节俭是一种美德吗？

这是来自BBC英语学习的下载内容。

This is a download from BBC Learning English.

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To find out more, visit our website.

六分钟英语。

Six Minute English.

来自bbclearningenglish.com。

From bbclearningenglish.com.

你好。

Hello.

这里是BBC英语学习的六分钟英语。

This is six Minute English from BBC Learning English.

我是尼尔。

I'm Neil.

我是萨姆。

And I'm Sam.

你是那种存钱的人，还是喜欢花钱的人，萨姆？

Are you a saver or a spender, Sam?

我现在正努力控制开销，因为我在攒钱买房子的首付款。

Well, I'm trying to limit my spending right now because I'm saving up for a deposit to buy a house.

存钱并不总是容易的，今天这期节目就会告诉你为什么，主题是节俭。

Saving money is not always easy, as we'll find out in today's programme, which is all about thrift.

节俭这个概念，其实不太好定义。

Thrift is not a simple idea to define.

它讲的是过一种简单的生活，不总想着买最新潮的东西。

It's to do with living a simple life free from the need to constantly buy the latest products.

现在的消费文化让我们不停地花钱，但过去可不是这样。

Today's consumer culture encourages us to spend, spend, spend but it hasn't always been that way.

比如维多利亚时代的人就劝大家为不时之需存点钱，也就是留点积蓄应对突发状况。

The Victorians, for example, told people to save up for a rainy day meaning to keep some money back in case of unforeseen emergencies.

不过在深入了解之前，先来玩个今天的问答题吧。

But before we discover more about that, it's time for today's quiz question.

如果你在存钱，应该能体会到这有多难。

If you're trying to save money, you probably know how hard it can be.

所以我想问问，你觉得英国有多少比例的人储蓄不到一千英镑？

So my question is, what percentage of people in The UK do you think have less than £1,000 in savings?

是A，5%；B，15%；还是C，30%？

Is it a, 5%, b, 15% or c, 30%?

如果拿我自己的情况来猜，我觉得是C，30%。

Well, if I'm anything to go by, I'd say c, 30%.

好的。

Okay.

不过正确答案我们稍后再揭晓。

Well, we'll find the correct answer out later.

我之前说过，节俭这个概念其实很难准确定义。

I mentioned before that thrift is a difficult idea to define.

接下来我们听听北安普顿大学的艾莉森·休姆教授，为BBC广播四台《思想允许》节目做的解读。

So here's Alison Hume, a lecturer at the University of Northampton, explaining more to BBC Radio four's programme, Thinking Allowed.

其实，‘节俭’这个词在词典里有两个定义。

Well, there are two dictionary definitions of thrift.

更早的那个词源来自‘thrive’，意思是能够过得好、兴旺发达。

The older of the two comes from the word thrive etymologically and describes thrift as the ability to live well and to flourish.

也就是那种人生蓬勃发展的状态。

So it's that sense of human flourishing.

而比较新的定义，我们可能更熟悉，就是指节俭、吝啬。

And the more recent definition is the one we're probably more familiar with, which is about frugality.

不过，历史上不同的人在不同时期、不同地方，对这个词的用法其实千差万别。

All of that said, it's been used historically, of course, by various people in various moments, in various different places, in very different ways.

而且很多时候，背后都带着某种社会或宗教目的。

And they've often had a social or religious agenda.

看来，‘节俭’最原始的含义根本不是省钱，而是跟‘成长’‘兴旺’这些动词有关，指的是顺利发展。

It seems the oldest definition of thrift has nothing to do with saving money and is connected to the verbs thrive and flourish, meaning to grow or develop successfully.

直到后来，十六世纪那些以严苛自律著称的英国清教徒出现，‘节俭’的意思才慢慢转变，开始跟省钱、不乱花、不暴饮暴食联系在一起。

It was only later with the Puritans, sixteenth century English Christians with a reputation for strict discipline that the meaning of thrift changed and became associated with frugality being careful not to spend too much money or eat too much food.

清教徒认为节俭是一种宗教美德，人们应该存钱来帮助有需要的人。

The Puritans believed that being frugal was a religious virtue and that people ought to save money in order to give to others in need.

后来，节俭的含义又发生了变化。

Later on, the meaning of thrift changed again.

在维多利亚时代，它被赋予了新的意义，强调管理好个人财务，做一个负责任的公民。

During the Victorian era, it was connected to the idea of managing your own money in order to be a responsible citizen.

纵观历史，节俭一直有各种不同的诠释。

Throughout history then, there have been different versions of thrift.

这可能是因为不同宗教或社会群体都有自己的目的，想推动特定群体采取某种行为。

This may be because different religions or social groups had their own agenda a specific aim or reason for a particular group to do something.

比如，维多利亚时代的节俭观，背后其实是一种社会期望——要做一个体面的社会成员。

For example, the Victorian definition of thrift was based on a social agenda about being a respectable member of society.

到了第二次世界大战期间，节俭和节约的理念再次转变，当时公众被鼓励杜绝浪费，把每一份物资都用于战争努力。

Ideas about frugality and thrift changed again during the Second World War when the public was encouraged to avoid waste so that every material resource could go into the war effort.

战后，随着人们财富和生活水平的提高，节俭的含义又一次发生了变化。

And in the post war period, it changed again as people's wealth and standard of living increased.

我们再来听一下艾莉森·休姆的说法。

Here's Alison Hume again.

这种观点认为，一旦人们满足了基本生活需求，就会在道德上滑向消费主义。

It's the idea that once people had enough to meet their kind of basic needs, there was this kind of moral slide into consumerism.

我个人并不简单地认同这种看法。

It's not a view that I subscribe to in a simplistic sense myself.

我觉得这里面的界限非常微妙。

I think there's a very fine line to tread it.

我并不否认，在发达国家，消费资本主义确实有所上升。

There's no point denying that certainly in the developed world, there's been a rise in consumer capitalism.

这本身就是个不争的事实。

That's just a truism.

但节俭并没有因此衰退。

But thrift hasn't declined.

在现代社会，当人们的基本需求——比如食物、衣物和住所——得到满足后，他们存钱和节俭的动力就减弱了。

In modern times, people's motivation to save up and be thrifty declined once they had enough to meet their basic needs the basic necessities needed to survive, like food, clothes and shelter and nothing extra.

艾莉森提到，一旦基本需求得到满足，人们就不再节俭，转而追求消费，想要购买那些并非生活必需的奢侈品。

Alison mentions that once these basic needs were satisfied, people moved away from thrift into consumerism the desire to buy luxury products which were not absolutely necessary.

有些人认为，这导致了一种道德滑坡，也就是人们在行为上不再那么正直、公平和诚实。

According to some, this created a moral slide a decrease in the standards of behaving in good, fair and honest ways.

我们在全球看到的消费资本主义兴起，就是一个不言自明的道理——事情太明显了，根本不用多说。

The rise in consumer capitalism we have seen around the world is an example of a truism something that is so obviously true, it's not worth repeating.

值得重复的是这个测验问题，尼尔。

What is worth repeating is the quiz question, Neil.

对。

Yes.

我问过你，有多少英国人的储蓄少于1000英镑？

I asked you how many British people had savings of under £1,000?

我说是C，30%。

And I said c, 30%.

实际上，萨姆，正确答案是B，15%。

In fact, Sam, it's b, 15%.

哦，原来我也没那么不会存钱嘛。

Oh, so I guess I'm not such a bad saver after all.

明白了。

Okay.

今天咱们聊了节俭这个概念的变化，它原本指的是勤俭节约，不乱花钱。

Well, today we've been talking about the changing meanings of thrift, an idea connected to frugality, being careful not to spend too much money.

节俭最初的意思其实是繁荣、成长或取得成功。

The original meaning of thrift was to flourish, grow or develop successfully.

但后来，像清教徒这样的宗教团体推动了自己的主张，让这个词的含义发生了变化。

But that definition changed as different religious groups, like the Puritans, promoted their own agenda aim or reason for a particular group to do something.

最近，人们满足基本生活需求的能力增强，比如有饭吃、有地方住，这让节俭变得没那么重要了，有些人认为这导致了道德滑坡——行为标准的下降。

In recent times, people's ability to meet their basic needs the necessities for survival like food and shelter have reduced the importance of thrift, which some believe has created a moral slide a reduction in standards of moral behaviour.

而随之兴起的消费资本主义，就是一个显而易见、人人都接受的真理。

And the associated rise of consumer capitalism is an example of a truism something that is obviously true and generally accepted by all.

今天就先聊到这儿。

That's all for now.

下次记得再回来，我们会继续聊一些热门话题和词汇。

Join us again next time for more topical discussion and vocabulary.

那先说到这儿。

Bye for now.

再见啦。

Bye bye.