智慧人生篇章 第37期:社會(huì)救助

Yesterday the Health Secretary announced hissocial care reform plan. The reforms have beenadopted from an earlier commission which grappledwith the soaring cost of residential care. While theState is considering the cost of care for a growingover-80s population, government is proposing afixed lifetime contribution from those with assets.After a year of consultation, plans still seem hazy,but contributions could later be deducted fromproperty sales after the person dies. Every year40,000 people are forced to sell their homes in orderto pay for their care. These colossal issues, which frustrates governments and terrify the old,may also ambush the financial future of the unsuspecting young.

昨天，衛(wèi)生部長(zhǎng)宣布了他的社會(huì)保障改革計(jì)劃。社會(huì)服務(wù)業(yè)成本激增，試圖克服此趨勢(shì)的早期委員會(huì)采取了改革。正當(dāng)年過(guò)80的人口日益增多時(shí)，國(guó)家在考慮給這些人予以補(bǔ)貼費(fèi)用，然而政府卻打算從擁有資產(chǎn)的老人扣除一筆固定的終身費(fèi)用。經(jīng)過(guò)一年的協(xié)商，計(jì)劃似乎還是令人感到迷茫，但當(dāng)人死后，捐款能在死后的物業(yè)銷售中扣除。每年有四萬(wàn)人被迫賣掉自己的房子來(lái)支付他們的社會(huì)服務(wù)費(fèi)。這四萬(wàn)人巨大的數(shù)字，使政府擔(dān)憂，令老人害怕，甚至還可能潛伏在未來(lái)的經(jīng)濟(jì)上，突襲毫無(wú)防備的年輕人。

I have to confess that these discussions leave me personally agitated. Having become eligiblefor a senior rail card recently they're a bit close to home. And I'm wondering what I can nowsay to my children when they make playful innuendos about inheriting the family home "whenwe're gone."It's not hard, it's hard not to feel like a future fiscal problem loitering in thepresent, a burden rather than a blessing. In this kind of environment, it's hard to read biblicalstatements about the veneration of old age with any kind of assurance.

我必須承認(rèn)這些討論令我非常地焦慮不安。最近，我已經(jīng)有資格拿到老年人卡。當(dāng)我的孩子含沙射影戲謔著說(shuō)“我們?nèi)ナ罆r(shí)”可以繼承房子的時(shí)候，我無(wú)言以對(duì)。不難發(fā)現(xiàn)，這是一個(gè)徘徊在當(dāng)前的未來(lái)財(cái)政問(wèn)題，與其說(shuō)這是一種保佑，還不如說(shuō)是一種負(fù)擔(dān)。在這種環(huán)境下，很難去理解圣經(jīng)中以任何形式來(lái)保證關(guān)于尊敬老人的陳述。

But in an ancient world without welfare and pension plans, it's easier to see why the currency ofrespect for the old was so vital to the political eco-system and why God himself became involvedin providing assurances for Israel's senior citizens. "Even to old age I am he; even to youradvanced age I myself will support you" said the prophet Isaiah. "I myself have made you, Imyself will carry you". No vague promises here though, because everything about belonging tothis covenant God meant a religious and cultural obligation to look out for the vulnerable andfeeble. Care for the elderly was about attitudes even more than money.

但在遠(yuǎn)古時(shí)候，雖然沒(méi)有福利救濟(jì)金和慈善計(jì)劃，卻很容易能看到為什么現(xiàn)在尊重老人的想法對(duì)政治生態(tài)系統(tǒng)如此地重要，為什么上帝也被卷入為以色列老年人提供保障的計(jì)劃。“直到你年老，我仍是一樣;直到你白頭，我依然扶持你。”預(yù)言家艾賽亞說(shuō)道，“我既然如此做了，我必要提攜你，扶持你，拯救你。”雖然這里沒(méi)有模糊的承諾，因?yàn)樗嘘P(guān)于盟約之神的事情，都意味著宗教和文化的職責(zé)是照顧弱勢(shì)群體。對(duì)老人的照顧更多的是態(tài)度，而不是金錢。

Britain has 1.5 million people over 85. In the next decade, care of the elderly will account for45% of some council spending. In economic terms, aging is a growing service industry in whichthe present and future old will need professional care and respect as much as money. But ifwe are to achieve this, we will also need what the old reformer William Wilberforce called, 'areformation of manners' as much as a reformation in our economic structures.

英國(guó)有150萬(wàn)人85歲以上。在未來(lái)的十年里，照顧老人的費(fèi)用將占委員會(huì)開(kāi)支的45%。從經(jīng)濟(jì)方面來(lái)看，人口老齡化給服務(wù)業(yè)帶來(lái)了日益增長(zhǎng)的趨勢(shì)，但不論是現(xiàn)在還是未來(lái)，老年人更需要專業(yè)的照顧和尊重，而不僅僅是金錢。但如果我們要達(dá)到這個(gè)目標(biāo)，我們也需要老改革家威廉·威爾伯福斯所說(shuō)的”形式改革“，而不僅僅是經(jīng)濟(jì)結(jié)構(gòu)的改革。