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.

　　美国，自由的沃土，勇者的家园...屋外环绕着白色尖桩篱笆，屋内奔跑着平均2-3个小孩——典型的“美国现代家庭”图景。而这些都只是我们印象中的美国。

　　Myth 1: America Is A Democracy

　　谣言1：美国是个民主国家

　　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.

　　当前，“美国”和“民主”似乎已成了同义词。然而绝大部分美国人不知道的是，他们生活的这个国家，并不是个民主国家。美国最初是作为一个宪法共和国而建立的，这一点在《宪法》和《效忠宣誓》中都有体现。在06年《经济学人》进行的一项全球民主国家排名中，美国甚至没有挤进前十。

　　Myth 2: The Founding Fathers Were Christian

　　谣言2：美国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.

　　这句话半对半错。美国的开国者之中有一大批从属于基督教会的不同分支，如新教、路德教。然而，也有很多人公然反对有组织的宗教。Thomas Jefferson就信奉自然神教，该教的主张是：自然世界的推理和观察足以说明世界存在着创始者，并不需要通过组织教会来证明这一点。

　　Myth 3: Thanksgiving

　　谣言3：关于感恩节

　　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.

　　感恩节最初来源于清教徒和印第安人，这点是没错。不过，最初的感恩节足足有3天，是为了用来庆祝本年丰收的（想象一下用现代社会的庆祝方式胡吃海喝三天的情景……）。对于清教徒来说，感恩节是个虔诚的节日，在这段时间里人们禁食和祈祷。不过，1623年的那次感恩节下了场雨，于是节日内容转变成大快朵颐了。

　　Myth 4: The Native Americans were Savages

　　谣言4：原始印第安人都是野蛮人

　　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，身着羽毛和水牛皮饰，整天和满嘴烟草的牛仔盘旋打斗……这是好莱坞塑造的经典“印第安人”形象。然而真实情况并非如此。

　　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《美国人民的历史》一书中，作者Howard Zinn引用了哥伦布登上美洲大陆后对印第安人的第一印象，他是这么说的：“他们没有武器，也不知何为武器——我把剑拿给他们看，他们居然用手去抓剑刃，把自己给弄伤了。他们没有铁器。他们的矛是用藤条做的...他们可以做不错的仆人...我们五十个人就能彻底征服他们，想让他们做什么就做什么。”

　　　Myth 5: It's A Free Country

　　谣言5：这是个自由的国度

　　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.

　　人们普遍认为在美国，想去哪儿都可以，想睡哪儿也没人干涉，为了生存什么都能干。流浪汉们可不这么想。即使多年前法庭就已经废除了“流浪罪”，但在街道或公园里睡觉仍然是违法的，同样，搭便车、行乞等流浪汉们用来赖以生存的“免费的东西”，也都是违法的。

　　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，还有数不清的法规和条例使警察们拥有充足的理由来干预人们的自由。2011年的6月在纽约州的罗切斯特市，一位女士仅仅因为站在自家草坪上拍摄一个停车标记而被捕——这件事证明了我们是不自由的——即使站在自己地盘里，也同样不自由。

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

　　谣言6：美联储是由美国掌控的

　　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.

　　美联储管理着全美的货币政策，却完全不受政府约束，只受美联储主席和理事会成员指挥。要不是有这层限制，央行简直可以为所欲为了。

　 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."

　　最近的证据来自前主席阿兰格林斯潘，他直白地点出：美国政府对美联储货币政策的影响力几乎为零。不久前，据彭博新闻社的消息，央行“拒绝公开2万亿美元紧急贷款的接受人名单，这些贷款均来自于保释金及央行持有的担保资产。”

　　Myth 7: The Bushes Are Texan

　　谣言7：布什家族是得克萨斯人

　　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.

　　尽管布什家族在德州有庞大深厚的石油产业，其中也包括小布什那些失败的投资，但这个家族真正的产业根基其实是在康涅狄格州。布什家族是东北部的银行世家，可往前追溯到英国皇室。小布什的爷爷普利史考特·布什曾是耶鲁大学“骷髅会”秘密精英社团的成员之一，他的儿子、孙子也不例外。普利史考特也曾是深不可测又臭名昭著的华尔街一员，二战时被指控曾为纳粹洗钱。