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Law-and-order is the longest-running and probably the best-loved political issue in U.S.history. Yet it is painfully apparent that millions of Americans who would never think of themselves as law-breakers, let alone criminals, are taking increasing liberties with the legal codes that are designed to protect and nourish their society. Indeed, there are moments today—amid outlaw litter, tax cheating, illicit noise and motorized anarchy—when it seems as though the scofflaw represents the wave of the future. Harvard Sociologist David Riesman suspects that a majority of Americans have blithely taken to committing supposedly minor derelictions as a matter of course. Already, Riesman says, the ethic of U.S. society is in danger of becoming this: "You're a fool if you obey the rules."
在美国历史上，法治一直是一个最经久不衰、最受青睐的政治议题。然而，一个令人痛心的事实是，数以百万计的美国人，虽然从不认为自己会破坏法律，更不用说犯罪了，却越来越随意地对待那些旨在保护和培育他们社会的法律规范。的确，在今天的美国，随处可见的非法丢弃垃圾、逃税漏税、扰民的噪音以及机动车的混乱驾驶等现象屡禁不止，有时候让人感觉似乎“蔑视法律者”代表着未来的趋势。哈佛大学社会学家戴维·里斯曼认为，大多数美国人已经开始“若无其事”地犯下一些所谓的轻微过失，并习以为常。里斯曼还表示，美国社会的道德准则正面临着沦为“守规矩就是傻瓜”的危险。
Nothing could be more obvious than the evidence supporting Riesman. Scofflaws abound in amazing variety. The graffiti-prone turn public surfaces into visual rubbish. Bicyclists often ride as though two-wheeled vehicles are exempt from all traffic laws. Litter-bugs convert their communities into trash dumps. Widespread flurries of ordinances have failed to clear public places of high-decibel portable radios, just as earlier laws failed to wipe out the beer-soaked hooliganism that plagues many parks. Tobacco addicts remain hopelessly blind to signs that say NO SMOKING. Respectably dressed pot smokers no longer bother to duck out of public sight to pass around a joint. The flagrant use of cocaine is a festering scandal in middle-and upper-class life. And then there are (hello, Everybody) the jaywalkers.
支持里斯曼观点的证据显而易见，各种各样的“蔑视法律者”层出不穷，数量惊人。喜欢涂鸦的人把公共场所的墙面变成了视觉垃圾；骑自行车的人经常无视交通法规，仿佛两轮车可以不受任何约束；乱扔垃圾的人把他们的社区变成了垃圾场；尽管各地颁布了大量法令，但仍然无法消除公共场所高分贝便携式收音机带来的噪音污染，正如早期的法律未能根除许多公园里酗酒闹事的现象；烟瘾君子们对“禁止吸烟”的标志视而不见；衣冠楚楚的吸食大麻者不再躲避公众视线，而是在光天化日之下互相传递大麻；在社会中上层阶级中，公然吸食可卡因更是一个日益恶化的丑闻；还有那些随意穿越马路的行人（大家好，说的就是你们）。
The dangers of scofflawry vary widely. The person who illegally spits on the sidewalk remains disgusting, but clearly poses less risk to others than the company that illegally buries hazardous chemical waste in an unauthorized location. The fare beater on the subway presents less threat to life than the landlord who ignores fire safety statutes. The most immediately and measurably dangerous scofflawry, however, also happens to be the most visible. The culprit is the American driver, whose lawless activities today add up to a colossal public nuisance. The hazards range from routine double parking that jams city streets to the drunk driving that kills some 25,000 people and injures at least 650,000 others yearly. Illegal speeding on open highways? New surveys show that on some interstate highways 83% of all drivers are currently ignoring the federal 55m.p.h. speed limit.
蔑视法律行为所带来的危害程度各不相同。在人行道上随地吐痰固然令人厌恶，但其危害性显然低于那些将危险化学废物非法掩埋在未经授权地点的公司。在地铁里逃票的人对他人生命构成的威胁，也比那些无视消防安全法规的房东要小。然而，最直接、最容易察觉、危害性也最大的蔑视法律行为，恰恰也是最显而易见的，那就是违规驾驶。如今，美国司机的违法行为已经构成了一个巨大的社会公害。从造成城市街道拥堵的违规双排停车，到每年导致约2.5 万人死亡、至少65 万人受伤的酒后驾驶，各种危害不一而足。在公共高速公路上非法超速行驶的情况如何？最新调查显示，在一些州际高速公路上，目前有83%的司机无视联邦政府规定的55 英里/小时限速。
The most flagrant scofflaw of them all is the red-light runner. The flouting of stop signals has got so bad in Boston that residents tell an anecdote about a cabby who insists that red lights are "just for decoration." The power of the stoplight to control traffic seems to be waning everywhere. In Los Angeles, red-light running has become perhaps the city's most common traffic violation. In New York City, going through an intersection is like Russian roulette. Admits Police Commissioner Robert J. McGuire: "Today it's a 50-50 toss-up as to whether people will stop for a red light." Meanwhile, his own police largely ignore the lawbreaking.
在所有蔑视法律的行为中，最明目张胆的当属闯红灯。在波士顿，闯红灯现象非常严重，以至于当地居民流传着一个笑话：一位出租车司机坚称红灯“只是装饰品”。红绿灯对交通的控制力似乎在各地都在减弱。在洛杉矶，闯红灯可能已成为该市最常见的交通违法行为。在纽约市，通过一个十字路口就像玩“俄罗斯轮盘赌”一样危险。警察局长罗伯特·J·麦圭尔承认：“如今，人们是否会在红灯前停下来，概率各占一半。”与此同时，他手下的警察却对这种违法行为基本上视而不见。
Red-light running has always been ranked as a minor wrong, and so it may be in individual instances. When the violation becomes habitual, widespread and incessant, however, a great deal more than a traffic management problem is involved. The flouting of basic rules of the road leaves deep dents in the social mood. Innocent drivers and pedestrians pay a repetitious price in frustration, inconvenience and outrage, not to mention a justified sense of mortal peril. The significance of red-light running is magnified by its high visibility. If hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue, then furtiveness is the true outlaw's salute to the force of law-and-order. The red-light runner, however, shows no respect whatever for the social rules, and society cannot help being harmed by any repetitions and brazen display of contempt for the fundamentals of order.
闯红灯一直被认为是一种轻微的违法行为，在个别情况下或许如此。然而，当这种违法行为变得习以为常、屡禁不止时，问题就不仅仅是交通管理那么简单了。对基本道路规则的蔑视，会在社会氛围上留下深深的烙印。无辜的司机和行人会因此反复遭受挫折、不便和愤怒，更不用说那种对生命危险的忧虑了。闯红灯行为的严重性因其高度的可见性而被放大。如果说虚伪是邪恶对美德的致敬，那么鬼鬼祟祟才是真正的违法者对法治力量的致意。然而，闯红灯者对社会规则毫无尊重可言，而社会也必然会因这种对基本秩序的蔑视一再重复和公然表现而受到伤害。
The scofflaw spirit is pervasive. It is not really surprising when schools find, as some do, that children frequently enter not knowing some of the basic rules of living together. For all their differences, today's scofflaws are of a piece as a symptom of elementary social demoralization—the loss by individuals of the capacity to govern their own behavior in the interest of others.
这种无视法律法规的风气已经渗透到社会的各个角落。一些学校发现孩子们入学时，往往不懂得一些共同生活的基本规则，这其实并不令人惊讶。尽管今天的“蔑视法律者”表现各异，但他们都是一种基本社会道德沦丧的表征，即个人丧失了为了他人利益而约束自身行为的能力。
The prospect of the collapse of public manners is not merely a matter of etiquette. Society's first concern will remain major crime, but a foretaste of the seriousness of incivility is suggested by what has been happening in Houston. Drivers on Houston freeways have been showing an increasing tendency to replace the rules of the road with violent outbreaks. Items from the Houston police department's new statistical category—freeway traffic violence: 1) Driver flashes high-beam lights at car that cut in front of him, whose occupants then hurl a beer can at his windshield, kick out his tail lights, slug him eight stitches' worth. 2) Dump-truck driver annoyed by delay batters trunk of stalled car ahead and its driver with steel bolt. 3) Hurrying driver of 18-wheel truck deliberately rear-ends car whose driver was trying to stay within 55m.p.h. limit. The Houston Freeway Syndrome has fortunately not spread everywhere. But the question is: Will it?
公共礼仪的沦丧不仅仅是一个礼节问题。社会首先关注的仍将是重大犯罪，但发生在休斯顿的一些事件，已经预示了这种不文明行为的严重性。休斯顿高速公路上的司机们越来越倾向于用暴力行为来取代交通规则。以下是休斯顿警察局新设立的一个统计类别——“高速公路交通暴力”中的一些案例：（1）一名司机对一辆插到他前面的汽车闪远光灯，结果车上的人向他的挡风玻璃扔了一个啤酒罐，踢坏了他的尾灯，并把他打得缝了八针。（2）一名自卸卡车司机因前方车辆抛锚而恼怒，用钢螺栓砸坏了前车的后备箱和司机。（3）一辆18 轮卡车的司机为了赶路，故意追尾了一辆试图保持在55 英里/小时限速内的汽车。“休斯顿高速公路综合征”幸好还没有蔓延到其他地方，但问题是：它会不会蔓延开来？
Americans are used to thinking that law-and-order is threatened mainly by stereotypical violent crime. When the foundations of U.S. law have actually been shaken, however, it has always been because ordinary law-abiding citizens took to skirting the law. Major instance: Prohibition. Recalls Donald Barr Chidsey in On and Off the Wagon: "Lawbreaking proved to be not painful, not even uncomfortable, but, in a mild and perfectly safe way, exhilarating." People wiped out Prohibition at last not only because of the alcohol issue but because scofflawry was seriously undermining the authority and legitimacy of government. Ironically, today's scofflaw spirit, whatever its undetermined origins, is being encouraged unwittingly by government at many levels. The failure of police to enforce certain laws is only the surface of the problem: they take their mandate from the officials and constituents they serve. Worse, most state legislatures have helped subvert popular compliance with the federal 55m.p.h. law, some of them by enacting puny fines that trivialize transgressions. On a higher level, the Administration in Washington has dramatized its wish to nullify civil rights laws simply by opposing instead of supporting certain court ordered desegregation rulings. With considerable justification, environmental groups, in the words of Wilderness magazine, accuse the Administration of "destroying environmental laws by failing to enforce them, or by enforcing them in ways that deliberately encourage noncompliance." Translation: scofflawry at the top.
美国人习惯于认为，法律和秩序主要受到典型的暴力犯罪的威胁。然而，当美国法律的根基真正动摇时，往往是因为普通守法公民开始规避法律。一个主要的例子就是禁酒令。唐纳德·巴尔·奇德西在《时而禁酒时而开禁》一书中回忆道：“事实证明，违法行为并不痛苦，甚至都不让人感到不适，反而让人以一种温和且完全安全的方式感到兴奋。”人们最终废除了禁酒令，不仅是因为酒的问题，还因为蔑视法律的行为严重损害了政府的权威和合法性。具有讽刺意味的是，无论其根源如何，如今的蔑视法律之风正在被各级政府无意中助长。警察未能执行某些法律只是问题的表面现象，因为他们的权力来自于他们所服务的官员和选民。更糟糕的是，大多数州的立法机构都在帮助破坏民众对联邦政府规定的55 英里/小时限速的遵守，其中一些州甚至通过制定微不足道的罚款来轻视违法行为。在更高的层面上，华盛顿政府通过反对而不是支持某些法院下令的废除种族隔离的裁决，公开表明了其想要废除民权法的愿望。正如《荒野》杂志所言，环保团体有充分的理由指责政府“通过不执行环保法，或者以故意鼓励不遵守的方式执行环保法，来破坏环境法”。换句话说：高层的违法乱纪。
The most disquieting thing about the scofflaw spirit is its extreme infectiousness. Only a terminally foolish society would sit still and allow it to spread indefinitely.
蔑视法律的风气最令人不安的地方在于其极强的传染性。只有一个愚蠢到无可救药的社会，才会坐视不管，任其无限蔓延。
Summary
English Summary
The text explores the pervasive issue of scofflawry in American society, where citizens increasingly disregard laws designed for the collective good. This behavior spans a wide spectrum, from minor infractions like littering and jaywalking to more severe offenses like drunk driving and environmental violations. The author argues that this widespread disregard for the law, even in seemingly trivial matters, erodes social order and contributes to a decline in public manners. While major crimes remain a primary concern, the rise in minor lawbreaking signals a deeper societal issue – a loss of individual self-governance in the interest of others. The text further points out that government inaction and even encouragement of law-breaking at various levels exacerbate the problem. The infectious nature of scofflawry poses a significant threat to the very fabric of society, potentially leading to a future where disregard for the law becomes the norm.
中文概括
本文探讨了美国社会中普遍存在的“蔑视法律”现象，即公民越来越无视那些旨在维护集体利益的法律。这种行为涵盖了从乱扔垃圾、乱穿马路等轻微违法行为到酒后驾车、环境污染等更严重的违法行为。作者认为，这种普遍存在的对法律的漠视，即使是在看似微不足道的事情上，也会侵蚀社会秩序，并导致公共礼仪的衰退。虽然重大犯罪仍然是首要关注的问题，但轻微违法行为的增加标志着一个更深层次的社会问题——个人为了他人利益而自我约束的能力的丧失。文章进一步指出，政府在各个层面的不作为甚至鼓励违法行为加剧了这个问题。“蔑视法律”的传染性对社会结构构成了重大威胁，有可能导致一个漠视法律成为常态的未来。
Analysis
Yet it is painfully apparent that millions of Americans who would never think of themselves as law-breakers, let alone criminals, are taking increasing liberties with the legal codes that are designed to protect and nourish their society.
解析： 本句是一个包含多重修饰和复杂结构的超长句。“it is painfully apparent that...”是一个形式主语结构，真正的主语是后面的 that 引导的名词性从句。“millions of Americans”是主语，“are taking increasing liberties with...”是谓语部分，宾语是“the legal codes”。其中，“who would never think of themselves as law-breakers, let alone criminals”是一个非限制性定语从句，用来修饰“Americans”。“let alone criminals”是一个插入语，表示递进关系，强调这些人甚至不会把自己当成罪犯。“that are designed to protect and nourish their society”是另一个定语从句，用来修饰“the legal codes”。 这句话的重点在于对比：那些自认为守法甚至与犯罪绝缘的美国人，却在逐渐地、越来越多地随意对待法律。这种对比突出了问题的严重性和普遍性。“taking increasing liberties with”形象地表达了对法律的轻视和随意践踏。
Indeed, there are moments today—amid outlaw litter, tax cheating, illicit noise and motorized anarchy—when it seems as though the scofflaw represents the wave of the future.
解析： 本句同样是一个包含多个并列成分和复杂结构的超长句。“Indeed”表示递进，进一步强调前文的观点。“there are moments today”是主句，“when”引导一个时间状语从句，其中“it seems as though the scofflaw represents the wave of the future”是该时间状语从句的主干部分。“amid outlaw litter, tax cheating, illicit noise and motorized anarchy”是一个介词短语，在时间状语从句中作状语，列举了当前社会中存在的各种违法现象。“outlaw litter”指非法丢弃垃圾，“tax cheating”指偷税漏税，“illicit noise”指非法噪音，“motorized anarchy”指机动车造成的混乱状态。 这句话的难点在于理解“the scofflaw represents the wave of the future”的含义。这是一种略带夸张和讽刺的说法，意思是：在当今社会，违法乱纪的人似乎成了未来的趋势，预示着一种令人担忧的社会发展方向。
If hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue, then furtiveness is the true outlaw's salute to the force of law-and-order.
解析： 本句包含了两处引用和一处比喻。“If hypocrisy is the tribute that vice pays to virtue”引用了一句谚语，意思是“伪善是邪恶对美德的致敬”，即坏人有时会假装好人以掩盖其恶行。“then furtiveness is the true outlaw's salute to the force of law-and-order”是一个类比，将“furtiveness”（偷偷摸摸）比作“真正的违法者”对“law-and-order”（法律和秩序）的“salute”（致敬）。 这句话的含义是：真正的违法者会偷偷摸摸地行动，以避免被发现，这在某种程度上说明他们还是畏惧法律和秩序的力量的。这与后文提到的“红灯行者”形成对比，后者公然违反交通规则，对社会秩序毫无尊重。
For all their differences, today's scofflaws are of a piece as a symptom of elementary social demoralization—the loss by individuals of the capacity to govern their own behavior in the interest of others.
解析： 本句的难点在于理解“of a piece”和“elementary social demoralization”的含义。“For all their differences”表示让步，意思是“尽管他们（指各种各样的违法者）之间存在差异”。“are of a piece”是一个习语，意思是“属于同一类，本质上是一样的”。“as a symptom of elementary social demoralization”指出这些违法行为是“基本社会道德沦丧”的症状。“the loss by individuals of the capacity to govern their own behavior in the interest of others”是对“elementary social demoralization”的解释，即个人丧失了为了他人利益而约束自己行为的能力。 这句话强调了各种违法行为的共性：它们都是社会道德沦丧的表现，其根源在于个人自律能力的丧失。
Major instance: Prohibition. Recalls Donald Barr Chidsey in On and Off the Wagon:“Lawbreaking proved to be not painful, not even uncomfortable, but, in a mild and perfectly safe way, exhilarating."
解析： 本句的难点在于理解嵌套的引语。“Major instance: Prohibition”指出了一个典型的例子：禁酒令时期。“Recalls Donald Barr Chidsey in On and Off the Wagon”引出了唐纳德·巴尔·奇德西在其著作《时而戒酒时而纵酒》中的一段话。“Lawbreaking proved to be not painful, not even uncomfortable, but, in a mild and perfectly safe way, exhilarating”是奇德西的原话，描述了当时人们对违法行为（指违反禁酒令）的感受：不痛苦，甚至不难受，反而在一种温和且完全安全的方式下令人兴奋。 这句话通过引用历史上的禁酒令时期，说明了当普通守法公民开始规避法律时，法律的根基就会被动摇。
With considerable justification, environmental groups, in the words of Wilderness magazine, accuse the Administration of "destroying environmental laws by failing to enforce them, or by enforcing them in ways that deliberately encourage noncompliance." Translation: scofflawry at the top.
解析： 本句包含了一处嵌套引语和一处简短的总结。“With considerable justification”表示“有充分的理由”。“environmental groups”是主语，“accuse the Administration of...”是谓语部分，宾语是“destroying environmental laws by failing to enforce them, or by enforcing them in ways that deliberately encourage noncompliance”。“in the words of Wilderness magazine”是一个插入语，表示引用的来源是《荒野》杂志。“Translation: scofflawry at the top”是作者对前文的总结，意思是：高层的蔑视法律行为。 这句话指出，环保团体有充分的理由指责政府“通过不执行或以故意鼓励不遵守的方式执行环境法来破坏环境法”。作者将其简要地总结为“高层的蔑视法律行为”，突出了问题的严重性。