在美國行不通的這10件事,在其他國家可以做(下)

5. In New Zealand Prostitution Is Fully Legal And Regulated

5. 在新西蘭，賣淫合法並受管理

In many countries in Europe sex trafficking is a problem, and some countries believe the solution to this is to clamp down hard on the legality of prostitution. Most of them are targeting those who buy the services of the prostitutes instead of the prostitute themselves – as they may be a victim of trafficking – but New Zealand has long felt that this is the wrong approach to dealing with the situation. They feel that in order to deal with sex trafficking, you need to remove the veil of secrecy from the business and regulate and keep an eye on it like any business.

非法性交易是歐洲很多國家的難題，一些國家認爲，解決這一問題的辦法就是加大執法力度。他們針對的主要是那些付錢嫖娼的人而不是娼妓本身——因爲妓女也是非法交易的受害者——但是新西蘭早就發現，這不利於解決問題。他們認爲，要解決非法性交易問題，應當揭開這一行業的神祕面紗，對它予以管理並像對其他行業那樣進行密切的關注。

To this end, in New Zealand a law was passed in 2003 that decriminalized prostitution and set up a framework that would allow for brothels to be inspected just like any other business for health and safety standards. This ensures that women in the business will go to the police when needed, and give them information, instead of living in fear. It ensures that they won't fear their clients will dry up for fear of police prosecution, and helps avoid exploitation because they know workers' rights laws and the officers of the law are all on their side. Some countries in Europe argue that New Zealand's system only works well because they are so isolated, and that as countries with bigger trafficking problems, they need more restrictive laws – not less.

爲此，新西蘭於2003年通過立法，實現了賣淫合法化，併成立組織，如其他行業一樣，妓院也被納入衛生與安全標準的管理範疇。這樣確保從事該行業的女性可以在需要的時候尋求警方幫助，並提供信息，不必生活在恐慌中。這也保證她們無需再擔心客戶因爲害怕警察而走掉，同時也避免被剝削，因爲她們都學習了職工權利法，知道法官會站在自己這一邊。一些歐洲國家認爲新西蘭的體系之所以有效，是因爲該國是一個隔離的小島，對於那些非法交易更猖獗的國家，他們需要更有限制性的法律——只多不少。

4. In Spain People Take A Several Hour Nap In The Middle Of The Workday

4. 在西班牙，你可以在工作日中午睡上幾小時

Many people may have already heard of the Spanish Siesta — the habit of Spaniards knocking off for three hours during the hottest part of the afternoon and enjoying a nice, relaxing snooze. The habit developed over time because the area was mostly used for farming, and it made a lot of sense to take a break when the sun was highest in the sky. Today, it is more of an inconvenience for the people of Spain, what with the fast paced industrialized world that most people now live in. Shops will close at 2:00 p.m. and people will often come back and reopen their shops around 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. and stay open until late at night.

很多人都聽說過“西班牙午休”——西班牙人的一種習慣，在最炎熱的中午停工仨小時，享受一個美好放鬆的小憩。這個習慣隨着時間逐漸演化而來，因爲該地區過去以農業爲主，因此當太陽升到最高點時，人們有必要休息一下。如今，社會已經進入了快節奏的工業化時代，而這個習慣給西班牙人帶來的更多是麻煩。商店下午兩點就關門，人們常常得在五六點鐘的時候回來重新開業，直至深夜。

While it may sound relaxing to knock off for three hours in the middle of the day, it is hardly good for you to segment your work day up that way, and end up constantly working late into the night – and the people of Spain are well aware of this. It is hardly realistic in the modern age to use the time for a nap, and most people actually take the time to get things done instead. Unfortunately, they still have to report for work at the same time every morning. This has led to a culture where most people in Spain stay up late, get up early, rarely nap and don't get much sleep overall. While the siesta has given them a reputation of laziness, they are actually a hardworking, sleep deprived country that is increasingly considering removing the siesta completely and just shortening the workday to a reasonable amount of time to begin with.

雖然中午停工仨小時聽起來很輕鬆，但這會分割你的工作日，導致你要一直工作到深夜，並沒有多少好處——而西班牙人也意識到了這一點。現代還採用這種午休時間不太現實，大多數人會用這段時間來工作。不幸的是，多數西班牙人睡得晚起得早，幾乎不午休，這導致他們睡眠不足。雖然午休可以讓他們光明正大地偷懶，但實際上，他們工作非常努力。大量人口睡眠不足讓國家逐漸考慮徹底廢除午休制度，將工作日的工作時長縮短到合理的長度。

3. In Japan You Can Buy Poisonous Fugu Fish

3. 在日本，你可以買到有毒的河豚

Most people have heard of the poisonous puffer fish known as Fugu, which is a delicacy in the country of Japan. In the United States and other countries around the world, if you want to taste Fugu, you will have to pay large amounts of money to eat fish that was specially prepared by Japanese chefs and imported frozen to your part of the globe. This is because Japan is the only country in the world that legally allows people to prepare the fresh Fugu for serving, and they have extremely stringent requirements in order to earn that legal right.

大多數人都知道有毒的河豚是日料中的一道美味佳餚。在美國和其他國家，你得花大價錢才能嚐到專門由日本廚師製作的河豚，而且這些河豚還是冷凍進口的。這是因爲日本是唯一允許人們烹製新鮮河豚並出售的國家，要獲得這項合法權利還必須符合嚴格的要求。

The fish has a poison known as tetradoxin that is extremely poisonous, causing paralysis and asphyxiation in a very short time in humans, with only a small amount required to be deadly. Certain parts of the fish are not poisonous, and are actually quite delicious, and it is these that the highly trained chefs carefully separate from the inedible or dangerous parts of the fish. It takes three years of training and only about a third of those who take the licensing exam even pass the test. These standards ensure that those who buy Fugu in a restaurant will not truly be gambling with their lives – although it is said that a truly skilled chef leaves just enough poison to make your lips tingle and remind you of the danger, without actually putting you in harm's way.

這種魚含有一種名爲河豚毒素的有毒物質，會在短時間內引起人的身體麻痹和窒息，少量即可奪人性命。這種魚的某些部分不含毒素，而且確實美味，需要訓練有素的廚師小心地將這些部分與有毒的危險部分分離開。這種訓練要歷時三年，而且只有三分之一的廚師能通過考試拿到證書。這樣的標準才能保證食客不用冒着生命危險吃河豚——但據說有些技藝高超的廚師會留下一點毒素，讓你覺得嘴脣刺痛但不至於危害身體，他們用這種方法提醒你吃河豚的危險。

2. In Russia It Is Perfectly Acceptable To Leave Young Children Home Alone

2. 在俄羅斯，你可以把孩子單獨留在家裏

In the United States there are laws about how young a child can be and still be legally left home completely alone by their parents, and in today's United States, most parents couldn't imagine their child walking to or from school alone. If a child too young were too be left home alone in the United States, and the authorities found out, it could lead to a visit by child protective services. However, in the federation of Russia, they do not look at the issue in the same way at all. In Russia it is far more commonplace for children to leave the house on their own at a young age, either to go to school or simply go to the store, and it is not illegal to leave young children home alone.

美國有法律規定了父母可以將幾歲以上的孩子單獨留在家中，而且在今天的美國，大多數父母都無法想象孩子自己上學或放學。在美國，如果有關部門發現年齡過小的孩子被單獨留在家中，他們可能會通過兒童保護服務“拜訪”這家人。但是俄羅斯人對這個問題的看法則完全不一樣。在俄羅斯，讓小孩子一個人離開家去上學或者去商店，都是非常普遍的事，而且將孩子單獨放在家裏也不違法。

Some parents in certain parts of Russia have lobbied in the past to make stricter laws regarding the matter, especially due to cases where children have been left home alone and got hurt, but ministers in charge of law making seem reluctant to push the issue. They feel that punishing parents for leaving young children home alone is more of a Western thing, and aren't sure if that is the route they want to go. While it could someday change, it seems for the moment, Russians aren't interested in worrying too much about the matter.

俄羅斯某些地方的父母曾對該問題進行遊說，呼籲制定更加嚴格的法律，特別是發生了兒童獨自在家結果受傷的事件後，但主管立法的部長似乎不願推進此事。他們認爲，處罰將小孩子單獨留在家裏的父母是西方國家的做法，他們也不確定是否有必要沿用這條道路。雖然有朝一日情況可能會變化，但目前來看，俄羅斯人沒有興趣過分擔憂這個問題。

1. In Estonia They Vote For Public Officeholders Online

1. 在愛沙尼亞，你可以在網上投票選舉官員

The United States like to consider themselves one of the most technology advanced nations in the world, but despite our many advances, voting online and doing many other government related actions online is still a thing of fantasy. In that particular regard, we are being beaten rather badly by a small country in Europe called Estonia. They are known for being incredibly digitally connected, possibly the most connected in the entire world. They have made training in the understanding of computers and the internet a core part of all school curriculums, and almost all important business can be done online.

美國喜歡以全球技術最發達的國家自居。雖然他們技術先進，但網上選舉和網上辦理其他政府相關活動仍然不切實際。在這一方面，美國遠不及歐洲的一個小國家——愛沙尼亞。這個國家以令人吃驚的數字化連接而知名，可能是全球數字化程度最高的國家。他們開設計算機培訓，並將互聯網作爲所有學校課程的核心內容，幾乎所有重要的事務都可以在網上完成。

Estonians all get their own unique government ID that also comes with its own special PIN. This special ID allows Estonians to have their own online fingerprint and use that identity to do pretty much everything government related that they could possibly need to do. With this ID, Estonians do business with the library, pay taxes, vote for political candidates and many other things as well. While some Americans fear the possibility of massive voter fraud or cheating, the Estonians have not yet had any reason to believe that their system has been tampered with. They also believe their proportional voting system helps discourage those who would consider attempting to cheat in the first place.

每個愛沙尼亞人都有自己的政府ID並生成特殊的個人識別號。愛沙尼亞人通過這個特殊的ID獲取自己的網上標識並用這一身份完成他們需要做的各種政府相關事務。愛沙尼亞人用這個ID辦理圖書館業務、交稅、爲政治候選人投票並完成其他事項。一些美國人擔心這樣會出現選舉欺詐或舞弊，但愛沙尼亞人堅信他們的系統十分完善。他們還相信，按比例投票系統有助於將作弊扼殺在搖籃裏。