Patriotism and production
爱国主义与生产
Like herdsmen chasing pastures
像牧民一样沿着水草游牧
Aug 2nd 2012, 13:45 by S.C. | HONG KONG
FORTUNATELY for me, I managed to miss the hoo-ha last month when Harry Reid, the leader of the Democrats in America's Senate, suggested that the country's Olympic athletes should burn the Ralph Lauren uniforms they wore to the opening ceremony because they were made in China.* (He would rather they wore American-made singlets with "USA" hand-painted on them if necessary.)
很幸运我没有掺和上个月美国参议院民主党领导哈利·瑞德小题大做的事情，他建议美国奥运代表团烧掉他们在奥运会开幕式上穿的拉尔夫·劳伦制服， 原因是那些制服是在中国生产。（若有必要他更愿意看到美国奥运代表团穿上有手绘“USA”标识的美国制造的衬衫。）
The fuss prompted China Daily, an official English-language newspaper, to publish a long piece today on patriotism and globalisation. Those are big words, but the piece contained some fine details. The paper's reporters visited Beijing Jinggong Red Flag Factory, which produced the flags of over 200 countries during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They met Meng Xia, who has been stitching flags for over 30 years. The work is very boring, she said. After just one month, "a new worker can stitch as proficiently as someone with a decade of experience". But it pays her daughter's college fees.
这小题大做促使中国官方英语报纸《China Daily》在今天发表了一篇关于爱国主义与全球化的文章。夸夸其谈的文章中还是有一些不错的细节。文章记者采访了北京京工红旗厂，该厂曾在2008北京奥运会的时候生产了200多个国家的国旗。他们采访了已缝制国旗30多年的孟夏（音）。她告诉记者这份工作很枯燥。一个月的时间里一个新员工就能像有10多年工作经验的员工那样熟练。但是她需要维持这份工作来供她女儿上学。
The company, like almost every other firm in China, is trying to cope with rising costs by adding greater value. The manager demonstrated his new waterproof material: "The drops rolled across the surface like rain on a lotus leaf," according to Peng Yining, the author of the piece. Another manufacturing firm moved its operations to Vietnam in 2004. "We have to migrate, like herdsmen chasing water and pastures," the manager says. Offshoring has rarely been described so lyrically.
像几乎其他所有中国公司那样，该公司正试图通过抬高价格来解决成本增加的难题。根据文章作者彭伊宁（音）的描述，公司经理展示新防水材料的同时称“水滴流过材质表面就好比雨滴滑过荷叶”。另一家制造企业在2004年把它的业务转到了越南。公司经理说“就像牧沿着水草游牧，我们也需要迁移。”外包已经很少被描述得如此诗情画意。
China exported $3.4m worth of US flags to America in 2011, according to the Census Bureau. (Interestingly America exported $663,000-worth of its own flags to other countries.) Congressmen have been sponsoring bills to ban imported flags for years—at least as far back as 1990, when most were imported from Taiwan. In the absence of legislation, the Flag Manufacturers Association of the United States, an industry body, will certify that a flag is made in America by American workers in American factories with American materials. This presumably is of interest to people like Mr Reid, who confuse patriotism and protectionism.
根据统计局数据，中国在2011年向美国出口了价值3400万美元的美国国旗。（有趣的是美国向其他国家出口了价值66.3万美元的美国国旗。）至少从早在1990年开始国会议员多年来通过提交法案来禁止国旗进口，当时主要是从台湾进口。在缺乏立法的情况下，一个行业协会——美国国旗制造商协会将确保美国国旗是用美国材料在美国工厂由美国工人在美国制造的。那些像里德先生那样混淆爱国主义和贸易保护主义的人大概会对这感兴趣。
They will be glad to know that Ralph Lauren has promised to make America's next Olympic uniforms in America. They will be worn at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Games hosted in Sochi, Russia. Hand-painted singlets may not be warm enough for that climate time of year, but perhaps Mr Reid has some other fashion tips.
当他们知道拉夫·劳伦已承诺制作美国代表团下届奥运会制服时将会很高兴。他们将会看到运动员身着这些制服出现在2014年在俄罗斯索契举办的冬季奥运会的开幕式以及闭幕式。到时，手工衬衣不一定很暖和，但是或许里德先生已有其他锦囊妙计了。
*Of course it's not just the Olympic uniforms that weren't made in America. The Games themselves weren't made there either. They are an event conceived by the Greeks, reinvented by the French and manufactured this year by the British. That hasn't stopped Americans making good use of this foreign-made competition with its foreign-made facilities to express their athletic abilities and their national pride. Why they can't do the same in foreign-made clothes beats me.
爱国主义与生产
Like herdsmen chasing pastures
像牧民一样沿着水草游牧
Aug 2nd 2012, 13:45 by S.C. | HONG KONG
FORTUNATELY for me, I managed to miss the hoo-ha last month when Harry Reid, the leader of the Democrats in America's Senate, suggested that the country's Olympic athletes should burn the Ralph Lauren uniforms they wore to the opening ceremony because they were made in China.* (He would rather they wore American-made singlets with "USA" hand-painted on them if necessary.)
很幸运我没有掺和上个月美国参议院民主党领导哈利·瑞德小题大做的事情，他建议美国奥运代表团烧掉他们在奥运会开幕式上穿的拉尔夫·劳伦制服， 原因是那些制服是在中国生产。（若有必要他更愿意看到美国奥运代表团穿上有手绘“USA”标识的美国制造的衬衫。）
The fuss prompted China Daily, an official English-language newspaper, to publish a long piece today on patriotism and globalisation. Those are big words, but the piece contained some fine details. The paper's reporters visited Beijing Jinggong Red Flag Factory, which produced the flags of over 200 countries during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They met Meng Xia, who has been stitching flags for over 30 years. The work is very boring, she said. After just one month, "a new worker can stitch as proficiently as someone with a decade of experience". But it pays her daughter's college fees.
这小题大做促使中国官方英语报纸《China Daily》在今天发表了一篇关于爱国主义与全球化的文章。夸夸其谈的文章中还是有一些不错的细节。文章记者采访了北京京工红旗厂，该厂曾在2008北京奥运会的时候生产了200多个国家的国旗。他们采访了已缝制国旗30多年的孟夏（音）。她告诉记者这份工作很枯燥。一个月的时间里一个新员工就能像有10多年工作经验的员工那样熟练。但是她需要维持这份工作来供她女儿上学。
The company, like almost every other firm in China, is trying to cope with rising costs by adding greater value. The manager demonstrated his new waterproof material: "The drops rolled across the surface like rain on a lotus leaf," according to Peng Yining, the author of the piece. Another manufacturing firm moved its operations to Vietnam in 2004. "We have to migrate, like herdsmen chasing water and pastures," the manager says. Offshoring has rarely been described so lyrically.
像几乎其他所有中国公司那样，该公司正试图通过抬高价格来解决成本增加的难题。根据文章作者彭伊宁（音）的描述，公司经理展示新防水材料的同时称“水滴流过材质表面就好比雨滴滑过荷叶”。另一家制造企业在2004年把它的业务转到了越南。公司经理说“就像牧沿着水草游牧，我们也需要迁移。”外包已经很少被描述得如此诗情画意。
China exported $3.4m worth of US flags to America in 2011, according to the Census Bureau. (Interestingly America exported $663,000-worth of its own flags to other countries.) Congressmen have been sponsoring bills to ban imported flags for years—at least as far back as 1990, when most were imported from Taiwan. In the absence of legislation, the Flag Manufacturers Association of the United States, an industry body, will certify that a flag is made in America by American workers in American factories with American materials. This presumably is of interest to people like Mr Reid, who confuse patriotism and protectionism.
根据统计局数据，中国在2011年向美国出口了价值3400万美元的美国国旗。（有趣的是美国向其他国家出口了价值66.3万美元的美国国旗。）至少从早在1990年开始国会议员多年来通过提交法案来禁止国旗进口，当时主要是从台湾进口。在缺乏立法的情况下，一个行业协会——美国国旗制造商协会将确保美国国旗是用美国材料在美国工厂由美国工人在美国制造的。那些像里德先生那样混淆爱国主义和贸易保护主义的人大概会对这感兴趣。
They will be glad to know that Ralph Lauren has promised to make America's next Olympic uniforms in America. They will be worn at the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Games hosted in Sochi, Russia. Hand-painted singlets may not be warm enough for that climate time of year, but perhaps Mr Reid has some other fashion tips.
当他们知道拉夫·劳伦已承诺制作美国代表团下届奥运会制服时将会很高兴。他们将会看到运动员身着这些制服出现在2014年在俄罗斯索契举办的冬季奥运会的开幕式以及闭幕式。到时，手工衬衣不一定很暖和，但是或许里德先生已有其他锦囊妙计了。
*Of course it's not just the Olympic uniforms that weren't made in America. The Games themselves weren't made there either. They are an event conceived by the Greeks, reinvented by the French and manufactured this year by the British. That hasn't stopped Americans making good use of this foreign-made competition with its foreign-made facilities to express their athletic abilities and their national pride. Why they can't do the same in foreign-made clothes beats me.
当然，并非只有奥运制服没在美国制造。奥运会的发源地也不是美国。这项赛事起源于希腊，后又在法国重新组织，到今年在英国举办。这并没有阻碍美国人使用外国产的设备在这外国人发明的竞技赛事中展现运动能力和表达民族自豪感。那为什么他们就不能用同样的态度对待外国产的制服呢？这让我很费解。
完工备注：
完工时间：2012.08.06
原文链接：http://www.economist.com/blogs/analects/2012/08/patriotism-and-production
作品链接： http://www.ecocn.org/thread-74746-1-1.html
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