2020年经济学人 《幸存的独裁统治》书评--橙色警告(1)

Books & arts

文艺板块

Book Review

书评

American politics

美国政治学

Orange warning

橙色警告

Surviving Autocracy¹.

《幸存的独裁统治》

By Masha Gessen.

作者：玛莎·格森

Two days after Donald Trump² was elected, Masha Gessen argued in the New York Review of Books that he was “the first candidate in memory who ran not for president, but for autocrat—and won.” The piece offered advice, such as “Do not be taken in by small signs of normality.”

唐纳德·特朗普当选两天后，玛莎·格森在《纽约书评》中表示，“记忆中，特朗普是第一位不是要竞选总统，而是要当选独裁者的候选人，而且他也获胜了。”这篇文章中提出了一些建议，比如“不要被一些正常的小迹象所迷惑。”

The years since have testified to Mr Trump’s autocratic instincts. He has been more hostile to oversight³ and dissent⁴, and more demanding of personal loyalty⁵ and displays of adulation, than any American president in memory. He has spurned⁶ allies and fawned⁷ over dictators. In a pithy⁸ but overstated new book, Gessen (who prefers to be referred to that way) updates and expands on that early warning. Mr Trump, Gessen writes, is qualitatively⁹ different from any of his predecessors¹⁰, given as he is to “ignoring and destroying all institutions of accountability”.

此后的几年证明了特朗普的专制本性。相较于记忆中的任何一位美国总统，特朗普都要更加敌视疏忽和异议，更加要求个人忠诚和炫耀奉承。他摒弃盟友，奉承独裁者。在一本简练但言过其实的新书中，格森（他更喜欢这样称呼）对那条早期提出的警告进行更新和扩展。格森写道，特朗普与所有前任总统都有质的不同，因为他“无视并破坏所有的问责制度”。

The author, who was born in the Soviet¹¹ Union and has written acutely about Vladimir Putin’s Russia, chronicles Mr Trump’s tussles¹² with those institutions. The determination of the press to appear objective and balanced, Gessen argues, as well as its weakness for hope, have prevented it from accurately¹³ describing Mr Trump’s predations— even as it hyped his normal-seeming moments. Pillars of the state, such as the Office of Government Ethics¹⁴, were accustomed to compliance¹⁵ from the White House and ill-equipped to counter open defiance¹⁶. Congress was riven and cowed.

作者出生于苏联，曾经文笔尖锐地描写过弗拉基米尔·普京统治的俄罗斯，他记述了特朗普与这些机构的争斗。格森认为，新闻界想要表现出客观和平衡的决心，以及对希望的向往，使其无法准确描述特朗普的掠夺行径——即使它大肆宣传特朗普似乎很正常的时刻。美国联邦政府道德办公室等政府支柱机构，习惯于服从白宫的指示，而且也没有准备好反击公开的挑衅。国会受到了猛烈的抨击和恐吓。

Civil society and the judiciary have each mounted resistance where they can; but, Gessen maintains, they “function on the assumption that they are partners in an ongoing¹⁷ negotiation¹⁸”, whereas Mr Trump “sees any attempt at negotiation as an affront¹⁹ to his power—something that needs to be quashed at any cost.”On this view, Democrats²⁰ have too often let him dictate²¹ the terms of political battle. For instance, Gessen derides²² Chuck Schumer, the Senate minority leader, for saying he had a “policy difference” with Mr Trump over the border wall, rather than straightforwardly²³ calling the scheme “immoral”.

民间社会和司法机构在力所能及的情况下进行抵抗；但是，格森坚持认为，他们“假定自己是正在进行的一场谈判中的合作伙伴，并基于这样的情况进行运作”，而特朗普“认为任何谈判企图都是对其权力的侮辱，需要不惜任何代价予以制止。”在这种观点下，民主党人经常让他决定政治斗争的条件。例如，格森嘲笑参议院少数派领袖查克·舒默，因为他表示，自己与特朗普在边境墙问题上存在“政策分歧”，而没有直截了当地称该计划“不道德”。

1 autocracy   

n.独裁政治，独裁政府

参考例句：

• The revolution caused the overthrow of the autocracy.这场革命导致了独裁政体的结束。
• Many poor countries are abandoning autocracy.很多贫穷国家都在放弃独裁统治。

2 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。

3 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

4 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

5 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

6 spurned   

v.一脚踢开，拒绝接受( spurn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Eve spurned Mark's invitation. 伊夫一口回绝了马克的邀请。
• With Mrs. Reed, I remember my best was always spurned with scorn. 对里德太太呢，我记得我的最大努力总是遭到唾弃。 来自辞典例句

7 fawned   

v.（尤指狗等）跳过来往人身上蹭以示亲热( fawn的过去式和过去分词 )；巴结；讨好

参考例句：

• The dog fawned on [upon] the boy. 那条狗向那少年摇尾乞怜。 来自辞典例句
• The lion, considering him attentively, and remembering his former friend, fawned upon him. 狮子将他仔细地打量了一番，记起他就是从前的那个朋友，于是亲昵地偎在他身旁。 来自辞典例句

8 pithy   

adj.(讲话或文章)简练的

参考例句：

• Many of them made a point of praising the film's pithy dialogue.他们中很多人特别赞扬了影片精炼的对白。
• His pithy comments knocked the bottom out of my argument.他精辟的评论驳倒了我的论点。

9 qualitatively   

质量上

参考例句：

• In other words, you are to analyze them quantitatively and qualitatively. 换句话说，你们要对它们进行量和质的分析。
• Electric charge may be detected qualitatively by sprinkling or blowing indicating powders. 静电荷可以用撒布指示粉剂的方法，予以探测。

10 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

12 tussles   

n.扭打，争斗( tussle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They need no running fights with large, fierce rats or tussles with grown rabbits. 它们不必奔跑着与大又凶的老鼠搏斗了，也不必跟大兔子扭斗了。 来自辞典例句
• The magazine has had a series of tussles with Asian governments. 该杂志曾与亚洲多国政府发生争执。 来自互联网

13 accurately   

adv.准确地，精确地

参考例句：

• It is hard to hit the ball accurately.准确地击中球很难。
• Now scientists can forecast the weather accurately.现在科学家们能准确地预报天气。

14 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

15 compliance   

n.顺从；服从；附和；屈从

参考例句：

• I was surprised by his compliance with these terms.我对他竟然依从了这些条件而感到吃惊。
• She gave up the idea in compliance with his desire.她顺从他的愿望而放弃自己的主意。

16 defiance   

n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗

参考例句：

• He climbed the ladder in defiance of the warning.他无视警告爬上了那架梯子。
• He slammed the door in a spirit of defiance.他以挑衅性的态度把门砰地一下关上。

17 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

18 negotiation   

n.谈判，协商

参考例句：

• They closed the deal in sugar after a week of negotiation.经过一星期的谈判，他们的食糖生意成交了。
• The negotiation dragged on until July.谈判一直拖到7月份。

19 affront   

n./v.侮辱，触怒

参考例句：

• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。
• This remark caused affront to many people.这句话得罪了不少人。

20 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》

21 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？

22 derides   

v.取笑，嘲笑( deride的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• That newspaper columnist derides the mayor whenever he can. 那位报纸专栏作家从不放过取笑市长的机会。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Bayrou derides his rivals for proposing to spend France's problems away. Bayrou先生嘲笑他的竞争者意图将法国的问题撇开。 来自互联网

23 straightforwardly   

adv.正直地

参考例句：

• He hated her straightforwardly, making no effort to conceal it. 他十分坦率地恨她，从不设法加以掩饰。 来自辞典例句
• Mardi, which followed hard on its heels, was another matter. Mardi begins straightforwardly. 紧跟着出版的《玛地》，却是另一回事。《玛地》开始时平铺直叙。 来自辞典例句