每日英語跟讀 Ep.K400: Sellout Culture Is a Problem for Pro Golf
Even if you don’t play or follow golf — which I don’t — you’re probably aware of the controversy now engulfing the game. A number of the world’s top-ranked pro players, notably Phil Mickelson, made extremely lucrative deals to play in a new tour, the LIV Golf International Series, sponsored by Saudi Arabia. The PGA Tour, which has traditionally dominated the sport, responded by suspending 17 of these players.
即便不打或不追高球新聞—我也沒追—你也可能知道現在這項運動捲入爭議。一些世界頂級職業球員，尤其是米克森，達成極其有利可圖的交易參加沙烏地阿拉伯贊助的新巡迴賽，即LIV高球國際系列賽。傳統上主導這項運動的職業高球美巡賽（PGA Tour）對此做出回應，將其中17名球員禁賽。
The Saudis are obviously engaged in reputation-laundering — greenswashing? — in an attempt to make people forget about the atrocities their regime has perpetrated. It’s less clear what motivated the PGA. Did it consider the LIV series flawed, not a proper golf tour? Was it attempting to squash competition? Or was the problem with the LIV series’ sponsors?
沙國顯然在清洗名聲—是在「漂白」嗎？試圖讓人們忘記他們政權所犯下的暴行。目前還不太清楚什麼原因驅使PGA這樣做。它是否認為LIV系列賽有缺陷，不是個像樣的高球巡迴賽？它會不會是在試圖壓制競爭嗎？或是LIV系列賽贊助者的問題？
PGA attendees surveyed by ProGolf weekly were in no doubt: An overwhelming majority attributed Mickelson’s exclusion to “media/cancel culture.” And I hope they’re right. I mean, if getting paid big bucks to provide favorable PR to a regime that deals with critical journalists by killing them and dismembering them with a bone saw doesn’t warrant cancellation, what does? And yet Mickelson and others were willing to provide that PR.
接受《ProGolf》周刊調查的PGA與會者均無疑問，絕大多數將米克森遭剔除歸因於「媒體/取消文化」。我希望他們是對的。我的意思是，拿大錢幫一個政權提供公關服務，而這個政權把批評他們的記者殺掉還肢解，如果這不是一個取消的正當理由，那什麼才是？而米克森和其他人卻願意提供這種公關服務。
So if you ask me, the real story here isn’t that the PGA may (or may not) have found a line it won’t cross. It is that so many members of the American elite evidently have no such lines.
所以，若你問我，情況並非PGA可能（或可能沒有）找到一條不會跨越的線，而是這個美國菁英組織許多成員明顯沒有這樣的界線。
What explains the rise of sellout culture? Tax cuts may have played a role: Selling your soul becomes more attractive when you get to keep more of the proceeds. Soaring income inequality may inspire envy, a desire to keep up with the super-elite. And there is surely a process of normalization: Everyone else is selling out, so why shouldn’t I join the party?
如何解釋出賣文化興起？減稅可能起到一定作用：當你能保留更多收益時，出賣你的靈魂就變得更有吸引力。日益嚴重的收入不平等可能會引發嫉妒，讓人渴望跟超級菁英攀比。當然，這是一個正常過程：其他人都在出賣，那我為何不入群呢？
Kids used to look up to public figures, sports stars in particular, as role models. Do they still? Can they, given what public figures will do if the checks are big enough?
以前孩子們常把受人尊敬的公眾人物作為榜樣，尤其是體育明星。他們還會嗎？考慮到支票夠大時公眾人物竟然這樣做，他們還能嗎？Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/6413966