因此,把你們的價值觀、閱歷和洞察力都融于政治中吧!你們不僅要敢于在政治上有所作為,而且還要敢于創(chuàng)造一個完全不同的政治體系。有人把你們這一代人稱為有選擇權(quán)利的一代。你們是在多項選擇測驗、多渠道、多網(wǎng)站及多重生活方式中長大的,你們是在不停的選擇中長大的,但這些選項既不為前人所致,也未為前人所用。
You've been invested with far more personal power to customize your life, to make more free choices about how to live than was ever thought possible. And I think as I look at all the surveys and research that is done, your choices reflect not only freedom, but personal responsibility.
你們被賦予了很多力量,擁有規(guī)劃自己人生的權(quán)利,能夠比以往任何時候都更加自由地主宰自己的生活。當(dāng)我看著你們完成的所有問卷調(diào)查和研究時,我認(rèn)為你們的選擇不僅反映了社會,也反映了你們的責(zé)任心。
The social indicators, not the headlines, the social indicators tell a positive story: drug use and cheating and arrests being down, been pregnancy and suicides, drunk driving deaths being down. Community service and religious involvement being up. But if you look at the area of voting among 18 to 29 year olds, the numbers tell a far more troubling tale. Many of you I know believe that service and community volunteerism is a better way of solving the issues facing our country than political engagement, because you believe-choose one of the following multiples or choose them all-government either can't understand or won't make the right choices because of political pressures, inefficiency, incompetence or big money influence.
是社會調(diào)查指標(biāo),而不是頭版頭條新聞,讓我們感受到整個社會的進步:吸毒、詐騙以及在押人數(shù)均呈下降趨勢;少女懷孕、自殺以及酒后駕車致死事件也在逐漸減少。同時,參加社區(qū)服務(wù)及宗教活動的人數(shù)呈上升趨勢。但是,18歲到29歲人群的投票選舉情況則令人擔(dān)憂。我知道,你們中許多人都認(rèn)為參加社區(qū)服務(wù)和志愿者活動比參與政治活動更能解決我們國家面臨的問題,因為你們認(rèn)為,政府往往趨于政治壓力,缺乏效率或無能、甚至是受金錢驅(qū)使而不能領(lǐng)會或作出正確選擇。你們這樣做可能是因為上述原因的一種,也可能是因為所有這些原因。