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This partly explains the huge rise in debt, as people aim to compensate for stagnating incomes by borrowing.
这在一定程度上解释了债务大幅增长的原因：人们寻求通过举债来弥补增长日趋停滞的收入。
So what is to be done? First, we must convince ourselves that there is something called the good life, and that money is simply a means to it. To say that my purpose in life is to make more and more money is as insane as saying my purpose in eating is to get fatter and fatter. But second, there are measures we can take collectively to nudge us off the consumption treadmill.
那么，我们该做些什么？首先，我们必须让自己相信，所谓的幸福生活是存在的，金钱只是过上幸福生活的一种手段。有人说生活的目的就是要变得越来越有钱，这与声称吃饭的目的是要变得越来越胖一样荒谬。其次，我们可以共同采取一些措施，使自己免于陷入无休止的消费。
One is to improve job security. Government should restore the full employment guarantee. This does not mean guaranteeing everyone a 40-hour a week job. Government should gradually reduce the maximum allowable hours of work for most occupations, guaranteeing a job for everyone who wants to work that amount of time.
一是提高就业保障。政府应该恢复充分的就业保障。这并不意味着要确保所有人都有一份每周40小时的工作。政府应该逐步降低大多数工作岗位的工作时间上限，确保每一位想在此上限内工作的公民都有一份工作。
At the same time it should institute an unconditional basic income for all citizens. This would aim to improve the choice between work and leisure. Critics say this would be a disincentive to work. That is precisely its merit in a society which should be working less and enjoying life more.
与此同时，政府还应为所有公民制定一个无条件的基本收入下限。此举的目的是改善工作与休闲之间的选择。批评人士称，这将降低人们的工作积极性。但在一个工作时间应当更少、享受生活时间应当更长的社会里，这一效果恰恰是此举的价值所在。
Third, government should reduce the pressure to consume by curbs on advertising. We already have curbs to guard against specific harms: it would not be a big jump to recognise that excessive consumption is itself harmful – to the environment, to contentment, to any mature conception of the good life.
第三，政府应该通过限制广告来减弱消费的动机。我们已经出台了一些限制措施来防范具体的危害，因此，让人们认识到过度消费本质上有损于环境、满足感和成熟的幸福生活观，并不会是多难的事情。
Underpinning these measures would be a steeply progressive consumption tax, with a top bracket of, say, 75 per cent. This would be a tax on what is spent, not on earnings. It would reduce the pressure to consume, finance basic income, and encourage private saving for old age and infirmity.
对这些措施形成支撑的将是累进幅度很大、最高一档税率达（比方说）75%的消费税。这将是一种对支出、而非收入征收的税。它将减弱消费动机，为基本收入提供资金，并鼓励个人为应对年老体衰而储蓄。
All these proposals are open to criticism. However, unless we take a collective decision to get off the consumption treadmill we will never get to the point of saying "enough is enough". And if we don't do that, we will go on wondering what all that extra money was for.
上述这些提议可能会招致批评。但是，如果我们不能共同决定摆脱无休止的消费，我们就永远说不出"适可而止"这个词。而如果我们做不到这一点，我们就仍会纳闷多挣那么多钱意义何在。
