I can’t help but feel that most of us are hypocrites about all these matters. A high proportion of citizens in places like Britain and the US drink, and sometimes we get drunk. Everyone in the licensed trade (and I’m one of them) sells as much alcohol as they can for a profit – and probably lots to drunks. Distillers and brewers feign disapproval of binge drinking, but keep producing the stuff, even if there are casualties. And the government collects huge tax revenues from sales of alcohol.
我突然觉得, 在这些问题上, 我们大多数人都是伪君子. 在一些像英国和美国的国家, 相当多的人饮酒, 而有时我们也会喝醉. 获得营业执照的人, 包括我在内, 都试图卖尽可能多的酒来获利, 其中很多很可能卖给了酒鬼们. 酒水蒸馏商和酿造商假装不赞成汹酒, 但背后却不断地生产, 即使有人受害也在所不惜. 同时, 政府也从酒类的销售中获取巨额税收.

Quite possibly many would like a 21st century Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs with an additional need at the apex: recreational drugs. The absence in much modern society of religious faith, patriotism or any serious set of philosophical beliefs leaves a vacuum that is often filled by sheer self-indulgence, escapism and nihilism – and frequently fuelled by drink and drugs.
很可能很多人会喜欢21世纪马斯洛提出的人类需求层次论. 在这个金字塔式的理论顶端或许需要再加一层: 娱乐性毒品. 现代社会, 很多人缺乏必要的宗教信仰, 爱国主义精神, 或者其他一些哲学信仰, 以致于心灵的某处出现真空, 而这些真空却经常被彻底的自我放纵, 逃避现实以及虚无主义填充-----通常是酒精和毒品.

The attitude of society, government and business towards drink and drugs is contradictory and confusing. There are no easy solutions to stop the untold damage while retaining our reasonable freedoms of choice. And business must work out how to cater responsibly to an individual’s desires. But the current system is surely broken.
社会, 政府以及企业对酒精和毒品的态度是矛盾而且令人困惑的. 我们无法在保持自身选择自由的情况下轻易地找到降低不可估量损害的方案. 而企业必须思考如何才能尽责地满足消费者的需求. 但是, 当前的体制显然是有问题的.

（作者: 英国《金融时报》专栏作家 卢克•约翰逊 译者: 爱尔兰都柏林大学 赖小琪）