对地球，我们扪心自问（5/5）

(5 of 5)

As man heads into the last decade of the 20th century, he finds himself at a crucial turning point: the actions of those now living will determine the future, and possibly the very survival, of the species. "We do not have generations, we only have years, in which to attempt to turn things around," warns Lester Brown, president of the Washington-based Worldwatch Institute. Every individual on the planet must be made aware of its vulnerability and of the urgent need to preserve it. No attempt to protect the environment will be successful in the long run unless ordinary people -- the California housewife, the Mexican peasant, the Soviet factory worker, the Chinese farmer -- are willing to adjust their life-styles. Our wasteful, careless ways must become a thing of the past. We must recycle more, procreate less, turn off lights, use mass transit, do a thousand things differently in our everyday lives. We owe this not only to ourselves and our children but also to the unborn generations who will one day inherit the earth.

 在朝着二十世纪的最后二十年迈进时，人们发现自己正身处一个转折点。当代人的行为会决定人类的未来，也许甚至是物种的存亡。“我们没有世代的时间，

只有短暂的数年，努力将这一情况逆转。”驻华盛顿观察机构的主席Lester Brown 如是说。地球上的每个人都必须清楚环境的脆弱性和保护的紧迫性。如果 每一位普通人---加州的家庭主妇，墨西哥的农民，苏联的工人，中国的种植户----都不愿改变他们的生活方式，那么，从长期来说，保护环境的尝试就不能 取得成功。人类随意、铺张浪费的行为应该成为历史。我们应当多回收物品，少新造物品；随手关灯，使用大众交通工具，在日常生活中尝试不同的事物。做 这些不仅是为了我们的孩子和我们自己，还是为了那些还未降临世上，有朝一日将接管地球的子孙后代们。 Mobilizing that sort of mass commitment will take extraordinary leadership, of the kind that has appeared before in times of crisis: Churchill's eloquence galvanizing his embattled countrymen to live "their finest hour," F.D.R.'s pragmatic idealism giving hope and jobs to Depression-ridden Americans. Now, more than ever, the world needs leaders who can inspire their fellow citizens with a fiery sense of mission, not a nationalistic or military campaign but a universal crusade to save the planet. Unless mankind embraces that cause totally, and without delay, it may have no alternative to the bang of nuclear holocaust or the whimper of slow extinction.

  使人们兑现这个集体的承诺需要非凡的领导力，正如在危机爆发之前，丘吉尔以激昂的言辞鼓励将赴沙场的将士们把握“最荣耀的时刻”，罗斯福总统用他

脚踏实地的理想主义给饱受大萧条之苦的美国人带来希望和工作机会那样。现在这个世界正前所未有的需要领导者们，激励民众，赋予他们最强烈的使命感，用 一场全球性的运动，而不是民族主义军国主义的行动来拯救地球。人类只有充分认识这些前因后果，立刻采取行动，才能不至在核爆炸的大毁灭中，或是在缓慢 灭绝的哀鸣中走向绝路。