but other people's tragedy.

只會講別人的悲劇

It's a lot easier to be lighthearted about other people's tragedy

講別人的慘事比講你自己的輕鬆多了

than your own,

況且我希望今天的演講氣氛輕鬆愉快

and I want to keep it in the spirit of the conference.

好，如果你相信媒體所言

So, if you believe the media accounts,

認為在快克古柯鹼盛行的高峰期，當個毒販

being a drug dealer in the height of the crack cocaine epidemic

是相當光鮮亮麗的工作--套用作家帕斯楚的話

was a very glamorous life, in the words of Virginia Postrel.

有錢花、有毒吸、坐擁槍枝和女人

There was money, there was drugs, guns, women,

只要你想得到：珠寶、金光閃閃的首飾，應有盡有

you know, you name it -- jewelry, bling-bling -- it had it all.

但我今天要告訴各位，事實上，根據十年的研究

What I'm going to tell you today is that, in fact, based on 10 years of research,

在一次深入幫派的難得機會中

a unique opportunity to go inside a gang --

親眼見到幫派的帳冊，看到他們的財務紀錄後

to see the actual books, the financial records of the gang --

我們發現，幫派生活一點都不光鮮亮麗

that the answer turns out not to be

更實際一點，我認為當個幫派弟兄

that being in the gang was a glamorous life.

為幫派販毒，可能是全美國最糟糕的工作

But I think, more realistically, that being in a gang --

這就是我今天想要說服各位的

selling drugs for a gang -- is perhaps the worst job in all of America.

因此我要做三件事情

And that's what I'd like to convince you of today.

首先，我要解釋快克古柯鹼如何、以及為何

So there are three things I want to do.

對貧民區幫派造成這麼深遠的影響

First, I want to explain how and why crack cocaine

第二，我想告訴各位，像我這種人

had such a profound influence on inner-city gangs.

如何能夠一探幫派的內部運作

Secondly, I want to tell you

我覺得這是個很有趣的故事

how somebody like me came to be able to see

第三，我想以非常淺顯易懂的方法

the inner workings of a gang -- an interesting story, I think.

告訴各位我們從

And then third, I want to tell you, in a very superficial way,

幫派的財務紀錄，從他們的帳冊中發現了什麼

about some of the things we found

但在開始之前，我要先警告各位

when we actually got to look at the financial records,

本演講經美國電影協會列為限制級

the books, of the gang.

內容涉及成人議題及成人語言

So before I do that, just one warning,

不過看到眼前這位仁兄，各位應該會很高興得知

which is that this presentation has been rated 'R'

本演講不會出現裸露畫面

by the Motion Picture Association of America.

除了

It contains adult themes, adult language.

（笑聲）

Given who is up on the stage, you'll be delighted to know

意外穿幫事件以外

that, in fact, there'll be no nudity --

（笑聲）

(Laughter)

首先來談談快克古柯鹼，以及它如何改變了幫派生態

Unexpected wardrobe malfunctions aside.

但我們得先回顧快克古柯鹼盛行以前的情形

(Laughter)

回到80年代初期，以幫派老大的角度來思考

So let me start by talking about crack cocaine,

在80年代中期在貧民區當個幫派老大沒什麼不好

and how it transformed the gang.

有些人甚至會說在80年代初期也不錯

To do that, you have to actually go back to a time before crack cocaine,

你握有權勢，可以揍人

in the early '80s, and look at it from the perspective of a gang leader.

名聲響亮，又受人敬重

Being a gang leader in the inner city wasn't such a bad deal in the mid-'80s --

但你沒什麼賺頭，明白嗎？

the early '80s, let me say.

以前的幫派沒有賺錢的管道

Now, you had a lot of power, and you got to beat people up --

他們沒法跟幫派成員收會費

you got a lot of prestige, a lot of respect.

因為大家都是窮光蛋

But the thing is, there was no money in it.

賣大麻也賺不了多少錢

The gang had no way to make money.

因為大麻太便宜了

You couldn't charge dues to the people in the gang,

沒辦法靠賣大麻致富

because the people in the gang didn't have any money.

你也不能賣古柯鹼

You couldn't really make any money selling marijuana --

你知道，古柯鹼是好貨，我說的是粉狀古柯鹼

marijuana's too cheap, it turns out.

但是你得認識有錢的白人

You can't get rich selling marijuana.

而貧民區幫派弟兄怎麼會認識這種人

You couldn't sell cocaine;

所以他們沒有市場通路

cocaine's a great product -- powdered cocaine --

你也不能偷拐搶騙

but you've got to know rich white people.

靠小奸小惡謀生太辛苦了

And most of the inner-city gang members didn't know any rich white people,

因此

so couldn't sell to that market.

身為一個幫派老大，你有權有勢

You couldn't really do petty crime, either.

生活過得還不錯

Turns out, petty crime's a terrible way to make a living.

問題是，到頭來你還是得跟媽媽住

As a result, as a gang leader, you had, you know, power --

所以這不太能算是一個事業

it's a pretty good life -- but the thing was, in the end,

怎麼說呢

you were living at home with your mother.

你的權勢和地位似乎有個底限

And so it wasn't really a career.

畢竟你還住在家裡靠媽媽養

There were limits to how powerful and important you could be

後來，快克古柯鹼出現了

if you had to live at home with your mother.

套用葛拉威爾剛剛所說的，快克古柯鹼

Then along comes crack cocaine.

對貧民區居民而言，就是特大顆粒的蕃茄醬

And in the words of Malcolm Gladwell,

（笑聲）

crack cocaine was the extra-chunky version of tomato sauce

快克古柯鹼是個不可思議的創新

for the inner city.

我沒有時間就此深談

(Laughter)

但想想，過去二十五年來

Because crack cocaine was an unbelievable innovation.

美國出現的所有發明或創新

I don't have time to talk about it today, but if you think about it,

對貧民區居民福祉影響最深遠的

I would say that in the last 25 years,

就是快克古柯鹼

of every invention or innovation that's occurred in this country,

但是我指的是負面影響，沒有提升，反而降低了福祉

the biggest one in terms of impact

它對生活影響甚鉅

on the well-being of people who live in the inner city,

快克古柯鹼究竟有什麼魅力？

was crack cocaine.

它能讓大腦興奮

And for the worse -- not for the better, but for the worse.

因為快克古柯檢可以用口吸入，粉狀古柯鹼沒辦法

It had a huge impact on life.

藉由口腔吸食，更能享受快感

So what was it about crack cocaine?

比用鼻子吸食粉狀古柯鹼還有效

It was a brilliant way of getting the brain high.

所以一群從未吸食過快克古柯鹼的人

Because you could smoke crack cocaine -- you can't smoke powdered cocaine --

在吸過之後紛紛上癮

and smoking is a much more efficient mechanism of delivering a high

它是非常棒的毒品，你可以

than snorting it.

用一美元買進，以五美元售出

And it turned out there was this audience that didn't know it wanted crack cocaine,

具有高度成癮性--快感非常短暫

but when it came, it really did.

你享受了十五分鐘的快感

And it was a perfect drug;

藥效退去後，又渴求更多快感

you could buy the cocaine that went into it for a dollar,

這造就了非常完美的市場需求

sell it for five dollars.

對於掌管幫派的人而言

Highly addictive -- the high was very short.

這似乎是個生財致富的好方法

So for fifteen minutes, you get this great high,

至少對位居上位的幫派大老是如此

and then when you come down,

此時我們研究人員出場了

all you want to do is get high again.

其實不是我本人，我只是幕後黑手

It created a wonderful market.

這個研究的共同作者蘇西耶凡卡德希才是主角

And for the people who were there running the gang,

他大學主修數學，心地善良

it was a great way, seemingly, to make a lot of money.

想要攻讀社會學博士

At least for the people on the top.

因此前來就讀芝加哥大學

So this is where we enter the picture.

他在抵達芝加哥的前三個月

Not really me -- I'm really a bit player in all this.

都在追隨搖滾樂團「死之華」

My co-author, Sudhir Venkatesh, is the main character.

他自稱外表「活像個怪胎」

He was a math major in college who had a good heart,

南亞裔，皮膚黝黑

and decided he wanted to get a sociology PhD,

身材高壯，一頭長髮「及屁」

came to the University of Chicago.

他顛覆了各種界限：他是黑人還是白人？男人還是女人

Now, the three months before he came to Chicago,

真的是個非常醒目的人物

he had spent following the Grateful Dead.

於是他出現在芝加哥大學

And in his own words, he "looked like a freak."

當時著名的社會學家威爾森

He's a South Asian -- very dark-skinned South Asian.

正在撰寫一本書，需要訪查芝加哥各地的居民

Big man, and he had hair, in his words, "down to his ass."

他看著來幫忙研究的蘇西耶

Defied all kinds of boundaries:

知道應該派這個學生去哪兒

Was he black or white? Was he man or woman?

他要派他去最恐怖、最惡名昭彰的國宅

He was really a curious sight to be seen.

而且訪查範圍不僅限於芝加哥，還遍及全美

So he showed up at the University of Chicago,

來自郊區的蘇西耶，壓根兒沒去過貧民區

and the famous sociologist William Julius Wilson

仍盡責地帶著寫字夾板，走到國宅區

was doing a book that involved surveying people all across Chicago.

來到第一棟樓前

He took one look at Sudhir, who was going to go do some surveys for him,

情形如何？嗯，没半個人影

and decided he knew exactly the place to send him,

但他聽到樓梯間傳來聲響，於是爬上樓梯

which was to one of the toughest, most notorious housing projects

走到轉角處

not just in Chicago, but in the entire United States.

看見一群年輕黑人在玩骰子

So Sudhir, the suburban boy who had never really been in the inner city,

這是1990年的事了，正逢快克古柯鹼高峰期

dutifully took his clipboard and walked down to this housing project,

為幫派做事非常危險，因此你不喜歡出其不意

gets to the first building.

不喜歡有人出其不意出現在轉角處

The first building? Well, there's nobody there.

你的座右銘是：先開槍再說

But he hears some voices up in the stairwell,

但蘇西耶很走運

so he climbs up the stairwell, comes around the corner,

他像個書呆子

and finds a group of young African-American men playing dice.

手上的夾板可能救了他一條小命，因為幫派弟兄想

This is about 1990, peak of the crack epidemic.

沒有仇家會拿個寫字板來槍殺我們

This is a very dangerous job, being in a gang.

(笑聲)

You don't like to be surprised.

所以即便他沒有受到熱烈歡迎，對方倒說

You don't like to be surprised by people who come around the corner.

嗯，好吧，把你的問題說來聽聽

And the mantra was: shoot first; ask questions later.

我没跟各位說笑，他手上的問卷上第一道題目是：

Now, Sudhir was lucky -- he was such a freak,

「在美國當個窮黑人的感覺如何？」

and that clipboard probably saved his life,

（笑聲）

because they figured no other rival gang member

真想不透學術界的人腦袋裡裝什麼，對不對？

would be coming up to shoot at them with a clipboard.

(笑聲)

(Laughter)

題目的選項為: 1.非常好 2.好 3.不好 4.非常不好

So his greeting was not particularly warm, but they did say,

蘇西耶發現，實際受訪者回答如下：

well, OK -- let's hear your questions on your survey.

(5. 幹！) (笑聲)

So -- I kid you not --

但這個問卷並沒有讓蘇西耶就此脫身

the first question on the survey that he was sent to ask was:

他被押做人質，整晚關在樓梯間

"How do you feel about being poor and Black in America?"

晚上槍聲四起

(Laughter)

他和弟兄也聊了許多哲學議題

Makes you wonder about academics.

次日早上，幫派老大來了

(Laughter)

打量了蘇西耶一番

So the choice of answers were:

認定他不具威脅性，決定讓他回家

[A) Very Good B) Good C) Bad D) Very Bad]

所以蘇西耶回到家，沖了澡，睡一覺

(Laughter)

換做你我，在這種情況下可能會決定

What Sudhir found out is, in fact, that the real answer was the following:

嗯，我想我的博士論文還是寫「死之華」好了

[A) Very Good B) Good C) Bad D) Very Bad E) Fuck you]

畢竟我已經研究他們三個月了

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

The survey was not, in the end, going to be what got Sudhir off the hook.

但蘇西耶很快就又回去了--他再度來到國宅前

He was held hostage overnight in the stairwell.

爬上階梯，走到二樓說：「嘿，大夥兒」

There was a lot of gunfire,

「我昨晚跟大家玩得挺愉快的」

there were a lot of philosophical discussions he had with the gang members.

「今天晚上還可以跟你們玩嗎」

By morning, the gang leader arrived,

這是一段動人情誼的開端

checked out Sudhir, decided he was no threat,

蘇西耶前後在國宅內住了十年

and they let him go home.

期間出入古柯鹼交易場所、和幫派弟兄蹲過苦牢

So Sudhir went home, took a shower, took a nap.

車窗被槍射得滿天飛

And you and I, probably, faced with the situation, would think,

警察闖進家門沒收電腦硬碟

"I guess I'm going to write my dissertation on The Grateful Dead,

什麼衰事都遇過

I've been following them for the last three months."

但蘇西耶的故事有個美滿的結局

(Laughter)

他成了美國最受敬重的社會學家之一

Sudhir, on the other hand,

我更是享盡好處，只要坐在辦公室裡開著Excel的表格

got right back, walked down to the housing project,

等著蘇西耶跟我報到，乖乖奉上最新的...

went up to the second floor,

幫派資料