Can Germany’s New Chancellor Revive the Left in Europe? 德國新總理能振興歐洲左派嗎？

2021年12月30日星期四

Can Germany’s New Chancellor Revive the Left in Europe? 德國新總理能振興歐洲左派嗎？

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Can Germany's New Chancellor Revive the Left in Europe? 德國新總理能振興歐洲左派嗎？
Autocracy vs. Democracy 專制與民主之爭

Can Germany's New Chancellor Revive the Left in Europe? 德國新總理能振興歐洲左派嗎？
文/Katrin Bennhold
譯/李京倫德國新總理能振興歐洲左派嗎？ Last December, as he was plotting what most considered to be a hopeless bid to become Germany's next chancellor, Olaf Scholz interrupted his campaign preparations for a video call with an American philosopher. 去年12月，蕭茲策畫競選德國下任總理，被多數人認為毫無希望之際，他為了與一名美國哲學教授視訊通話而暫停參選準備工作。 Scholz, a Social Democrat, wanted to talk to the philosopher, Michael J. Sandel of Harvard, about why center-left parties like his had been losing working-class voters to populists, and the two men spent an hour discussing a seemingly simple theme that would become the centerpiece of the Scholz campaign: "Respect." 社會民主黨籍的蕭茲想跟美國哈佛大學哲學教授桑德爾談談，像他的黨這類中間偏左政黨為何失去勞動階級選民，眼看這些人轉而支持民粹主義者。兩人花了一小時討論一個看似簡單、後來成為蕭茲競選骨幹的主題「尊重」。 Scholz is Germany's ninth postwar chancellor — and the first Social Democrat in 16 years — succeeding Angela Merkel and heading a three-party coalition government. Defying polls and pundits, he led his 158-year-old party from the precipice of irrelevance to an unlikely victory — and now wants to show that the center-left can again become a political force in Europe. 蕭茲是德國戰後第九位總理，也是16年來首位社民黨籍總理，接替梅克爾並領導三黨聯合政府。他打破民調和專家預測，帶領他那成立158年的政黨，走出被認為無關緊要的險境，取得難以置信的勝利，如今他希望展現中間偏左勢力能再度成為歐洲一支政治力量。 For the center-left in Europe, Scholz's victory comes at a critical moment. Over the past decade, many of the parties that once dominated European politics have become almost obsolete, seemingly bereft of ideas and largely abandoned by their working-class base. 對歐洲中間偏左勢力而言，蕭茲勝選的時機很重要。過去十年來，許多一度主導歐洲政治的這類政黨變得幾乎被淘汰，他們看來沒有主張，而且大致被他們的勞動階級基本盤放棄。 The political energy has been on the right, especially the populist far right, with many American conservatives flocking to countries like Hungary to study the "illiberal democracy" of Viktor Orban, that nation's far-right prime minister. 政治能量在右派這邊，尤其是民粹極右派，許多美國保守派人士湧入匈牙利這類國家，研究該國極右派總理奧班的「不自由民主思想」。 "The biggest concern in politics for me is that our liberal democracies are coming increasingly under pressure," Mr. Scholz says about himself on the Social Democrats' website. "We have to solve the problems so that the cheap slogans of the populists don't catch." 蕭茲在社民黨網站上描述自己：「對我而言政治上最大的憂慮是，我們的自由民主政體承受愈來愈大的壓力。我們必須解決這些問題，好讓民粹主義者的廉價口號無法打動人心。」 Last year, in the middle of the first Covid-19 lockdown, Mr. Scholz read Professor Sandel's latest book, "The Tyranny of Merit" in which the Harvard philosopher argued that the meritocratic narrative of education as an engine of social mobility had fueled resentment and contributed to the rise of populists like Mr. Trump. 去年德國實施首次新冠肺炎防疫封鎖時，蕭茲閱讀了桑德爾教授最新著作「成功的反思」，這位哈佛哲學教授在書中主張，菁英領導體制陳述的「教育是社會流動的動力」，助長憤恨並促成美國前總統川普這種民粹政治人物崛起。 "The backlash of 2016 vividly expressed that simply telling people, 'You can make it if you try,' was not an adequate response to the wage stagnation and job loss brought about by globalization," Professor Sandel said in an interview. "What Social Democratic elites missed was the insult implicit in this response to inequality, because what it said was, 'If you're struggling in the new economy, your failure is your fault.'" 桑德爾受訪時說：「2016年的強烈反應鮮明表達出，僅僅告訴人們『去嘗試就能做到』，並非對全球化造成的薪資停滯和失業的適切回應。社民黨菁英沒注意的是，這種對於不平等現象的回應隱含著侮辱，因為它說的是，『如果你在新經濟裡苦苦掙扎，你失敗是你自己的錯』。」

Autocracy vs. Democracy 專制與民主之爭
文/David Leonhardt
譯/李京倫專制與民主之爭 If you were a foreign leader hostile to the United States — sitting in, say, Moscow or Beijing — how would you view the United States today? 如果你是與美國敵對的外國領袖，例如莫斯科或北京當局，你會怎麼看待美國？ You would know that it has conducted two largely failed wars, in Afghanistan and Iraq, over the past 20 years and that many Americans have no interest in fighting another faraway conflict with a fuzzy connection to national security. 你知道美國過去20年在阿富汗與伊拉克發動兩次大致失敗的戰爭，許多美國人無意在遠方再打一場與國家安全關係模糊的戰爭。 You would know that the United States itself can't seem to decide how strongly it feels about democracy, with a former president and his allies around the country mimicking the playbook of autocrats willing to subvert election results. 你會知道，美國本身似乎無法確定自己對民主的感覺有多強烈，因為有個前總統和他在全國各地的盟友，模仿了想顛覆選舉結果的專制領袖劇本。 And you would know that the United States was so politically polarized that many voters and members of Congress might not rally around a president even during a foreign crisis. Americans, after all, have reacted to the pandemic with division and anger, including widespread refusal to take lifesaving vaccines and continuing chaos in schools. 而且你會知道，美國政治兩極化如此嚴重，以致在國家遭逢外來危機時，許多選民和國會議員可能也不會支持總統。畢竟，美國人已用分歧與憤怒應對新冠疫情，包括普遍拒絕接種能救命的疫苗和校園持續混亂。 Given all of this, you might not be feeling especially intimidated by the United States, even though it continues to have the world's largest economy, most important currency and strongest military. 有鑒於此，你可能不會覺得被美國恫嚇，即使美國一直是世界最大經濟體、擁有最重要貨幣和最強軍隊。 This background helps explain the current tensions in both Ukraine and Taiwan. In each, an authoritarian power is making noises about invading a small nearby democracy, and the United States has sternly warned against any such action. The two authoritarian powers — Russia and China — may ultimately choose to stand down, at least temporarily. But their increasing aggression is a sign of their willingness to defy what their leaders see as a weakened U.S. 這個背景有助於解釋目前烏克蘭與台灣的緊張情勢。兩者都是一個專制政權暗示要侵略鄰近小型民主政權，而美國已發出嚴厲警告，反對任何這類舉動。俄國與中國大陸這兩個專制政權可能最終會選擇退讓，至少暫時如此。不過這兩國日益增強的挑釁，顯示兩國領袖有意違抗他們眼中弱化的美國。 Russia's amassing of troops along Ukraine's border is a signal that Putin will consider invasion unless Ukraine backs away from the West. 俄國在烏克蘭邊界陳兵，標誌著俄國總統普亭考慮進犯，除非烏克蘭退出西方陣營。 Foreign aggression often gives political leaders a chance to rally nationalistic support at home, especially as a distraction from domestic problems. And Russia has domestic problems, like surging COVID cases, stagnant wages and rising prices. Last year, opposition groups held some of the largest anti-Putin marches in years. 侵略外國通常能讓政治領袖有機會拉抬國內支持率，尤其是在轉移對國內問題注意力時。而俄國有國內問題，如新冠病例激增、薪資停滯和物價上漲。去年，反對派舉辦多年來規模最大的反普亭遊行。 Biden threatened sanctions on Russia. But sanctions might not be enough to deter Putin. Autocracies have endured sanctions in recent years partly with economic aid from other autocracies, including China. It's one of the realities of a world where autocracy is on the rise. 美國總統拜登威脅制裁俄國。不過，制裁可能不足以阻止普亭。近年來，一些專制政權挺過制裁，部分原因是收到其他專制政權的經濟援助，包括大陸。這就是這個世界的真相之一，也就是專制正在崛起。

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