非洲和尚粤语迅雷:幸福不能买，执着为哪般

幸福不能买，执着为哪般

By Josh Sanburn | @joshsanburn | October 31, 2011 | 

作者：Josh Sanburn，2011年，10月31日

1972, the percentage of Americans who said they were “pretty happy” was about 50%. In the years since, the U.S.’s standard of living has risen dramatically, and our gross domestic product per capita has increased by 96%. That means we have more, we consume more and we can afford more. But today, what percentage of Americans say they’re “pretty happy?” Fifty percent. In a new book out Nov. 8, Shiny Objects: Why We Spend Money We Don’t Have in Search of Happiness We Can’t Buy, Marketing Professor Dr. James Roberts analyzes why we buy more, more, more but just don’t think we’re any better off. In fact, we seem to think things are even worse.

在1972年，有50％的美国人觉得自己“相当幸福”。自那时起，美国的生活水平已显著提高，人均GDP也增长了96％。这意味着我们拥有更多，消费更多且购买力更强。但时至今日，又有多少美国人觉得自己“相当幸福”呢？百分之五十。在11月8日发布的新书《越买越幸福？》（译者：书名来自“国家版权交易网”）中，营销学教授詹姆斯·罗伯茨博士分析了人们越买越多，但却没有感到更加幸福的症结所在。而事实上，情况也许更糟。

In your book, you write that over the last several decades, we’ve consumed more and more products, but we’re just as happy as we were 40 years ago. So, what’s wrong with us?

在您的书中提到在过去几十年里，我们消费的商品越来越多，但幸福感和40年前相比却基本没有变化。您觉得我们到底出了什么问题？

We have short-term amnesia as consumers, and not only are we really not any happier than we were, we’re probably worse off. What we’ve found after every recession in modern times is that we’ve actually up-ticked our spending afterward, but we’re finding that what we thought would bring us happiness, all this extra increase in consumption, just doesn’t deliver the goods. So it’s not only that our happiness has not increased, but there’re a number of studies that tell us we are more depressed, more suicidal, more psychotic, more anxious, more stressed than we were 30, 40 years ago.

作为消费者，我们就像是患有短期健忘证。我们不仅真的没有变得更加幸福，还可能感觉更糟。研究表明：近代每次衰退期过后，人们实际上都提高了自己的消费支出，但现在我们逐渐明白，所有这些额外消费，那些本该带来幸福的东西根本没有发挥作用。所以人们的幸福感非但没有增加，反而有大量研究显示，我们要比三四十年前来得更压抑；更烦躁；更焦虑；更紧张；更有自杀倾向。

It seems that consuming is in our DNA, but we still bare responsibility for our actions, right?

消费似乎是人类的天性，但也不能借此推卸自己的主观责任，对吗？

Most of the research says we can blame about 50% of our problems on our personality. We have been programmed as human beings to store up materials for the future when there may not be food available. That was a good thing for us when we were living in the era of scarcity. But now in the era of abundance, we haven’t learned that there’s plenty tomorrow. We’re still storing up, and we just never seem to fill that void.

大部分研究认为我们可以把问题的一半归咎于天性使然。囤积物资以备不时之需是人类的禀性。在物资匮乏的年代，这算是一种良好的习惯。但如今一切随手可得，我们却还在杞人忧天。再多的堆积也似乎无法填满内心的空白。

You write that we seem to understand that money doesn’t bring happiness. But knowing that appears to have no affect on our behavior.

您书中所阐述的金钱不等于幸福的道理大家似乎都懂。但看起来人们的行为却并未因此改变。

As much as we’re refined and have elevated ourselves from those more primordial concerns, we’re still that caveman under the stress of not having enough. People want to blame marketers and say, “Well, it’s all this advertising.” That may have accelerated it, but you don’t have to look that far back to see that before TV or radio, we had the gold rush, or the Egyptian rulers who were buried with their gold because they thought it would give them an easier entrance into the afterlife.

虽然人们的修养有所提高且已经摆脱了那些原始恐惧，但我们终究还是一群永不满足、终日惶恐的原始人。人们试图怪罪市场营销，说：“看吧，都是广告惹的祸。”广告也许确有催化作用，但回顾近代历史，在电视、广播出现之前我们就经历过一波淘金热；再往前看，埃及统治者喜欢用黄金陪葬，因为法老相信这些能助他们顺利进入永生的国度。

We’ve always had this idea of the American Dream: a nice house, picket fence. How has the definition changed over the last few years?

以前我们对美国梦的理解一直都是：一所有尖桩围栏的漂亮房子。在过去的几年里这个定义又是如何变化的？

It started out with the puritan work ethic that we were to scrimp and save through hard work, patience and perseverance. Then the goal was just to have some level of comfort. But we have perverted the American Dream. We’ve perverted the little white house with the picket fence and the car in the driveway to the 3-car garage with a Hummer out front, the 3,000-square foot house and jewelry and everything that goes along with it. It’s the American Dream on steroids. Today we want the easy wealth without the work.

过去，我们遵循艰苦朴素的职业道德，以辛勤劳动换取报酬；以平和之心勤俭持家；以坚忍毅力积累财富，旦求幸福安康。而如今的美国梦已是面目全非。白色小木屋、尖桩围栏和车道上的普通汽车膨胀成了3个车库，外加门前那辆停不下的悍马；三千尺豪宅和与之相称的珠宝首饰等林林总总。这就像一个打了激素的美国梦。现代人总是妄想着不劳而获的生活。

Do you think this recession will have long-lasting impacts on our behavior?

您认为本次萧条能对我们的行为习惯造成长远影响吗？

Just the fact that we’re having another recession and we’re caught with our pants down with no money and savings, suggests that we didn’t learn from the previous recession. As soon as we see the light at the end of the tunnel, we’re back out there with our credit cards in hand at the mall.

事实上我们又一次两手空空地被经济萧条打了个措手不及，这恰恰证明我们终究没能吸取历史教训。只要看到一丝复苏的希望，人们还是会拿上信用卡，直奔商场。

Does it feel funny writing a book about the hazards of consumerist culture considering you’re a professor of marketing?

身为营销学教授，您是否会因为写书谈论消费主义文化的危险性而觉得变扭？

I’m kind of on the dark side. I teach consumer behavior and advertising, yet a lot of what I talk about is, How does all this advertising and marketing impact us as human beings? How does it impact our society? So, yeah, I’m a bit of anomaly in the marketing faculty.

我本人更关注该领域的阴暗面。我虽然教授消费行为学和广告策划，但课上所论述的大部分内容是关于：广告和营销策略如何影响人类的行为和心理，又如何影响这个社会。所以说，是的，我在同僚中稍显特别。

Do you think we can get out of this cycle of more, more, more?

您觉得我们能跳出越买越多的怪圈吗？

If we can’t convince ourselves that money and material possessions won’t bring us happiness, we are forever going to be chasing that golden ring. So really the change has to be attitudinal. Once we can do that, if we can do that, then the behaviors will follow. Then we’ll start to say, well I don’t need that watch, or that fancy car or that big house. I don’t want to be misunderstood — I’m not saying money is evil. Money plays a very important role in our lives. But the point is that it’s got to be held in balance with all our other important values. Money is a poor master but a good servant. If you allow it to run your life, you are going to be unhappy. But if you use it to live a reasonable life and to help others, you’re going to find great happiness in a moderate level of material possessions and affluence.

如果不能说服自己金钱和物质并不会带来幸福，那我们将永远被那枚“魔戒”牵着鼻子走。所以转变态度才是关键。一旦我们做到了，如果真能做到的话，行为习惯自然会跟着改变。然后人们就会说，好吧，我并不需要那块手表，也不需要那辆拉风的汽车，或那幢大房子。但有一点希望大家不要误会――我并不是在说金钱是邪恶的。金钱在生活中扮演着重要角色。问题是我们要平衡好金钱和其他重要价值之间的关系。要让金钱为你服务而不是主宰你的生活。如果人生被金钱所左右，那就无法获得幸福。但如果你使用它来维持合理的生活水平并帮助他人，那么在普通的物质水平及富裕条件下，也能收获巨大的幸福。

So is it unrealistic to think that we could ever get out of these habits? Are you concerned your book will have zero impact?

那么是不是说戒除这些嗜好的想法不切实际？您是否担心自己的书将无用武之地？

People are so busy that they really don’t have time to reflect on their behaviors. Someone asked me  – How do you justify or rationalize people spending $20-$25 for a book when you’re trying to tell people not to spend money? And that’s a good question. My answer is, this is an investment that can literally change your life. There’ve been some studies that have shown that overly materialistic men spend less time with their families and are more likely to get divorced from their wives. So it isn’t just a pocketbook thing. It’s about quality of life. I don’t think people realize how much our attitudes toward money and possessions impact that.

现代人的问题在于，他们的确忙得没时间去反省自己的行为。有人问过我――如果你写书目的是要告诫人们减少消费，那你又如何为那些拿出20～25美元买你新书的人辩护？问的好。我的回答是，因为这笔投资将能真正改变你的人生。有研究表明：过度追求物质财富的男人花更少时间与家人为伴，并且更容易和妻子离婚。所以这不只是单纯的账面问题，还要考虑生活质量。我认为人们还没有充分认识到，对金钱和物质财富的态度将如何影响自己的生活质量。