特朗普的崛起败坏了民主信誉?

 　　This week, Republicans will endorse¹ the first US presidential nominee² since the second world war to reject America’s globalist consensus³. It is hard to see beyond that stark⁴ fact. Yet it is only the second most troubling feature of Donald Trump⁵’s rise. The bigger one is his impact on the health of American democracy. Even if Mr Trump is defeated in November, it will be hard to put the genie⁶ back into the bottle. Budding demagogues will have taken note. You can denigrate⁷ most of the people most of the time and still have a shot at the main prize.

　　美国共和党正在举行大会，预计会正式提名唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)作为该党的总统候选人。他将是二战以来首位对美国的全球主义共识说不的总统候选人。人们很难从这一严峻现实中看到积极的一面。然而，这还不是特朗普崛起最令人担忧的地方。最令人不安的是他对美国民主制度健康运行的影响。即便特朗普在11月的大选中失利，释放出的魔鬼也很难再收回瓶中。蠢蠢欲动的煽动者将牢记此道。你可以在大部分时间里诋毁大多数人，同时照样有机会获得“大奖”。

　　Stripped to their essence, US presidential elections are a tug⁸ of war between freedom and equity⁹. It is impossible to get a full dose of both. Republicans generally favour liberty over equality and Democrats¹⁰ the reverse. Other people’s dignity is not up for grabs. Mr Trump’s hostile takeover of the Republican party has shredded¹¹ that equation. Comparisons between Mr Trump and Ronald Reagan are particularly misleading. Mr Trump speaks to that part of people that feels cheated, slighted and humiliated¹². People who attend his rallies emerge angrier than before. “You walked out of a Reagan rally in a spirit of optimism,” says Stuart Stevens, an adviser¹³ to Republican nominee Mitt¹⁴ Romney. “You leave a Trump rally ready for a fight.”

　　就本质而言，美国总统选举是一场自由与公平之间的拉锯战。两个目标不可能同时全面实现。共和党通常偏爱自由胜过平等，而民主党恰好相反。不能拿其他人的尊严做买卖。特朗普对共和党的敌意接管打破了这种平衡。把特朗普与罗纳德·里根(Ronald Reagan)进行类比尤其误导。特朗普的目标受众是那些感觉受到欺骗、轻视和羞辱的人。参加特朗普竞选集会的人在离开会场时比之前更加愤怒。“你带着乐观精神走出里根的竞选集会，”上届共和党总统候选人米特·罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)的顾问斯图尔特·史蒂文斯(Stuart Stevens)说，“离开特朗普的竞选集会时，你只想找茬。”

　　It should be no surprise when violence ensues. Mr Trump has given supporters the green light by saying he would like to punch the protesters himself. This week’s Cleveland convention will test Mr Trump’s self-control on a grander level. For the first time since the 1960s, far-right white supremacist groups will be likely to be patrolling the same streets as black civil rights protesters. Taboo¹⁵ sentiments, such as Holocaust¹⁶ denial, are seeping¹⁷ back into the conversation.

　　所以，暴力接踵而来是不足为奇的。特朗普为支持者大开绿灯，称他很想亲自狠揍异议者。本周在克利夫兰举行的共和党大会将在更大层面上考验特朗普的自我控制。自上世纪60年代以来，极右的白人至上主义者团体很可能将首次与黑人民权抗议者在相同街道上游行。曾被视为禁忌的看法（如否认犹太人大屠杀）正在一点点回到人们的谈话中。

　　It is facile to blame it all on social media. Technology makes it easier for fringe groups to disseminate¹⁸ their prejudices. But it is leaders that validate¹⁹ such demons²⁰. Anyone who doubts that should watch how children respond to adult supervision²¹. Then they should read Lord of the Flies.

　　把这一切都归咎于社交媒体未免草率。科技使得边缘群体更易于散播他们的偏见。但让这些偏见具有份量的是领导人。怀疑这一点的任何人，都应该看看孩子们对成年人监督的反应。然后，他们应读一读《蝇王》(Lord of the Flies)。

　　Comparisons between Mr Trump and Italy’s Silvio Berlusconi are far more apt. A leading Italian scholar, Luigi Zingales, recalls an event at which the country’s former prime minister taunted²² an embarrassed young woman by making repeated schoolboyish puns about orgasms. The shocking part was not Mr Berlusconi’s boorishness²³ but the audience’s wild applause.

　　将特朗普与意大利的西尔维奥?贝卢斯科尼(Silvio Berlusconi)进行类比恰当得多。意大利知名学者路易吉?津加莱斯(Luigi Zingales)回忆起在一场活动上，这位意大利前总理不停地讲“荤段子”来奚落一位陷入窘境的年轻女子。令人震惊的不是贝卢斯科尼的粗鲁行为，而是观众热烈的掌声。

　　“Such approval would have been unimaginable before the rise of Berlusconi,” said Mr Zingales. “There is no way of measuring the degree to which he has debased public life in Italy.” The same applies to the Trump effect. But the quality of Italy’s democracy is largely an Italian affair. Even Britain’s decision to leave the EU is ultimately local. What happens in America shapes the fate of democracy around the world.

　　“贝卢斯科尼崛起之前，这样的赞许简直无法想象，”津加莱斯说，“无法衡量他对意大利公共生活的败坏程度。”特朗普效应也是如此。但意大利民主的质量在很大程度上只是意大利国内事务。就连英国退欧决定的影响最终也是局部的。美国的情况影响着世界各地民主的命运。

　　Mr Trump’s rise is bad news for our system of government on three fronts. First, he has shown you can rise to the top of the world’s most cherished democracy by scapegoating²⁴ entire categories of people. Whether that is illegal Hispanic immigrants, women he deems unattractive, Muslims of any kind, or African-Americans who get uppity, Mr Trump has profited from other people’s indignity²⁵. Apologists for Mr Trump say he is only channelling popular sentiment. In fact, he is licensing²⁶ its darkest instincts. Alarmists liken today’s crisis of democracy to the 1930s. A more instructive parallel is what followed. No country reflected more deeply about the meaning of constitutional democracy than post-Nazi Germany. The first line of Germany’s 1949 Basic Law is: “Human dignity shall be inviolable.”

　　特朗普的崛起在三个方面对我们的政府体制意味着凶兆。首先，他展示了，你可以通过让整个群体成为替罪羊来登上世界最受珍视的民主制度的最高领导岗位。不论是非法的西语裔移民、他眼中缺乏魅力的女性、任何教派的穆斯林，或是自负的非裔美国人，特朗普受益于对别人的羞辱。特朗普的辩护者称，他只是在引导民意。实际上，他在激发人性中最黑暗的一面。危言耸听者喜欢把当下的民主危机与1930年代相提并论。更有启示的比较对象是1930年代之后发生的事情。没有哪个国家比二战后的德国更深入地反思了宪政民主的意义。德国1949年制定的《基本法》(Basic Law)的第一章第一条即为：“人的尊严不可侵犯。”

　　Second, he has made post-factual politics respectable. US detractors — call them the “expert class” — quixotically fact-check Mr Trump’s stream of assertions. No, America’s president does not have the authority to order American companies to repatriate²⁷ overseas plants. No, Mr Trump did not oppose the 2003 Iraq war. Yes, the US maintains a nuclear triad. No, the US Treasury²⁸ cannot unilaterally rewrite the terms on its debt obligations. And no, America’s constitution does not permit a religious test for citizenship²⁹. To pro-democracy forces in places like China, Mr Trump’s immunity³⁰ from truth is baffling. Eric Li, a leading Chinese venture capitalist, says Mr Trump’s success has undercut liberal reformists in China. “If the people can be so wrong, how can you give them the vote?” he wrote recently in Foreign Affairs.

　　第二，他使得无视事实的政治文化成为常态。美国的批评者——不妨称其为“专家阶层”——唐吉诃德式地核实特朗普的各种断言。不对，美国总统无权下令美国企业将海外工厂迁回国内。不对，特朗普并未反对2003年的伊拉克战争。是的，美国保持着核三位一体（指一国同时具备陆基洲际弹道导弹、潜射弹道导弹和战略轰炸机三种核打击方式的能力——译者注）。不对，美国财政部不能单方面修改其债务契约的条款。不对，美国宪法不允许对公民资格进行宗教测试。对于中国等国的亲民主力量而言，特朗普信口雌黄却照样崛起，令他们困惑。知名华裔风险资本家李世默(Eric Li)表示，特朗普的成功不利于中国的自由派改革者。“如果人民会犯如此大的错，怎么能给他们选票呢？”他最近在《外交》(Foreign Affairs)杂志上写道。

　　Finally, Mr Trump has corroded³¹ faith that rules-based societies are self-sustaining. This time it really could be different. The real estate mogul has never encountered a setback³² where he did not head straight to the nearest court to overturn it. Does anyone believe a defeated Mr Trump would call Hillary Clinton on November 8 to wish her luck? It is easy to forget that democracy is based on adversaries’ respect for the integrity of the system. Mutual³³ trust, not law, is democracy’s strongest glue. Belief in human dignity is what underpins³⁴ it.

　　最后，特朗普腐蚀了一种信念——即基于规则的社会可以长治久安。这次真的可能会不同。这位房地产大亨每次遇到阻碍，都会径直前往最近的法院试图将其推翻。有人认为被击败的特朗普会在11月8日打电话给希拉里?克林顿(Hillary Clinton)祝她好运吗？很容易被遗忘的是，民主建立在竞争者都尊重体制诚信的基础上。相互信任（而非法律）是民主制度最强的黏合剂，而支撑互信的是对人的尊严的信念。

　　At his nomination³⁵ in Cleveland this week, Mr Trump will present his opponent as a crook³⁶, his critics as losers, his business record as unparalleled, and his invented facts as the gospel. At least 40 per cent of Americans will still vote for him in November. Democracy’s enemies and friends alike may ask: “How many Trumps³⁷ can the system take?”

　　周二在克利夫兰被正式提名后发表讲话时，特朗普将把他的对手描述为骗子，把他的批评者描述为失败者，他的从商经历无人能及，他虚构的事实是福音。仍会有至少40%的美国人将在11月投票支持特朗普。民主制度的敌人和朋友或许都会问：“这一制度能容纳多少个特朗普？”

1 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

2 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

4 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

5 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

6 genie   

n.妖怪，神怪

参考例句：

• Now the genie of his darkest and weakest side was speaking.他心灵中最阴暗最软弱的部分有一个精灵在说话。
• He had to turn to the Genie of the Ring for help.他不得不向戒指神求助。

7 denigrate   

v.诬蔑，诽谤

参考例句：

• It was unkind to denigrate her achievement.贬低她的成就是刻薄的。
• To assert this is to denigrate the effectiveness of the police.坚持这一点就是贬低警方的办事能力。

8 tug   

v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船

参考例句：

• We need to tug the car round to the front.我们需要把那辆车拉到前面。
• The tug is towing three barges.那只拖船正拖着三只驳船。

9 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

10 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 shredded   

shred的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Serve the fish on a bed of shredded lettuce. 先铺一层碎生菜叶，再把鱼放上，就可以上桌了。
• I think Mapo beancurd and shredded meat in chilli sauce are quite special. 我觉得麻婆豆腐和鱼香肉丝味道不错。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

13 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

14 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

15 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

16 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

17 seeping   

v.（液体）渗( seep的现在分词 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• Water had been slowly seeping away from the pond. 池塘里的水一直在慢慢渗漏。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Chueh-hui could feel the cold seeping into his bones. 觉慧开始觉得寒气透过衣服浸到身上来了。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

18 disseminate   

v.散布；传播

参考例句：

• We should disseminate science and promote the scientific spirit.普及科学知识，弘扬科学精神。
• We sincerely welcome all countries to disseminate their languages in China.我们真诚地欢迎世界各国来华推广本国语言。

19 validate   

vt.（法律）使有效，使生效

参考例句：

• You need an official signature to validate the order.你要有正式的签字，这张汇票才能生效。
• In order to validate the agreement,both parties sign it.为使协议有效，双方在上面签了字。

20 demons   

n.恶人( demon的名词复数 )；恶魔；精力过人的人；邪念

参考例句：

• demons torturing the sinners in Hell 地狱里折磨罪人的魔鬼
• He is plagued by demons which go back to his traumatic childhood. 他为心魔所困扰，那可追溯至他饱受创伤的童年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

22 taunted   

嘲讽( taunt的过去式和过去分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落

参考例句：

• The other kids continually taunted him about his size. 其他孩子不断地耻笑他的个头儿。
• Some of the girls taunted her about her weight. 有些女孩子笑她胖。

23 boorishness   

参考例句：

24 scapegoating   

v.使成为替罪羊( scapegoat的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Washington's scapegoating of China could take the world to the brink of a very slippery slope. 华盛顿方面找中国作替罪羊，可能会把世界推向灾难性下滑的边缘。 来自互联网

25 indignity   

n.侮辱，伤害尊严，轻蔑

参考例句：

• For more than a year we have suffered the indignity.在一年多的时间里,我们丢尽了丑。
• She was subjected to indignity and humiliation.她受到侮辱和羞辱。

26 licensing   

v.批准，许可，颁发执照( license的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• A large part of state regulation consists of occupational licensing. 大部分州的管理涉及行业的特许批准。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• That licensing procedures for projects would move faster. 这样的工程批准程序一定会加快。 来自辞典例句

27 repatriate   

v.遣返；返回；n.被遣返回国者

参考例句：

• The government safely repatriates victims.政府安全遣返了受害者。
• In this part,you need to formulate in detail repatriate the plan.在这一部分，你需要制定详细的归国计划。

28 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

29 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

30 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

31 corroded   

已被腐蚀的

参考例句：

• Rust has corroded the steel rails. 锈侵蚀了钢轨。
• Jealousy corroded his character. 嫉妒损伤了他的人格。

32 setback   

n.退步，挫折，挫败

参考例句：

• Since that time there has never been any setback in his career.从那时起他在事业上一直没有遇到周折。
• She views every minor setback as a disaster.她把每个较小的挫折都看成重大灾难。

33 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

34 underpins   

n.基础材料( underpin的名词复数 )；基础结构；（学说、理论等的）基础；（人的）腿v.用砖石结构等从下面支撑（墙等）( underpin的第三人称单数 )；加固（墙等）的基础；为（论据、主张等）打下基础；加强

参考例句：

• A powerful sense of mission underpins everything he does. 一种强烈的使命感支撑他所做的一切。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His presence at the crime underpins the case against him. 案子发生时他在场对他更不利。 来自辞典例句

35 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

36 crook   

v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处)

参考例句：

• He demanded an apology from me for calling him a crook.我骂他骗子，他要我向他认错。
• She was cradling a small parcel in the crook of her elbow.她用手臂挎着一个小包裹。

37 trumps   

abbr.trumpets 喇叭；小号；喇叭形状的东西；喇叭筒v.（牌戏）出王牌赢（一牌或一墩）( trump的过去式 )；吹号公告，吹号庆祝；吹喇叭；捏造

参考例句：

• On the day of the match the team turned up trumps. 比赛那天该队出乎意料地获得胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Every time John is late getting home he trumps up some new excuse. 每次约翰晚回家都会编造个新借口。 来自《简明英汉词典》