lived in fine style in comparison with others,

他们过着相对舒适的日子
and there was certainly a distinction

普通人和绅士之间
between average people and gentlemen,

的确也有差距
but the contrast between governors and farmers

但是管辖者和平民之间的差距
was nowhere near the extreme contrast

远远比不上在英国
between a member of the entrenched British nobility and a landless commoner.

世代相传的贵族与没有土地的平民的差距
So in America the spectrum--

所以在美国社会阶层的
It's like the top and the bottom of that spectrum have been sort of lopped off

最顶层及最底层都似乎被抹去了
and what's in between is a little bit more pliable.

中间部分的差距就不悬殊了
So more landholding, broader franchise and

更多的地主更广泛的选举权
everything that that entails, more of a middling society,

以及它们带来的一切更加中庸的社会
and now yet another colonial difference that I hinted about

我在本节课开始时提到的