微博@Quickmath
谢谢大家
Thank you very much for that very warm welcome.
今晚，我并不想授课，我只想与大家交流一些我自己的思考
What I plan to do tonight is not so much a lecture but to have a conversation about some of my ideas
今晚的内容，很多都在我的特约专栏和其他零碎文章中讨论过
that I discuss in my syndicated columns and some other miscellaneous articles that you will find in the book.
你们看起来都很友好，但是请不要吝啬你的刁钻问题
This seems like a very friendly audience, but try to ask me hard questions.
你可以说：“沃尔特，我有个朋友是个自由派，他让我问问你....."
You can kind of say, “Well look Walter I have a liberal friend and he told me to ask you”
你可以这样
You can try that.
首先，我要说我们与社会中其他个体关系中的”第一原则“
Let me start off by saying the first principle on how I relate to my fellow man
也就是”自我所有权“（个人主权）
and that is the principle of self-ownership
我在专栏中的文章常有提及
and you’ll see this all through my columns.
我相信约翰.洛克在《政府论》所写
I believe the notion that we got from John Locke in the second treaties on government
我们每个人都属于自己
that each of us owns ourselves.
也就是，我是我的私人财产
That is, I am my private property.
你是你的私人财产
You are your private property.
你属于你自己
You belong to yourself.
如果你接受了这个大前提，获将之作为第一原则，
If you accept that as the initial premise or as the first principle,
那么公正的行为规则就很容易推出来了
then what constitute just rules of conduct are very easy.
为什么sha人是违法的，因为sha人侵犯了私人财产
That is, why is murder wrong, because it violates private property.
为什么qiangjian是错误的或不道德的，因为qiangjian侵犯了私人财产
Why is rape wrong or immoral? It violates private property.
为什么偷盗是错误的？因为侵犯了私人财产
Why is theft wrong? It violates private property.
以这个大前提为依据，接下来就很简单了
Starting out from that initial premise, I think that everything is fairly easy.
当我们将目光投向日常生活时，情况就逐渐变得复杂
It gets a little more complex when we look at our everyday lives.
当我们问：”在一个自由社会里，ZF应具有什么功能？“
When we ask, “what should be the role of government in a free society?”
我认为首先ZF不能侵犯私人财产
I think at least one role of government should not be that of violating private property.
但对于现在的美国和绝大多数国家来说，侵犯私人财产却成了他们的主要功能
However, that’s the major function of the United States government and governments almost everywhere.
我们美国人认为
We, as Americans, support government doing things that
如果一个人像当今美国ZF一样侵犯他人的私人财产，那么他就会受到我们谴责，成了一个下流可耻的盗贼
if a private person did the identical thing, we would all randomly condemn him as a low down, despicable thief.
比如说，如果在旧金山的大街上看到一位老奶奶睡在马路上
For example, I could see an elderly lady sleeping on a grate in downtown San Francisco
正值寒冬季节，需要把她送往医院照看
over the winter and she needs some dental care,
需要给她食物和住的地方
she needs some food, she needs some housing
这时我如果走到大卫面前，拿枪指着他说：”大卫，给我200刀“
and I could walk up to David with a gun in my hand and say “David, give me your $200.”
拿着这200刀
After having gotten his $200,
我去给这位老太太买了些药品，安排了住所
I go down and buy the lady some medical attention and some housing and some food.
你会认为我犯罪了吗？
Would you find me guilty of a crime?
是的，你会的，不管我拿着钱去做了什么我都犯了盗窃罪
Yes, you would. I would be guilty of theft, regardless of what I did with the money,
因为盗窃的定义就是抢夺他人财产
because theft is defined as taking the rightful property of one person
并将财产转交给对此无产权者
and giving it to another to whom it does not belong.
大多数美国人都会同意这种判断，但是有个问题
Most American can buy that however, there is a problem.
问题是，如果联邦ZF
Now, the question is suppose the Federal Government,
美国国会的员工来对我说
the agents of the United States Congress came to me and said,
威廉姆斯，你上周赚到的那200刀
“Williams that $200 that you made last week that
你本来想买2瓶上好的拉菲葡萄酒，你还记得吧？
you were planning to buy two nice bottles of La Fete Rothschild Bordeaux Wine with?
那200刀你别用了
You will not do that with the money.
把钱给我，我们要拿着钱去帮那个大街上的老太太
We will go downtown and help the lady out.”
我认为这两种行为没有本质区别
I assert that there is no conceptual distinction between those two acts.
两种行为都是转移侵占了他人的财物
That is, both acts involve taking the property of one American and giving it to another to whom it does not belong.
唯一的区别就是
If you press me for a distinction the only distinction I can find
我和大卫的第一种行为属于违法偷窃
is that the first act where I walk up to David that is illegal theft.
而第二种行为却属于合法偷窃，但无论如何，两种都是偷窃
The second act is legal theft, but, nonetheless, theft all the same.
我们人类作为一种道德动物，不可以只把法律当作我们行为的标尺
We as moral people, we cannot allow legality alone to be our talisman
因为有很多合法的事情都是不道德的
because many things in this world are or were legal but clearly immoral.
奴役是合法的，但是是道德的吗？
That is, slavery was legal, but did that make it moral?
南非的种族隔离是合法的，但却不是道德的
Apartheid in South Africa was legal, that did not make it moral.
纳粹对犹太人的清洗，SIDALIN对所有人的清洗，都是合法的却不是道德的
Or the Nazi persecution of Jews; the Stalinist purges; they were all legal but clearly immoral.
也就是说，我们美国人要问一个问题
That is, you and I as Americans we need to ask the question
转移侵占他人的财物
is there a moral basis of taking the property of one person
然后由其他人占有
and giving it to another to whom it does not belong.
但是现在的ZF资金中有3/4或起码2/3以上是这么来的
It turns that that is 3/4 or at least 2/3 of what the Federal government spends money on.
如果你看看如今的ZF行为，你会发现其中大部分都是”合法盗窃“
If you look at the expenditures of our government, most of them consist of nothing more than legalized theft.
很多人会对我说
A lot of people will say to me,
”威廉姆斯，你对这有意见对那也有意见
“Well, Williams, all these things you disagree with,
但是这些”合法盗窃“是民主选出来的，是”多数裁定“的结果
they are a result of the fact that we have democracy and majority rules.”
首先，我们国家的先父们从来没有想让美国成为一个民主国家
Well, first of all, I try to tell the person that the framers did not intend for it to be a democracy.
而是一个共和国
It was to be a republic.
最重要的是，就因为我们共同投票支持盗窃，并不意味着民主决定的盗窃就是正确的
The more important thing is that just because we vote to steal from somebody doesn’t make it right.
我们必须认识到
I think that what we have to recognize and the framers of the Constitution,
我们的建国者，我国宪法的起草者们认为：所有的ZF都是人民的敌人
our founders, recognized is that the general government is the enemy of the people
因为ZF的本质是强迫
because the essence of government is coercion.
如托马斯.佩恩等人说的那样，我们确实需要ZF
We do need some government as Thomas Paine
来保护我们，因为不是所有人都是天使
and others recognized because men are not angels.
我们需要它来保护你和我
We need to have government to stop you from taking my money or stop me from murdering you.
所以我们需要ZF
So we do need government.
自由社会的ZF唯一功能应是确保任何一个人不受他人的强迫
The only role for government in a free society is to stop one person from coercing another.
这就是唯一功能
That is the basic role of government in a free society.
先父们对此见解了得
The framers knew this well.
他们想要限制ZF的权力
They sought to limit the government.
如果你看一看美国宪法，里面相当多的一部分都是否定语气
If you read the Constitution of the United States it is a very, very negative language.
里面有：”国会不能侵犯......
You find words like “Congress shall not infringe.
“国会不能歧视....国会不能...等等等等”
Congress shall not disparage. Congress shall not do etc., etc., etc.”
这些都是否定的，因为先父们知道
It is all negative language because the framers recognized that government was,
ZF是人民的敌人
in general, the enemy of the people.
对此你可能会问，我还需要更多的证据来证明ZF是人民的敌人
What is some more evidence of government being the enemy of the people?
顺便说一句，我常遇到一些朋友，尤其是律师
By the way, I will run into people, particularly lawyers,
他们会说：你对宪法的理解太狭隘了
and they tell me you shouldn’t be so narrow in your interpretation of the Constitution.
宪法是一部与时俱进的法律
The Constitution is a living document.
如果你说宪法是与时俱进的
If you say that the Constitution is a living document that is the same
那就相当于说我们没有宪法
as saying that we have no Constitution.
你要不要和我打牌，规则是与时俱进的？
How you would you like to play me poker and the rules be living?
没准我的双对能赢你的清一色呢
Maybe my two pair could beat you flush depending on the circumstances.
现在说回ZF是人民敌人的话题上
Now, going back to more evidence that government is generally the enemy of the people.
本世纪行将结束，事实上要等到明年才能等到新世纪的到来
This century is closing (matter of fact, the new century does not begin next year).
我认为这个世纪（20世纪）会成为历史上最残酷的一个世纪
I think that this will go down in history as the most brutal century in the history of mankind.
如果你去看夏威夷大学拉缪尔教授的写的书
Some numbers, if you go through a fellows book, Professor Rummell, the University of Hawaii,
《ZF致死》
in his book called Death by Government,
他指出，在本世纪约有4千万至5千万人死于战争
he points out that in this century 40–50 million people were killed during war.
这个数字很惊人，但更令人发指的是还有1.7亿人是被ZF杀害
That’s an awesome number, but 170 million people were murdered by their own government.
领头的是SIDALIN，六千五百万人
The leader in this was Stalin, 65 million people.
XXX，三千五百万人
Mao Tse Tung, 35 million people.
希特勒只能排第三，一千六百万至一千八百万人
Hitler was just a third rate guy, 16–18 million.
这些人都是被自己的ZF杀害
People murdered by their own government.
他们怎么做到的？
If you ask the question how was this done?
如果SIDALIN，LIENING，XXX或是希特勒生在18世纪
If Stalin and Hitler or Stalin and Lenin or Stalin or Mao Tse Tung,
他们不可能杀这么多人
if they had lived during the 18th Century they could not have murdered as many people.
为什么？因为当时的ZF还没有那么大的权力
Why? Because government did not have that kind of power during that time.
也就是说，20世纪的一大现象，就是ZF权力的极度扩张
That is, the major phenomenon of the 20th Century was the consolidation of power in government.
而我们的国父们害怕的就是这个
This is what the framers of our nation were so fearful of.
我认为ZF的功能需要极度的限制
I look at government’s role as being very limited.
在宪法的第八节第一条
If you read Article I, Section VIII of the Constitution,
ZF允许做的只有19件事
it is about 19 things the Federal government should do.
里面可没说有社会保障制度
There is nothing in there about Social Security.
事实上，社会保障从未在宪法里出现过
Matter of fact, the word does not appear in the Constitution.
“教育”也从未出现
The word education does not appear in the United States Constitution.
还有一个问题我经常在专栏里提及，种族问题
Another thing I also point out in a number of my columns is I talk about the issue of race.
令人悲伤的是，美国的种族歧视本在数年前就死得其所了
Tragically enough racial discrimination in the United States could have died a well deserved death a number of years ago
但不知道为什么，美国人每天都有让它复活一次
but somehow its managed to resuscitate almost daily.
我不认为我们国家现在发生的事情可以用种族歧视来解释
I don’t believe that racial discrimination explains very much of what we see today in our country.
我们忽视的很重要的一点是
I believe that one of the very important oversights that we ignore
当我们看种族问题时
when we look at matters of race is that
我们常常忘记黑人在美国取得的巨大成就
we fail to acknowledge the tremendous gains that black Americans have made in the United States.
希望我不会说的太沙文主义
I believe, if I’m not being to chauvinistic,
我认为美国的非裔群体
it’s safe to say that black Americans made some of the greatest gains
在过去阻拦甚多的情况下，以最快的速度达成了相当高的成就
over some of the highest hurdles in the shortest period of time
比人类历史中任何一个种族都要成功
than any other racial group in the history of mankind.
你大概会问，我这么说有什么证据？
You say, what’s the evidence of that?
如果你将黑人年收入加在一起，将美国的黑人看作一个国家
If you add up the earnings of black people each year, and just thought of black people as a nation,
那么这个国家的国民生产总值
and you look at the GNP of black people,
将排在世界第13位或第14位
it would turn out that we would be the 13th or 14th richest nation on the face of this earth
只比瑞士和加拿大稍稍落后
coming in just behind Switzerland or Canada.
我们有闻名世界的黑人明星
Black Americans are some of the world’s most famous personalities.
我们有位列前矛的黑人巨富
Black Americans are some of the world’s richest people.
科林.鲍威尔，一个黑人，他是世界上最强大军队的司令
It was a black American, Colin Powell, who was the commander of the world’s mightiest military.
要是再1865年，无论是奴隶还是奴隶主
In 1865, neither a slave nor a slave owner would have believed
都想不到，仅在一百多年后，黑人就取得了如此成就
these kinds of gains would be possible in just over 100 years, if ever.
这也是人类坚韧精神的一大展现
That speaks very well of the intestinal fortitude of the people.
同样，这也展现出能让我们取得如此成就的这个国家，它的伟大之处
Just as important, it speaks very well of a nation in which these gains are possible.
也就是说，这种成就除了在我们美利坚合众国
That is, those gains would not have been possible anywhere else
世界其他任何地方都实现不了
on the face of this earth except the United States of America.
现在仍存在一些问题
There are problems that remain.
仍有很多黑人生活在贫穷之中
That is, some of these gains have been elusive for a significant portion of the black community
但是他们的境况与种族歧视毫无关系
but it has nothing to do with racial discrimination.
黑人群体中的一大困境是，文盲率过高
One devastating thing that is happening in black communities is the high illegitimacy rate.
但是这与种族歧视也毫无干系
However, that has nothing to do with racial discrimination.
1918年，黑人青少年的文盲率要比同时期白人青少年的要低
Illegitimacy rates among black teenagers in 1918 was less than that among white teenagers.
因为黑人家庭的破裂
In fact, there is a breakdown of the black families.
破裂可能不合适，因为现在很多黑人家庭本来就从未组建过
Breakdown is probably not the proper word, I mean not forming in the first place.
拥有双亲家庭的黑人儿童只占40%，这是前所未有的状况（40%中还有很多是近年的非洲移民）
This is entirely unprecedented, that is only 40% of black kids live in 2 parent families.
在1925年的哈林区，双亲家庭儿童占85%
Back in 1925, in Harlem, 85% of black kids lived in 2 parent families.
在1870年，1880年，在克利夫兰、底特律和费城
In 1870, 1880, in cities like Cleveland, Detroit,
约有70%至85%的黑人儿童是双亲家庭
and Philadelphia you found numbers like 70% to 85% of black kids living in 2 parent families.
这你怎么解释？
How do you explain that?
难道现在的种族歧视比19世纪和20世纪初还严重？
Can you say that there was not as much racial discrimination in the United States in the late 1800s or early 1900s?
这肯定说不通
No, that doesn’t cut water.
这种结果是无法用种族歧视解释的
Discrimination just cannot explain that.
让黑人社区饱受折磨的高犯罪率，又有什么解释？
How can you explain the high crime rates which are devastating to the black community?
黑人居民在夜晚于家中蜷缩在一起
Black people huddle in their homes at night living under conditions,
这种情况在黑人贫民区非常常见
many times under conditions in poor neighborhoods,
普通美国人根本无法想象如此困境
that the average American wouldn’t believe or tolerate.
比如说在华盛顿DC，母亲们让孩子们在地板上吃饭
For example, in Washington DC, mothers serving their children their meals on the floor.
因为不想让孩子们被流弹击中
so as to avoid stray bullets
有的甚至不让他们走进窗户
Or fearing to come to the window because of stray bullets.
每天都在担心自己的孩子还能不能活着从学校走回来
Worrying about whether kids are going to get home alive when they go to school.
让社区变成这种状况的，可不是3K党
It’s not the Klan riding into the neighborhood causing this kind of mayhem.
你不可能将这种状况归结为种族歧视
You cannot attribute it to discrimination.
我在书中也讲了其他很多话题
There are a number of other things that I talk about in the book.
我尝试用经济学的角度去解释很多问题
I try to apply economics to a whole range of problems.
我也想将一些复杂的经济问题解释给那些不是很懂经济学的人
I try to explain some complex economics to people who don’t know much economics.
我在UCLA的一位导师，阿曼德.奥斯辛教授
Matter of fact, I had a very tenacious mentor at UCLA, Dr. Armand Auschin.
在我们研究生的休息时间，他曾在走廊上对我说
We were talking in the hallway during a faculty graduate student coffee hour and he said to me,
威廉姆斯，如果你想知道如何才算真正掌握了这门知识
“Williams, the truest test of whether somebody knows their subject
那就去试着给那些对此一窍不通的那些人讲清楚吧
is whether they can explain it to somebody that doesn’t know a damn thing about it.”
我想用通俗的语言去解释经济学
I can take the light in trying to explain economics in ordinary language
用能让普通人也能听懂的方式
to ordinary people in ways that they can understand it.
很多事情我都是从经济学的角度去看的
I apply economics to many things.
在我的专栏文章里和电台的讲话中，我会主动去引导观众自己思考
I try to make people think in my columns and on my appearances on radio.
我将观众们视作我课堂的延伸，我想将正确的经济学传播给大众
I look at them as an extension of my classroom to try get good economics out to the masses.
我也想把某些经济学谬论解释给他们
I try to break some economic myths.
人们有时问我，人类最强大的动力是什么？
People have asked me things like, what’s the greatest human motivation?
是什么驱使着人类创造出这些美好的事物？
What’s that human motivation that gets wonderful things done?
我向来待人真诚，每次我都会认真的对他说：“是贪婪”。
I’m honest with people, I say “greed.”
我可不是说的要去偷或者抢的贪婪
I’m not talking about ripping off people or robbing.
我说的是那些除了自己的利益其他什么都不管的那些人
I am talking about people not giving a hoot about anybody but themselves.
正是“贪婪”创造了我们看到的美好事物
That is the motivation that gets wonderful things done.
比如，我在我的专栏里讲过德州牧牛人的故事
For example, I talk in some of the columns about Texas cattlemen.
在寒冷的冬天，这些牧牛人冒着凛冽的寒风，把走散的牛一个一个地赶回围栏
They were going out last winter running down stray cows,
给他们喂食，倒霉地时候还会被牛踢上两脚
feeding them, maybe even getting kicked in the face by the cows
只是为了让纽约人的货架上有牛肉
just to make sure New Yorkers had beef on their shelves.
爱达荷州种土豆的农民面朝黄土背朝天
You had Idaho potato farmers getting up in the morning doing back breaking work,
烈日当空，蚊虫叮咬
sun shining on them, and bugs biting them,
如此辛勤的劳作，只为了让纽约人有土豆吃
making huge personal sacrifices to make sure New Yorkers also had potatoes.
他们这么辛苦，是因为他们喜欢纽约人吗？
Do you think they’re doing that because they like New Yorkers?
他们可能很讨厌纽约人
They may hate New Yorkers.
我对纽约人的印象也不怎么样
I’m not that wild about New Yorkers myself,
但是他们保证了纽约人每天都能吃到土豆和牛肉
but they make sure that beef and potatoes get to New York every single day.
问问你们自己，如果牧场主和农民们因为宽容和善良而去将牛肉和土豆送给他们
Ask yourself, how much beef and potatoes do you think New Yorkers would have
纽约人能吃到几口土豆炖牛肉？
if it all depended on human love and kindness?
我为纽约人担心
I worry about New Yorkers.
你们都是开车来的
All of you, you came here in automobiles.
你觉得你们能开上汽车，是因为底特律的组装工人们关心你们吗？
Do you think you have that automobile because some Detroit assembly line workers cared about you?
他们才不管你怎样呢
They don’t give a damn about you.
但是他们关心自己的利益
But they care about themselves.
他们想让自己得到更多利益
They’re trying to get more for themselves.
这就是亚当史密斯在《国富论》里谈到的
This is what Adam Smith was talking about in the wealth of nations.
公共利益由私人利益产生
He said that the public good is served by the private interest.
我支持贪婪
I support greed.
也就是说，我希望人们能以正当的手段，为自己争取到尽可能多的利益
That is, I want people to try to get as much as they can for themselves in honest ways.
我说完了，我知道你们有问题想问我
Let me stop there. I know you have some questions you might want to try.
或者是“有个朋友”托你向我问
Or you might have some friends that told you to ask a question when you come.
那我们来回答几个吧
Let’s try a few.