At a recent dinner party, Schumpeter got talking to a wildly successful young man who was downright(彻底地，完全地) miserable. He was on the very fast track(在快速晋升通道上) at a very big hedge fund. His friends, however, were making even bigger bucks(美元（口语）) in artificial intelligence, a field which he was convinced would soon consume(吞噬，消耗) his own industry. Among the company he keeps, the bright lights of finance shine less brightly than they used to, causing his own star to dim. Our protagonist was experiencing one of capitalism’s most powerful forces. He was in the throes of(处于…的痛苦中) status death.
在最近的一次晚宴上，熊彼特与一位极其成功却郁郁寡欢的年轻人聊了起来。他在一家大型对冲基金公司里平步青云。然而，他的朋友们却在人工智能领域赚得更多，他确信这个领域很快就会吞噬他所在的行业。在他所处的圈子里，金融业的光芒已不如往昔，这让他自己的星光也黯淡了。我们的主人公正在经历资本主义最强大的力量之一——他正深陷于地位死亡的痛苦之中。
The modern worker is status-obsessed(痴迷于地位的). Even the bosses of giant companies find time to post on LinkedIn, a social network that functions as a forum for gloating(幸灾乐祸，炫耀). If management gurus agree on anything it is that individuals care deeply about(非常在意) their relative standing within their firm. When it is said that a business succeeds because of its corporate culture, what is often meant is that status is prudently(审慎地，谨慎地) distributed within its walls.
现代工作者痴迷于地位。就连大公司的老板们也会抽时间在领英上发帖，这个社交网络实际上是一个炫耀的论坛。如果说管理大师们有什么共识，那就是个人非常在意自己在公司内的相对地位。当人们说一家企业成功是因为其企业文化时，通常意味着地位在其内部得到了审慎的分配。
Yet our age is one of status death. Capitalism’s status-industrial complex(地位产业复合体) has been upturned, as institutions such as universities and newspapers that once conferred(授予，赋予) prestige lose their power to do so. Complaints from those who feel status-mugged(地位被剥夺的) are increasingly commonplace. In a guest essay in the New York Times this week, a television writer whined(哀叹，抱怨（贬义）) about the decline of his once-glamorous(光鲜的，富有魅力的) occupation. “The biggest winners of the American economy fear they’re sinking fast,” announced a headline in the Washington Post.
然而，我们的时代是一个地位死亡的时代。资本主义的地位产业复合体已被颠覆，因为大学和报纸等曾经赋予声望的机构正在失去这种能力。那些感到地位被剥夺者的抱怨越来越常见。在本周《纽约时报》的一篇客座文章中，一位电视编剧哀叹自己曾经光鲜的职业正在衰落。《华盛顿邮报》的一个标题宣称：“美国经济的最大赢家担心自己正在快速沉没。”
Falling upwards
向上坠落