Name: 新聞夜 "菜單之外："美國是否應借鏡英國的做法，降低投票年齡？ (NewsNight 'Off Menu:' Should the US take a hint from the UK & lower the voting age?)
Uploaded: 2025-07-19T18:16:40.000Z
Duration: 8 min 53 s

to 不定詞

Across the pond, teens who are not old enough to drive will now be old enough to vote.

在大洋彼岸，未到開車年齡的青少年現在也到了投票年齡。

The U.K. has lowered their voting age to 16 years old.

情態助動詞 A2

So this could be something that the U.S. could consider or not.

是以，這可能是美國可以考慮或不考慮的事情。

You can't even, you're not even old enough to buy a drink, a glass of wine, but you're going to make an important decision on your nation's future.

你甚至還不到買酒喝的年齡，但你卻要對國家的未來做出重要決定。

I know Labor's probably doing it because they're hoping young people tend to be more liberal, but look at our last presidential election.

我知道工黨這麼做可能是因為他們希望年輕人更自由，但看看我們上次的總統大選吧。

Young women were for Harris by a 14-point margin, 17-point margin, but young men were for Donald Trump by a 14-point margin.

年輕女性對哈里斯的支持率為14個百分點，即17個百分點，但年輕男性對唐納德-特朗普的支持率為14個百分點。

But young people are doing a lot of things in this country at 16, at 15, at all kinds of young ages.

但在這個國家，16 歲、15 歲以及各種年齡段的年輕人都在做很多事情。

I think about the Department of Labor, I was chief of staff there, we fined Packer Sanitation Services in Wisconsin because they had 102 children, 13 to 17 years old, overnight shift operating saws to process meat.

我想到了勞工部，當時我是那裡的參謀長，我們對威斯康星州的包裝工衛生服務公司進行了罰款，因為他們有 102 名 13 至 17 歲的兒童，通宵輪班操作鋸子加工肉類。

And so Donald Trump is now proposing to cut the Department of Labor budget.

是以，唐納德-特朗普現在提議削減勞工部的預算。

The Job Corps, which is an entire training system, 25,000 young people are about to lose their training.

職業培訓團是一個完整的培訓系統，有 2.5 萬名年輕人即將失去培訓機會。

So if they're old enough to do this kind of work, I think it's worth considering whether they should be allowed to have a say on who's going to regulate the system in which they're working in.  And I think that if we're going to start treating children like adults more and more as we have in this country, then giving them a say, and these kids aren't the same, they're not the kids that I were.

是以，如果他們的年齡足以從事這種工作，我認為值得考慮是否應該讓他們對誰來監管他們工作的系統有發言權。  我認為，如果我們要像這個國家一樣，越來越多地把孩子當成成年人來對待，那麼就應該給他們發言權，這些孩子和我以前的孩子不一樣了。

They grew up a lot more, they're a lot more politically savvy, they're a lot more in tune with what's going on.

他們成長得更快，他們更懂政治，他們更瞭解發生了什麼。

A lot of young people under 25, a quarterback in a lot of these protests and movements that we're seeing happening across the nation right now.

很多 25 歲以下的年輕人，是我們現在看到的發生在全國各地的抗議和運動中的四分衛。

It's not going to be any worse than anybody else that's ill-informed.

這不會比其他消息不靈通的人更糟糕。

I mean, there's some 50-year-olds who I'm not sure should have the right to vote.

我的意思是，有些 50 歲的人我不確定他們是否應該有投票權。

I mean, I'm kind of torn on this because on the one hand, their brains are definitely not developed.

我的意思是，我有點糾結，因為一方面，他們的大腦肯定沒有發育成熟。

But on the other hand, I mean, maybe they should have a sense of responsibility at an early age.

但另一方面，我的意思是，也許他們從小就應該有責任感。

Maybe they should understand how laws work and how they affect them, especially if they're already out in the world working.

也許他們應該瞭解法律的運作方式以及法律對他們的影響，尤其是如果他們已經在外面工作的話。

Well, my message to the politicians is be careful what you wish for.

我想對政客們說的是，小心駛得萬年船。

But my message to the young people who might like this idea is, look at my face, bags under my eyes, thinning hair.

不過，我想對那些可能喜歡這個想法的年輕人說的是，看看我的臉，眼袋、頭髮稀疏。

This is what happens when you're inundated with political messaging.

這就是被政治資訊淹沒的後果。

The mailing, the texts, the emails, live your life as long as you can, folks.

郵寄、簡訊、電子郵件，盡情享受生活吧，朋友們。

我的意思是，投票是一項公民義務。

But the way that we do it in this country is crazy.

And yeah, I mean, if you're sort of like inundating people with this toxicity at 15 or 16, yeah, I don't know.

是的，我的意思是，如果你在15或16歲時就向人們灌輸這種毒性，是的，我不知道。

I mean, you can give young people in America the right to vote.

我的意思是，你可以給美國年輕人投票權。

They don't have the attention span or the patience.

They're not going to go sit in no eight-hour line with no, you can't even get water.

他們不會去排八小時的隊，甚至連水都喝不上。

It's illegal to give him a snack while he's standing there.

在他站在那裡的時候給他吃零食是違法的。

So I don't even know how much this would swing elections one way or the other, even if we were to open it up to 16-year-olds.

是以，我甚至不知道，即使我們向 16 歲兒童開放選舉，這對選舉的影響有多大。

I mean, it takes a couple people getting the sniffles and staying home because they need Kleenex to swing an election.

我的意思是，只要有幾個人流鼻涕，因為需要面巾紙而呆在家裡，就能左右選舉。

I think Kelly's also right that, you know, everybody's like, oh, young people are so liberal, but sometimes they're not.

我覺得凱利說得也很對，你知道，每個人都會說，哦，年輕人太自由了，但有時候他們並不自由。

And so you can't really typecast them that way and say this is a bad idea because maybe it might give one party an advantage over another.

是以，你不能真的把他們類型化，說這是個壞主意，因為這可能會讓一方比另一方更有優勢。

I think we're deluding ourselves if we don't think that they are already a part of this system, right?

如果我們不認為他們已經是這個系統的一部分，那我們就是在自欺欺人，對嗎？

I mean, all of the things that we're talking about, climate change, all of it, these are going to disproportionately affect that population.

我的意思是，我們正在談論的所有事情，氣候變化，所有這一切，都會對這些人口造成不成比例的影響。

I mean, wouldn't it be great if they, and again, not everybody graduates high school, but wouldn't it be great if people at least were old enough to have had a high school education before we let them vote?

我的意思是，不是每個人都能高中畢業，但如果人們至少到了接受過高中教育的年齡，然後我們才讓他們投票，那不是很好嗎？

But we say that they are old enough to work the vast majority of work functions.

但我們說，他們的年齡足以勝任絕大多數工作職能。

那麼，他們為什麼沒有發言權呢？

I mean, they're having taxes withheld from their paychecks if they're working at McDonald's at 16.

我是說，如果他們 16 歲就在麥當勞工作，他們的工資就會被扣稅。

So yeah, I mean, maybe they should have a say in who's taxing them and why.

所以，是的，我的意思是，也許他們應該對誰向他們徵稅以及為什麼徵稅有發言權。

What if it's only young people that work at factories illegally on a third shift and those are the ones we let vote?

如果只有那些在工廠非法上三班的年輕人，我們才讓他們投票呢？

The ones who- And you show your pay stub from working at the- I'm being silly.

你把你在那工作的工資存根給我看 我真傻

I mean, one of the other things is that there are some studies that suggest that the earlier you allow people to vote or the earlier people do exercise their right to vote, the more civically engaged they are in their whole lives, which this country has such low civic participation in elections.

我的意思是，還有一件事是，有一些研究表明，越早允許人們投票或越早行使投票權，他們一生中的公民參與度就越高，而這個國家的公民參與選舉的程度卻如此之低。

We really do need to figure out some way to deal with that.

我們確實需要想辦法解決這個問題。

Or at least some people think that you need to figure it out.

或者至少有些人認為你需要弄清楚這一點。

I think there should be more people voting and maybe this is one way to do it.

我認為應該有更多的人参與投票，也許這就是一種方法。

I'm a huge proponent for civic engagement and civic education.

我非常支持公民參與和公民教育。

They may have to recalibrate curriculum to make sure that the education comes earlier in middle school so they understand the branches of government, the separation of powers and all that.

他們可能需要重新調整課程，確保在國中階段提前進行教育，讓他們瞭解政府的分支機構、三權分立等。

And I also always say this is, you know, I'm 42 so I'm nowhere close to these 16 year olds who are potentially running or voting, but I don't see young people as the next generation.

我還經常說，我已經42歲了，和這些可能參選或投票的16歲年輕人相比，我還差得遠，但我不認為年輕人是下一代。

But to your point, there are plenty of ways to get involved that don't require casting a ballot.

但就你的觀點而言，有很多參與方式不需要投票。

I mean, if they are involved, why should they not be casting a ballot?

我的意思是，如果他們參與其中，他們為什麼不能投票呢？

Well, where do you draw the line though, Abby?

那麼，你的底線在哪裡，艾比？

I mean, you know, I see people at protests and other things, you know, young teenagers, maybe 12 year olds, should they have the vote?

我的意思是，你知道，我看到人們在抗議和其他活動中，你知道，年輕的青少年，也許是12歲的孩子，他們應該有投票權嗎？

Maybe this is the sort of like, if you can drive, you can vote type of situation.

也許這就是那種 "能開車就能投票 "的情況。

Just similarly, if you can, you know, be conscripted into military service, you should be able to  I don't know.

同樣，如果你可以應徵入伍，你也應該可以。

It seems to me a reasonable, and again, this is something that I think is a conversation we should continue to have, but it seems to be a reasonable standard that if you can serve and work in this economy, that you should have a right to have a say on who's leading the economy.

在我看來，這是一個合理的標準，同樣，我認為這是我們應該繼續討論的問題，但如果你能在這個經濟環境中服務和工作，你就應該有權對誰上司經濟有發言權，這似乎是一個合理的標準。

I do think to, just to be devil's advocate on it, I do think that there is a potential where if you're inviting people to be a part of a system that is already questionable and they already view as not necessarily completely beneficial, then you're creating voter apathy a lot sooner in these people.

我認為，如果你邀請人們參與一個已經存在問題的系統，而且他們已經認為這個系統不一定完全有益，那麼你就有可能讓這些人更快地產生選民冷漠情緒。

So if I'm voting at, you get your vote at 18, you get your vote at 24, and somewhere around 28, 30, you kind of go, all right, nothing changed.

所以，如果我在 18 歲時投票，你在 24 歲時投票，到了 28 歲或 30 歲左右，你就會覺得，好吧，沒什麼變化。

Whereas now if you're voting at 16, that same voter might tail off early to mid-20s instead of early to mid-30s.

而現在，如果你 16 歲就開始投票，那麼同樣的選民可能會在 20 歲出頭到 20 歲中期，而不是 30 歲出頭到 30 歲中期就開始投票。

So you may create an electorate that is less interested in politics as a whole.  What?

是以，你可能會讓選民對整個政治不那麼感興趣。  什麼？

Well, I mean, what you said, Pete, earlier about how, you know, maybe civic education needs to start earlier.

皮特，我的意思是，你之前說過，也許公民教育需要更早地開始。

I'm like, there are so many old people who have absolutely no idea how our system of government works, and they just get to automatically vote.

我想，有這麼多老人完全不知道我們的政府系統是如何運作的，而他們卻能自動投票。

Some of them are literally in government, and they still don't understand how it works.

他們中的一些人簡直就是政府人員，但他們仍然不明白政府是如何運作的。

And they just get their right to vote automatically, then they don't need to be quizzed on whether they understand the system.

他們只要自動獲得投票權，就不需要被問及是否瞭解投票制度。

I think the bigger issue is that this should be a, can you vote test?

我認為更大的問題是，這應該是一個 "你能投票嗎 "的測試。

如果你通過了，你就可以投票。

So if you're 11 and you understand how the government, well, I don't know, listen.

所以，如果你才11歲，你知道政府是怎麼做的，好吧，我不知道，聽著。

But to your point, this system is broken, right?

但就你的觀點而言，這個系統已經壞掉了，對嗎？

Voters have an average of 20% or so voter participation.

You know, it is really sad how few people exercise their right.

知道嗎，很少有人行使自己的權利，這真的很可悲。

Now, some of that could be because the candidates aren't compelling people, but I think trying new things to get people to participate and be a part of our system, I think, is something that is worth exploring.

現在，其中一些原因可能是候選人並不引人注目，但我認為，嘗試新事物讓人們參與併成為我們系統的一部分，是值得探索的事情。