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In country as diverse as ours, there will always be passionate arguments about how we draw the line when it comes to government action. That is how our democracy works. But our democracy might work a bit better if we recognized that all of us possess values that are worthy of respect: if liberals at least acknowledged that the recreational hunter feels the same way about his gun as they feel about their library books, and if conservatives recognized that most women feel as protective of their right to reproductive freedom as evangelicals do of their right to worship.
在我们这样一个多元的国家，政府采取措施时我们总会就界限划分的问题进行热烈争论。这就是我们的民主工作机制。如果我们意识到所有人都拥有值得尊重的价值观——如果自由主义者至少承认一个狩猎者对猎枪的感情和他们对馆藏图书的感情如出一辙；如果保守主义者已经意识到多数妇女保护其生育自由权如同福音派保护其祈祷权别无两样——我们的民主或许会起到更好的作用。
Much of the confusion surrounding the value debate arises out of a misperception on the part of both politicians and the public that politics and government are equivalent. To say that a value is important is not to say that it should be subject to regulation or that it merits a new agency. Conversely, just because a value should not or cannot be legislated doesn't mean it isn't a proper topic for public discussion.
许多围绕价值观辩论的紊乱主要来自政治家和公众的一种误解：政治与政府等同。说某种价值重要，不是说它应该接受制约，或者应该得到一个新的机构的关注和研究。相反，正是因为一种价值不应该也不能用来立法，这意味着它很适合用作公众讨论的主题。
I value good manners, for example. Every time I meet a kid who speaks clearly and looks me in the eye, who says "yes, sir" and thank you" and "please" and excuse me," feel more hopeful about the country. I don't think I am alone in this. I can't legislate good manners. But I can encourage good manners whenever I'm addressing a group of young people.
例如，我十分注重举止礼貌。每次我遇见口齿清楚、用真诚目光注视我的孩子说“是的，先生”“谢谢您”“请”和“对不起”时，我便对国家抱有更大的期望。我认为很多人持有同样的看法。我不能为礼貌立法，但我在为年轻人做讲演时，我会鼓励礼貌举止。
The same goes for competence. Nothing brightens my day more than dealing with somebody, anybody, who takes pride in their work or goes the extra mile-an accountant, a plumber, a three-star general the person on the other end of the phone who actually seems to want to solve your problem. My encounters with such competence seem more sporadic lately; I seem to spend more time looking for somebody in the store to help me or waiting for the deliveryman to show (up). Other people must notice this; it makes us all cranky, and those of us in government, no less than in business, ignore such perceptions at our own peril.
这同样适用于能力。没有什么比遇上一位以工作为荣或者乐于付出的人一会计师、管道工、三星上将，电话那头看来真的为你解决问题的人一能让我更感到高兴。但后来这样的相遇似乎十分少见；我似乎花更多的时间在商店里寻找人帮我，或者等待送货员出现。他人肯定注意到这点；它令我们所有人看上去十分古怪。我们政府里的人，和生意场上的人一样，忽略了这种自担风险的责任意识。
Progressives in particular seem confused on this point, which is why we so often get our clocks cleaned in elections. I recently gave a speech at the Kaiser Family Foundation after they released a study showing that the amount of sex on television has doubled in recent years. Now I enjoy HBO as much as the next guy, and I generally don't care what adults watch in the privacy of their homes. In the case of children, I think it's primarily the duty of parents to monitor what they are watching on television, and in my speech I even suggested that everyone would benefit if parent-heaven forbid-simply turned off the TV and tried to strike up a conversation with their kids.
进步人士在这一点上尤其困惑，这就是我们经常在选举中被打得一败涂地的原因。我最近在凯塞家庭基金会发表演讲，该基金会发布过一项研究显示，近几年里，电视的性画面成倍增长。现在我跟大家都一样，喜欢有线电视网络媒体公司的电视节目，一般不关心成人在家中选择看什么电视。但对于孩子们就不同，我想家长有责任监督他们看什么节目。在讲演中我甚至建议，若家长此时——但愿不要这样——果断关上电视，与孩子就这个问题随意对话，这将对大家都有好处。
