2012.12.11 阿尔伯特-O-赫斯曼

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阿尔伯特-O-赫斯曼
作者：詹姆斯-法洛斯
2012年12月11日



我很不好意思地说，截至2012年底，我还没有意识到阿尔伯特-O-赫希曼仍然在世。从我有记忆以来，他的工作一直是世界知识和道德框架的重要组成部分，以至于我认为他--像FDR、像Louis Brandeis、像George C. Marshall、像公共生活中的其他重要人物--不可能真正成为包含Justin Bieber、Donald Trump、Sarah Palin或其他当前受关注人物的同一个世界的一部分。



但据报道，阿尔伯特-O-赫斯曼出生在柏林，当时柏林是德皇威廉的帝国德国的首都，他今天去世，享年97岁。我以后会试着说更多，但现在我只有时间注意到他的损失，并说：理解和认识他一生成就的最好方法是阅读他在1970年出版的短篇小说《退出、声音和忠诚》。这本书讲述了当一个人属于一个正在做 "错误的事情 "的组织--一个正在失败的企业、一个正在背叛其人民的政府、任何开始实施似乎注定要犯严重错误的战略的团体时，个人的选择和责任。多年来，他提出的选择具有惊人的价值和共鸣，在不同类型的组织中面临不同的衰退。我欣赏他的生活和成就，对他的去世感到遗憾。
詹姆斯-法洛斯是《大西洋》杂志的特约撰稿人，同时也是通讯《突发新闻》的作者。他曾是吉米-卡特总统的白宫演讲稿撰写人，并与他的妻子黛博拉-法洛斯共同创办了我们的城镇公民基金会。
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Albert O. Hirschman
By James Fallows
DECEMBER 11, 2012
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I am embarrassed to say that I had not realized that Albert O. Hirschman was still among the living as of late 2012. His work has been so important a part of the world's intellectual and moral framework for as long as I can remember that I had assumed that he -- like FDR, like Louis Brandeis, like George C. Marshall, like name-your-other-consequential-figure from public life -- couldn't really have been part of the same world that contained Justin Bieber, Donald Trump, Sarah Palin, or name-your-other current attention-getter.



But Albert O. Hirschman, who was born in Berlin when it was the capital of Kaiser Wilhelm's imperial Germany, reportedly died today at age 97. I'll try to say more later, but for now I just have time to note his loss and to say: the best way to understand and recognize his life's achievement is to read his short book published in 1970, Exit, Voice, and Loyalty. It is about the individual's options, and responsibilities, when one is part of an organization that is doing "the wrong thing" -- a business that is failing, a government that is betraying its people, any group embarked on a strategy that seems destined for grave error. The options he lays out have surprising value and resonance through the years, and across different types of organizations facing different sorts of decline. I appreciate his life and achievements and am sorry to hear of his death.
James Fallows is a contributing writer at The Atlantic, and author of the newsletter Breaking the News. He was chief White House speechwriter for President Jimmy Carter, and is a co-founder, with his wife, Deborah Fallows, of the Our Towns Civic Foundation.
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