Oil Prices Fray Saudi Promise of Easy Jobs
In pressed white robes and clutching crisp resumes, young Saudi men packed a massive hall at a university in the capital city this month to wait in long lines to pitch themselves to employers.
It was one of three job fairs in Riyadh in two weeks, and the high attendance was fueled in part by fear among the younger generation of what a future of cheap oil will mean in a country where oil is everything.
這個首都一所大學的巨大禮堂本月某日擠滿了沙烏地阿拉伯的年輕男子，他們穿著燙平的白袍，手中緊抓著捲折的簡歷表，排在長隊中等著向雇主推銷自己。
這是首都利雅德兩周內三場就業博覽會中的一場，如此龐大人潮湧現，部分是因為在這個石油就是一切的國家中，年輕一代對廉價石油預示的未來開始感到恐懼。
For decades, the royal family has used the kingdom's immense oil wealth to lavish benefits on its people, including free education and medical care, generous energy subsidies and well-paid (and often undemanding) government jobs. No one paid taxes, and if political rights were not part of the equation, that was fine with most people.
But the drop in oil prices to below $30 a barrel from more than $100 a barrel in June 2014 means that the old math no longer works. Low oil prices have knocked a chunk out of the government budget and now pose a threat to the unwritten social contract that has long underpinned life in the kingdom, the Arab world's largest economy and a key American ally.
數十年來，王室利用這個王國的巨大石油財富讓人民享盡福利，包括免費的教育和醫療，大方的能源補貼，高薪（且通常很輕鬆）的公家工作。沙國沒有人納稅，因此即使政治權利不是這個等式的一部分（有差別待遇），多數人民並不介意。
然而油價從2014年6月的每桶逾百美元，跌至每桶不到30美元，意謂舊數學不再行得通。低油價使政府預算少掉一大塊，如今還對上述不成文的社會契約構成威脅，這些社會契約長期以來支撐著這個國家的生活。沙國是阿拉伯世界的最大經濟體，也是美國的極重要盟友。
油價下跌連帶拖累沙國的營建業。 圖／路透
The shift is already echoing through the economy, with government projects delayed, spending limits imposed on ministries and high-level discussions about measures long considered impossible, like imposing taxes and selling shares of Saudi Aramco, the state-run oil giant that is estimated to be the world's most valuable company.
For younger Saudis — 70 percent of the population is under 30 — the oil shock has meant a lowering of expectations as they face the likelihood that they will have to work harder than their parents, enjoy less job security and receive fewer perks.
這項變遷已在整個沙國經濟產生回響，政府的計畫因此延宕，各部會支出受到限制，高層開始討論長期以來認為不可能實行的措施，如徵稅，出售國營石油巨擘「沙烏地阿拉伯國家石油公司」股分，該公司據估計是全球價值最高的公司。
對沙國的年輕世代（沙國7成人口年齡在30歲以下），這個石油震撼意味他們必須降低期待，他們很可能必須比父母更勤奮工作，工作卻更沒有保障，能夠享受的福利也更少。
"For the older generation, it was easier," said Abdulrahman Alkhelaifi, 20, during a break from his job at McDonald's. "They'd get out of university and get a government job. Now you need an advanced degree."
Of his generation, he said, "The weight is on our necks."
It is hard to overstate the importance of oil in the development of modern Saudi Arabia. Oil wealth allowed the ruling Al Saud family to maintain its grip on power, wield clout abroad through checkbook diplomacy and invest billions of dollars in promoting an austere interpretation of Islam around the world.
20歲的阿布杜拉曼．艾爾基拉伊費在麥當勞工作，他在休息時說：「對老一輩的人來說，一切輕鬆簡單得多。他們大學畢業，然後到公家謀個職位。現在你要有更高的學位才行。」
至於他這一代，他說：「覺得頸部壓力沉重。」
石油對現代沙國的發展無比重要，這絕非誇大之詞。得自石油的財富讓執政的「紹德」家族能夠緊緊掌握權力，透過支票簿（銀彈）外交在國外發揮影響力，並且投資數十億美元推展對伊斯蘭更嚴格的詮釋。
（Ben Hubbard ,紐約時報,王麗娟譯）
說文解字看新聞
沙烏地阿拉伯是全球最大原油出口國，沙國的多金，讓沙國人民可以不用納稅。文章第三段說，因為沙國人不必納稅，所以就算政治權利不是等式的一部分（意指民眾的政治權利受到限制、減損、差別對待），大多數民眾並不介意。2014年，沙國將平衡國家收支的油價設定在每桶103美元，2015年設定為每桶80美元。不料國際油價持續重挫，今年一月一度跌破每桶30美元。沙國的石油收入大幅縮水，文中因此說沙國政府預算被敲掉了一大塊（knock a chunk out of the government budget）。chunk意為大塊、厚片、相當大的數量，也有矮胖、結實的人的意思。
Job fair直譯為職業展覽會，台灣習慣稱就業博覽會。fair常作形容詞用，意為「公平的」、「美麗的」，作名詞用時，意為「市集、展覽會」。其他常見如agricultural fair（農業市集，農業展銷會）、travel fair（旅展）、trade fair（商展）、worlds fair或 world fair（世界博覽會）。除了job fair之外，career fair（就業展覽會）或 career expo(exposition)（就業博覽會）也與job fair同義。世界博覽會也可用world expo。
（王麗娟）
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