It was obviously even more unpleasant to contemplate than any kind of economic setback. But it seemed to me a pointless and unproductive kind of discussion. I could have answered “a 10 per cent chance”, “a 50 per cent chance”, or “an 80 per cent chance” with equal plausibility. I did not and could not know. Nor could anyone else. This kind of pointless crystal-gazing only deflected attention from a much more important question. This was: “Are we doing enough to reduce the probability of such a catastrophe?” By “we” I did not mean mankind in general but the government of the country in which I happened to live and was a citizen, namely the UK.
這分明比設想任何一種經濟衰退都更加讓人不快。可在我看來，這種討論徒勞無益。我可以回答“有10%概率”、“有50%概率”或“有80%概率”，都似乎同樣有道理。我不知道，也無法知道。沒有人能夠知道。這種無意義的揣測，只會轉移人們對一個更重要問題的注意力。這就是：“為了降低發生這種災難的可能性，我們是否做得足夠？”此處的“我們”不是泛指人類，而是指我身為一介公民所居住的國家，即英國的政府。