舊金山市反"科技怪傑"移民示威 高學歷移民應受歡迎

Tom Perkins, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist, made a terrible mistake by comparing criticism of rich Americans – the “1 per cent” – to the Kristallnacht attack on Jews in Germany in 1938. Mr Perkins, co-founder of Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers, has since apologised.

美國硅谷(Silicon Valley)風險投資家湯姆•珀金斯(Tom Perkins)犯了一個嚴重的錯誤，他竟將人們對美國富豪（也就是那“1%”）的批評，與1938年德國“碎玻璃之夜”(Kristallnacht)那場對猶太人的襲擊相提並論。後來，這位KPCB公司(Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers)的聯合創始人，就此作出了道歉。

He ought not to eulogise millionaires, let alone invoke the Nazis, but to focus on those who deserve a defence: employees of Google and other technology companies who commute to Silicon Valley on company buses from the city of San Francisco. His outburst was partly prompted by demonstrations in the city against the “technogeek” migrants.

珀金斯不該大肆讚美百萬富翁，更不該拿納粹來類比此事。他的重點應該落在那些搭乘公司班車往返於舊金山與硅谷之間的谷歌(Google)等科技公司的員工身上，那些人才值得他爲之辯護。珀金斯此次大發議論，部分起因在於舊金山市反“科技怪傑”移民的示威。

Pete Seeger, the singer who died this week, was a fervent supporter of California’s migrant workers – he met Woody Guthrie at a “Grapes of Wrath”[??] benefit concert in 1940. But today’s migrants are more likely to have degrees than to pick crops –30 per cent of immigrants to advanced economies between 2000 and 2010 had tertiary qualifications.

美國歌手皮特•西格（Pete Seeger，今年1月27日去世）曾是加利福尼亞州外來工作移民的狂熱支持者。1940年，西格在“憤怒的葡萄”(Grapes of Wrath)慈善音樂會上結識了伍迪•格思裏(Woody Guthrie)。不過，今天的移民更有可能擁有較高的學歷，而不是隻會採摘作物。2000年到2010年，移居發達經濟體的人中，有30%擁有高等教育學歷。

What Mr Perkins should have said in support of the world’s educated migrants is this. Yes, they may raise property prices in cities such as London, San Francisco and Berlin, and change the culture in ways that upset some “long-time residents” in whose name the bus protests are held. But they bring many more benefits than costs.

如果想表達對全世界受過良好教育的移民的支持，珀金斯當時應該這麼說：是的，他們或許擡高了倫敦、舊金山、柏林等城市的房價，改變了當地的文化氛圍，從而令一些“長期居民”感到不舒服，但移民帶來的好處遠遠多於這些負面影響。

Most of the bus-riders are not millionaires, although they are ambitious. Many come from other parts of the US or overseas – 64 per cent of Silicon Valley engineers are foreign-born – because IT offers economic opportunity. In return, they work very hard, start businesses and help the place to flourish. The cities that should worry are the ones they ignore.

大多數班車乘客雖說懷揣遠大的抱負，但他們畢竟不是百萬富翁。許多人從美國其他地區或海外（64%的硅谷工程師出生在海外）來到這裏，因爲IT業向他們提供了賺錢的機會。反過來，他們勤奮工作、創辦企業，推動當地經濟繁榮發展。那些不被科技移民考慮的城市才該感到擔憂。

“Some cities manage to draw in higher skills and more talent continuously,” says Orly Lobel, a law professor at San Diego university and author of Talent Wants to be Free. “Once you put all of these ingredients together, you get into a virtuous circle of opportunity and innovation.”

“有些城市在不斷引入具有較高技能和才華的移民方面取得了成功。”美國聖迭戈大學(San Diego university)法學教授、《有才華的人嚮往自由》(Talent Wants to be Free)一書的作者奧利•洛貝爾(Orly Lobel)說，“一旦湊齊各種人才，你就進入了機遇和創新的良性循環。”

London is a prime example of a city that draws both immigrants and educated migrants. A report by the Centre for Cities this week found that 35 per cent of London’s jobs are graduate level, and a third of UK residents who relocate in their twenties move to London. This inflow of the young and foreign immigrants more than offsets an outflow of older people.

在吸引移民和高學歷外來務工者方面，倫敦爲其他城市作出了榜樣。智庫“城市中心”(Centre for Cities)近日的一份調查報告稱，倫敦有35%的工作需要大學學歷，三分之一的英國居民在二十幾歲時遷往倫敦定居，年輕人和外國移民的流入要多於年長者的流出。

“The influx of people with graduate qualifications means that employers can select from a very deep pool of skills,” says Paul Swinney, a senior economist at the Centre for Cities, who is from northeast England. “Housing is expensive for young people but they have the potential of big returns.”

“有大學學歷的人流入這裏，意味着僱主們可從極爲豐富的技術人才儲備裏進行選擇。”城市中心高級經濟學家、老家在英格蘭東北部的保羅•斯溫尼(Paul Swinney)表示，“對年輕人來說，雖然這裏居住成本不菲，但他們有機會獲得較高的收入。”

Like other such cities, London is in a constant state of churn and renewal as longer-term residents leave, in search of a gentler life or because they have been priced out. About 1.1m people left New York City for other US states between 2000 and 2010 but the city is growing, thanks to immigration.

像其他城市一樣，倫敦處在不斷的“攪動”和“換血”當中，長期居民逐漸流出，他們或是爲了尋求輕鬆一點的生活，或是被過高的生活成本逼走。2000年到2010年，約有110萬人離開紐約市移居美國其他州，但由於移民不斷涌入，這座城市的人口正在增長。

This churn lies behind the San Francisco protests. Heart of the City, one protest group, accuses “big tech” of inflating rents by drawing thousands of migrants to the area. “To long-time residents and merchants facing eviction, San Francisco is not a ‘perk’. It is their life, livelihood, family . . . and safety net,” it says indignantly.

這種“攪動”正是舊金山抗議活動背後的原因。抗議組織“城市之心”(Heart of the City)指責“科技業巨頭”引來成千上萬的外來務工者，導致本地房租上漲。“對那些面臨房東逐客令的長期居民和商戶來說，舊金山可不是什麼額外的福利，而是他們的生活、生計、家庭……以及安全網，”該組織憤怒地表示。

A flow of professional migrants into vibrant cities can be disruptive, especially for those accustomed to low rents and a quiet life. Living in Berlin, for example, is a lot more expensive than it used to be. But it is better than the opposite – the draining effect on cities such as Detroit when people leave.

技術移民流入充滿活力的城市，可能會造成衝擊，尤其是對那些習慣了低房租和平靜生活的人。比如，柏林的生活成本就比過去高出許多。但這總好過它的反例——比如底特律等城市，當人們離開後，它們也像泄了氣的氣球。

Furthermore, many of the spillover effects on locals are positive. Those who bought property before prices rose gain from a windfall effect when they sell. Nostalgia for the era before gentrification ignores the fact that inner cities were often blighted. Immigrants can raise educational standards by sending motivated children to local schools.

而且，這種流入還能產生許多積極的溢出作用。那些在房價上漲前購入房產的人可以在售房時發筆橫財。懷念當地中產階層化之前時代的人忽視了一個事實，市中心的舊城區以前往往較爲衰敗。移民的到來能夠提升當地的教育水準，因爲他們會把自己上進的孩子送入當地的學校。

Above all, skilled migrants boost their host cities by encouraging economic activity and job creation. They attract new employers – as San Francisco found when companies such as Twitter based themselves there rather than in Silicon Valley. Four-fifths of the new UK private sector jobs since 2010 have been created in London.

最重要的是，技術移民爲他們移居的城市注入經濟活力、創造工作機會，推動當地興旺發展。他們還能引來新的僱主——從Twitter等公司將總部設在舊金山而不是硅谷就可看出這點。從2010年到現在，英國五分之四的新增私企就業崗位都在倫敦。

They are also a wellspring of new companies. One US academic study found that graduate migrants were not only more likely than natives to start businesses but also that they made locals more enterprising. Their presence created a critical mass of innovation.

他們還是新公司誕生的源泉。美國一項學術研究發現，高學歷移民不僅較本地居民更有可能創業，而且還能激發當地人的進取心。他們的出現引發了大量創新。

The number of highly skilled immigrants has increased sharply in this century. About 27m university-educated migrants lived in advanced economies in 2011, according to the OECD, a rise of 70 per cent in a decade. Many of them emigrated from India, China and the Philippines.

高級技術移民的人數在本世紀急劇攀升。經合組織(OECD)數據顯示，2011年約有2700萬受過大學教育的移民定居發達經濟體，比十年前增長了70%。許多移民來自印度、中國和菲律賓。

On the face of it, the San Francisco demonstrations are about geeks squeezing out locals – a community that Heart of the City romantically describes as “long-time residents, the dispossessed, the disenfranchised, the undocumented, the indigenous, queers, artists, immigrants, refugees, dreamers, and folks of all backgrounds”.

表面上看，舊金山抗議活動與科技怪才擠壓當地居民生存空間有關。“城市之心”情感豐富地將舊金山社會描述爲“長期居民、被逐出家園的人、被剝奪公民權利的人、非法居民、土著、同性戀、藝術家、移民、難民、夢想家以及各種背景的人們。”

This makes it sound like a contest of rich versus poor. Here is another way to frame it: migrant workers are being told by Californian citizens to go back where they came from. That does not sound quite so idealistic, does it? Nor, for its own good, is it the attitude that a thriving city ought to adopt.

這讓此事聽起來像是一場富人與窮人之間的較量。這裏還有另一種表達方法：加州公民正在叫外來務工者哪兒來就回哪兒去。聽起來不怎麼符合理想主義，對嗎？從一座繁榮城市自身的利益出發，這也不是它應該採取的態度。