?？伤@一代人有貸學(xué)金，然后是房貸，兒童保育費(fèi)，工作前景堪虞。他擔(dān)憂(yōu)的還不止這些。他說(shuō)(二)戰(zhàn)前的歐洲，經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退和緊縮措施最終導(dǎo)致國(guó)家動(dòng)蕩，從而產(chǎn)生了獨(dú)裁者。難道歷史就要重演了嗎?