英文奥巴马告别演讲全文110.docx

1、英文奥巴马告别演讲全文110奥巴马告别演讲英文全文美国东部时间2017年1月10日晚9点（北京时间1月11日10点），奥巴马在芝加哥迈考密展览中心发表告别演说。 离别之际，奥巴马对自己的人民、民主制度、社会问题以及国家未来的发展与走向都提出了希冀。以下是奥巴马的告别演讲全文：Its good to be home. My fellow Americans, Michelle and I have been so touched by all the well-wishes weve received over the past few weeks. But tonight its my tur

2、n to say thanks. Whether weve seen eye-to-eye or rarely agreed at all, my conversations with you, the American people in living rooms and schools; at farms and on factory floors; at diners and on distant outposts are what have kept me honest, kept me inspired, and kept me going. Every day, I learned

3、 from you. You made me a better President, and you made me a better man.I first came to Chicago when I was in my early twenties, still trying to figure out who I was; still searching for a purpose to my life. It was in neighborhoods not far from here where I began working with church groups in the s

4、hadows of closed steel mills. It was on these streets where I witnessed the power of faith, and the quiet dignity of working people in the face of struggle and loss. This is where I learned that change only happens when ordinary people get involved, get engaged, and come together to demand it.After

5、eight years as your President, I still believe that. And its not just my belief. Its the beating heart of our American idea our bold experiment in self-government.Its the conviction that we are all created equal, endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty, and t

6、he pursuit of happiness.Its the insistence that these rights, while self-evident, have never been self-executing; that We, the People, through the instrument of our democracy, can form a more perfect union.This is the great gift our Founders gave us. The freedom to chase our individual dreams throug

7、h our sweat, toil, and imagination and the imperative to strive together as well, to achieve a greater good.For 240 years, our nations call to citizenship has given work and purpose to each new generation. Its what led patriots to choose republic over tyranny, pioneers to trek west, slaves to brave

8、that makeshift railroad to freedom. Its what pulled immigrants and refugees across oceans and the Rio Grande, pushed women to reach for the ballot, powered workers to organize. Its why GIs gave their lives at Omaha Beach and Iwo Jima; Iraq and Afghanistan and why men and women from Selma to Stonewal

9、l were prepared to give theirs as well.So thats what we mean when we say America is exceptional. Not that our nation has been flawless from the start, but that we have shown the capacity to change, and make life better for those who follow.Yes, our progress has been uneven. The work of democracy has

10、 always been hard, contentious and sometimes bloody. For every two steps forward, it often feels we take one step back. But the long sweep of America has been defined by forward motion, a constant widening of our founding creed to embrace all, and not just some.If I had told you eight years ago that

11、 America would reverse a great recession, reboot our auto industry, and unleash the longest stretch of job creation in our historyif I had told you that we would open up a new chapter with the Cuban people, shut down Irans nuclear weapons program without firing a shot, and take out the mastermind of

12、 9/11if I had told you that we would win marriage equality, and secure the right to health insurance for another 20 million of our fellow citizens you might have said our sights were set a little too high.But thats what we did. Thats what you did. You were the change. You answered peoples hopes, and

13、 because of you, by almost every measure, America is a better, stronger place than it was when we started.In ten days, the world will witness a hallmark of our democracy: the peaceful transfer of power from one freely-elected president to the next. I committed to President-Elect Trump that my admini

14、stration would ensure the smoothest possible transition, just as President Bush did for me. Because its up to all of us to make sure our government can help us meet the many challenges we still face.We have what we need to do so. After all, we remain the wealthiest, most powerful, and most respected

15、 nation on Earth. Our youth and drive, our diversity and openness, our boundless capacity for risk and reinvention mean that the future should be ours.But that potential will be realized only if our democracy works. Only if our politics reflects the decency of the our people. Only if all of us, rega

16、rdless of our party affiliation or particular interest, help restore the sense of common purpose that we so badly need right now.Thats what I want to focus on tonight the state of our democracy.Understand, democracy does not require uniformity. Our founders quarreled and compromised, and expected us

17、 to do the same. But they knew that democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity the idea that for all our outward differences, we are all in this together; that we rise or fall as one.There have been moments throughout our history that threatened to rupture that solidarity. The beginning of t

18、his century has been one of those times. A shrinking world, growing inequality; demographic change and the specter of terrorism these forces havent just tested our security and prosperity, but our democracy as well. And how we meet these challenges to our democracy will determine our ability to educ

19、ate our kids, and create good jobs, and protect our homeland.In other words, it will determine our future.Our democracy wont work without a sense that everyone has economic opportunity. Today, the economy is growing again; wages, incomes, home values, and retirement accounts are rising again; povert

20、y is falling again. The wealthy are paying a fairer share of taxes even as the stock market shatters records. The unemployment rate is near a ten-year low. The uninsured rate has never, ever been lower. Health care costs are rising at the slowest rate in fifty years. And if anyone can put together a

21、 plan that is demonstrably better than the improvements weve made to our health care system that covers as many people at less cost I will publicly support it.That, after all, is why we serve to make peoples lives better, not worse.But for all the real progress weve made, we know its not enough. Our

22、 economy doesnt work as well or grow as fast when a few prosper at the expense of a growing middle class. But stark inequality is also corrosive to our democratic principles. While the top one percent has amassed a bigger share of wealth and income, too many families, in inner cities and rural count

23、ies, have been left behind the laid-off factory worker; the waitress and health care worker who struggle to pay the bills convinced that the game is fixed against them, that their government only serves the interests of the powerful a recipe for more cynicism and polarization in our politics.There a

24、re no quick fixes to this long-term trend. I agree that our trade should be fair and not just free. But the next wave of economic dislocation wont come from overseas. It will come from the relentless pace of automation that makes many good, middle-class jobs obsolete.And so we must forge a new socia

25、l compact to guarantee all our kids the education they need; to give workers the power to unionize for better wages; to update the social safety net to reflect the way we live now and make more reforms to the tax code so corporations and individuals who reap the most from the new economy dont avoid

26、their obligations to the country thats made their success possible. We can argue about how to best achieve these goals. But we cant be complacent about the goals themselves. For if we dont create opportunity for all people, the disaffection and division that has stalled our progress will only sharpe

27、n in years to come.Theres a second threat to our democracy one as old as our nation itself. After my election, there was talk of a post-racial America. Such a vision, however well-intended, was never realistic. For race remains a potent and often divisive force in our society. Ive lived long enough

28、to know that race relations are better than they were ten, or twenty, or thirty years ago you can see it not just in statistics, but in the attitudes of young Americans across the political spectrum.But were not where we need to be. All of us have more work to do. After all, if every economic issue

29、is framed as a struggle between a hardworking white middle class and undeserving minorities, then workers of all shades will be left fighting for scraps while the wealthy withdraw further into their private enclaves. If we decline to invest in the children of immigrants, just because they dont look

30、like us, we diminish the prospects of our own children because those brown kids will represent a larger share of Americas workforce. And our economy doesnt have to be a zero-sum game. Last year, incomes rose for all races, all age groups, for men and for women.Going forward, we must uphold laws agai

31、nst discrimination in hiring, in housing, in education and the criminal justice system. Thats what our Constitution and highest ideals require. But laws alone wont be enough. Hearts must change. If our democracy is to work in this increasingly diverse nation, each one of us must try to heed the advi

32、ce of one of the great characters in American fiction, Atticus Finch, who said “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of viewuntil you climb into his skin and walk around in it.”For blacks and other minorities, it means tying our own struggles for justice to the challenges that a lot of people in this country face the refugee, the immigrant, the rural poor, the transgender American, and also the middle-aged white man who from the outside may seem like hes got all the advantages, but whos seen his world upende