For me, like many Americans, that means "middle class".

對我而言，就像大多數的美國人一樣，我屬於「中產階級」。

But the truth is that the social classes in the United States are rapidly pulling away from one another.

但事實上，美國各社會階級之間的距離急遽地增加。

The emerging class system looks different, with its casual dress codes and somewhat greater variety of skin tones and ethnicities.

新興的階級體系的面貌不同，打扮隨性，以及在某種程度上，膚色和族群更多元化。

But we are the accomplices in a process that is strangling the economy, destabilizing our politics, and eroding democracy.

但是我們正是扼殺經濟、左右政治、和腐蝕民主的幫兇。

There is a familiar story about rising inequality in the United States.

美國有一個耳熟能詳、關於貧富不均日益顯著的故事。

The villains are the plutocrats, the fat cats, the tech bros and the rest of the so-called 1%.

壞人就是那些財閥、暴發戶、科技新貴以及所謂頂端 1% 的人。

The good guys are the 99 percent, also known as "the people".

好人就是剩餘 99% 的人，也就是所謂的「一般人」。

In fact, it is the top 0.1% who have been the big winners in wealth over the past 50 years.

事實上，最大勝利組是那些在過去 50 年擁有大量財富、金字塔最頂端 0.1%的人。

Their share of the pie climbed from 10 percent in 1963 to more than 22 percent today.

他們的財富分配佔從 1963 年的10% 攀升至現在的 22%。

But not everybody below them had to give up something.

但這不代表在他們下層的所有人會失去些什麼。

Only the bottom 90% did.

只有 90% 下層的人。

In between, there is a third group that has held on to its share of the wealth year after year.

兩者之間，還有第三類的人，他們年復一年地保持著他們的財富份額。

Let's call it the 9.9%.

就統稱他們為 9.9% 好了。

The 9.9% is rich in more than mere money.

這些 9.9% 的人不只有錢。

It has substantially lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity.

他們得到心臟病、糖尿症和肥胖的比率都比較低。

It marries later and has more stable family structures.

這群人較晚婚，並有更穩定的家庭結構。

It lives in gilded neighborhoods with richer social networks and vastly better educational opportunities.

他們住在富裕的社區，擁有更豐富的社交網絡和更好的教育機會。

And it is able to pass all of this along to its offspring, leaving the bottom 90% in the dust.

而這群人能將這些好處都傳給下一代，使社會上剩餘 90% 的人望塵莫及。

We like to pretend that none of this matters because in the land of opportunity, everybody has a chance to make it.

我們喜歡假裝這些事不存在，因為在這個築夢的土地上，人人都有機會成功。

But in fact, social mobility is lower here than in many other developed countries, and it's been going down.

但事實上，美國的社會流動率比許多其他已開發國家還要低，而且還在持續下降。

Aristocrats take wealth out of productive activities and invest it in walls.

貴族不把財富投資在生產活動，而是束之高閣。

They lock themselves and their offspring in place at the expense of other people's children.

他們以別人的孩子為代價，將自己和後代妥善保護在高牆後。

The escalating inequality of our time appears new.

急遽上升的貧富不均似乎是新的問題。

But if you take in a broad sweep of history, starting, say, with the Great Pyramids of Egypt, inequality looks like the norm of human experience.

但如果我們從歷史的廣泛角度來看，貧富不均是所有人類的共同經驗—例如埃及的金字塔。

History tells us that aristocrats come to believe their own propaganda, that their superiority is an artifact of nature.

歷史告訴我們，貴族通常都相信著自己的宣傳說辭，也就是上天賦予他們與生俱來的優勢。

Today's 9.9 percent has convinced themselves they don't have any privileges, and the delusions are understandable.

今天這些 9.9% 的人深信自沒有任何特權，他們產生這樣的錯覺其實很容易理解。

A strange truth about rising inequality is that even as it locks our privileges in place, it doesn't seem to make things that much easier.

有一個關於貧富不均擴大的奇怪事實，那就是就算我們能保障自己的特權，事情也不會變得更輕鬆。

That's because the greater the inequality, the less your money buys.

這是因為貧富差距越大，你所能消費的就越少。

Our insecurity grows as the chasm beneath us expands.

當人們之間的差距越來越大，我們的不安全感也隨之增加。

Rising inequality leads to political instability and typically ends in catastrophic violence.

貧富不均增加會導致政治不穩定，並最終造成災難性的暴力。

Still, there have been exceptions.

當然還是有些例外。

America's founders were mostly 9.9 percenters.

美國的創國元老們多半都是那群 9.9% 的人。

But they turned their backs on the man at the top in order to create a government of, by, and for the people.

但他們背棄了金字塔頂端的那群人，建立了民有、民治、民享的政府。

Reversing the calcifying effects of rising inequality isn't just a matter of helping out the less fortunate.

翻轉貧富不均的僵化現象並非僅是幫助窮人就能解決的問題。

The challenge we face now is to renew the promise of American democracy.

我們現在所面臨挑戰是如何復興美國民主體制承諾的願景。