The 20th century saw an unprecedented leap in human lifespan in the developed world.

在20世纪的发达国家中 人类的预期寿命有了空前增长

In America alone, the American lifespan increased by 30 years.

仅在美国 人均寿命就延长了30年

That doesn't mean everyone lived 30 years longer.

这并不是说每个人都能多活30年

It was mainly a function of more of us surviving to adulthood.

它只代表有更多人能存活到成年

But we have gained an average of 10 healthy years in whatever stage of life I'm in,

但在我生活的这个年代 我们平均多获得了10年的健康生命

which we don't have a name for, because it's so new I'm 66.

这个年代还没有名字 因为它太新 我现年66岁

This is an incredible achievement, right?

这是一项伟大的成就 对吧？

I mean, we should rejoice at this.

我们应该为此狂欢

It is a remarkable achievement of political stability, of public health, in particular, of better medicine, lots of things.

它是政治稳定、公共卫生、尤其是改善的医疗条件等各方面综合作用下的卓越成就

And yet, the way it is often treated, by the media in particular, is as a disaster.

但是 人们尤其是媒体却通常把这当做一场灾难

And partly this is because people click on disasters

部分原因是人们对灾难的关心程度

more than they click on 'Everyone Chugging Along Just Fine' or 'Interesting Demographic Phenomenon Happened'.

超过了对“人人都过得很好”或“出现了有趣的人口现象”的关心程度

The most common shorthand used for population aging is a gray tsunami,

人们对人口老化最常见的简略称谓就是银色海啸

which conjures up a frankly terrifying version of this wave of old people

它会让人们想到一群可怕的老人浪潮

poised to swamp the shores and suck all the social benefits,

试图冲上海岸 吸光所有社会福利

and all the good things that we want to leave to our kids, and our health care system,

耗尽所有我们本想留给孩子的好东西和医保体系

swamp them and suck all the good stuff out to sea.

吞掉这一切 把所有的美好都洗劫一空

And that language is misleading and wrong.

这种表达是错误的 而且会误导人们

It is like the alarmist language, if you think about it, used to describe other demographic threats,

大家想想 它就像危言耸听的话 本应用来描述其他人口结构威胁

like the yellow peril, the red menace. Think about that.

比如黄祸（极端民族主义理论） 比如红色危机 大家想一想

This just amps up our fears without a rational basis.

它只会毫无道理地放大我们的恐惧

The fact is that population aging in the United States is the best studied demographic phenomenon in history.

事实上 美国的人口老化是有史以来研究得最好的人口现象

We have known for 66 years, if not more, that the baby boom was coming along,

不说很久 66年来 我们都知道生育高峰就要来了

that our parents had more children, that my children represent another mini baby boom.

我们知道父辈们会生更多孩子 我们的孩子又代表了另一个小生育高峰

The question is, why have we not done more to prepare wisely for not just the challenge that this represents,

问题是 为什么我们还没有为生育高峰所带来的挑战和巨大机遇

but the massive opportunity?

做好明智的准备呢？

And the answer is that we live in an ageist society.

答案是因为我们生活在一个歧视年龄的社会中

We live in a society that tends to frame aging as a problem,

我们的社会倾向于把老化当成问题

because if it's a problem we can be persuaded to do things to fix it.

因为只要它是个问题 我们就可以努力去解决

And if it's framed as an illness, and you often see aging just equated with debility and decline,

如果社会把老化当成一种病 人们就会把它和虚弱与衰落一视同仁

whereas in fact it is also a period of enormous growth and opportunity.

但事实上 它还是一段有着巨大增长和机遇的时期

Because if aging is a disease, we can be sold stuff to cure it or to stop it.

如果老化是一种病 就有人卖给我们东西去治疗和阻止它

The only way to stop aging is to be dead.

阻止老化的唯一方式就是死亡

Aging is not a problem to be fixed or a disease to be cured.

老化既不是需要解决的问题 也不是需要治疗的疾病

It is a natural, powerful, lifelong process on which we are embarked at the day we're born.

它是一个自然、强大的终生过程 从我们出生的那一刻起就如影随形

It's not just something annoying old people do or celebrities do.

并不只有讨厌的老人和名人才会老去

And it is something we should celebrate.

我们应该赞美这一现象