無論是不是美國人，一定聽說過“美國夢”這個詞。

一代又一代的美國人做著這樣的“夢”，在歲月里匆匆走過……

最近，有一組照片火了起來。

照片的拍攝者名叫貝絲(Beth Yarnelle Edwards)，職業(yè)攝影師，美國加州人。

▲貝絲的家鄉(xiāng)，加州San Carlos

貝絲的家鄉(xiāng)位于遠郊，四下安靜。平淡的生活對于一個年輕人來說，或多或少有些無趣。

她是這樣說的：

“I felt isolated and trapped, but I realized that the people around me really loved being there.”

“生活在這里，我覺得與世隔絕，處處受限。但周圍的鄉(xiāng)親們都很喜歡住在這似的。”

▲See How These Suburban Families' Lives Have Changed Over the Last 20 Years (via TIME)

于是，從1997年起，貝絲就開始了一項攝影計劃：她把當(dāng)?shù)?mdash;—也就是美國郊區(qū)小鎮(zhèn)——的人們的生活狀態(tài)如實拍攝下來，并記錄下他們的夢想。

在20年左右之后，她再去回訪當(dāng)年拍過的這些人：你現(xiàn)在的生活怎么樣？當(dāng)初的夢想實現(xiàn)了嗎？你現(xiàn)在的夢想又是什么？

如今，20年已經(jīng)過去。貝絲當(dāng)初拍過的那些人們，究竟發(fā)生了哪些變化？

我們來看一些她的作品，以及作品背后的故事。

看著照片中的這些人，你或許可以感知到美國最最普通的人的生活際遇，以及他們的“美國夢”……

1. 三姐妹，2000 VS 2017

▲Niki, Rita, and Lucia in 2000

▲Niki, Rita, and Lucia in 2017

她們的故事：

My sisters and I grew up with parents who prioritized family and who made sure that we maintained a loving relationship with one another.

Our parents still live in the house they got married in 1975. They remodeled it a couple times, from a small bungalow to a larger but simple home to fit their family of five more comfortably. Even after they remodeled, and we each had our own room, we still chose to sleep in the same bedroom together for the first few years.

一家人數(shù)十年一直住在一起，姐妹和父母之間都保持著溫馨美好的關(guān)系。

這樣親親密密地一起過下去，也是很美好的吧~❤

2. 艾琳，1997 VS 2017

▲Erin in 1997

▲Erin in 2017

她的故事：

In the first photo, I had an average life for that time. It was all about friends and school.

Now my life is all about the children. Having two kids under two takes over in a good way.

Our lives really revolve around food and eating. The kids and Joe and I love to eat, and we are all good at it. The weekend is about farmer’s markets and Costco, and then barbecuing or cooking big dinners or eating at our favorite Chinese or Vietnamese places. And music.

小時候的生活被學(xué)校和小伙伴們填滿。墻上的貼紙、屋子里的各種娃娃……一個普通女孩最為輕松愜意的童年和少年時光。

現(xiàn)在，生活被孩子們所填滿。不過作為“吃貨”，艾琳最喜歡的就是和家人們一起吃吃吃，逛集市選購食材、燒烤、做大餐，或者外出去喜歡的餐館吃……生活簡單而美好~

3. 安東妮一家，2002 VS 2017

▲Antonette, James with Danilelle in 2002

▲Antonette, James, Danielle and Darien in 2017

他們的故事：

In the 2002 photo, we were first-time parents who had just purchased a home in the Hayward Hills. We were a young and hard-working couple with dreams. We wanted to give our daughter, Danielle, the best life possible.

Before the second photo, we had added a son, Darien, who is now fourteen. Danielle is now a freshman in college.

I lost my mom, and James lost his dad. I grew up in Oakland, and James grew up in Richmond, California. We both lived in the inner city in blue-collar communities with modest single-family homes. We now live in a larger home in a middle-class suburban community. It’s a more affluent neighborhood than the ones we grew up in.

Time flies by quickly, so you have to enjoy your children at each stage in their lives. Also, spend more time with your aging parents, as they may not be with you for much longer.

這是一個很典型的懷揣“美國夢”的家庭：出生在內(nèi)陸的藍領(lǐng)工薪家庭，經(jīng)過數(shù)十年的努力，住進了環(huán)境更好的中產(chǎn)社區(qū)。有了更舒適的房子，并且在不斷完善和裝飾它。

父母過世，兒女出生長大，歲月一點點流逝，生活平靜而韻味悠長。

4. 莉莉婭，2004 VS 2016

▲Lilah in 2004

▲Lilah in 2016

A year after the second photo, I am a senior in high school. It’s my first year at an online school because my ballet schedule doesn’t allow me the time to attend a brick-and-mortar school.

I still love clothes and fashion. I also love cooking. Deciding I wanted to become a professional ballerina is probably the biggest changein my life since the first photo was made.

Also, my parents’ divorce is something that I definitely didn’t see coming in 2004 and that drastically changed my life.

十幾年過去，原來玩玩鬧鬧的小姑娘經(jīng)歷了一些人生轉(zhuǎn)折：父母離婚、周圍環(huán)境改變……

并且，她也慢慢樹立了個人理想：成為一名職業(yè)的芭蕾舞者。

5. 瑪格一家，2000 VS 2017

▲Marg, Rachel, and John in 2000

▲Marg and John in 2017

他們的故事：

2000 was a hectic time in our lives. John was working long hours at a Silicon Valley startup, Marg was working as an assistant grade school teacher, and Rachel was an active teenager involved with many sports, extra-curricular activities, and a thick web of friends.

We live in the same house today in San Carlos, California. Between the first and last photos, both of our children have moved out on their own, and our oldest, Sara, got married.

John retired from full time management activities, and both of us have had to deal with some significant ‘medical adventures,’which we happily have gotten through. We’ve done significant remodeling of our home and continue with improvements.

2000年時，一家人都在拼命地忙碌：丈夫在硅谷創(chuàng)業(yè)，妻子在學(xué)校做助教，小女兒在學(xué)校相當(dāng)活躍……

如今，雖然夫妻倆還住在原來的房子里，兩個女兒卻已經(jīng)搬走了。兩人不再像當(dāng)年那樣拼命，退休了，工作清閑了，也到了開始為健康的身體所努力的“養(yǎng)生階段”了……

6. 凱爾，1997 VS 2016

▲Kyle in 1997

▲Kyle in 2016

他的故事：

In 1997 my life was fun and free, living by the moment.

Now it’s more structured. I’ve graduated college and am working as an IT engineer while I try to get my startup, which I’ve been working on a little over a year, running.

In addition to my startup, my goals are to travel the world taking photos and to buy my own place. I’m currently living with my parents in Hillsborough, where I grew up. If I had known then what I know now I would have invested in Google and other tech companies.

97年時的凱爾，還是一枚小盆友，正如他所說的，生活自由自在，活在當(dāng)下(live by the moment)。

如今，凱爾成了一枚程序猿，并且打算創(chuàng)業(yè)，生活一下子變得忙碌而有條理了起來。雖然依舊和父母住在小時候的地方，但他也有著許多亞裔孩子普遍有的夢想：掙錢買房。

如果能回到過去，去投資一下google之類的科技公司，現(xiàn)在豈不賺翻？

▲See How These Suburban Families' Lives Have Changed Over the Last 20 Years (via TIME)

哎……看了他們的故事，突然覺得，其實人生也不過是幾十年的事兒啊……

總想著一輩子還有很長，未來還有無限可能，其實唰地一下就過了。

那么……當(dāng)初的那些“夢想”實現(xiàn)了嗎？或者，是否有實現(xiàn)的可能？

生活在郊區(qū)小鎮(zhèn)上的那些年輕人們，會和長輩一樣安心長待與此，還是會努力去到更為廣闊的天地？

“美國夢”的起伏幻影

前面有說過，攝影師貝絲記錄下這些人的20年，一大初衷是想知道，他們的“美國夢”在這些年間是否發(fā)生了變化。

那么首先，咱們來圍觀下這個老被美國人掛在嘴邊的“美國夢”究竟是什么。

各種解釋和衍生版本都有，但“美國夢”大體的含義，是指“只要努力奮斗，每個公民都有平等權(quán)利過上更好的生活”。

但是這么多年來，對于美國人來說，這個“美夢成真”的可能性有多大？打破階層天花板會有多艱難？

有人在Quora（國外版知乎）上貼出了這樣一張圖：

可以看出，和參照的英、法、意、瑞典幾國相比，美國人民的預(yù)期普遍挺高：覺得收入會停留在最低的20%的人是最少的，而覺得可以通過努力達到最高的20%的人是最多的。

而實際上呢？

在這5個國家中，美國是唯一一個“實際差于預(yù)計”的國家，也是5國里數(shù)據(jù)層面看起來最“慘”的——窮人最多，富人最少。

但是，由于大家的“夢”做得不錯，所以大家心態(tài)還真挺好。

貼圖的人是這樣說的：

@Hector Zenil:

As you can see, U.S. Americans largely overestimate their social mobility compared to European countries who largely underestimate it. Unitrans世聯(lián)翻譯公司在您身邊,離您最近的翻譯公司,心貼心的專業(yè)服務(wù)translation company,全球領(lǐng)先的翻譯與技術(shù)解決方案供應(yīng)商,北京翻譯公司、上海翻譯公司頂級品牌。無論在本地,還是廣州、深圳、天津、重慶、蘇州、香港、澳門、臺北,海外,Unitrans.cn世聯(lián)的英文翻譯等專業(yè)服務(wù)為您的事業(yè)加速！正如你們所看到的，在社會流動性（指階層天花板打破的可能性）方面，和歐洲國家比起來，美國人大大地高估了他們改變出身的可能。

However, most European countries have significantly larger social mobility than the U.S. and therefore the American Dream is paradoxically not in America.

而大多數(shù)歐洲國家呢，社會流動性普遍高于美國。矛盾嗎？最能實現(xiàn)“美國夢”精神的地方卻不是美國。

The American Dream is an American Nightmare considering that people not wealthy enough have no access to basic healthcare cannot send their children to university without getting into deep debt and nowhere else in the world people work so many hours per week (Americans Work More Than Anyone ABC News).

對于那些不夠富有的人來說，付不起基本的醫(yī)保、背負大量貸款才能送孩子上大學(xué)、工作時間全球最長……所謂的“美國夢”，恐怕也只是個“美國噩夢”而已。

這種說法究竟是偏激，還是大實話，估計只有美國人自己心里清楚。而貧富差距之外，還有種族、地域、宗教、性別……許許多多的障礙。

不過話說回來，“成功”“更好的生活”這些概念本就是因人而異的。既然美國夢宣揚的是“努力就能有更好的生活”，那么，只要努力了，并且生活比原來相對好一些了，也算是某種意義上的美夢成真——畢竟真要躋身上流、走上人生巔峰什么的，絕不是那么容易的。

看著上面這些美國郊區(qū)的人20年前后的故事，大抵也是如此。

……還記得20年前的你嗎？20年之后，你又在何方？

20年前你多大？當(dāng)時的夢想是什么？現(xiàn)在實現(xiàn)了嗎？覺得自己20年后又會是怎樣的？歡迎留言分享討論！