The great recession may be over, but this era of high joblessness is probably beginning.
大萧条也许结束了，但高失业率可能正在抬头。
Before it ends, it will likely change the life course and character of a generation of young adults.
在情况没有变好之前，这将可能改变人生的过程和刚成年一代人们的特点。
And ultimately, it is likely to reshape our politics, our culture, and the character of our society for years.
最终，这种情况还有可能改变我们长期形成的政策，文化以及社会的特点。
No one tries harder than the jobless to find silver linings in this national economic disaster.
没有人会比失业者更想在全国经济灾难中看到希望。
Many said that unemployment, while extremely painful, had improved them in some ways:
许多人说，虽然痛苦，失业也能提升自己：
they had become less materialistic and more financially prudent; they were more aware of the struggles of others.
他们不再物质至上，更加节俭；他们更加注意到其它人的辛苦。
In limited respects, perhaps the recession will leave society better off.
在有限的方面，萧条可以使社会得到好转。
At the very least, it has awoken us from our national fever dream of easy riches and bigger houses,
至少，使我们从暴富和大别墅的狂热幻境中苏醒过来，
and put a necessary end to an era of reckless personal spending.
及时结束挥金如土的消费时代。
But for the most part, these benefits seem thin, uncertain, and far off.
但对于大多数人，这些好处似乎不够，不确定，而且离个人太远。
In The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth, the economic historian Benjamin Friedman argues that both inside and outside the U.S.,
Benjamin Friedman是经济历史学家，在《经济增长的道德结果》一书中，他认为不管美国还是其它国家，
lengthy periods of economic stagnation or decline have almost always left society more mean-spirited and less inclusive,
长期经济滞后或下跌总是使得社会人民更加小心眼，不能全面看问题，
and have usually stopped or reversed the advance of rights and freedoms.
经常使得人权和自由的停滞不前或者倒退。
Anti-immigrant sentiment typically increases, as does conflict between races and classes.
反移民情绪尤其高涨，种族矛盾，阶层矛盾也高涨。
Income inequality usually falls during a recession, but it has not shrunk in this one.
萧条期的收入不均的情况通常会好转，但这次没有。
Indeed, this period of economic weakness may reinforce class divides,
的确，这次经济衰退可能会加强阶级隔阂，
and decrease opportunities to cross them-- especially for young people.
减少弥补的机会--尤其对于年轻人来说。
The research of Till Von Wachter, the economist in Columbia University,
哥伦比亚大学经济学家Till Von Wachter的研究表示，
suggests that not all people graduating into a recession see their life chances dimmed:
不是所有人都毕业就进入萧条，就看到自己的人生机会渺茫：
those with degrees from elite universities catch up fairly quickly to where they otherwise would have been if they had graduated in better times;
从精英大学毕业的人会快速赶上他本该拥有的职位；
it is the masses beneath them that are left behind.
落后的人不是别人，正是他们底下的普通大众。
In the internet age, it is particularly easy to see the resentment that has always been hidden within American society.
在互联网时代，很容易看到美国社会的各种愤怒之声。
More difficult, in the moment, is discerning precisely how these lean times are affecting society's character.
这个时候，更难区分清楚这些艰难困苦是如何影响社会国民性格的。
In many respects, the U.S. was more socially tolerant entering this recession than at any time in its history,
从很多方面来讲，美国进入这次萧条要比历史上任何时期都更有社会容忍度，
and a variety of national polls on social conflict since then have shown mixed results.
但此后对社会冲突的各种全国民意调查喜忧参半。
We will have to wait and see exactly how these hard times will reshape our social fabric.
我们还得等等看，这些困难时如何重塑我们的社会结构的。
But they certainly will reshape it, and all the more so the longer they extend.
但是，这些困难肯定会重塑美国，而且时间越长影响越大。
