二、经济和社会权利缺乏基本保障
II. Absence of Basic Guarantee of Social and Economic Rights
美国整体富强的面纱背后，遮掩的却是贫富严重分化的冷酷现实。国民收入分配差距持续扩大，医疗教育费用不断攀升，社会保障覆盖面却在萎缩，底层民众生活苦不堪言。
Behind the overall prosperity of the United States is the cruel reality of the serious polarization between the rich and the poor in the country. The income distribution gap continues to widen, the medical and education cost continues to rise, the coverage of social security is shrinking and the lives of the people at the bottom are miserable.
贫富差距创50年来新高。联合国极端贫困与人权问题特别报告员菲利普·奥尔斯顿在2018年5月发表的访美报告中指出，美国已经沦为贫富分化最严重的西方国家。《华盛顿时报》网站2019年9月27日报道，美国人口普查局的统计数据显示，过去50年来，美国的基尼系数一直在稳步上升。2018年基尼系数攀升至0.485，贫富差距达到50年来最高水平。《今日美国报》网站2019年5月26日报道，摩根大通公司发布的报告显示，美国最富有的10%家庭占有近75%的家庭净资产。“财富越来越多地集中在少数人手中，已经超出了许多美国人认为合理或道德上可以接受的范围”。美国贫富持续分化的基本趋势对人权的享有和实现产生了严重的负面影响。《纽约时报》网站2019年9月10日报道，贫富差距不仅扩大了美国人的收入和财富差距，还导致了富人寿命更长而穷人寿命更短。美国的贫富分化是一个稳定的长期趋势，造成这种趋势的主要原因是结构性的，这是由美国的政治制度和美国政府所代表的资本利益所决定的。美国政府不仅缺乏消除这些结构性原因的政治意愿，反而不断推出使之强化的政策措施。正如奥尔斯顿特别报告员所指出的，美国“极端贫困的持续存在是当权者做出的政治选择”。
The gap between rich and poor hit a 50-year high. In May 2018, Philip G. Alston, the United Nation's special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, published a report saying the United States had the highest rate of income inequality among Western countries. The Washington Times reported on its website on Sept 27, 2019 that the Gini Index of the United States has been rising steadily over the past five decades, citing figures from the US Census Bureau. The Gini Index grew to 0.485 in 2018, the highest level in 50 years. Citing a report from the New York-based financial firm JP Morgan Chase, the USA Today website reported on May 26, 2019 that the wealthiest 10 percent of US households control nearly 75 percent of household net worth. “The increasing consolidation of wealth in the hands of a few has gone beyond what many Americans deem to be justified or morally acceptable.” The basic trend of widening income gap in the United States is casting negative influences on the enjoyment and realization of human rights. The New York Times website reported on Sept 10, 2019 that the expanding gap between rich and poor is not only widening the gulf in incomes and wealth in America. It is helping the rich lead longer lives, while cutting short the lives of those who are struggling. The polarization between the rich and the poor in the United States is a stable long-term trend. The main reason for this trend is structural, which is determined by the political system of the United States and the capital interests represented by the US government. The US government not only lacks the political will to eliminate these structural causes, but also continuously introduces policies and measures to strengthen them. In the United States, “the persistence of extreme poverty is a political choice made by those in power,” said Alston, the special rapporteur.
收入分配不平等日益严重。《今日美国报》网站2019年4月17日和5月26日报道，美国的收入不平等问题不断恶化，中产阶级工资停滞不前和高管薪酬飙升是主要原因之一。一些大企业和知名公司首席执行官不到一个小时的收入，相当于普通员工一整年的收入。MyLogIQ机构对标准普尔500指数公司的薪酬分析报告显示，有13家公司首席执行官的工资至少是普通员工薪酬中位数的1000倍，最高的达到3566倍。《福布斯》网站2019年5月29日报道，美联储的报告显示，1989年至2018年，最富有10%的家庭占有家庭财富总额的比例从60%上升至70%，最富有1%的家庭占有家庭财富总额的比例从23%上升至32%，而最底层50%的家庭财富净增长基本为零，在家庭财富总额中所占比例从4%降至1%，正在被日益加剧的不平等压垮。
Inequality in income distribution is growing. USA Today reported on its website on April 17 and May 26, 2019 that income inequality is a growing problem in the United States, which could be contributed to factors including the stagnant middle-class wages and skyrocketing executive compensation. In some of the largest and most recognizable global companies, chief executives earn in less than an hour as much as their typical employee earns in an entire year. MyLogIQ, a data aggregator of public companies, released a report comparing total CEO compensation to median employee compensation for companies on the S&P 500 index, identifying 13 companies where the CEO makes at least 1,000 times the salary of their typical employee, while the biggest contrast was 3,566 times. Citing a Federal Reserve report, the Forbes website reported on May 29, 2019 that in 2018, the richest 10 percent held 70 percent of total household wealth, up from 60 percent in 1989. The share funneled to the top 1 percent jumped to 32 percent in 2018 from 23 percent in 1989. The bottom 50 percent saw essentially zero net gains in wealth over those 30 years, driving their already meager share of total wealth down to just 1 percent from 4 percent, who are literally getting crushed by the weight of rising inequalities.
底层民众生活窘困。在经济已经高度发达的美国，很多公民却依然面临饥饿威胁。美国律师协会网站2019年12月16日的文章指出，美国是目前唯一有数百万人处于饥饿状态的发达国家，人口普查局2018年的统计数据显示美国有3970万贫困人口，其中包含1280万名儿童。美国进步中心网站2019年2月13日报道，超过40%的美国人难以负担住房、食品和医疗等基本生活支出，而国会10年来一直拒绝提高7.25美元的联邦最低时薪，进一步加剧了贫困问题。经济政策研究所2019年8月27日发布的数据显示，2019年联邦最低工资的实际价值因通货膨胀比2009年下降了17%，比1968年下降了31%。《洛杉矶时报》网站2019年5月7日报道，美国政府试图使用“虚假通胀率”来“剔除”数百万贫困人口，“本届政府对于有多少贫困人口及如何帮助他们毫不在意，只是盘算着如何玩一场数字游戏”。
People at the bottom are living in distress. In the United States, where the economy is already highly developed, many still face the threat of hunger. The United States remains the only developed country where millions go hungry, said an article published on Dec 16, 2019 on the website of the American Bar Association. According to the US Census Bureau, there are 39.7 million people living in poverty in the United States, including 12.8 million children in 2018. American Progress website reported on Feb 13, 2019 that more than 4 in 10 Americans are struggling to afford basics such as housing, food, and health care. The US Congress has refused to raise the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour for a decade, contributing to the worsening of poverty. The Economic Policy Institute said on Aug 27, 2019 that the real value (inflation-adjusted) of the federal minimum wage in 2019 has dropped 17 percent since 2009 and 31 percent since 1968. The Los Angeles Times reported on its website on May 7, 2019 that the US government proposed to use a sham inflation rate to throw millions off poverty rolls. "This administration isn’t interested in knowing how many Americans are living in poverty, or how to help them. In the games it wants to play with numbers."
无家可归者处境悲惨。《今日美国报》网站2019年10月7日报道，住房和城市发展部的数据显示，每晚至少有50万美国人无家可归。《洛杉矶时报》网站2019年7月2日报道，受经济衰退影响，近800万美国人失去了房屋。美联储的数据显示，美国中产阶级的住房拥有率从2004年的70%下降至2016年的60%。洛杉矶无家可归者服务管理局2019年6月4日公布数据显示，洛杉矶县有58936人无家可归，比2018年增加12%。美国有线电视新闻网2019年6月18日报道，洛杉矶邻近地区无家可归者数量的增加同样惊人。与2018年相比，奥兰治县的无家可归者增加了43%，文图拉县增加了28%，克恩县增加了50%。无家可归者并没有得到同情和帮助。英国广播公司网站2019年7月18日报道，佛罗里达州西棕榈滩的政府通过整晚无休止地循环播放音乐，将无家可归者驱离城市滨水区域。“无家可归与贫穷问题”国家法律中心执行主任玛丽亚·福斯卡尼斯指出：“用喧闹的音乐驱赶无家可归者是不人道的，令人震惊。”
The homeless are in a miserable situation. USA Today reported on its website on Oct 7, 2019 that on a single night in the previous year, more than half a million Americans lacked permanent shelter, according to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. Los Angeles Times reported online on July 2, 2019 that nearly 8 million Americans lost homes in the recession and its aftermath. For America’s middle class, the homeownership rate fell to about 60 percent in 2016 from roughly 70 percent in 2004, according to separate Federal Reserve data. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority on June 4, 2019 released the results of the 2019 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, which showed 58,936 people in Los Angeles County experiencing homelessness, representing a 12 percent rise from the previous year. CNN reported on June 18, 2019 that the rise in homelessness in neighboring counties was equally bracing. Homelessness was up 43 percent in Orange County over the previous year, 28 percent in Ventura County and 50 percent in Kern County. The homeless did not receive sympathy or help. The BBC website reported on July 18, 2019 that government officials in West Palm Beach, Florida are trying to drive the homeless away from the city's waterfront space by playing on an endless loop of music through the night. Maria Foscarinis, executive director of the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty, said, "Driving them out by blaring music is just inhumane and really shocking."
民众医疗负担过重。美国与同等发展水平国家之间的健康差距继续拉大，原因之一是民众医疗负担过重。哥伦比亚广播公司网站2019年7月1日报道，美国处方药价格持续飙升，2019年前6个月有超过3400种药物价格上涨，涨价药物种类比一年前增加了17%，药物平均价格上涨了10.5%。美国广播公司网站2019年11月21日报道，联邦基金会的报告显示，2008年至2018年，美国中产阶级的医疗费用支出每年增长近6%，占家庭收入的比例从7.8%攀升至11.5%。美国广播公司网站2019年4月3日报道，美国民众在过去12个月因支付医疗费用借债高达880亿美元。根据盖洛普公司的调查，美国有1500万人由于药物费用过高而不得不推迟购买处方药，有6500万人由于医疗费用过高而在生病时放弃治疗。
The public medical burden is overwhelming. The health gap between the United States and countries with the same level of development continues to widen, one reason is that the public medical burden is too heavy. CBS website said on July 1, 2019 that price hikes on prescription drugs are surging, with more than 3,400 drugs having boosted their prices in the first six months of 2019, an increase of 17 percent in the number of drug hikes from a year earlier, while the average price hike is 10.5 percent. On Nov 21, 2019, the American Broadcasting Company website cited a new report by the Commonwealth Fund to report that middle-class employees' premium and deductible contributions rose nearly 6 percent per year between 2008 and 2018, during which the share of such spending in household income also climbed to 11.5 percent from 7.8 percent. American Broadcasting Company reported on April 3, 2019 that Americans borrowed $88 billion to pay for health care in the past 12 months. According to a new national survey by Gallup and West Health, 15 million Americans deferred purchasing prescription drugs due to the costs of the medications. Beyond that, there were 65 million adults who chose not to seek treatment for a medical issue because of the cost, according to the survey.
没有医疗保险的人数大幅上升。美国是少数没有实行全民医疗保险的发达国家之一，有相当数量的居民没有医疗保险，因而无法在患病时得到应有的医疗保障。《洛杉矶时报》网站2019年1月23日报道，盖洛普公司的调查显示，没有医疗保险的美国成年人比例由2016年的10.9%大幅攀升至2018年的13.7%，这意味着约700万人失去了医疗保险。35岁以下的成年人中没有医疗保险的比例在过去两年内上升近5个百分点，超过了21%。乔治城大学家庭与儿童研究中心的研究显示，2018年，没有医疗保险的儿童数量十多年来首次增加。
The number of people without health insurance soars. The United States is one of the few developed countries that do not have universal health insurance, and a significant number of residents do not have health insurance, so they cannot get the health care they deserve when they fall ill. The website of the Los Angeles times on Jan 23, 2019 reported that at the end of 2018, 13.7 percent of US adults were uninsured, up from 10.9 percent at the end of 2016, according to a survey by Gallup. The new report also indicates that some 7 million US adults have likely lost or dropped coverage since 2016. More than 21 percent of adults under 35 now lack health insurance, according to the Gallup survey, up nearly 5 percentage points in just the last two years. A study by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families found the number of children in the United States without health insurance increased in 2018 for the first time in more than a decade.
毒品滥用日益严重。美国进步中心网站2019年1月10日报道，1999年至2016年，美国有63万人死于吸毒过量；而2017年更是高达72000人，这意味着平均每天有近200人死于吸毒过量。英国《卫报》网站2019年12月18日报道称，毒品对美国校园的侵蚀越来越严重，多达20%的高中生吸食大麻。《芝加哥论坛报》网站2019年5月29日报道，据国家药物滥用研究所统计，每16名高中生中就有一人每天吸食大麻。
Drug abuse is getting worse. American Progress reported online on Jan 10, 2019 that 630,000 people died of drug overdoses across the country from 1999 through 2016. In 2017, a staggering 72,000 Americans died of drug overdoses — nearly 200 people every day. The Guardian website reported on Dec 18, 2019 that the popularity of drug has been booming in US campuses, as about one out of five high school students in the United States said they vaped marijuana in the previous year. On May 29, 2019, the Chicago Tribune reported on its website that according to the National Institute of Drug Abuse, one in 16 high school seniors report daily use of marijuana.
政府削减财政资助导致大学生经济压力剧增。“美国公共媒体”网站2019年2月25日报道，过去10年各州政府共削减了90亿美元的大学经费资助，导致大学学费大幅上涨，学生还贷压力剧增。《福布斯》网站2019年2月25日报道，2019年学生贷款债务总额超过1.5万亿美元，达到有史以来最高水平，学生贷款债务成为仅次于抵押贷款的第二大消费者债务。《今日美国报》网站2019年6月10日报道，大学生面临无家可归危机。调查显示，就读两年制大学的受访者中有18%的人无家可归，有60%的人经历过住房无保障的窘境；就读四年制大学的受访者中有14%的人无家可归，有48%的人经历过住房无保障的窘境。2018年，加利福尼亚州社区大学生中有近39.9万人经历过一段无家可归的时期，其中有8万人睡在车里。
Shrinking government financial aid leads to a surge in financial pressure on college students. APM (American Public Media) website reported on Feb 25, 2019 that states have cut their investment in higher education by $9 billion in the last decade, which had led to surging tuitions and burden of paying student loans. The Forbes reported on its website on Feb 25, 2019 that borrowers collectively owed more than $1.5 trillion in student loan debt in the US in 2019, hitting a record high. Student loan debt was the second highest consumer debt category — behind only mortgage debt. The website of USA Today reported on June 10, 2019 that many college students were having difficulties finding a place to sleep. The report cited a survey to say that homelessness affected 18 percent of respondents attending two-year colleges, and 14 percent of those attending four-year institutions. The number who said they had experienced housing insecurity was 48 percent for those enrolled in four-year institutions. Still, of the nearly 399,000 community college students in California who experienced some period of homelessness in the previous year, 80,000 of them slept in their cars.
