“负债”和“卖身”，哪个更可耻？
人们总以为家境不富裕的大学男孩女孩，投靠有钱的大款富婆是为了满足他们虚荣攀比、追求高消费的生活方式，但其实并不尽然。
据《今日俄罗斯》消息，约有250万美国大学生正通过约会网站寻找愿意慷慨解囊的“糖爹糖妈”（干爹干妈），为他们摆脱巨额学生贷款。
学生债务抗议者挂着他们所欠债额的牌子 图 via Reuters
According to Seeking Arrangement, a site that connects “sugar daddies” and “sugar mommas” - wealthy older people looking for companionship, usually but not always sexual in nature - with “sugar babies,” the young and hungry willing to provide it in exchange for lifestyle perks, 2.5 million of its users are American college students seeking to avoid the student debt trap.
据“甜蜜定制”——一个给“糖爹糖妈”和求包养的“甜心宝贝”牵线搭桥的“援交”网站（富裕的老年人通常、但不总是寻求性方面的安慰）——如饥似渴的年轻人愿意“卖身”来换取生活津贴，有250万美国大学生用户通过该网站寻求帮助其避免学生债务陷阱的“糖爹糖妈”。
▲College students are increasingly finding ‘sugar daddies’ preferable to student loans - and can we really blame them? (via RT)
美国大学学费让学生不堪重负早已不是什么新鲜事。据《美国新闻与世界报道》消息，美国大学学费已经连续20年增长。
图 via usnews.com
College gets more expensive each year. In addition to high tuition prices, paying for housing, food, transportation, books and other school-related fees can add thousands of dollars to college expenses.
大学学费一年比一年贵。除了高昂的学费，住房、食物、交通、书籍和其他与学校相关的费用也会增加数千美元的大学花费。
▲20 Years of Tuition Growth at National Universities (via usnews.com)
且不管私立公立、州内州外，情况都是如此。
The average tuition and fees at private National Universities have jumped 154%.
平均学费和私立全国性大学的学费上涨了154%。
Out-of-state tuition and fees at public National Universities have risen 181%.
州外学费和公立全国性大学的学费上涨了181%。
In-state tuition and fees at public National Universities have grown the most, increasing 221%.
州内学费和公立全国性大学的学费涨幅最大，达到221%。
▲20 Years of Tuition Growth at National Universities (via usnews.com)
图 via usnews.com
为了实现“大学梦”，很多学生不惜以举债来维持学业。而学生贷款与抵押贷款不同，即便宣告破产也不能洗刷历史。
Unlike mortgages, students can’t default on their loans - even declaring bankruptcy doesn’t clean the slate - so the bubble keeps inflating and investors keep buying. Indeed, the only people who lose in this scenario are the millions of students who miss out on the life they feel they deserve because their wages are permanently paying off a loan two-thirds of them will come to regret taking out in the first place.
与抵押贷款不同，学生不能拖欠贷款——即便宣告破产也不能洗刷历史——因此泡沫不断膨胀，投资者不断买入。事实上，在这种情况下，唯一的输家是数百万学生，他们没有享受到应该享受的生活，因为他们永远在以工资偿还贷款，其中三分之二的人从贷出款的那一刻就开始后悔。
▲College students are increasingly finding ‘sugar daddies’ preferable to student loans - and can we really blame them? (via RT)
即便像美国前总统奥巴马这样的成功人士也不能幸免。
图 via yahoo.com
President Barack Obama, courting young voters crucial to his reelection, told a rowdy college-age crowd at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Tuesday that he knows first-hand about the burden of student loans because he only managed to pay his back a scant eight years ago.
（2012年）美国（前）总统巴拉克•奥巴马，周二在北卡罗来纳大学教堂山分校，争取对他连任至关重要的年轻选民，一群喧闹的大学生时说道，他对学生贷款的重担有切身体会，因为他八年前（2004年）才刚刚还清了助学贷款。
"Michelle and I, we've been in your shoes," Obama, who turns 51 in August, told a cheering, capacity crowd of 8,000 at Carmichael Arena.
“米歇尔和我，与你们的境遇相同，”8月将年满51岁的奥巴马在卡迈克尔体育馆面对8000名观众发表了讲话。
▲Obama: I only paid off my student loans eight years ago (via yahoo.com)
图 via nypost.com
于是，有些负债累累的美国学生选择逃离美国。
图 via Reuters
而另一些，选择留下，用另一种不体面的方式，偿还贷款。于是就有了“援交”网站上“卖身”的莘莘学子。
求一名‘糖爹’，让我能（有钱）读法学院 图 via 网络
While Seeking Arrangement claims to have “arrangements” in 139 countries, most of its users are in the US, where some 11.4 million “sugar babies” are living the high life - or merely scraping by (students, it seems, are only a small portion of the total). These sugar babies likely have real needs beyond the desire for fancy clothing or expensive dinners - the United Way’s ALICE program claims some 43 percent of Americans cannot afford basic needs like food, shelter, healthcare, and childcare from month to month, and that’s before education even enters the picture.
尽管“甜蜜定制”声称在139个国家为有需求的人进行“安排”，但它的大多数用户都在美国，那里大约有1140万“甜心宝贝”过着高端的生活，或者仅仅是勉强糊口（学生似乎只是总数的一小部分）。这些“甜心宝贝”除了渴望华丽的衣服或昂贵的晚餐外，很可能还有其他真正的需求——非营利组织“联合慈善爱丽丝计画”声称，大约43%的美国人每月都负担不起食物、住所、医疗保健和儿童保育等基本需求，而这还没有考虑到教育。
Compared to a lifetime of debt slavery - a recent survey found more than a quarter of baby boomers believe they’ll die before paying off their debts - escorting may look like a walk in the park.
与一生为债务奴役相比——最近的一项调查发现，超过四分之一的婴儿潮一代认为他们会在还清债务前死去——陪伴“糖爸糖妈”看起来就像是在公园里散步。
Seeking Arrangement’s list of top sugar-baby colleges includes Ivy League stalwart Columbia University alongside lesser-known state schools.
“甜蜜定制”列出的最受欢迎的“甜心宝贝”所在的大学既包括常春藤盟校的老牌学府哥伦比亚大学，也包括一些知名度较低的州立大学。
▲College students are increasingly finding ‘sugar daddies’ preferable to student loans - and can we really blame them? (via RT)
于是，人们不禁要问，假如连未来会成为社会精英的人也成了高端陪护，用以支持他们实现主宰世界，那这个世界会变成什么样呢？
你怎么看美国大学生为求学而“卖身”？欢迎留言并分享观点！
