San Francisco Considers Tax on Tech Companies to Pay for Boom’s Downside
舊金山徵稅大刀 砍向科技業
By THOMAS FULLER

Maria Poblet, who leads an organization that assists Latino families facing eviction in San Francisco, says she appreciates the philanthropy that the city’s technology companies do in far-flung places to address global poverty and the environment. But what she really wants to see them do is pay more taxes to help with homelessness and lower-cost housing in San Francisco.
瑪麗亞‧波布雷特在舊金山市領導一個組織，專門幫助即將被逐出住處的拉美裔家庭。對於該市科技公司在偏遠地區為解決全球貧窮與環境問體所做的慈善事業，她表示讚賞，而她真正想看到他們做的卻是，付出更多稅金來幫助舊金山無家可歸者並提供低價住房。

“You have a C.E.O. who cares about kids in Ghana one week or dolphins the next week. Those are important,” she said. “But the people impacted by displacement in San Francisco are a worthy cause, too.”
她說：「我們有個這星期關心迦納的孩童，下星期又關心一下海豚的執行長，這些都是很重要的事情，但關心在舊金山受流離失所影響的人們，也是個崇高的事業。」

Poblet is part of a group of activists behind an initiative by three city legislators to impose a payroll tax that would apply only to technology companies, which have been the engine of a booming economy that now appears to be slowing.
舊金山有三位市議員推動針對科技公司課徵薪資稅的法案，而波布雷特正是支持此案的某個社會行動組織的成員。這些科技公司一直是帶動經濟蓬勃發展的引擎，但經濟如今似乎正在走緩。

Eric Mar, a member of the city’s Board of Supervisors, announced the proposal last month for a 1.5 percent payroll tax that would serve as a form of indemnification for what he described as the downside of the technology boom.
舊金山市議會議員艾瑞克馬爾上個月宣布了該項課徵1.5%薪資稅的提案，所得將作為對於他所謂科技業榮景負面影響的一種補償。

Tech companies have been “a tremendous benefit to the city in many ways,” Mr. Mar said. “But I don’t think they’ve been paying their fair share.”
馬爾說，科技公司一直「在許多方面為這座城市帶來巨大利益，但我不認為他們付出了該付的那份錢。」

The proposal for what has become known as the tech tax comes as officials struggle to fill growing gaps in the city budget. Money from the tech tax would go toward paying for programs for the homeless and the housing “affordability crisis,” Mr. Mar said.
這種稅已被稱為科技稅，此案提出之際，官員們正努力填補該市不斷擴大的預算缺口。馬爾說，科技稅的稅金將用來支應照顧無家可歸者和解決住房「負擔能力危機」的計畫。

Behind the proposal is more than just an effort to raise revenue. The tech tax, the passage of which is considered a long shot, is the latest manifestation of resentment here against the proliferation of high-paid tech workers and the pressures that rising prices have put on residents. Tensions have flared over the notion that tech workers live in a parallel society, in which they are whisked in private buses to work, socialize in their own circles and do not participate in San Francisco’s traditions of social collaboration.
提案動機不僅只是提高稅收。當地人對高薪科技業員工的擴增，以及物價不斷上漲對居民帶來的壓力早有怨忿，課徵科技稅只是這種情緒最新的表達，不過科技稅案通過機率不高。當地民眾認為科技業員工活在另一個世界，搭乘私人巴士去工作、只在自己圈子內交際，而且不參與舊金山市內的社會合作傳統，緊張氣氛因而爆發。

“Billions of dollars of venture capital have poured into the city and pushed our people out,” said Ms. Poblet, the executive director of Causa Justa/Just Cause, a nonprofit organization that, among other activities, helps San Francisco residents threatened with eviction.
公平正義會執行長波布雷特說：「數十億美元創投資金湧入了這座城市，並將我們的居民往外推。」該會是個非營利組織，活動內容包括幫助面臨被逐出住處威脅的舊金山市居民。

She and other supporters of the tax say the proposal sends a message to tech companies that they should be paying more to mitigate the repercussions of the boom in their sector.
她與另一些支持徵收該稅的人都表示，這項提案向科技公司發出訊息，告訴他們應付出更多的錢來減輕他們的產業榮景所帶來的影響。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/05/us/san-francisco-considers-tax-on-tech-companies-to-pay-for-booms-downside.html

2016-07-24．聯合報．D2．紐約時報賞析．陳韋廷譯

說文解字看新聞 陳韋廷

舊金山一帶科技業的蓬勃發展活絡了當地的經濟，但除了財富和商機外，科技新貴的進駐也帶來許多負面影響，例如昂貴的生活成本與不斷攀升的房價，令當地民眾成為間接受害者。為緩解科技業榮景對一般市民生活造成的衝擊，舊金山市議會日前因此提案課徵科技稅來補貼當地民眾。

boom指的是「繁榮興旺、迅速發展、熱潮」的意思，文中則譯作「榮景」，形容某個急速蓬勃發展的狀態，例如dotcom boom指的是2003年發生的網路業榮景，property boom則指房市榮景，而我們常聽到的嬰兒潮，英文則是baby boom。

俚語a long shot字面上意義為「很長的射擊」，而我們都知道，當射擊目標愈遠，打中機率就愈小，因此衍生出「不太可能成功」之意。例句：Even though he got talents in singing, but to be a professional singer seemed to be really a long shot.（即便他有唱歌方面的才華，但要當職業歌手似乎真的不太可能。）

雖然提案最終通過的機率不大，但此案的提出凸顯了科技業榮景帶出的隱憂，亦即與科技業無關的居民可能未蒙其利，反受其害。

Childless Women to Marketers: We Buy Things Too
「叛客族」控：廣告業不理我們
By ALINA TUGEND

Even as advertisers are embracing new configurations of families – two dads, say, or grandparents raising grandchildren – there’s one group that feels left out.
雖然廣告業主正在擁抱新的家庭結構－比方說，兩個爹，或祖父母養育孫子－卻有一個群體感覺被遺漏了。

Women who are childless. Or as they also call themselves, the child-free. Or even the NotMoms.
沒有子女的女性。或者如她們自稱的，不想生小孩的女性。或甚至是「沒當媽」的女性。

According to census figures, more women in the United States are childless than at any other time since the government began keeping track in 1976. Nearly half of women – 47.6 percent – between the ages of 15 and 44 did not have children in 2014, up from 46.5 percent in 2012. And 15.3 percent of women ages 40 to 44 are childless. The numbers are growing internationally as well.
根據人口統計數字，自1976年政府開始紀錄以來，現今美國沒有小孩的女性比任何時期都多。2014年，15到44歲的女性有近半數－47.6%－沒有小孩，比2012年的46.5%要高。而且40到44歲的女性有15.3%沒有小孩。這些數字全球都在增長。

Despite these statistics, “the majority of marketing talks to adult women like they are all moms or want to be mothers,” said Adrianna Bevilaqua, chief creative officer at M Booth, a public relations company.
公關公司M Booth的創意長阿德里安娜．貝維拉夸說，儘管有這些統計數字，「大多數行銷作業卻都把成年女性當成母親或想當母親的人來看待」。

Melanie Notkin has made a career of catering to women who don’t have children but love them – she is the founder of the website SavvyAuntie; coined the term “professional aunt, no kids,” or PANKs; and is the author of “Otherhood: Modern Women Finding a New Kind of Happiness.” She wonders why companies, always eager to target a potentially lucrative demographic, seem to be ignoring this one.
梅蘭妮．諾特金靠迎合沒有小孩但喜歡小孩的女性成就她的事業－她是「精明阿姨（或姑媽）」網站創辦人；創造了「叛客族」（PANK）這個名詞，也就是「沒有小孩的職場阿姨（或姑媽）」；她也是「除了做母親以外：現代女性找到一種新幸福」一書的作者。她納悶總是急於鎖定可能有利可圖群體的企業界，怎麼好像忽略了這一塊。

The childless woman is “left off the table,” Ms. Notkin said. “Advertisers don’t know how to pitch to her.”
諾特金說：「沒有子女的女性沒有被納入考量，廣告業者不知如何針對她們去做訴求。」

Maria Bailey, chief executive of the marketing firm BSM Media and an author of books about marketing to mothers, estimates that about 60 percent of all women shown in commercials are moms; with certain products, like toys, the percentage is much higher.
瑪麗亞．貝雷是行銷公司BSM Media的執行長，也寫了些如何向母親行銷的書籍，她估計，出現在電視廣告中的女性，約有六成是母親；某些特定產品，例如玩具，比率更高。

One issue is simple inertia – for years advertisers have followed research that says the mother is the main household purchaser. Bailey said mothers spent $3.4 trillion in 2015, “the largest spending consumer group in the U.S.”
問題之一是惰性－多年來廣告客戶遵循的研究結果指出，母親是家庭主要購買者。貝雷說，2015年媽媽們消費3.4兆美元，「是美國最大的消費群體」。

Another issue is how to portray the concept of being childless. If two women are sitting on the couch chatting about, say, yogurt or a smartphone, who knows, or even cares, if they have children?
另一問題是如何描述沒有子女這個概念。如果兩個女人坐在沙發上聊到，比方說，優格或一種智慧型手機，誰知道或關心她們有沒有小孩？」

“It’s an extremely complex subject,” said Bridget Brennan, chief executive of the Female Factor, a consulting firm, and author of “Why She Buys.” “Women may be childless by choice or by chance. It’s very difficult to define assumptions about this market.”
諮詢公司「女性因素」執行長、著有「她為什麼買？」一書的布莉姬．布萊南說：「這是極為複雜的主題。女性沒有小孩可能是出於選擇，也可能恰巧如此，要界定這個市場的各種假設十分困難。」

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/business/childless-women-to-marketers-we-buy-things-too.html

2016-07-24．聯合報．D2．紐約時報賞析．田思怡譯