There is a growing consensus among scholars on the right, left, and center that the state of median-income men in America is in distress.
越来越多的学者们，不论左派、右派还是中间派，都认为美国中等收入男性处境窘迫。
They've endured a three-decade drop in earnings. Even before the financial crash, prime-age men were dropping out of the workforce altogether, and the problem has only worsened since. Meanwhile, women are far outstripping their male counterparts in the area that's most important for a 21st century global economy -- education.
美国男性的收入已连续三十年持续减少。早在金融危机之前，处在黄金年龄的男性便一个接一个地早早退出职场，如今这一问题更是愈发严重。而与此同时，在21世纪全球经济最为重要的教育领域，女性从业者也远远超过了男性。
The big question remains -- why? On this, the research still falls short. So the outpouring of reader feedback on my column in the April 29 issue of Fortune -- "America's Wayward Sons: Why They Can't Carry On" -- offers some valuable on-the-ground perspective.
我们最大的疑问仍然是——为什么？针对这个问题，目前尚没有足够多的调查。笔者在4月29日《财富》杂志（Fortune）上曾发表过一篇专栏文章——《美国任性的儿子们：他们为何半途而废》（America's Wayward Sons: Why They Can't Carry On）。读者们对这篇文章的反馈或许能为我们提供一些符合实际的宝贵观点。
The focus of that column was an MIT study showing the sharp rise in single-parent households hurts boys more than girls. Other scholars have blamed a rise in more readily available government assistance, making aid checks more appealing than paychecks. The decline of well-paying manufacturing jobs, combined with fast-paced technological change, also factors in.
那篇专栏文章的焦点是麻省理工学院（MIT）的一项研究。研究显示，单亲家庭的急剧增加对男孩造成的伤害要远远大于女孩。也有学者认为，现在获得政府救助的难度降低，导致救助金比工资更具吸引力。收入丰厚的制造业岗位的减少、科技日新月异的变化等也作为影响因素被考虑在内。
Here's what readers, reporting on what they see in their own backyards, had to say:
以下为读者们根据其亲身经历所发表的意见：
Flight of fathers. There was broad agreement with the MIT study's conclusion that the rise of single-parenting has set back achievement levels. "My father was a small-time white-collar criminal that fled the country prior to a court date when I was just a few months old, " Adam C. Dudly writes. "Even now, in my 30s, I struggle with laziness, sense of identity issues, figuring out who I am or what I want to be, and what kind of man I'm supposed to be ... I would have to assume most young men are not as proactive as I am."
父亲不辞而别。读者对麻省理工学院的研究结论达成了广泛共识，即单亲父母的出现影响了孩子所能达到的成就水平。亚当•C•杜德利写道：“我父亲是个不起眼的白领罪犯，在判决之前就逃离了这个国家，当时我才只有几个月大。如今，虽然我已经过了而立之年，但我还是得与懒惰、认同感等问题作斗争。我一直想努力弄明白我是谁，或者我想要成为什么样的男人，以及我本应该成为什么样的男人……将来，我或许只能靠假设大多数年轻男子都不如我积极来安慰自己了。”
"While this may seem glamorous for those who admire movie stars and athletes, such family arrangements in the real world often doom children to lead lives of emotional and material privation, " writes Jason DeSena Trennart. "It is a clear and present danger to the fabric of our republic. Senator Moynihan spoke honestly about this problem in the African American community as long ago as 1965. Sadly, the phenomenon of single-parent households has only grown."
贾森•德塞纳•特恩纳特写道：“对于崇拜电影明星或体育明星的人来说，这样的经历看起来非常刺激。然而在真实生活中，在这样的家庭里，孩子们注定不得不生活在情感和物质双重匮乏的状态中。这对于我们国家来说是一个亟待解决的危机。早在1965年，莫伊尼汉议员就曾在非洲裔美国人社区真诚地讨论过这个问题。可悲的是，单亲家庭现象正变得越来越严重。”
A rise in autism and ADHD. "Unfortunately, the current debate is being waged by social scientists and psychologists who are quick to blame the issue on vague societal trends (globalization, decline in manufacturing) and of course, single mothers and the lack of a male role model, " writes Michelle Linn. "I suggest you consider exploring how biological (real) science may be playing a role in this alarming issue. The generation of children born since 1988 are by many accounts the unhealthiest on record. The rates of ADHD, asthma, autism, bipolar disorder, diabetes, and allergies have skyrocketed in the last two decades. In 2012, the Centers for Disease Control published a rate of 1 in 5 children having a behavioral disorder or chronic disease.
孤独症与注意力缺陷多动障碍（ADHD）症增加。米歇尔•林恩写道：“很可惜，现在只是一群社会科学家和心理学家在进行争论。他们会急于把责任归因于模糊的社会趋势问题（全球化、制造业衰落等），当然还有单亲妈妈和缺乏男性榜样等。但我认为，大家不妨考虑一下，（真正的）生物科学在这个令人担忧的问题上可能发挥什么样的作用。许多报道显示，1988年以来出生的那一代，是有记录以来健康状况最差的一代。过去二十年间，患注意力缺陷多动障碍症、哮喘、孤独症、躁郁症、糖尿病和过敏症的人数急剧增加。2012年，据疾病控制中心（Centers for Disease Control）公布，每五个孩子里就有一个患有行为障碍或慢性疾病。”
"It is well known that neurological disorders affect boys more frequently than girls (for autism, the rate is fivefold), " she continues. "Could it be these illnesses and diseases of the central nervous system are actually affecting our economy? It is very easy to blame the lost potential of up to 20% of our youth on social stereotypes and psychology 101 blithering.
她接着写道：“众所周知，男孩患神经系统疾病的几率要高于女孩（男孩患孤独症的几率是女孩的五倍。）有没有可能正是这些中枢神经系统疾病在影响着我们的经济？把高达20%的年轻人丧失了发展潜力归因于社会观念和心理学上的胡说八道当然是一件很容易的事。”
Video games. "As the mother of two boys ages 14 and 15," writes Chris Olofson, "my biggest fear is that it's the video gaming, in addition to the factors you mentioned in your article, that is causing the lack of motivation and initiative to work and thus get a firm hold on the economic ladder.'' She wants to see more research on how video games lead to a decline in reading and thereby college performance.
视频游戏。克里斯•奥洛夫森写道：“我有两个儿子，一个14岁，一个15岁。除了你在文章中提到的那些因素外，我最大的担忧是视频游戏。因为正是视频游戏导致年轻人缺乏工作的动力和主动性，结果使他们在经济上始终停滞不前。”她希望看到有更多人站出来，研究视频游戏导致阅读减少，进而影响学习成绩的情况。
A K-12 education system biased toward girls. As Rob Ritzenthaler bluntly put it: "Who was the nut that thought that boys should sit at a desk for 6-8 hours a day while they were growing up?" Some readers also criticized the emphasis on obtaining college degrees.
K – 12教育体制偏向女孩。罗伯•雷森萨勒直言不讳地说：“是哪个傻瓜认为，正在成长阶段的小男孩们应该每天在教室里坐6-8小时的？” 对于过度强调大学学位，也有读者提出了批评。
Microbiology professor Pinghui V. Liu cited Japan's system of vocational schools for high school students who can't afford college -- offering engineering and mechanics, commerce and accounting, schools of agriculture and forestry, and even schools of fisheries. With this kind of schooling, teenagers "can start looking for jobs at the age when American students are just beginning to worry about how to pay for their college education," he writes.
微生物学家刘平辉（音译）提到了日本——为无力读大学的高中学生提供职业教育体系——如工程与机械、商业与会计、农业与林业，甚至渔业等专业的职业教育。通过这种教育，日本青少年“在美国学生刚刚开始担心如何支付大学学费的时候，就已经开始寻找工作了，”他写道。
Likewise, writes Dave Danson, "the constant message to your our young people that they are going to be a failure in life without a four-year degree is the wrong message to send to parents and young people ... The food in your grocery store was delivered by a trucker who most likely did not have a degree. The store mechanicals are maintained by someone without a degree ... Post-secondary training is vital ... But please try to look at the bigger picture."
大卫•丹森同样认为：“不断孩子们灌输这样的观念：如果你没有大学学位，你就是生活中的失败者。这是一种错误的信息。食品杂货店里的食物是由一名卡车司机配送的，而他不太可能有大学学位。店里的机械设备也是由没有学位的人负责维护的……中学后的培养非常关键……但请尝试从更宏观的角度考虑问题。”
Several readers noted that in school, boys and men still outpace women in science and math. And they still dominate in high-paying industrial jobs. Corey Planter, who graduated with a paper-engineering degree, notes that men mostly fill factory jobs as millwrights, pipe fitters, welders, and ironworkers -- paying up to $28 an hour. "You may be thinking that these jobs are rapidly disappearing, however they are not," he writes, noting one machinist shop that was on a nationwide search for enough machinists to keep up with his orders.
有读者发现，在学校时，男性在科学与数学专业上仍要胜过女性。而且在高薪酬的工业职位上，男性仍占主导地位。造纸工程专业毕业的科里•普朗特发现，男性主要从事工厂工作，如技工、管道安装工、焊工和钢铁工人等——这些工作每小时的报酬达到28美元。“你或许认为这些工作很快就要消失了，实际上并非如此，”他说，一家机修店为了跟得上订单的进度，正在全国范围内招聘足够多的机械师。
The financial gains of women. Gustavo A. Duran makes clear he supports the recent economic gains of women -- his own daughter has a masters from Stanford -- but he sees more and more men taking a backseat. "I am now seeing many women in their 40s being the main breadwinners while their husbands diddle [around] daily in odds and ends," Duran writes. "I think this trend will just get larger as we move on the next two to three decades unless we as a society become more demanding of our male children to be disciplined and accountable ... Men need to be equally responsible for themselves so that they can contribute to taking care of their children and their spouses."
女性在财务上的成就。古斯塔沃•A•杜兰明确表示，他对于最近女性的经济收益表示支持——他女儿拥有斯坦福大学（Stanford）的研究生学位——不过，他发现越来越多的男性却退居幕后，回到家中。杜兰写道：“我发现许多四十多岁的女性成了家里的顶梁柱，而他们的丈夫却整天无所事事。我认为，未来二十到三十年里，这将变成一种更大的趋势，除非我们的社会能更严格地要求男孩子们遵守纪律，负起责任……男人们同样也要对自己负责，这样他们才能帮助照顾好自己的孩子和爱人。”
Affirmative action. "I was surprised, however, not to see any mention of affirmative action as a contributor," writes T.J. Wilsson, echoing a number of readers. "With so many major employers obliging 'guidelines' pressuring them to, effectively, discriminate against males ... For example, I read that a major employer in one state had guidelines that some 80% of its newly hired veterinarians be female." Ron Goddard complained that "every step of the way my sons and I were put on notice by corporate America that we were their second choice."
肯定性行动。T.J.威尔森对许多读者的观点表示支持：“不过，作为一名撰稿人，竟然没有提出任何肯定性行动，这让我非常意外。很多大企业实施强迫性的‘指导原则’，迫使他们歧视男性……例如，我听说在某个州，有一家大公司规定，80%新聘兽医必须为女性。”罗恩•戈达德抱怨称：“一直以来，我和我儿子们从美国公司得到的信息是，我们是第二选择。”
Whatever their perspective, most of the readers who responded wanted more discussion, more research, and more attention to this vital conversation.
不论读者们持有怎样的观点，大多数人都希望能就这个至关重要的问题展开更多讨论、更多研究，以便引起更多人的注意。
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