Name: 一個人的貪婪如何改變了世界？🌍 (How the Greed of One Man Changed The World)
Uploaded: 2026-02-27T21:42:26.000Z
Duration: 14 min 44 s

A bottle of shiny dust sparkles in the shopkeeper's hands as he rushes down the muddy street.

店家的手裡閃爍著一瓶閃亮的塵土，他急忙跑過泥濘的街道。

那個人揮舞著帽子大喊，黃金。

Carpenters abandon half built houses, ship crews, dessert shops close and papers stop printing as everyone runs to the gold fields.

木匠們拋下未完工的房屋，船員們、甜點店紛紛關門，報紙也停止印刷，因為每個人都衝向金礦。

It's May 10, 1848, and one of the largest migrations history has just begun.

那是1848年5月10日，史上最大規模的遷徙之一就此展開。

For the next years, this tiny village will become the most out of control place on earth.

在接下來的幾年裡，這個小村莊將成為地球上最失控的地方。

The man with the bottle, Samuel Brannan, watches the chaos he unleashed.

拿著酒瓶的男子山謬爾·布蘭南，看著他一手造成的混亂。

It's part of a plan that will make him the richest man in California.

這是一項讓他成為加州首富的計畫的一部分。

The edge of the Map three years earlier Brannan is serving as the highest ranking Mormon in New York City.

三年前，布蘭南是紐約市的最高階摩門教徒。

The Mormons beliefs are clashing with the values of Protestant America and their leader has just been brutally murdered by a mob in Illinois.

摩門教的信仰與新教美國的價值觀產生衝突，他們的領袖才剛在伊利諾州被暴民殘酷殺害。

Violence is spreading and many are running for their lives.

暴力正在蔓延，許多人為了活命而逃亡。

Brannan wants to evacuate his group west beyond the reach of the US and he's not the only one.

布蘭南想把他的信徒們撤離到美國觸及不到的西部，而且他不是唯一一個這麼想的。

In early 1846, he and over 200 fellow believers board a ship to sail around the Americas, hoping to build their religious sanctuary.

1846年初，他和兩百多名信徒登上船，繞過美洲航行，希望能建立他們的宗教避難所。

They don't know that time is against them.

The US government has its eyes on California as a Pacific foothold and trade post for Asia.

美國政府正覬覦加州，想將其作為太平洋的立足點和亞洲的貿易站。

Mexico has owned it since freeing itself from Spain in 1821.

自從墨西哥於 1821 年脫離西班牙獨立以來，就一直擁有那裡。

And owning is putting it a bit generously.

而且「擁有」這個詞說得有點客氣了。

Indigenous peoples have lived there for millennia, but

in just the last 75 years, forced labor, violence and disease have halved their population from what used to be 300,000.

在過去的 75 年裡，強迫勞動、暴力和疾病已經讓他們的人口從原本的 30 萬減半。

For the US this is convenient, as a weakened population means less resistance.

對美國來說，這很方便，因為人口減少意味著抵抗力減弱。

In early 1846, U.S. troops cross the Nueces river and start a war.

1846 年初，美軍越過內塞斯河，發動戰爭。

Meanwhile, Brannan's ship is rounding Cape Horn and after six months they reach the village that will soon be San Francisco.

與此同時，布蘭南的船正繞過合恩角，六個月後抵達即將成為舊金山的村莊。

marines have seized the outpost just three weeks earlier, and

海軍陸戰隊在三個星期前才剛攻下這個前哨站，

the dream of a Mormon sanctuary in California is dead on arrival.

摩門教徒在加州的夢想，一開始就破滅了。

Other men would be devastated, but Brannan sees opportunity.

其他人可能會是以沮喪，但布蘭南卻看到了機會。

Many pass through a key stop upstream where a Swiss immigrant named John Sutter has been carving out his own empire on stolen land, brutally exploiting the forced labor of native people.

許多人經過上游一個重要的停靠點，那裡有一位名叫約翰·薩特的瑞士移民，他正在侵佔的土地上建立自己的帝國，殘酷地剝削原住民的強迫勞動。

An expanding frontier outpost, but short on supplies.

一個不斷擴張的邊境前哨站，但物資短缺。

Brannan steps in and opens a general store right at Fort Sutter's gates.

布蘭南挺身而出，在薩特堡的門口開設了一家雜貨店。

And in early 1848, fate walks into his shop.

在 1848 年初，命運走進了他的店裡。

A farmer farmhand pays for a bottle of brandy with gold dust this news makes Brannan's brain light up like a slot machine.

一位農場幫工用金粉付了一瓶白蘭地的錢，這個消息讓布蘭南的腦袋像吃角子老虎一樣閃閃發光。

If one random farmhand has gold, there's more to be found.

如果一個隨機的農場幫工有黃金，那表示還有更多黃金可以找到。

The trail leads into the Sierra Nevada foothills, where one of Sutter's workers has spotted something glittering in the mud of the American River.

這條小徑通往內華達山脈的丘陵地帶，那裡有位薩特堡的工人發現了美國河泥中閃閃發光的東西。

貨真價實的純金就這樣大剌剌地擺在眼前。

It hits Sutter like the gold won't make him rich, but destroy him.

這消息對薩特來說，與其說是黃金讓他致富，不如說是會毀了他。

It causes a fever that spreads like the flu and turns workers into, well, literal gold diggers.

這引發了一場像流感一樣蔓延的狂熱，讓工人變成，嗯，字面上的淘金客。

He begs his men for six weeks of silence to claim legal rights and finish the mill he just started building.

他懇求手下保密六週，以便他能聲請法律權利並完成他剛開始建造的水磨坊。

But workers are already starting to sneak off to pan for flakes in the river.

但工人們已經開始偷偷溜走，到河裡淘金了。

Overnight, gold fever is spreading, and Sam Brannan catches a brutal case.

一夜之間，淘金熱蔓延開來，山姆·布蘭南也染上了嚴重的「病」。

He delivers one last sermon to the San Francisco Mormons, because who wants to shepherd souls when there's a fortune waiting in the dirt?

他對舊金山的摩門教徒們做了最後一次佈道，因為當泥土裡有財富等著你時，誰還想去牧養靈魂呢？

He rides out to the new goldfields, bottles a sample, and

他騎馬前往新金礦區，瓶裝了樣本，然後

races back to wave his hat and stir up the city.

趕回城裡揮舞帽子，煽動群眾。

The news ripples outwards like a shockwave, draining towns like San Jose and Monterey like bathtubs.

消息像衝擊波一樣向外擴散，舊金山和蒙特雷等城鎮被掏空，就像浴缸的水一樣。

Within weeks, Brannan is already three steps ahead in his shop, he's gathered picks, pans, whiskey, everything a miner could want and sells it as an obscene markup.

幾週之內，布蘭南已經搶先一步在他的店裡，他準備了鶴嘴鋤、淘金盤、威士忌，礦工們需要的一切，並以離譜的價格出售。

In the city, he sells a kilo of beef for $2.

在城裡，他一公斤牛肉賣2塊錢。

Soon his store is turning over $4,000 a day.

很快，他的商店每天的營業額就達到4,000美元。

Other sellers rush in, charging up to 1,000% over cost and getting it not long.

其他賣家也紛紛湧入，收取高達成本1000%的價格，而且很快就賣光了。

And Brennan is making more monthly than most miners will see in their digging career.

布蘭南每個月賺的錢，比大多數礦工一輩子挖礦賺的還多。

Instead of gold, Brennan mines the miners.

布蘭南沒有挖黃金，他是在「挖」礦工。

Don't think you could be exploited like that.

Your data is the digital gold of today, and

你的數據就是今天的數位黃金，

profit minded tricksters are sifting through it as we speak.

而那些唯利是圖的騙子正在趁機撈取。

Cue our partner, NordVPN, your gunslinger on the Internet.

介紹我們的合作夥伴 NordVPN，你在網路上的神槍手。

Their service blocks malicious websites, stops web trackers, and hides annoying pop ups.

他們的服務會封鎖惡意網站、阻止網路追蹤器，並隱藏惱人的彈出式廣告。

Threat Protection Pro scans files as they download, automatically removes malware, and checks apps for security vulnerabilities.

Threat Protection Pro 會在你下載檔案時掃描，自動移除惡意軟體，並檢查應用程式是否存在安全漏洞。

It also warns you about risky search results or if your session has been hijacked.

它還會警告你搜尋結果的風險，或你的連線是否被劫持。

Your data surely won't make cybercriminals cash registers ring.

你的數據絕對不會讓網路罪犯的收銀機響起來。

The Dark Web monitor instantly informs you if a data breach occurs on a site and your data is leaked on the Dark Web.

Dark Web Monitor 會在你資料在 Dark Web 上外洩時立即通知你。

When you're on the go, NORDVPN encrypts your connection on unsecured WI FI networks.

當你外出時，NORDVPN 會在不安全的 WI FI 網路上加密你的連線。

Such as those in hotels, airports or cafes.

像是飯店、機場或咖啡廳裡的網路。

NORDVPN is compatible with all major platforms and can be used on up to 10 devices simultaneously.

NORDVPN 支援所有主流平臺，最多可同時在 10 臺裝置上使用。

Get four extra months with the two year plan at NordVPN.com Nightshift risk free thanks to the 30 day money back guarantee.

在 NordVPN.com/Nightshift 購買兩年方案，還能享有額外四個月的免費使用，並有 30 天退款保證，完全無風險。

Now that we've got you covered, back to California.

介紹完我們的夥伴，我們回到加州。

The global stampede on December 5, the US president confirms it.

12 月 5 日的全球淘金熱，美國總統證實了。

Tens of thousands drop everything and head west.

成千上萬的人放下一切，前往西部。

They call themselves the 49ers after the year they arrive, or Argonauts, like the heroes who chase the Golden Fleece.

他們自稱 49 人，因為那是他們抵達的年份，或是阿爾戈英雄，就像追逐金羊毛的英雄一樣。

There's no Panama Canal and no transcontinental railroad.

當時沒有巴拿馬運河，也沒有橫貫大陸的鐵路。

By land, it's a 2,000 mile trek lined with abandoned wagons and animal bones across deserts and mountains.

陸路要走 2,000 英里，穿越沙漠和山脈，沿途都是被遺棄的馬車和動物骨骸。

The sea route around Cape Horn is no better.

繞過合恩角的航線也好不到哪裡去。

Five to eight months through storms that eat ships for breakfast.

要花五到八個月的時間，經歷風暴，這些風暴可以輕易吞噬船隻。

Sail south, hike through jungle, sail north.

往南航行，穿越叢林徒步，再往北航行。

It sounds clever until you're vomiting blood from yellow fever while mosquitoes use you as a buffet.

聽起來很聰明，直到你因為黃熱病嘔吐鮮血，同時蚊子把你當成自助餐。

Meanwhile, the whole Pacific Rim has mobilized.

同時，整個太平洋邊緣都動員起來了。

Every major port from Valparaiso to Guangzhou sits closer to the gold than New York does.

從瓦爾帕萊索到廣州的每一個主要港口，都比紐約離黃金更近。

By the end of 1849, over 100,000 souls have flooded California from every inhabited continent, and

到1849年底，超過十萬人從所有有人居住的大陸湧入加州，

nearly all of them funnel through San Francisco.

Digging the dream by 1851, Sam Brannan has opened an office in this boom town and is buying up land in every direction.

到了1851年，山姆·布蘭南在這個蓬勃發展的城鎮開設了辦公室，並在四處收購土地。

He strides through the dusty streets in a tailored suit from the finest imported fabrics, a cigar in his mouth, passing the brothels, saloons and gambling hells.

他穿著由最精緻進口布料製成的訂製西裝，口裡叼著雪茄，穿梭在塵土飛揚的街道上，經過妓院、酒館和賭場。

The people gossip about the many affairs of California's richest man.

人們議論著加州首富的許多風流韻事。

The streets swarm with thousands of young men, armed and half drunk, shouting in a dozen languages, chasing the golden fever dream.

街上擠滿了數千名年輕人，他們手持武器，半醉著，用十幾種語言大聲喊叫，追逐著黃金的夢想。

In three years, the city has grown from a few hundred to 55,000 people, many of them immigrants.

三年內，這座城市的人口從幾百人增長到五萬五千人，其中許多是移民。

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一個人的貪婪如何改變了世界？🌍 (How the Greed of One Man Changed The World)

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