读麦·报告·正在光速下生存（1974）·040

Why did the Americans ever hit upon this weird reversed pattern? The answer is available. Americans came to this continent to subdue nature fast and furious. They tamed it. They subdued it. They crushed it. They turned it into the enemy. You can read about it in Moby Dick or in Hawthorne or in any of our literature. So naturally Americans regard the outside as the enemy, and the inside as the friend, whereas all the other continents in the world regard the outside as the friend and the inside as a place for defence only. All doors are closed in the European house. The European family lives in seclusion and privacy inside. There is no privacy in the American home. That is why you have to get a grant if you want to study so you can leave home. This is a weird pattern, and it’s very important to understand it because it isn’t over. The motor car provided this superior means of going outside to be alone and, incidentally, going along with it, the great dislike of public transit in America because public transit is where you go outside to be with people, which is very distasteful.

为什么美国人会碰中这种惊奇的相反模式呢？答案是现成的。美国人来到这片大陆是为了敏捷而狞恶地制服天然。他们驯化了它。他们开辟了它。他们制服了它。他们把它看成仇人。你可以在《白鲸》、在霍桑的作品中或在任何一部我们的文学当中读到这一点。是以，美国人天然而然地把外界看成仇人、把内中看成朋侪，而天下上全部其他大洲都把外界看成朋侪、把内中只看作一个防备的场合。在欧洲的屋子里全部的门都是关着的。欧洲家庭有着在家里隐居和隐私的看法。在美国人的家里不存在隐私。这便是为什么倘使你想要修业你一定得到一笔助学金以便你可以或许脱离家。这是一种奇怪的模式，了解它非常紧张，由于它还没有完结。汽车提供了这种出门独处的好东西，趁便说一句，与此相陪同的是在美国对大众交通体系的猛烈讨厌，由于大众交通体系是你出门从众的场合，这令人非常反感。

按：出门独处、入室从众是开辟者心态，反之则是守成者心态。

汽车提供了出门独处的好东西。这可以解说美式车的空间大、内饰讲求。汽车与汽车之间的信息交换，应该是汽车下一步的进展，如许，人又可以出门从众了——美国人要反感由他反感去，天下不是单靠美国人堆起来的。