泉州
週末的短旅行,走一趟台灣的原鄉:廈漳泉。
我感覺,我需要。
1
週六傍晚,到了泉州。
泉州不是第一次來。
可是,每次都有每次的驚喜與感動。
泉州,又叫鯉城,因為形狀似鯉魚。
鯉魚城,太多故事了。
泉州跟漳州一樣,是台灣人的根,原鄉之郷。
閩南文化的精緻,台灣信仰的源流,是撇不開泉州的。
台灣許多香火鼎盛的大廟,莫不是早年先民從泉州分靈而來。當然也有許多是從漳州分靈而來,端看先人是從泉州或是漳州而來。
2
台北的龍山寺,就是朝清乾隆年間,從泉州晉江縣安海龍山寺的觀音菩薩,分靈來台北艋舺的。
多少台灣古老有傳統的寺廟,當年不論興建翻修,也都必須得從泉州請來老師傅。
只因泉州師傅才有那個功底。
南管,布袋戲,都跟著先民來到台灣。
3
泉州自有自己的氣派與積累。
從閩越族時期,到秦末漢初封國、設郡縣。
到東漢和東晉大亂,族群大規模從中原南遷。
所以,泉州會有一條河,稱之為洛水,有一江,叫做晉江。
閩南人自稱,也被人稱為“河洛人”,説的話,叫做河洛話。
到了台灣的閩南人,也是如此。用閩南語讀唐詩,特別有韻味還特押韻,其來有自,不是沒理由的。
4
泉州很開闊。
唐宋之後,泉州成為海上絲路要港,是當時世界四大口岸之一。
宋元時期,泉州更是大開大闔,貿易航行,北到日本,南往印度洋。
馬可波羅還稱泉州是兩大港之一。
許多外國人聚居泉州,帶來各種多元的文化與信仰。
所以泉州不止有開元寺、龍山寺、關公廟與媽祖廟。
大批波斯人住在泉州,帶來了摩尼教,也就是金庸筆下的明教。
泉州至今保留了世界僅存的摩尼教神像。
就是草庵裡,宋朝存至今,利用整塊山石雕成的光明佛石像。
幾百年來,被信眾中國化了的這尊光明佛像,就這樣安然存在,在泉州。
5
泉州文風自古興盛。
可是,泉州人習慣開闊、闖蕩。
所以航海經商,也都難不倒泉州人。
雖然有明清兩代的壓抑,但泉州的開拓性,現在更是最好發揮的時機。
6
金門缺水。
泉州二話不說,把最好的水源,給了金門。
源源不絕,給的,是無止境的鄉親之情。
可不止是水。
台灣人可知,光是泉州,就是台灣永不會枯竭,取之不盡的生命泉源?
謝謝泉州。
台灣人,為什麼要跟14億同胞為敵?
為什麼不跟自己的親族同胞擁抱?
台灣人,能不能聰明一次?
PS
1
草庵裡的對聯“庵門常掩毋忘世上苦人多”,是弘一法師寫的。
就是韓國瑜常講的那句話的出處。
2
“五店市”保存了許多古宅,下次我還要再來,好好看個幾天,體會古宅的氛圍。
取之不盡用之不竭出處 在 Eric's English Lounge Facebook 的最讚貼文
[時事英文]彩券是一種窮人稅 (a tax on the poor)?
最近看到多家媒體報導鼓勵大家支持「公益」彩券,就聯想到之前看過的一些彩券報導。雖然每個國家的彩券發行的法律、收益的分紅和管理規範都不盡相同,還是可以參考以下美國多家知名報社關於美國彩券的社論。根據西方的經驗,購買彩券的人大多是低收入戶,他們將微薄的收入用來買「公益」彩券,窮人的錢成為彩券的主要財源,因此,公益彩券反而像變相的「窮人稅」。彩券是否如迷幻藥般,使部分窮人更窮?值得大家深思。
從社會與心理層面看臺灣「樂透瘋」公聽會:https://bit.ly/30W6mpJ
★★★★★★★★★★★★
The lottery is a particularly awful example of political corruption. Here government is raising revenue by selling the Powerball dream of wealth without work. Studies in a number of states have shown that lottery ticket sales are concentrated in poor communities, that poor people spend a larger portion of their income on tickets and that the poor are more likely to view the lottery as an investment.
1. political corruption 政治腐敗
2. raise revenue 提高收入
3. Powerball 威力球(美國境內發行的彩券)
4. dream of wealth 財富的夢想
5. more likely to 更傾向於
彩券是政治腐敗的一個特別可怕的例子。政府藉由兜售威力球一夜致富的夢來增加國家的稅收。許多州的研究表明,彩券的銷售集中在貧困社區,窮人將多數收入花在彩券上,而窮人更傾向於將彩券視為一種投資。
——《華盛頓郵報》
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Lotteries are regressive taxes on poor people, in that a ticket costs relatively more for a poor person than a rich person, and punitive taxes on the poor and uneducated people who are the most avid buyers. The people who can least afford it are throwing away on average 47 cents on the dollar every time they buy a ticket. And the government, which relies increasingly on the lottery for funding, goes out of its way to tell them it is a good idea.
6. relatively more 相對更多
7. most avid buyers 最狂熱的買家
8. go out of one’s way(特別是為其他人)非常努力地做
9. punitive taxes 懲罰性賦稅
彩券是對窮人的累退稅,也是對那些醉心於購買且未受過教育的窮人之懲罰性賦稅。因為與富人相比,買彩券所付出的成本對窮人而言相對較高。那些負擔得起彩券的人,平均每次要花47美分購買彩券。政府愈來愈依賴彩券來籌措資金,並竭盡全力告訴他們這是個好主意。
——《商業內幕》
★★★★★★★★★★★★
What if I told you there was a $70 billion tax that the poor pay the most. You'd probably say that isn't very fair. But that's exactly what the lottery is: an almost 12-figure tax on the desperation of the least fortunate. To put that in perspective, that's $300 worth of lottery tickets for every adult every year. Researchers have found that the bottom third of households buy more than half of all tickets. So that means households making less than $28,000 a year are dishing out $450 a year on lotteries.
10. a 12-figure tax 一個12位數的稅
11. the least fortunate 最不幸的
12. worth of… 值得⋯
13. dish out 祭出;拿出
14. What if...? 如果(尤指糟糕的情況出現)會怎麼樣?
如果我告訴你,在700億美元的稅收中窮人付出的最多,你會怎麼想?你可能會說這不太公平。但這就是彩券:對最不幸者的絕望徵收近12位數的稅。從這個角度來看,那對每位成年人來說是每年價值300美元的彩券。研究人員發現,最底層的三分之一家庭所購買的彩票超過總數的一半。這意味著年收入不足兩萬八千美元的家庭,每年要花450美元來買彩券。
——《華盛頓郵報》
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Historical data implies that when the economy goes bad, lottery revenues go up, because "when people are feeling desperate, they are more likely to stop by the gas station and buy five lottery tickets, hoping they get a big windfall.”
15. historical data 歷史數據
16. feel desperate 感到絕望
17. get a big windfall 獲得巨額、意外的收穫
歷史數據表明,每當經濟不景氣,彩券收入會增加,因為「每當人們感到絕望,他們更有可能在加油站前停下來,買五張彩券,並希望自己能獲得巨額的財富。」
——《ABC新聞》
★★★★★★★★★★★★
In 2008, during the height of the recession, at least 22 of the 42 states with lotteries — including New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — set sales records.
18. height of the recession 經濟衰退的高點
19. set sales record 創下銷售記錄
2008年,時值經濟衰退的谷底,在42個有賣彩券的州中,至少有22個州——包括紐約州、紐澤西州和康乃狄克州——創下銷售記錄。
——《紐約時報》
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Lotteries are sometimes criticized as a "de facto tax on the poor," according to Matheson. "The poor spend a much higher percentage of their overall income on lotteries than the rich, and they can afford it less," he said. John Spry, a finance professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota, has also studied the economic disparity among people who play instant scratch-off games. About three out of four instant game tickets sold in Minnesota are purchased by people with below-average incomes, according to Spry. He also cites research that shows that in South Carolina, 60% of instant lottery tickets were purchased by people with very low incomes.
20. a de facto tax on the poor 一種對窮人的實質賦稅
21. overall income 總收入
22. economic disparity 經濟差異;經濟失衡(國際法名詞)
23. below-average incomes 低於平均水準的所得
按馬特森所言,彩券有時被批評為「對窮人的實質賦稅」。他說:「窮人在彩券上的花費占總收入的比例遠比富人高出許多,而他們所能負擔的也更少。」明尼蘇達州聖湯瑪斯大學的財金系教授約翰・斯普里也研究了玩即時刮刮樂的人之間的經濟差異。根據斯普里的說法,在明尼蘇達州售出的四張即時刮刮樂中,約有三張是由收入低於平均水準的人購買。他還引用了一項研究,該研究表明,在南卡羅來納有60%的即時彩券是被收入很低的人買走。
——《CNN》
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Think on this a moment. In a place where government has utterly failed to provide adequate education and public services, government is using advertising to exploit the desperation of poor people in order to raise revenue that funds other people’s public services. This is often called a “regressive” form of taxation. The word does not adequately capture the cruelty and crookedness of selling a lie to vulnerable people in order to bilk them. Offering the chance of one in a 100 million is the equivalent of a lie. Lotteries depend on the deceptive encouragement of mythical thinking and fantasies of escape.
24. utterly fail to 徹底地失敗
25. fail to provide 無法提供
26. adequate education and public services 充分的教育與公共服務
27. exploit the desperation of poor people 利用窮人的絕望
28. fund public services 資助公共服務
29. a regressive form of taxation 一種累退的賦稅形式
30. sell a lie 兜售一個謊言
31. vulnerable people 弱勢群體
32. mythical thinking 不切實際的想像
33. fantasy of escape 逃避的幻想
試想一下,在政府完全無法提供足夠的教育與公共服務的地方,為了提高國家稅收以資助他人的公共服務,政府正運用廣告來利用窮人的絕望。這通常被稱作「累退」的賦稅形式。這個詞並未充分體現出,政府為了欺騙弱勢群體,向他們兜售謊言此一殘酷與奸詐。提供億分之一的機會即形同說謊。彩券所仰賴的是不切實際與逃避現實的幻想,帶有欺騙性的鼓勵。
——《華盛頓郵報》
★★★★★★★★★★★★
Some policymakers argue that the moral cost of lotteries is low. After all, the games are voluntary. And perhaps the money collected by the state is better off going to schools than to booze and cigarettes and whatever else. In an age of rising income inequality, it’s pernicious that states rely on monetizing the desperate hope of its poorest residents. State lotteries take from the poor to spare the rich, all while marching under the banner of voluntary entertainment. Banning lotto games will not make our poorest communities suddenly rich. But these neighborhoods have lost enough lotteries in life even before they touch a penny to the scratch-off ticket.
34. moral cost 道德成本
35. be better off 境況更好;經濟狀況較先前(或多數人)好
36. rising income inequality日益加劇的所得不均
37. take from the poor to spare the rich 劫貧濟富
38. under the banner of 以⋯⋯的名義;在⋯⋯的旗幟下
39. voluntary entertainment 自願性娛樂
40. a scratch-off ticket 一張刮刮樂
有些制定政策的人認為,彩券的道德成本很低。畢竟,那些都是自願的博弈。而且,由州政府收取資金並將之用於各級學校,也許比用在喝酒、抽菸或其他東西上都來得好。在一個所得不均日益加劇的時代,各州將貧困居民僅存的希望貨幣化,無疑是有害的。國家彩券劫貧濟富,以自願性娛樂的名義推進。禁止博彩遊戲並不會讓我們最貧窮的社區突然變得富有。但這些社區甚至連刮刮樂的一毛錢都沒贏過,卻已眼睜睜輸掉數量可觀的彩券。
——《大西洋》
★★★★★★★★★★★★
今政府開辦之彩券販售,雖係有法令依據的合法行為,其販售權力也優先給予殘障弱勢者,每年所獲盈餘也多用在公益事業或挹注部分運動項目,不可謂沒有功勞。但整體而論;彩券是藉公益之名,慷民眾之慨以補政府的不足,彩券盈餘所挹注的公益項目,都是政府原本就應照顧的族群,不應等待民眾簽注的盈餘才來做這些事。
——立法院第8屆第2會期第2次會議紀錄
https://bit.ly/2EkkktK
★★★★★★★★★★★★
國內運動彩券之評析: https://www.npf.org.tw/3/5099
圖片出處: https://bit.ly/2P11l9L
★★★★★★★★★★★★
參考資料:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/refusing-t0-cheat-the-poor/2015/07/09/78154b9a-2670-11e5-aae2-6c4f59b050aa_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.55b
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/refusing-t0-cheat-the-poor/2015/07/09/78154b9a-2670-11e5-aae2-6c4f59b050aa_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.55bf29a1f446
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/lotteries-americas-70-billion-shame/392870/
http://www.businessinsider.com/lottery-is-a-tax-on-the-poor-2012-4
http://money.cnn.com/2016/01/12/news/companies/powerball-lottery-games-poor/index.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/lotteries-americas-70-billion-shame/392870/