Today people around the globe are celebrating World Consumers' Rights Day. It was on 15 March 1962 that US President John F. Kennedy gave a speech in which he proposed a "Consumer Bill of Rights" that would include the right to product safety. In spite of President Kennedy's effort to draw attention to this issue, however, the modern consumer rights movement did not really get underway until a young American lawyer named Ralph Nader (who also ran for president last year) made it front-page news.

今天，全世界人民都在庆祝消费者权益日。1962年的3月15日，美国总统肯尼迪发表讲话，倡导一项包括消费者有要求产品安全可靠的权利在内的《消费者权利法案》。然而，尽管肯尼迪总统对此做出努力以引起公众注意，但直到美国青年律师拉尔夫·内德使此问题成为社会关注热点，当代消费者权益运动才真正开始了（去年内德还在美国大选中竞选总统）。

There had been many significant consumer crusades before Nader. The popular outrage generated by Upton Sinclair's devastating, fact-based novel about the meatpacking industry in Chicago, The Jungle, had helped to create the Food and Drug Administration in 1906. In 1962 Silent Spring, Rachel Carson's well-documented account of the environmental and health risks of pesticides, became a best-seller. But apart from such occasional exposés and sporadic movements for reform, consumers as a group did not exert a significant, ongoing force in the conduct of public affairs until Ralph Nader came along.

在内德之前，已经有了很多重要的消费者维权运动。阿普顿·辛克莱所写的关于芝加哥肉类加工业的无可辩驳的纪实小说《屠场》的出版，激起了人们的普遍义愤，从而促成了美国食品医药管理局于1906年诞生。1962年，雷切尔·卡尔森佐证翔实的纪实文献《寂静的春天》，讲述了农药对环境与人类健康带来的危险，成为当时的畅销书。但是，除了这些偶尔出现的曝光和零星的改良运动，消费者作为一个群体，并没有在公众事务的决定中施加重要而持久的影响力，这种局面一直持续到内德的出现。

It may interest readers in Beijing to know that at Princeton University, Ralph Nader, the son of Lebanese immigrants, studied Chinese, as well as other languages. He also explored another unorthodox topic: the engineering design of automobiles. Later, while studying law at Harvard University, he published an article pointing out that Detroit was designing automobiles for style and higher profit margins, but not - despite 1.5 million injuries yearly - for safety. Nader turned that article into a book titled Unsafe at Any Speed: The Designed-In Dangers of the American Automobile and published it in 1965.

有一点北京的读者可能会感兴趣，作为黎巴嫩移民的儿子，内德（1934年生人）在普林斯顿大学学过汉语以及其他语言，他还探讨过另一个在当时比较偏的课题──汽车工程设计。此后，在哈佛大学学习法律时，他发表文章指出，虽然每年有150万人出车祸，但底特律的汽车制造商在设计时只重样式与赚取更高利润，而不重视安全性。内德将此文扩展成一本书，名为《任何速度都不安全──美国汽车设计中的安全隐患》，并于1965年出版

The target of the book was the Corvair, an economy car first produced by the Chevrolet division of the General Motors Corporation in 1960. The car's faulty rear suspension system and rear-mounted engine, quite unusual for an American car of its time, made for pleasant driving but unfortunately also made it possible to skid violently and roll over. GM executives had originally thought of relatively conservative drivers as the customers most likely to buy the Corvair. Instead the somewhat sporty car became a favorite among young men, who as drivers are inclined to high speeds and risky maneuvers on the road. Nader, however, demonstrated that the main cause of the injuries in Corvair accidents was not the incompetence of the driver, but rather the fact that the vehicle was woefully unable to hold up well in crashes. This insight, namely that blame often lies not with consumers but rather with manufacturers unresponsive to safety data, would become a recurring theme in Nader's many later investigations.

这本书的抨击对象是阔威尔牌轿车，这是一种经济型轿车，最初是由通用汽车公司的雪佛莱分公司于1960年生产的。该车有缺陷的后悬架系统与后置发动机，在那个时代的美国汽车中很少见，这种结构虽说使开车感觉很痛快，但令人遗憾的是，这也可导致汽车猛烈打滑、翻车。通用汽车公司的经理们最初以为比较保守稳当的人最有可能买阔威尔车，然而，像赛车的阔威尔受到了青年人的喜爱，而他们开车时往往爱用高速并玩一些冒险的花活。但内德指出，驾驶阔威尔车出车祸的主要原因并非是司机的不称职，而是因为发生碰撞时汽车根本没有防范保护的能力。责任不在消费者而在于汽车制造商对于安全数据持冷漠态度这一见解，在内德后来的很多调查报告中成为反复出现的主题。

The Corvair was discontinued in 1969, but meanwhile GM had hired private detectives to tail Nader in an attempt to dig up information that might discredit him. In 1966 a Senate subcommittee summoned the president of General Motors to explain his company's harassment - and obliged him to apologize to Nader. This remarkable incident catapulted Unsafe at Any Speed to the top of the best-seller lists and underscored Nader's conviction that one person, acting with intelligence and persistence, can make a difference - even if the target is the largest corporation in the world.

阔威尔车于1969年停产，但在此之前的一段时间，通用汽车公司雇佣了私人侦探跟踪内德，想挖掘出能够诋毁他的材料。1966年，美国参院的一个委员会召见了通用汽车公司的总裁，请他解释该公司对内德的骚扰，并责成他向内德道歉。这一引人注目的事件使《任何速度都不安全》一书一跃登上畅销书目的榜首，并且也坚定了内德的信念：一个人运用智慧，拥有恒心，行动起来就会产生效果──哪怕对象是世界上最大的公司。

For Nader, there was no virtue in being a passive member of the "silent majority". Real patriotism, Nader asserted, is caring enough about your country to do something to make it more humane, moral and caring. He felt, in short, that one should be an engaged, questioning "public citizen" (what earlier in the century was called a "public-minded citizen"). This is in fact the name of the magazine that Nader and his associates founded in 1971, and which is still making waves 30 years later.

在内德看来，在“沉默无声的大众”中做一个消极分子一点儿都不值得称道，他说，真正的爱国主义，应该体现在真正关心你的国家并付诸行动，使其更加人道、更讲道德和更有关爱之心。简而言之，他觉得一个人应该做个积极参与、敢于提出疑问的“社会公民”（上个世纪早期称之为“关心社会的公民”），实际上，这是内德与他的战友于1971年所创办的一本杂志的名字，30年之后该杂志仍具有极大的影响力。

With Nader's prodding, Congress enacted a new federal agency, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which obliged the American auto industry to devote more of its considerable resources to auto safety. A series of reforms that Americans now take for granted were constituted: rigorous safety standards for all cars; investigations into safety defects; federally mandated recalls of vehicles with hazardous features; development of new safety technologies; and a highway safety program.

在内德的推动下，美国国会成立了一个新的联邦机构──全美高速公路和交通安全管理局，该机构责成美国汽车工业从其可观的资财中拿出更多的资金来解决安全问题。一系列安全改革措施被制定出来，这些措施当今的美国人已认为是理所当然，它们包括：对所有汽车实行严格的安全标准、对安全缺陷要进行调查、全国性的对有危险特征的汽车强制回收、新的安全技术的开发，以及高速公路的安全性方案。

Nader went on to investigate and expose other varieties of corporate abuse. In June 1968 he formed his first task force of crusading law students, later nicknamed "Nader's Raiders". Thousands of idealistic students clamored to work for him. One of them went on to document the health hazards of air pollution. Another "raider" exposed the government's lax oversight of the food industry. Aside from automotive products, some of the most notable achievements of the consumer movement include: air pollution emission controls, freshness dating on food packaging, labeling of additives in food products and announcements on prescription drug packages alerting users to harmful side effects.（to be continued）

内德继续调查并揭露其他各类公司的弊端劣迹。1968年6月，他成立了第一支由法律系学生组成的讨伐危害公众权益的行动队，后被人们戏称为“内德突击队”。数千名心怀理想主义的大学生都争着参加内德的工作。其中一名学生继续调查空气污染对人们健康的危害，另一名“突击队员”揭露了政府对于食品业的松懈监督。除了汽车产品外，这一消费者维权运动最引人瞩目的成果还有：对空气污染的排放加以控制、食品包装上要写明保鲜日期、食品应标明添加剂，以及在处方药物的包装盒上标明其有害的副作用。

An obvious question is whether the consumer movement in industrialized nations championed by Ralph Nader holds relevant lessons for consumers in other countries. The answer is a resounding "yes". In 1970, for example, Nader visited Japan and discovered that Japanese auto companies had two separate production lines for otherwise identical cars. The first line produced cars that met 30 US safety standards; the second line produced cars only for the Japanese market and met just a few of the US standards. Similarly, the Japanese cars that were recalled in the United States for safety defects were not recalled in Japan. Nader wrote a letter to the Japanese prime minister and held a press conference in Tokyo. The Japanese government responded by putting pressure on the auto companies to comply voluntarily with the higher US standards in manufacturing cars for the Japanese as well as for the international market. It was a good lesson on the importance of international cooperation - and on how pressure can be exerted on domestic manufacturers.

一个显而易见的问题就是，内德所发起的在工业化国家中进行的消费者权益运动对其他国家的消费者是否也有相关意义？答案是一个响当当的“是”。举例来说，1970年，内德访问了日本，发现日本的汽车制造厂用两条不同的生产线生产看上去完全一样的汽车。第一条生产线生产的汽车能够达到美国的30项安全标准，而第二条生产线生产的汽车仅供在日本国内出售，只能达到美国标准中的几条。同样，因安全缺陷在美国被厂商回收的日本车，在日本无需回收。内德于是致函日本首相并在东京召开了记者招待会。对此日本政府做出了反应，对汽车生产厂家施加压力，促使他们在生产内销汽车时也像生产外销汽车那样自觉遵从更高的美国质量标准。这是一个显示国际合作重要性、使国际压力作用于国内生产厂家的极好一课。

During the 1960s and 1970s transnational corporations began marketing products like infant formula and pesticides around the globe. It quickly became apparent that in poorer nations both the standards necessary to protect the public and the information required for consumers to make sound choices were inadequate. Activists turned to the United Nations in search of mechanisms to counteract abusive practices in international trade. Deceptive marketing of infant formula was a first target. The problem here was that in many third-world countries mothers were being led to believe (or were somehow getting the idea) that infant formula was superior to their own milk as food for their children. From a nutritrional perspective this was simply not true. It also meant that mothers with little disposable income were spending money on infant formula for which, if the mothers were lactating normally, there was no need. Moreover, in many countries with unclean water supplies and poor sanitation, mothers were using unsterilized water to mix infant formula or not cleaning the bottles properly - with devastating results for children. International campaigns by consumer activists led to the adoption by the World Health Organization in 1981of the International Code of Marketing of Breastmilk Substitutes. This voluntary code of standards for ethical business behavior is now recognized in some 150 countries, although it has not eliminated the problem entirely.

在六十年代及七十年代，跨国公司开始在全球销售诸如婴儿配方奶粉和杀虫剂等产品，而迅速显现的一个问题就是，在比较贫穷的国家，为保护公众利益所必须的质量标准以及消费者要做出明智选择所需要的信息均不够格。维权积极分子转向联合国以寻求某种机制来对付国际贸易中的种种弊端，而具有欺骗性的婴儿配方奶粉的销售成为首当其冲的目标。问题在于，当时在第三世界的很多国家里，母亲们受到误导而相信（从某种途径获知）婴儿配方奶粉比她们自己的乳汁还好。从营养角度说，这种认识显然是不对的。而且，这还意味着，收入低微的母亲们要花钱去买婴儿配方奶粉，而对于泌乳正常的母亲说来根本就没有必要去买。此外，在很多国家，由于饮水不洁与卫生条件差，母亲们用未经消毒的水来稀释婴儿配方奶粉，或是没能将奶瓶洗干净，对孩子来说就会带来灾难性的后果。由维权人士发起的这一国际性维权运动导致世界卫生组织于1981年通过了《母乳代替品国际营销规则》。这一非强制性的商业道德法规如今已被150个国家所承认，虽说目前它尚未根除所有问题。

These days new information technologies like the internet, and the international trend towards trade liberalization have created unparalleled opportunities for many businesses, but have also made safeguarding consumers' rights to product safety more complex. Additional measures are urgently needed to ensure customer protection. Moreover, under the new multilateral trading system of the World Trade Organization, domestic laws and standards for product safety and intellectual property, which were once solely the responsibility of national governments, must now be reconciled with international standards.

现如今，新的信息技术，例如因特网以及自由贸易国际化趋势已经为许多行业创造了史无前例的机会，但也使保护消费者权益变得更为复杂。切实保护消费者的新措施急需出台。此外，在WTO新的多边贸易体系中，过去仅是一国政府负责的有关产品安全和知识产权的法律与标准如今则必须与国际标准接轨。

Make no mistake about it, consumer fraud is big business. Marketing and telecommunications advances in the Information Age have given everyone, including con artists, the power to boost the sophistication and reach of a sales pitch. Pirates now masquerade as international firms and use mislabeling, counterfeit trademarks, direct mail, television and the internet to reach consumers. Thanks to personal computers and sophisticated software, bogus merchandise looks legitimate and can lure millions of consumers to take the bait. In short, fraud promoters pose one of the most significant threats to consumers all over the world.

可以肯定，欺骗消费者是一桩大买卖。信息时代销售与通讯手段的发展，使每个人，也包括骗子，有办法更加老练，广告语也更加诱人。盗版者如今装扮成跨国公司，使用内容虚假的标签、伪造的商标、直邮、电视、因特网等手段出现在消费者面前。由于个人电脑和精密软件的发展，假货看上去也像合法商品，能够引诱数百万消费者上当。总之，对全世界消费者来说，制假者造成了一种最重大的威胁。

A war dispatch sent by General Ferdinand Foch, one of the French commanders in the First Battle of the Marne in World War I, captures the sense of underdog bravado that characterizes much of the consumer movement. In the midst of battle, Foch (who later became a field marshal)reportedly sent this telegram to his headquarters: "My center is giving way, my right has pulled back. The situation is excellent - I am attacking." If consumer advocates continue to feel embattled even after achieving so much, it is because their movement is emphatically oriented to the future. Shaping the future typically requires an element of struggle. The struggle that Ralph Nader started is still going on today.

在第一次世界大战时，在法国马恩河第一次战役中法国的一位司令费迪南·福煦将军所发的一封战报记录下了弱者自我鼓劲的那种感觉，而这一感觉在很大程度上还可以用来形容消费者权益运动。在战斗中，福煦向总部发了这样一封电报：“我方中路部队正在后撤，右翼部队已经撤回，但形势一片大好──我正准备发起进攻。”如果说维权运动取得了如此大的成果后维权人士仍感到四面受敌，那是因为这一运动是明确地着眼于消费者未来的长远利益。构造未来必然需要战斗，由内德所开创的战斗在今天仍进行。