硅谷的觉醒 现在他们开始介入政治了

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　　加州帕洛阿尔托——在对政治方法嗤之以鼻多年之后，硅谷跳入了这类纷争。

　　The prospect³ of a President Donald J. Trump⁴ is pushing the tech community to move beyond its traditional role as donors⁶ and to embrace a new existence as agitators⁷ and activists⁸.

　　唐纳德?J?特朗普(Donald J. Trump)成为美国总统的可能性，促使科技界超越作为捐赠者的传统角色，开始扮演鼓动者和活动人士的新身份。

　　A distinguished⁹ venture capital firm emblazoned on its corporate¹⁰ home page an earthy anti-Trump epithet¹¹.

　　一家知名风险投资公司在其网站主页上醒目地展示了一条粗俗的反特朗普口号。

　　One prominent tech chieftain says the consequences of Mr Trump’s election would range between disastrous¹² and terrible.

　　一位有名的科技界大佬表示，特朗普当选总统将带来从灾难到恐怖的各种后果。

　　Another compares him to a dictator.

　　另一位则把他比作独裁者。

　　And nearly 150 tech leaders signed an open letter decrying¹³ Mr Trump and his campaign of anger and bigotry¹⁴.

　　有近150名科技界领袖签署了一份公开信，谴责特朗普及其竞选活动充满愤怒与偏执情绪。

　　Not quite all the action is anti-Trump.

　　并非所有的行动都是反对特朗普的。

　　Peter Thiel, a founder¹⁵ of PayPal and Palantir who was the first outside investor¹⁶ in Facebook, spoke¹⁷ at the Republican convention in July.

　　今年7月，Paypal和Palantir两家公司的创始人之一、同时也是Facebook首位外部投资者的彼得?蒂尔(Peter Thiel)，在共和党全国大会上做了发言。

　　The New York Times reported on Saturday that Mr Thiel is giving $1.25 million to support Mr Trump’s candidacy even as other supporters flee.

　　《纽约时报》上周六曾报道，蒂尔要拿出125万美元资金支持特朗普的竞选，尽管其他支持者正在撤离。

　　(He also recently gave $1 million to a super PAC that supports Senator Rob Portman, the Republican freshman¹⁸ running for re-election in Ohio.)

　　（最近，他还给一家超级政治行动委员会[super PAC]提供了100万美元资金，该委员会支持共和党新人罗布?波特曼[Rob Portman]参议员在俄亥俄州竞选连任。

　　Getting involved in politics used to be seen as clashing with Silicon Valley’s value system: You transform the world by making problems obsolete¹⁹, not solving them through Washington.

　　在过去，介入政治被认为与硅谷的价值观冲突：你通过让问题不再是问题来改变世界，而不是通过华盛顿解决它们。

　　Nor did entrepreneurs want to alienate²⁰ whatever segment of customers did not agree with them politically.

　　企业家也不希望疏远在政治上与他们观念相左的那部分消费者。

　　Such reticence²¹ is no longer in style here.

　　这类含蓄如今不流行了。

　　We’re a bunch of nerds not used to having a lot of limelight, said Dave McClure, an investor who runs a tech incubator called 500 Startups.

　　我们是一群书呆子，不习惯受到太多关注，投资人戴夫?麦克卢尔(Dave McClure)说。他管理着一家名为创业500(500 Startups)的科技孵化器。

　　But to quote Spider-Man, ‘With great power comes great responsibility.’

　　但是拿蜘蛛侠的话来说，‘能力越大，责任越大’。

　　Mr McClure grew worried after the Republican and Democratic conventions as Mr Trump began to catch up to Hillary Clinton in the polls.

　　在共和党与民主党全国大会召开之后，特朗普开始在民意调查中赶上希拉里?克林顿(Hillary Clinton)，麦克卢尔因此越来越担忧。

　　He wanted Silicon Valley to do more, and so late last month he announced Nerdz4Hillary, an informal fund-raising effort.

　　他希望硅谷能做得更多，所以上月末他公布了非正式的资金募集项目Nerdz4Hillary。

　　An initial group of donors pledged $50,000; the goal was to ask the nerdz for small donations to match that sum.

　　最早的一批捐赠者承诺提供5万美元；其目标是向书呆子们募集小额捐赠，以期达到同样的数额。

　　They have not come through yet.

　　他们目前还没有实现这个目标。

　　We’re kind of optimistic we’ll get the other $50,000 in a few weeks, Mr McClure said.

　　我们比较乐观，预计再过几周就能筹到另一个5万美元，麦克卢尔说。

　　That relatively²² slow pace reflects Silicon Valley’s shifting position: Even as it becomes increasingly free with its opinions, it has been less free with its checkbook.

　　这种相对有些慢的步伐反映出硅谷立场的转变：尽管在硅谷表达观念上变得日益自由，但动用支票本还没那么方便。

　　The most recent data, from late August, shows Mrs. Clinton taking in $7.7 million from the tech community, according to Crowdpac, a start-up that tracks donations.

　　追踪捐赠信息的创业公司Crowdpac来自8月末的最新数据显示，克林顿在科技界募集了770万美元的资金。

　　By that point in 2012, Crowdpac says, President Obama had raised $21 million from entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

　　而据该公司统计，2012年至这个时间点时，奥巴马已经从企业家和风险投资家那里募集了2100万美元。

　　Reid Hoffman, the billionaire co-founder of the business networking site LinkedIn, offers a snapshot of Silicon Valley’s evolving approach to politics.

　　商业社交网站LinkedIn联合创始人雷德?霍夫曼、亿万富翁(Reid Hoffman)的举动显示了硅谷在对待政治的策略上的演进。

　　Mr Hoffman was a top Obama donor⁵, giving $1 million to the Priorities USA political action committee, something several of his peers did as well.

　　霍夫曼是奥巴马最大的资助者之一，曾向优先美国(Priorities USA)政治行动委员会捐赠100万美元资金，他身边的人也做了同样的捐赠。

　　Last month, Mr Hoffman garnered²³ worldwide publicity²⁴ for saying he would donate up to $5 million to veterans’ groups if Mr Trump released his taxes, a remote possibility that never came to pass.

　　上个月，霍夫曼表示，如果特朗普公布自己的纳税情况——可能性极小，迄今未实现——他将捐赠高达500万美元的资金给退伍老兵组织，此举引发了全世界的关注。

　　He has castigated²⁵ Mr Trump in interviews, saying he was speaking for those who were afraid.

　　他还曾在接受采访时严厉指责特朗普，称他是在为那些恐惧的人说话。

　　Mr Hoffman’s outright²⁶ donations, however, have been smaller this election cycle.

　　不过，霍夫曼的直接捐赠在这个选举周期一直比较少。

　　In May, he gave $400,000 to the Hillary Victory Fund.

　　今年5月，他给希拉里胜利基金会(Hillary Victory Fund)捐了40万美元。

　　Asked if there was more recent giving that had not shown up in federal election records, Mr Hoffman cryptically²⁷ responded in an email, Looking at some PACs, etc.

　　在被问到最近是否有更多的捐赠没有被联邦选举委员会记录时，霍夫曼在一封邮件中措辞隐晦地回应道，正在看一些PAC之类的。

　　He declined several opportunities to elaborate.

　　他多次拒绝就此做出详细说明。

　　Even as Priorities USA has raised $133 million this election cycle, far exceeding its total in 2012, its tech contributions have dwindled²⁸.

　　尽管优先美国在这个竞选周期内募集了1.33亿美元，远远超过2012年的总额，但它获得来自科技界的资金有所减少。

　　The only familiar tech name this time around is John Doerr of the venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, who gave $500,000.

　　这次大选的捐赠者中，唯一熟悉的科技界名字是风险投资公司凯鹏华盈(Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers)的约翰?多尔(John Doerr)，他捐赠了50万美元。

　　The AOL co-founder Steve Case said his September endorsement²⁹ of Mrs.

　　今年9月，美国在线(AOL)联合创始人史蒂夫?凯斯(Steve Case)通过发表于《华盛顿邮报》(The Washington Post)的一篇专栏文章，宣布了他对克林顿的支持。

　　Clinton, via an op-ed in The Washington Post, was the first time he ever publicly declared for a candidate.

　　他说这是他第一次公开宣布对一位候选人表示支持。

　　I always focused on policy and avoided politics, he said.

　　我一直关注政策，而避免介入政治，他说。

　　But if Trump were elected president, I would be disappointed in myself for not acting³⁰.

　　但如果特朗普当选总统，我将会为自己当初没有采取行动而感到失望。

　　He was less certain about donating money to Mrs. Clinton, saying it was probable but not certain.

　　对于捐钱给克林顿，他相对没那么确定，只表示有可能，但并不确定。

　　Mason Harrison, Crowdpac’s head of communications, explained the gap.

　　Crowdpac公关总监梅森?哈里森(Mason Harrison)解释了这种落差。

　　Donors give to support candidates they love, not to defeat candidates they fear, he said.

　　捐赠人捐钱是为支持自己喜欢的候选人，而不是为了打败令他们感到担忧的候选人，他说。

　　A few billionaires are taking the opposite approach, acting instead of talking.

　　也有几位亿万富翁采取了相反的策略，用行动说话，而不发声。

　　Dustin Moskovitz, a founder of Facebook, said he was giving $20 million to various Democratic election efforts — the first time he and his wife, Cari Tuna, have endorsed³¹ a candidate.

　　Facebook联合创始人达斯廷?莫斯科维茨(Dustin Moskovitz)表示，他在给民主党的各种竞选活动捐赠2000万美元，这是他和妻子卡里?图纳(Cari Tuna)首次给一位候选人背书。

　　He declined to be interviewed.

　　他拒绝了时报的采访请求。

　　Part of the problem for Mrs. Clinton is that, however preferable she may be to Mr Trump in the tech community, she pales in comparison to President Obama.

　　克林顿的问题部分在于，不管她在科技界看来比特朗普有多么可取，都无法与奥巴马总统相比。

　　After some initial misgivings³², Silicon Valley found its champion in him.

　　在打消最初的一些疑虑之后，硅谷当时将赌注压在了奥巴马身上。

　　There has been a revolving³³ door between tech and the Obama administration, just as previous Democratic administrations had a revolving door with Wall Street.

　　在科技界和奥巴马政府之间，存在一道旋转门，就像之前的民主党政府与华尔街之间一样。

　　In June, President Obama seemed to suggest that he might become a venture capitalist after his term ends.

　　去年6月，奥巴马总统似乎暗示，在总统任期结束之后，他可能会选择做一名风险投资人。

　　Mrs. Clinton is not as enthusiastic toward Silicon Valley and its disruptive ways.

　　克林顿对硅谷及其颠覆性的方式没有那么大的热情。

　　In a speech in the summer of 2015, she noted³⁴ that start-ups in the on-demand or so-called gig economy — Uber, Airbnb and their ilk — were unleashing³⁵ innovation but also raising hard questions about workplace protection and what a good job will look like in the future.

　　她曾在2015年夏季的一次演讲中指出，按需型经济，或说零工经济中的创业公司——优步和Airbnb之类——既是释放创新，同时也在工作场所安全保障和未来什么样的工作是好工作方面，带来一些难题。

　　The Clinton campaign declined to comment.

　　克林顿竞选团队拒绝置评。

　　The Trump campaign did not respond to a query³⁶.

　　特朗普竞选团队也没有对询问做出回应。

　　But perhaps being vocal³⁷ is a temporary condition after all.

　　不过，或许这种发声最终只是一时的现象。

　　The venture firm CRV was in the spotlight³⁸ at the end of August with its blunt anti-Trump message, which included the earthy epithet.

　　8月底的时候，风险投资公司CRV曾因直率地传达反对特朗普的信息而备受关注，其中包括上文提到的那条粗俗的口号。

　　A few weeks later, it cleaned up its website.

　　几周后，该公司从网站上删除了这条信息。

　　The partners went from employing a publicist to seek out attention to declining interviews.

　　几名合伙人从之前的雇佣公关人员以争取获得关注，转向拒绝接受采访。

　　We reached everyone we wanted to reach, and hopefully influenced opinions, said Saar Gur, a CRV venture capitalist.

　　我们已经触及到我们希望触及的人群，但愿影响了他们的观点，CRV风险投资人萨尔?古尔(Saar Gur)说。

　　Then the buzz died down and we went back to our day jobs, which are super busy.

　　然后喧嚣退去，我们回归自己极为忙碌的日常工作中。

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