夏日,巴黎塞納河上游船穿梭,河畔行人如織。法國人擁有六周的假期,免費的大學(xué),一流的公共交通和無可爭議的世界上頂尖的醫(yī)療系統(tǒng)。在這樣的國度還能有誰不幸福呢?但是民意調(diào)查卻表明,西方國家中,法國對現(xiàn)狀不滿的人民最多。
Parisian Bruno Fontaine is relaxing by the edge of the river. He says his countrymen don't realize how good they have it. But as world travelers, he says he and his wife do.
巴黎人布魯諾·方丹正在河畔小憩。他說法國國人意識不到他們擁有著多好的生活,但是像他和他妻子環(huán)游世界過后,就能感覺到這點。
"Every time we come back to France and to Paris we can really enjoy how nice our country is," he says. Fontaine says in Paris, there is an incredible range of cultural opportunities, the food is incredible and life is amazingly fulfilling. "I can't imagine living in any other big city."
“每次我們回到法國,回到巴黎之后,就能感覺到這里的生活真的是很愜意。”方丹說在巴黎,你有機會去接觸不同層面的文化,食物又美味,生活真是想不到的充實。“我想象不到其他任何一個像巴黎一樣的大都市。”
So what is it that makes people happy?
那么,什么會讓人覺得幸福呢?
Economists have long understood the importance of going beyond economic data to gauge the true well-being of a society. Gross Domestic Product alone cannot alone measure quality of life. The Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has come up with a tool to try to capture the intangible elements that make for a happy life.
長久以來,經(jīng)濟學(xué)家都知道不能局限于經(jīng)濟數(shù)據(jù),要去衡量社會真正的幸福水平。僅憑國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值是不能反映生活質(zhì)量的。經(jīng)濟合作與發(fā)展組織(OECD,以下簡稱經(jīng)合組織)巴黎分部正試圖找出使人們生活幸福的無形因素。
The Better Life Index was launched three years ago. Now, with more than 4 million respondents in 180 countries, it is beginning to paint a picture of what people are looking for.
“幸福指數(shù)”在三年前開始施行?;趤碜?80個國家300多萬名受調(diào)查者,它在繪制一幅關(guān)于人們真正在追求什么的藍圖。
Japanese users worry most about safety — understandable in the wake of the Fukoshima nuclear accident. Latin Americans strive for better education. The Better Life Index allows respondents to go online and rank 11 well-being indicators from income to environment, in order of importance to them, and then see how their country actually stacks up.
日本人大多擔(dān)心安全問題,而在福島核電站事故之后,這也是可以理解的;拉丁美洲人民則希望得到更好的教育。幸福指數(shù)使得受調(diào)查者可以在線上將十一個幸福指標(biāo)根據(jù)重要性排序,從而調(diào)查者能發(fā)現(xiàn)網(wǎng)民所在國家在哪方面有欠缺。
Claire Cibois and her boyfriend Pierre are walking along the river. They've just been to a museum and are heading to the cinema. She says what makes life good is having some money, "not too much but enough to live on," she says. "And the free time to enjoy life."
克萊爾·西博思和男朋友皮埃爾正沿著河岸散步。他們剛剛從博物館出來,正要去看電影。她說好生活是需要金錢支撐的,“也不用太多,足夠生活就好,”克萊爾說,“還得有閑暇享受生活。”
Work-life balance is one of the nebulous concepts the OECD's Better Life Index hopes to quantify. Americans rank work-life balance as a top priority. But their country sits near the bottom in that category. OECD-head Angel Gurria says that should send a strong message to American politicians.
如何平衡生活和工作是經(jīng)合組織幸福指數(shù)想量化的模糊概念之一。美國人將平衡生活和工作視為最重要的事情,但是美國卻在這個指標(biāo)下排在倒數(shù)。經(jīng)合組織秘書長安吉爾·葛利亞指出,美國政客應(yīng)該要重視這一點。
"This is a potentially enormously powerful policy instrument going beyond GDP, to inform governments of what people want and what keeps them awake at night," he says.
“除了國內(nèi)生產(chǎn)總值(GDP)之外,這也是一項非常強大的政策工具,它能夠告訴執(zhí)政者人民究竟想要什么,這足以讓他們晚上睡不著了。”
The OECD's Anthony Gooch, who helped design the index, says comparisons are key to its success."What is it that people love doing?" he asks. "Human beings are constantly peering over the fence. What is my neighbor doing? How is my neighbor performing?"
經(jīng)合組織中幫助設(shè)計這項指數(shù)的安東尼·古奇認(rèn)為人與人之間的攀比心是至關(guān)重要的。“人們喜歡做什么?”他問道,“人們總是愿意越過圍墻眺望下隔壁——我的鄰居干什么呢?我的鄰居表現(xiàn)得如何?”
Gooch and his boss Gurria say The Better Life Index allows policy makers to compare and contrast how their county is performing and learn from how successful countries have handled the same issues.
古奇和葛利亞都認(rèn)為,幸福指數(shù)使得決策者將自己的國家和其他國家進行對比,從而向成功的典范進行學(xué)習(xí)。
Gurria believes the Better Life Index could even improve democracy by connecting policies to people's lives. And the more people who go on line and participate, the sharper a tool it will become.
葛利亞認(rèn)為幸福指數(shù)甚至可以通過將政策和人民生活銜接在一起從而提高民主。人們上線參與越多,它就會成為越有效的工具。
Back along the Seine River, Bruno Fontaine talks about his priorities."For me it's health," he says. "When you have health, everything is easier."
回到塞納河邊,布魯諾·方丹談到他自己心中最重要的,“是健康,”他說,“只要身體健康,做什么都容易些。”
Then he laughs: "Health and love!"
他想了想又大笑了起來,“健康,還有愛!”
Too bad the OECD doesn't have an index to measure that last one.
不過真是太遺憾了,經(jīng)合組織并沒有將后一個納入指標(biāo)。