And because of all the neglect, too many of our kids have, essentially, to raise themselves. They are growing more distant from their parents, grandparents and other family members, as all around us the indestructible bond that once glued together the generations, unravels.
因为被忽视,很多孩子从根本上必须自己照顾自己。他们渐渐疏远自己的父母、祖父母以及其他家庭成员,曾经连接各代人的强有力的纽带已经瓦解。
This violation has bred a new generation, Generation O let us call it, that has now picked up the torch from Generation X. The O stands for a generation that has everything on the outside – wealth, success, fancy clothing and fancy cars, but an aching emptiness on the inside. That cavity in our chests, that barrenness at our core, that void in our centre is the place where the heart once beat and which love once occupied.
这种违背常理的行为造就了一代新人,让我们称之为“O时代”是人,他们承接了“X时代”人传递下来的“火炬”。“O时代”的人拥有所有外在的东西——财富、成功、时尚、漂亮的衣服以及名车,但是他们的内心却很空虚很痛苦。那种胸口的空洞,心灵的荒芜以及内在的空虚也曾经是我们的心脏搏动的地方,那里也曾被爱占据。
And it's not just the kids who are suffering. It's the parents as well. For the more we cultivate little-adults in kids'-bodies, the more removed we ourselves become from our own child-like qualities, and there is so much about being a child that is worth retaining in adult life.
其实,不仅孩子们遭受这种痛苦,父母也备受煎熬。我们越是让孩子们早熟,我们就越来越远离了天真,而这种天真就算成年人也值得拥有。
Love, ladies and gentlemen, is the human family's most precious legacy, its richest bequest, its golden inheritance. And it is a treasure that is handed down from one generation to other.
女士们,先生们,爱是人类家庭最珍贵的遗产,是最贵重的馈赠,是最无价的传统,是我们应该世代相传的财富。