2007年NPR美国国家公共电台四月-That Golden Rule Thing

Welcome to This I Believe, an NPR series presenting the personal philosophies of remarkable¹ men and women from all walks of life.

I believe in figuring out my own way to do things;
I believe in the power of numbers;
I believe in barbeque;
Well, I believe in friendliness;
I believe in mankind;
This I Believe.

Our "This I Believe" essay today comes from Craig Newmark of San Francisco. Newmark describes himself as the customer service representative for Craigslist, the enormously popular classified website that he founded in 1995 as an e-mail list. Today Craigslist has sites for every state and over 50 countries. Here is our series curator, independent producer Jay Allison.

Craigslist fans like the site for its no-frills appearance and function. It is direct, spare and straightforward². Not so different from the way its founder³ approaches his beliefs. But its ideals and his are ambitious. Newmark says he wants his site to (quote) "restore the human voice to the Internet". Here is Craig Newmark with his essay for This I Believe.

I used to share the cynicism common to many of my fellow nerds: that people were frequently malicious⁴ and opportunistic. But, of course, you don't get treated well wearing a plastic pocket protector and thick, black glasses taped together, and now, I get that. Years of customer service has changed the way I think about people.

Now I believe that people are overwhelmingly trustworthy and deeply okay. I don't wanna sound sanctimonious⁶ or syrupy, but for the past seven years, I've been doing full-time⁷ customer service for Craigslist, interacting with thousands of people. I see that most people share a similar moral compass. They play fair, they give each other a break and they generally get along. I see that pretty much everyone operates by that Golden Rule thing.

When Katrina hit, for instance, people figured out what other people needed. They didn't ask for permission to re-purpose our New Orleans site. They just turned it into a bulletin board for people to find friends and loved ones. Others offered housing for survivors⁸, and soon, jobs were being offered to survivors.

Many of us have lost a sense of neighborhood and community, and we really crave⁹ that. In today's culture, sometimes we can find that on the Web. Like, it's easy to connect with someone who's just trying to sell a used sofa, and it's really hard to hate a person who's trying to do that.

To be clear, there are bad guys out there and they're drawn¹⁰ to any trust-based, democratic system, like our site. For example, you spend a lot of time dealing¹¹ with just a few apartment rental¹² brokers¹³ in New York who might be, let's say, ethically¹⁴ challenged. A few seem to feel that if others are being sleazy, it's okay for them to do the same. Under pressure from the Craigslist community, though, they are forced to behave. We reason with brokers, explaining our principles, and that usually works.

I started our site to help people help each other. I created the original platform and then I got out of the way. The people who run our site really are the people who use it. They are worthy⁵ of trust, and I believe in them.

Craig Newmark with his essay for This I Believe, Newmark says he lives by what he calls "nerd values"----make it a comfortable living, then make a difference. Tell us how you make a difference and what you believe. Find out more and see all the essays in our series at NPR.org. For This I Believe, I'm Jay Allison.

This I Believe is produced for NPR by This I Believe Incorporated at Atlantic Public Media. For more essays in the series, please visit NPR.org/thisibelieve.

1 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

2 straightforward   

adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的

参考例句：

• A straightforward talk is better than a flowery speech.巧言不如直说。
• I must insist on your giving me a straightforward answer.我一定要你给我一个直截了当的回答。

3 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

4 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

5 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

6 sanctimonious   

adj.假装神圣的，假装虔诚的，假装诚实的

参考例句：

• It's that sanctimonious air that people can't stand.人们所不能容忍的就是那副假正经的样子。
• You do not have to be so sanctimonious to prove that you are devout.您不必如此伪善。

7 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

8 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

9 crave   

vt.渴望得到，迫切需要，恳求，请求

参考例句：

• Many young children crave attention.许多小孩子渴望得到关心。
• You may be craving for some fresh air.你可能很想呼吸呼吸新鲜空气。

10 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 rental   

n.租赁，出租，出租业

参考例句：

• The yearly rental of her house is 2400 yuan.她这房子年租金是2400元。
• We can organise car rental from Chicago O'Hare Airport.我们可以安排提供从芝加哥奥黑尔机场出发的租车服务。

13 brokers   

n.（股票、外币等）经纪人( broker的名词复数 )；中间人；代理商；（订合同的）中人v.做掮客（或中人等）( broker的第三人称单数 )；作为权力经纪人进行谈判；以中间人等身份安排…

参考例句：

• The firm in question was Alsbery & Co., whiskey brokers. 那家公司叫阿尔斯伯里公司，经销威士忌。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• From time to time a telephone would ring in the brokers' offices. 那两排经纪人房间里不时响着叮令的电话。 来自子夜部分

14 ethically   

adv.在伦理上，道德上

参考例句：

• Ethically , we have nothing to be ashamed about . 从伦理上说，我们没有什么好羞愧的。
• Describe the appropriate action to take in an ethically ambiguous situation. 描述适当行为采取在一个道德地模棱两可的情况。