so I like to look for the untold stories,

所以我喜歡發掘故事，

the lives that quietly play out under the scream of headlines.

和那些聳動標題下的人生百態。

I've also been going about the business of putting down roots,

我同時也想定下來，

choosing a partner, making babies.

找個好伴、生下孩子。

So for the last few years,

所以過去幾年，

I've been trying to understand

我一直試著去了解

what constitutes the 21st-century good life,

21 世紀的美好生活如何組成。

both because I'm fascinated by the moral and philosophical implications,

我想知道背後的道德和哲學意涵，

but also because I'm in desperate need of answers myself.

也迫切想為自己的人生找答案。

We live in tenuous times.

我們身處在不安的時代。

In fact, for the first time in American history,

事實上，美國史上第一次，

the majority of parents do not think that their kids will be better off

多數家長不認為下一代會更好。

than they were.

無論貧富、男女皆然。

This is true of rich and poor, men and women.

你們有些人可能聽過會覺得沮喪。

Now, some of you might hear this and feel sad.

畢竟美國人深信

After all, America is deeply invested

經濟向上流動的概念：

in this idea of economic transcendence,

每一個世代都會青出於藍，

that every generation kind of leapfrogs the one before it,

賺更多、花更多、各方面更加富足。

earning more, buying more, being more.

我們把這種夢想出口全球，

We've exported this dream all over the world,

巴西、中國甚至肯亞的孩子

so kids in Brazil and China and even Kenya

懷抱著這種憧憬和渴求長大。

inherit our insatiable expectation

但當我第一次看到這份民調，

for more.

我其實沒有很沮喪。

But when I read this historic poll for the first time,

反而是一種啟發：

it didn't actually make me feel sad.

「更好」的標準是什麼？

It felt like a provocation.

「更好」是找到一份鐵飯碗，

"Better off" -- based on whose standards?

然後下半輩子衣食無虞嗎？

Is "better off" finding a secure job

早就不是這麼回事了。

that you can count on for the rest of your life?

美國人平均每 4.7 年換一份工作，

Those are nearly extinct.

而且預計到了 2020 年，

People move jobs, on average, every 4.7 years,

將近半數的美國人會從事自由業。

and it's estimated that by 2020,

所以「更好」從數字看得出來嗎？

nearly half of Americans will be freelancers.

是賺越多錢越好嗎？

OK, so is better off just a number?

若單看收入多寡，我們沒有比較好。

Is it about earning as much as you possibly can?

人均所得中位數扣除通膨因素，

By that singular measurement, we are failing.

從 2000 年就沒有成長。

Median per capita income has been flat since about 2000,

「更好」是要我們住在 有白色藩籬圍著的大房子？

adjusted for inflation.

誰還住那種房子。

All right, so is better off getting a big house with a white picket fence?

將近五百萬人 在金融海嘯後無家可歸，

Less of us are doing that.

更多人從買房的迷思中清醒，

Nearly five million people lost their homes in the Great Recession,

或者是從鼓吹買房的陷阱中清醒。

and even more of us sobered up about the lengths we were willing to go --

擁房率降至 1995 年以來最低。

or be tricked into going, in many predatory cases --

所以就業率不穩定，

to hold that deed.

我們賺不到什麼錢，

Home-ownership rates are at their lowest since 1995.

也沒有住在漂亮的大房子裡。

All right, so we're not finding steady employment,

這簡直就是美國夢的終結。

we're not earning as much money,

可是，

and we're not living in big fancy houses.

這些是衡量國家強盛，

Toll the funeral bells

或是生活品質的最好指標嗎？

for everything that made America great.

我認為再創造的精神 才是美國強盛的原因。

But,

金融海嘯之後，

are those the best measurements of a country's greatness,

越來越多美國人 在重新定義「更好」的意義。

of a life well lived?

結果發現社群和創意，

What I think makes America great is its spirit of reinvention.

遠比幾塊錢、幾分錢重要。

In the wake of the Great Recession,

我把話說清楚：

more and more Americans are redefining what "better off" really means.

14.8% 的美國人貧困缺錢，

Turns out, it has more to do with community and creativity

這不用多解釋。

than dollars and cents.

然後我們都需要政策保障

Now, let me be very clear:

不受雇主或金融機構剝削。

the 14.8 percent of Americans living in poverty need money,

這也不經意點出了貧富差距

plain and simple.

在道德上的不合情理。

And all of us need policies that protect us from exploitation

可是，

by employers and financial institutions.

我們的討論常常到此為止。

Nothing that follows is meant to suggest that the gap between rich and poor

我們把貧窮說成一種單一經驗；

is anything but profoundly immoral.

只把窮人當成受害者。

But,

我從研究和報導的過程中學到，

too often we let the conversation stop there.

那些最弱勢的人

We talk about poverty as if it were a monolithic experience;

往往更能駕馭

about the poor as if they were solely victims.

美好生活的藝術。

Part of what I've learned in my research and reporting

若說需求是發明之母，

is that the art of living well

那麼我相信，

is often practiced most masterfully

衰退就是覺醒之父。

by the most vulnerable.

它將最關鍵的問題擺在我們眼前，

Now, if necessity is the mother of invention,

那些安逸時我們懶得回答的問題。

I've come to believe

我們該如何工作？

that recession can be the father of consciousness.

我們該如何生活？

It confronts us with profound questions,

我們所有人，無論察覺與否，

questions we might be too lazy or distracted to ask

都在尋找這些問題的答案，

in times of relative comfort.

就像先人在耳邊不斷耳語。

How should we work?

我曾祖父是住在底特律的酒鬼，

How should we live?

他三不五時會去工廠打個工。

All of us, whether we realize it or not,

聽起來很不可置信，

seek answers to these questions,

他有 21 個小孩，

with our ancestors kind of whispering in our ears.

都是跟同一個女人生的，我曾祖母，

My great-grandfather was a drunk in Detroit,

她 47 歲時卵巢癌過世。

who sometimes managed to hold down a factory job.

我現在在懷第二胎，

He had, as unbelievable as it might sound,

還是完全無法了解她經歷的過程。

21 children,

如果你仔細算，其中有六對雙胞胎。

with one woman, my great-grandmother,

所以我爺爺，他們其中一個兒子，

who died at 47 years old of ovarian cancer.

變成四海為家的業務員，

Now, I'm pregnant with my second child,

過著揮金如土的生活。

and I cannot even fathom what she must have gone through.

所以我爸小時候一開門 外面就是討債的，

And if you're trying to do the math -- there were six sets of twins.

他都要假裝爸媽不在家。

So my grandfather, their son,

他還從車庫找鉗子自己拆牙套，

became a traveling salesman,

因為我爺爺說他沒錢 給我爸看牙醫。

and he lived boom and bust.

所以我爸，毫不意外，

So my dad grew up answering the door for debt collectors

當上處裡破產的律師。

and pretending his parents weren't home.

這應該不能寫進小說吧？

He actually took his braces off himself with pliers in the garage,

他很在意要打下穩固的基礎

when his father admitted he didn't have money

給我哥和我。

to go back to the orthodontist.

我的疑問來自數個世代的掙扎。

So my dad, unsurprisingly,

我父母確保我健全長大，

became a bankruptcy lawyer.

能夠去質疑、冒險、大膽嘗試。

Couldn't write this in a novel, right?

諷刺的是，我的這些反思

He was obsessed with providing a secure foundation

來自他們提供的穩定生活，

for my brother and I.

讓我有餘裕去思索生活的價值，

So I ask these questions by way of a few generations of struggle.

至少是 21 世紀被定義的傳統價值。

My parents made sure that I grew up on a kind of steady ground

讓我們來看第一個問題：

that allows one to question and risk and leap.

我們該如何工作？

And ironically, and probably sometimes to their frustration,

去學學自己的媽媽。

it is their steadfast commitment to security

沒錯，我們花了數十年，

that allows me to question its value,

想把女性塞進男性創造的職場。

or at least its value as we've historically defined it

很多女人為了適應犧牲良多，

in the 21st century.

但更多人不得不鋌而走險，

So let's dig into this first question:

為了幾分錢絞盡腦汁，

How should we work?

吃足苦頭放下身段，

We should work like our mothers.

只為了最愛的家人。

That's right -- we've spent decades

我媽說那叫「但是又何奈」。

trying to fit women into a work world built for company men.

成長顧問說這叫「多元化發展」。

And many have done backbends to fit in,

不管你怎麼說，

but others have carved a more unconventional path,

越來越多男性選擇這種生活方式。

creating a patchwork of meaning and money

他們聽見需求的呼喚， 同時想當好父親和好兒子。

with enough flexibility to do what they need to do

藝術家安漢米爾頓曾說：

for those that they love.

「勞動讓你有所察覺。」

My mom called it "just making it work."

換句話說，你的職業

Today I hear life coaches call it "a portfolio career."

就是你所了解的世界。

Whatever you call it,

如果這是真的，至少我是這麼相信，

more and more men are craving these whole, if not harried, lives.

曾經過度對小朋友、

They're waking up to their desire and duty to be present fathers and sons.

病患和年長者付出的女性，

Now, artist Ann Hamilton has said,

如今反而大大受益於

"Labor is a way of knowing."

這個最根本的一項認知：

Labor is a way of knowing.

體認到人類現在的處境。

In other words, what we work on

在這個轉捩點上，

is what we understand about the world.

男人等於某種程度賭上了

If this is true, and I think it is,

全人類的存續。

then women who have disproportionately cared for the little ones

習以為常的朝九晚五不再適合。

and the sick ones and the aging ones,

照表操課、職業階層都不重要了。

have disproportionately benefited

每天都有產業興起或衰落。

from the most profound kind of knowing there is:

一切都說不準了。

knowing the human condition.

所以不要再問小孩：

By prioritizing care,

「你以後長大要做什麼？」

men are, in a sense, staking their claim

而要開始問： 「你以後長大要怎麼做？」

to the full range of human existence.

以後的職業選擇千變萬化。

Now, this means the nine-to-five no longer works for anyone.

唯一不變的是他們本身。

Punch clocks are becoming obsolete, as are career ladders.

他們越了解自己的才華，

Whole industries are being born and dying every day.

去找到相輔相成的對象，

It's all nonlinear from here.

才會過得越好。

So we need to stop asking kids,

眼前的挑戰是重建社會安全網，

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

去配合日益脆弱的經濟體。

and start asking them, "How do you want to be when you grow up?"

我們需要更靈活的健保。

Their work will constantly change.

我們需要能涵蓋自身風險，

The common denominator is them.

以及保障保戶無虞的保單設計。

So the more they understand their gifts

我們要認真考慮全面的基本工資。

and create crews of ideal collaborators,

我們要重新設計勞工組織。

the better off they will be.

創造出一個符合

The challenge ahead is to reinvent the social safety net

21 世紀價值的勞動環境，

to fit this increasingly fragmented economy.

只想養家餬口的觀念早就落伍了，

We need portable health benefits.

不信去問你媽。

We need policies that reflect that everyone deserves to be vulnerable

至於第二個問題：

or care for vulnerable others,

我們該怎麼生活？

without becoming destitute.

我們應該過得像飄洋過海的先人。

We need to seriously consider a universal basic income.

當初他們來到美洲大陸，

We need to reinvent labor organizing.

共享住所、生存技巧、照護幼兒，

The promise of a work world that is structured to actually fit

盡力餵飽每一張嘴，

our 21st century values,

無論資源有多匱乏。

not some archaic idea about bringing home the bacon,

但後來成功卻變成自掃門前雪，

is long overdue --

不斷追尋美國夢的經典象徵：

just ask your mother.

白色藩籬的大房子。

Now, how about the second question:

時至今日，院子的白色藩籬

How should we live?

還是給人成功、穩健的形象。

We should live

但當你把這些表象拋開，

like our immigrant ancestors.

發現藩籬只是人際交流的阻礙。

When they came to America,

許多美國人抗拒白色藩籬，

they often shared apartments, survival tactics, child care --

和那種高度封閉的私人生活，

always knew how to fill one more belly,

想要重新繫起人群，

no matter how small the food available.

進而增進相互的依賴。

But they were told that success meant leaving the village behind

舉例來說，有五千萬人

and pursuing that iconic symbol of the American Dream,

是住在多代同堂的家裡。

the white picket fence.

金融海嘯時的人數更多，

And even today, we see a white picket fence

但大家其實很喜歡這種生活模式。

and we think success, self-possession.

三分之二多代同堂的人說

But when you strip away the sentimentality,

家人之間的感情更好了。

what it really does is divides us.

有些人跟家人以外的人一起住，

Many Americans are rejecting the white picket fence

互相提供健康和經濟的援助。

and the kind of highly privatized life that happened within it,

「CoAbode」是一個線上平台，

and reclaiming village life,

讓單親媽媽們互相找伴租屋，

reclaiming interdependence instead.

已經累積五萬名用戶。

Fifty million of us, for example,

65 歲以上的人特別傾向

live in intergenerational households.

去找這樣的另類住宿方案。

This number exploded with the Great Recession,

他們了解自己的生活品質

but it turns out people actually like living this way.

仰賴一定程度的獨處和合作。

Two-thirds of those who are living with multiple generations under one roof

但仔細想想我們也是一樣，

say it's improved their relationships.

無論老少。

Some people are choosing to share homes not with family,

長久以來，我們假裝 幸福就是窩在自己的城堡。

but with other people who understand the health and economic benefits

但研究顯示事實並非如此。

of daily community.

最健康、最幸福也最安全的情況，

CoAbode, an online platform for single moms looking to share homes

假如說天災或是有突發狀況，

with other single moms,

和鄰居做好守望相助很重要。

has 50,000 users.

我自己也有切身體驗。

And people over 65 are especially prone

過去幾年我都住在一個共居社區。

to be looking for these alternative living arrangements.

有 1.5 英畝的柿子樹林，

They understand that their quality of life

黑莓樹在社區花園蜿蜒，

depends on a mix of solitude and solidarity.

我們就坐落在奧克蘭城區。

Which is true of all of us when you think about it,

九棟建築設計迥異，

young and old alike.

不同坪數，不同外形，

For too long, we've pretended that happiness is a king in his castle.

但都盡可能綠化。

But all the research proves otherwise.

所以我們屋頂上有裝太陽能板，

It shows that the healthiest, happiest and even safest --

所以我們每個月電費基本上

in terms of both climate change disaster, in terms of crime, all of that --

不會超過五塊美金。

are Americans who live lives intertwined with their neighbors.

我們總共 25 位住戶

Now, I've experienced this firsthand.

年齡、政治傾向、職業都不同，

For the last few years, I've been living in a cohousing community.

但我們住的地方五臟俱全。

It's 1.5 acres of persimmon trees,

而且，

this prolific blackberry bush that snakes around a community garden,

我們共用一個工業級廚房和用餐區，

all smack-dab, by the way, in the middle of urban Oakland.

每周有兩次共餐。

The nine units are all built to be different,

通常我跟人家介紹時，

different sizes, different shapes,

基本上有兩種極端反應：

but they're meant to be as green as possible.

要嘛就說：「大家都應該這樣住啊！」

So big, shiny black solar cells on our roof

不然就是：「聽起來有點可怕。

mean our electricity bill rarely exceeds

我應該死都不會住進去。」

more than five bucks in a month.

但我跟你保證， 我們絕對尊重互相的隱私，

The 25 of us who live there are all different ages and political persuasions

也致力於所謂「極致的待客之道」，

and professions,

沒有五星級酒店廣告這麼誇張，

and we live in homes that have everything a typical home would have.

但確保每一個人都被善意款待，

But additionally,

就這麼簡單。

we share an industrial-sized kitchen and eating area,

住在這種社區最大的驚喜？

where we have common meals twice a week.

大家一起分擔家事， 修繕、烹飪、園藝，

Now, people, when I tell them I live like this,

有時也分擔心理的壓力。

often have one of two extreme reactions.

與其依賴少數幾個家庭成員，

Either they say, "Why doesn't everyone live like this?"

去負擔你所有的情緒，

Or they say, "That sounds totally horrifying.

這邊你有二十幾個人可以找，

I would never want to do that."

聊聊今天工作多勞累，

So let me reassure you: there is a sacred respect for privacy among us,

或是請教怎麼處理學校的壞老師。

but also a commitment to what we call "radical hospitality" --

社區的青少年通常會去尋求

not the kind advertised by the Four Seasons,

父母外成年人的建議。

but the kind that says that every single person is worthy of kindness,

這是作家 bell hooks 說的「新式教養」，

full stop, end of sentence.

我們相信這些孩子有更多榜樣

The biggest surprise for me of living in a community like this?

去依賴和模仿會更健康。

You share all the domestic labor -- the repairing, the cooking, the weeding --

而且成年人也會更健康。

but you also share the emotional labor.

其實要變成白色藩籬裡

Rather than depending only on the idealized family