Now that the problem has been articulated, one can sense not only general agreement, but almost palpable relief. Perhaps the age of irresponsibility is over; perhaps we no longer have to shop until we drop; perhaps the compact between the individual and the government, in which both are understood to have obligations as well as rights, can be restored; perhaps the state will cease to treat its citizens like maladjusted adolescents, of whom nothing much can be demanded and to whom everything is permitted.
如今问题已经被清晰地表述出来，人们可以感觉到的不仅是两党之间的一纸宏观协议，而是几乎实实在在的交替。或许那个不负责任的时代已经一去不返了；或许我们不再需要过度消费，债台高筑；或许个人与政府之间订立的，双方都理解自身权利义务的的契约能够重新得到遵守；或许国家不再把自己的公民当成心智尚未成熟的年轻人来对待，不但不相信公民的自觉性，而且每做一件事都要得到批准。