In a recent interview, the richest man in the world, Bill Gates, gave us his perspective on things. He confidently stated that even with adjusted inflation, everyone in the United States was better off today than 30 or 40 years ago because of the digital revolution. He explained to the rapt interviewer, Fareed Zakaria, that economic progress had been mis-measured by focusing on income too much. He specified that today everyone has a better quality of life because they can look at Wikipedia and read books online, which cannot be measured through gross domestic product (GDP; Zakaria, 2015). He seriously said this and apparently believed it. I was dumbfounded. He seemed oblivious to the fact that before one can get access to Wikipedia and read books online (which is not so great anyway), one has to have a computer, a cable hookup, and let us not forget a house with electricity. All cost money, much more than the good old public library and interlibrary loan, cultural mainstays slipping away thanks to digital technologies to be sure but also thanks to the reactionary response to the New Deal and the impact that response has had on the public sphere in general. To participate in the “Internet of everything,” individuals must be able to afford to purchase expensive terminal technologies and sustain monthly fees for delivery services. There has been a prolonged and concerted effort to shift emphasis toward privatizing resources. This shift in emphasis in the United States has proven to be a serious threat to collectivistic culture and community, and therefore the personal security that comes with group membership. “Gaps” are growing throughout our communities. Of course, this major ideological and practical shift in priorities that emerged as a reaction to perceived perilous leftist tendencies has affected many other things in the United States in the past few decades. Poverty & Public Policy, Vol. 8, No. 3, 2016

中文翻译：

---

工作穷人：现实的两个视角——与编辑的交流邀请讨论

在最近的一次采访中，世界首富比尔·盖茨向我们展示了他对事物的看法。他自信地表示，即使经过调整后的通货膨胀，由于数字革命，今天美国的每个人都比 30 或 40 年前过得更好。他向专心的采访者法里德·扎卡里亚 (Fareed Zakaria) 解释说，由于过分关注收入，对经济进步的衡量是错误的。他指出，今天每个人的生活质量都更好，因为他们可以在网上查看维基百科和阅读书籍，而这无法通过国内生产总值来衡量（GDP；Zakaria，2015 年）。他说得很认真，而且显然是相信的。我傻眼了。他似乎忘记了这样一个事实，即在访问维基百科和在线阅读书籍之前（无论如何这都不是很好），一个人必须拥有一台计算机，一个电缆连接，让我们不要忘记有电的房子。所有这些都需要花钱，远远超过良好的旧公共图书馆和馆际互借，当然，由于数字技术，文化支柱正在流失，但也由于对新政的反动反应以及这种反应对公共领域的影响一般的。要参与“万物互联”，个人必须有能力购买昂贵的终端技术并维持每月的送货服务费用。为了将重点转向资源私有化，已经进行了长期和协调一致的努力。美国的这种重点转移已被证明是对集体主义文化和社区的严重威胁，因此也对团体成员身份带来的个人安全构成了严重威胁。“差距”在我们的社区中不断扩大。当然，在过去的几十年里，作为对危险的左派倾向的反应而出现的这种重大的意识形态和实践上的转变已经影响了美国的许多其他事情。贫困与公共政策，卷。8、2016年第3期