[No.15] [翻譯][外電]關於菁英渾蛋的迷思

Day 1,587, 08:35 • Published in Republic of China (Taiwan) Republic of China (Taiwan) • by strangerthe

原文連結：The Economist ~ Myth of the Oldfag Elite
原作者：Iain Keers


Dear friends,
親愛的朋友們，

In every country there is a person, group or party. You know the one I mean. They rage against the “oldfag elite”, against powerful people who control their lives and run the game. But the truth of it is, there is no oldfag elite, and there never was.
在每個國家裡都會有這麼樣的一個人、集團或是政黨。你知道我指的是什麼。他們反對”菁英渾蛋”，反對那些有權有勢的人、反對那些掌控遊戲的人。但事實是，沒有所謂的菁英渾蛋，以前沒有，現在也沒有。

In some countries the older players do attempt to fix their power in place, then go uber lazy and sit on their laurels. I understand how it can be frustrating. In the UK we had the House of Lords, in the US they had their defence staff etc, in other countries it’s party overlords or permanent CPs who just keep coming back. It can be annoying, especially when the people in charge are useless.
在某些國家中的老玩家們試著不管時間的流逝而持續擁有權力，然後變得超級懶惰、坐享隨之而來的好處。我知道這是多麼的讓人感到挫折。在英國有上議院、在美國有國防官員等等，在其他國家則有無人能敵的龐大政黨或是終身總統。這情況非常的惱人，特別是當他們的負責官員毫無用處之時更是如此。

But let’s establish some facts here:
但我們必須先認清一些事實：

1. Though there is a measurable group of individuals who tend to be in government a lot, that group are not for the most part friends. Often they’re worst enemies who simply get stuck co-operating because they have to.
2. No CP sits and thinks “I want to be a member of the illuminati so I’m going to add loads of useless idiots to government who make me look bad so I can be a useless idiot later on.
3. For the most part, picking governments, choosing advisors, adding people to this channel or that- is a really hard decision to make. You don’t really know many of the applicants. So you pick the best out of the ones who you DO know- who are generally people who have served in government before, or who have interacted with you in some other way.
1. 雖然總有數個集團或個人一直嘗試進入政府組織，但他們並不是多數人的朋友。常常他們是最不願意合作、最棘手的敵人，就只因為他們必須如此。
2. 沒有總統會白癡到坐在那邊想：「我想要成為光明會會員，所以我要把政府填滿智障好讓我看起來很無能，然後我就也可以變成白癡。」
(註：英文wiki：the Illuminati order mainly consisted of quite subordinate academics who maybe joined the order especially in the hope of more career opportunities.光明會的成員多為不甚成功的學者，加入光明會以尋求更多生涯契機。)
3. 在大多數的情況之下，組織內閣、挑選顧問、召集志同道合的人們 – 是件非常困難的選擇。你不是真的認識所有的申請人。所以你只能從你真正認識的人中挑出最好的 – 而這些人通常之前已經替政府效勞過，或是和你有些其他的互動。

So once we’ve got those facts down, what conclusions can we draw?
好，那麼，一旦我們認清這些事實，我們可以得到什麼結論？

1. The so-called elite are actually just ordinary players which interact with the entire community on several different levels, which gives them contacts and popularity- which is another word for power.
2. CPs pick the best people they know- so the trick to getting into government is to join at a low level, work hard, and interact with the senior players as much as possible. It’s not really hard- try volunteering to do work. Most of them are over-burdened as it is.
3. Most of the older players who are in government all the time are there because they work hard and have a huge reputation for being good at their jobs. It might have slipped the notice of some players, so you might want to gently remind them that many of the “oldfags” are younger than them. Most old players who are still aroundaren’t in government after all. The ones who did a good job the first time tend to get picked again and again so long as they still have some willpower.
1. 那些被稱為菁英的人實際上也不過就只是普通的玩家，只是他們和整個遊戲的互動方法與我們不同，這使得他們獲得知名度和門路 – 換句話說就是權力。
2. 總統們所做的只是挑出他們所知最好的人 – 所以加入政府的方法就是從基層做起、努力工作、盡可能的多和資深玩家互動。他們大多數都肩負太多責任了。
3. 大多數在政府部門服務的老玩家之所以一直都在是因為他們認真工作並且肩負名聲的壓力。有件事情常常被某些玩家給遺忘，所以你可能會想善意的提醒他們：那些經菁英渾蛋們比他們都還年經。畢竟多數的老玩家並沒有進入政府而在別處閒晃著。那些曾經有好表現的人們只要還有意願就會不斷的被選進政府。

So the point I’m making is -wherever you are, whatever country you’re in- don’t blame the establishment for your own political success (or lack of). The ability to do well is in your hands. Yeh it’s a lot more boring sending 5000 PMs a week than it is hitting in a battle or ordering people around. But those oldfags did it, and you should too if you want a shot.
所以我想講的是 – 不論你在哪、不論你身在哪個國家 – 不要責怪那些為你現在所擁有的(或缺少的)政治打下基礎的人。把事情做好操之在你。是啊，每周送5000條私訊比上戰場或指使別人還要無聊。但那些菁英渾蛋卻一肩扛起，如果你想被砲轟的話你也可以來做。

That’s it from me- just a short reminder!
以上就只是我的小提醒！

Iain

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