幾天前的晚上，我親眼見證了美國夢未死。

上周四晚，在數字出版軟件公司Automattic的舊金山總部里，《財富》舉辦了一年一度的“40歲以下40商界精英”晚會。此次活動已經成了硅谷精英們每年必到的一次盛會。他們來到這里一方面是為了與其他行業精英聚會，另一方面也是為了慶祝來自科技等行業的40歲以下的中青年精英們取得的成就。

這是一份相當搶眼的名單。Automattic公司的CEO馬特·穆倫維格本人今年也榜上有名，他的這家數字出版公司在很大程度上已經改變了整個出版行業的面貌。我們還在活動現場見到了許多熟面孔，比如Airbnb的產品總監喬·扎德、Uber的北美運營高管，以及蘋果音樂的營銷負責人伯佐瑪·圣·約翰等。

以上僅僅是其中的幾位代表，你可以點擊此處查看完整榜單。今年的這份榜單無論是從性別、族裔還是行業上看，都是非常多樣化的。（即便是舊金山這樣一個科技之都，也有科技以外的生活。）《財富》評選的“40歲以下40商界精英”不僅僅代表了全球商業的未來，還代表了當下。

當晚的活動結束后，我在回家的路上遇到了一個人，“美國夢”在他身上的體現，一點也不少于當天慶典里的那些主角。他跟我一樣，都是快奔五的年紀了——我倆都沒有資格參與“40歲以下40商界精英”的評選，我倆的女兒也都在學校里上同一個年級。不過和我不一樣的是，他是一名全職的專車司機，主要在Uber和Lyft上接單。他從早上六點開始接單，這時正準備回到薩克拉門托的家中，這一趟車要開上90分鐘。他本是一個伊拉克人，兩年前剛剛移民到加州，此前他曾在伊拉克首都巴格達為美國政府工作過。能在美國靠勞動謀生，他感到十分幸運，不管工作時間再長也甘之如飴。他希望有朝一日能成為一名美國公民。

盡管當下的政治環境充斥著各種負能量，然而透過這些年輕的科技英才，還有這位依靠科技創新過上了一種全新的美國生活的伊拉克移民，我還是感到，能夠生活在這樣一個偉大的國家里，實在是一件值得欣慰的事。（財富中文網）

譯者：樸成奎

I bore witness to the American dream Thursday night.

In the hip San Francisco headquarters of the digital publishing software company Automattic, Fortune held its annual 40 Under 40 party. The event has become a must-attend affair for the Silicon Valley elite. They come to see each other and also to celebrate the accomplishments of the not-yet-four-decades-old overachievers from tech and other industries.

This is one impressive list. It includes people like the CEO of the Automattic itself, Matt Mullenweg, whose distributed company has changed the face of publishing. We recognized leaders from the biggest companies in tech, like Joe Zadeh, head of product for Airbnb; Rachel Holt, the top operations executive in North America for Uber; and Bozoma Saint John, who runs marketing for Apple Music.

These are just a few examples, and you can see our entire list here. It is diverse in every way, from gender to nationality to industry. (Even in San Francisco we are aware there is life beyond tech.) Fortune’s group of 40 Under 40 doesn’t merely represent the future of global business. It constitutes the present too.

On my way home I met someone who embodies the American dream every bit as much as the groupFortune had spent the night celebrating. Like me, this man in his late 40s—we weren’t even close to being eligible to be honored Thursday night and have school-age daughters in the same grade. Unlike me, he drives full-time for Uber and Lyft. He’d been at it since 6:00 a.m. and was preparing to return to his home in Sacramento, a 90-minute journey. An Iraqi who immigrated to California just over two years ago, my driver worked for the U.S. government in Baghdad. He felt fortunate to be here and to be earning a living, no matter how long the hours. He hopes one day to become a U.S. citizen.

From tech’s prodigies to a new American life aided by a wonder of innovation, it felt good, especially in the lamentable political environment we confront daily, to be reminded what a great country we live in.