America is the land of the free, home of the brave... the white picket fences, the 2.5 kids in every "modern family." Or so we've been led to believe.

　　美國，自由的沃土，勇者的家園...屋外環繞著白色尖樁籬笆，屋內奔跑著平均2-3個小孩——典型的“美國現代家庭”圖景。而這些都只是我們印象中的美國。

　　

　　Myth 1: America Is A Democracy

　　謠言1：美國是個民主國家

　　In the current age, America and democracy are synonymous. Little do most Americans know they don't actually live in a democracy. America was actually founded as a Constitutional Republic, as stated in the Constitution and the Pledge of Allegiance. In an Economist ranking of the world's democratic countries in 2006, America didn't even crack the top 10.

　　當前，“美國”和“民主”似乎已成了同義詞。然而絕大部分美國人不知道的是，他們生活的這個國家，并不是個民主國家。美國最初是作為一個憲法共和國而建立的，這一點在《憲法》和《效忠宣誓》中都有體現。在06年《經濟學人》進行的一項全球民主國家排名中，美國甚至沒有擠進前十。

　　

　　Myth 2: The Founding Fathers Were Christian

　　謠言2：美國是由一群基督徒建立的

　　This is both true and false. A large number of the Founding Fathers were associated with various sects of the Christian church, like Protestantism and Lutheranism. However, many still openly opposed organized religion. Thomas Jefferson practiced Deism, which contends that reason and observation of the natural world are enough to determine the universe has a creator without the need for organized religion.

　　這句話半對半錯。美國的開國者之中有一大批從屬于基督教會的不同分支，如新教、路德教。然而，也有很多人公然反對有組織的宗教。Thomas Jefferson就信奉自然神教，該教的主張是：自然世界的推理和觀察足以說明世界存在著創始者，并不需要通過組織教會來證明這一點。

　　

　　Myth 3: Thanksgiving

　　謠言3：關于感恩節

　　While it's true that the occasion we now know as Thanksgiving first occurred between Pilgrims and nearby Indians, it originally was three days long and served to salute the annual harvest. (Imagine our modern version of stuffing and turkeys for three days.) For the Pilgrims, Thanksgiving was intended to be a religious holiday of fasting and prayer, but only turned to a feast after the rains came during one such period in 1623.

　　感恩節最初來源于清教徒和印第安人，這點是沒錯。不過，最初的感恩節足足有3天，是為了用來慶祝本年豐收的（想象一下用現代社會的慶祝方式胡吃海喝三天的情景……）。對于清教徒來說，感恩節是個虔誠的節日，在這段時間里人們禁食和祈禱。不過，1623年的那次感恩節下了場雨，于是節日內容轉變成大快朵頤了。

　　Myth 4: The Native Americans were Savages

　　謠言4：原始印第安人都是野蠻人

　　Hollywood has certainly popularized the image of brutes dressed in feathers and buffalo leather, aiming to harm a good-ole tobacco spitting cowboy, but the truth of the matter is a bit more complex.

　　外表粗野，身著羽毛和水牛皮飾，整天和滿嘴煙草的牛仔盤旋打斗……這是好萊塢塑造的經典“印第安人”形象。然而真實情況并非如此。

　　In the book "A People's History of the United States," author Howard Zinn quotes Christopher Columbus's first impressions of the Indians, saying "They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane.... They would make fine servants.... With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."

　　在《美國人民的歷史》一書中，作者Howard Zinn引用了哥倫布登上美洲大陸后對印第安人的第一印象，他是這么說的：“他們沒有武器，也不知何為武器——我把劍拿給他們看，他們居然用手去抓劍刃，把自己給弄傷了。他們沒有鐵器。他們的矛是用藤條做的...他們可以做不錯的仆人...我們五十個人就能徹底征服他們，想讓他們做什么就做什么。”

　　　Myth 5: It's A Free Country

　　謠言5：這是個自由的國度

　　There is a general belief that we can walk anywhere, rest anywhere or do whatever we need to do to survive. Tell that to the homeless. Although courts struck down laws against vagrancy years ago, sleeping on the streets or in public parks is still illegal, as is hitchhiking, panhandling and other "freebies" broke people need to survive.

　　人們普遍認為在美國，想去哪兒都可以，想睡哪兒也沒人干涉，為了生存什么都能干。流浪漢們可不這么想。即使多年前法庭就已經廢除了“流浪罪”，但在街道或公園里睡覺仍然是違法的，同樣，搭便車、行乞等流浪漢們用來賴以生存的“免費的東西”，也都是違法的。

　　And there are countless laws and ordinances designed to give police officers probable cause to violate our freedoms. In June 2011, a woman in Rochester, New York was arrested simply for filming a traffic stop from her front lawn, proving that we aren't free -- even if we stay in our yards.

　　此外，還有數不清的法規和條例使警察們擁有充足的理由來干預人們的自由。2011年的6月在紐約州的羅切斯特市，一位女士僅僅因為站在自家草坪上拍攝一個停車標記而被捕——這件事證明了我們是不自由的——即使站在自己地盤里，也同樣不自由。

　　

　　Myth 6: The Federal Reserve Is U.S. Owned & Operated

　　謠言6：美聯儲是由美國掌控的

　　The Fed conducts the nation's monetary policy, but faces no regulation from the government aside from the appointment of its President and Board of Governors. Otherwise, the central bank can do what it pleases.

　　美聯儲管理著全美的貨幣政策，卻完全不受政府約束，只受美聯儲主席和理事會成員指揮。要不是有這層限制，央行簡直可以為所欲為了。

　 Recent proof comes direct from former Chairman Alan Greenspan, who stated point blank that the U.S. Government cannot do anything to influence the Fed's policy. And, more recently, according to Bloomberg News, the bank refused "to disclose the recipients of more than $2 trillion of emergency loans from [the bailout] and the assets the central bank is accepting as collateral."

　　最近的證據來自前主席阿蘭格林斯潘，他直白地點出：美國政府對美聯儲貨幣政策的影響力幾乎為零。不久前，據彭博新聞社的消息，央行“拒絕公開2萬億美元緊急貸款的接受人名單，這些貸款均來自于保釋金及央行持有的擔保資產。”

　　

　　Myth 7: The Bushes Are Texan

　　謠言7：布什家族是得克薩斯人

　　Despite deep ties to the Texas oil business, including failed ventures from G.W., the roots of the Bush family are about as Texan as, say, Connecticut. The Bush's are a northeast elite banking family, whose lineage extends back to the British crown. W's grandfather Prescott Bush was a member of Yale's elite Skull and Bones secret society, as were Bush, Sr. and W. himself. Prescott went on to unfathomable Wall Street riches and infamy, after he was tried and charged with money laundering for the Nazis during WWII.

　　盡管布什家族在德州有龐大深厚的石油產業，其中也包括小布什那些失敗的投資，但這個家族真正的產業根基其實是在康涅狄格州。布什家族是東北部的銀行世家，可往前追溯到英國皇室。小布什的爺爺普利史考特·布什曾是耶魯大學“骷髏會”秘密精英社團的成員之一，他的兒子、孫子也不例外。普利史考特也曾是深不可測又臭名昭著的華爾街一員，二戰時被指控曾為納粹洗錢。