（中英文双语）十三岁少年对美国大选的思考（上）

欢迎点击此处读狄艾伦的《自我介绍》- This link will take you to Alan's Biography

中文往下看。

Scroll down to read the English version: 13-year-old Alan's reflections on the Election (part 1). This was a homework assignment that he turned in. Needless to say, in school he was surrounded by Hillary supporters.

This is not to have a political debate. The platform where this essay is posted focuses on writing. Regardless of the political opinion expressed in his essay, I am encouraged by Alan's courage to think for himself and his ability to express it.

背景：

本文的英文作者狄艾伦（犬子）是居住在上海的美国公民。今年美国大选的那天他在学校上学。他就读的上海协和国际学校完全遵循美国教育制度，除当地聘请的中文老师和一些工作人员以外，其他从老师到学生都是外籍。

一般认为，此次美国大选总统候选人中代表民主党精英的希拉里会继续坚持走全球化的国际路线，因而也普遍更受具有国际背景的人士欢迎；而主张实行封闭式重建美国政策的共和党候选人特朗普在国际学校里几乎是被人唾弃的。竞选当天，艾伦就学的学校里很多老师学生几乎因为希拉里的失败而崩溃，如果作为少数人，当时你想表达对特朗普的支持或同情是需要极大的自信和勇气的。

不难想象，我那在位于美国首都华盛顿的乔治城大学就学的女儿以及她周围所有同学老师也无不支持希拉里。希拉里大势将去的当晚，很多热血澎湃的大学生泪流满面。

N年前我刚到美国时，一开始关心美国政治，就听到这个说法：“如果你年轻而不支持民主党，这说明你没心肺；如果你上了年纪而不支持共和党，这说明你没脑子。” 这是因为民主党一般都主张实行高税收“劫富济贫”，而共和党都主张降低税收让大家“自谋生路”。我承认我这些年来也一直在大脑和心肺之间摇摆。

在这次竞选过程中，我在孩子们面前尽量保持中立，但也难免多少表示过对两位候选人的不同角度的不喜欢。我是一个需要养家糊口的职业女性，就这一点上艾伦对我平时充满敬意和感激，所以当我听到艾伦言辞中反对希拉里的理由之一就是认为她不会给美国带来真正的女权时，我感到很震惊。这一点以后需要写长文讨论。

照常理，我这两个全球化时代国际家庭里长大的孩子都应该是像我女儿一样支持希拉里的。但是艾伦有他自己的想法。大选过后，艾伦学校的老师布置作业，提了两个问题需要学生对大选反思。艾伦居然不但支持特朗普，而且还敢于写出来把作业交上去。而老师对他的回答给了满分，甚至还鼓励他向《纽约时报》投稿。

以下就是学校老师提的两个问题：

Question 1:

How has America gone from “there” (the Pledge) to “here” (the Election)?

美国是怎么样从“那儿”（宣誓*）走到了“这儿”（这次大选）？

*是指美国宣誓词，誓言中强调美国是上帝之下一个全民皆享自由公正且不可分割的国度。

Question 2:

What will it take to start from “here” (the Election) and go “there” (define your own “there”)?

怎么才能从“这儿”（这次大选）走向“那儿”（描述你自己想要的“那儿”）？

以下是艾伦对第一个问题回答的全文。

Election Reflections （1）

对大选的思考 （上）

How has America gone from “there” (the Pledge) to “here” (the Election)?

美国是怎么样从“那儿”（宣誓*）走到了“这儿”（这次大选）？

I think we can all agree that the founding fathers of America did not anticipate the current “America.” Over the years, our democracy has held strong, while the republic has not. We have gone from one nation under God, to a scattered clump of different races and groups opposing each other. We have split our people into different parties, with completely different morals, opinions, and ideas. We have to pick a side depending on what we think… there is no true winner.

我想我们都可以同意，美国的国父们一定没有预料到当前的“美国”会是这样的。多年来，我们的民主保持了它的强大，而共和国却没有。我们从上帝之下的一个国度，变成了一个不同种族和团体相互对立的零散的群堆。我们把我们的人民分隔成了不同的党派，具有完全不同的道德观，意见和想法。我们必须根据我们的想法来选择一方..... 没有一个真正的赢家。

The question is, how did we get here? Over the years, more and more immigrants have come to America. It began with British colonists, encountering Native Americans and forcing them out of their own land. Wanting freedom, the colonies rebelled against their King. In 1776, America broke free and became an independent country. Then came the African slaves, forced to do hard labor throughout the 1800s, emancipated “freedom” after the civil war, only to find themselves being hunted down by the Ku Klux Klan. Then came the World Wars. A fight for global dominance. The collateral effect is millions on millions of refugees immigrating to America including Germans, Jews, Austrians, and more ethnicities around the world. Amidst the carnage of war, the fortunate ones were the refugees who made it to our shores. Finally, in this day, all sorts of Hispanic and Asian ethnicities are also seeking a better life in America. While this also ties into the immigration dilemma of Muslim refugees.

问题是，我们是怎么走到这一步的？多年来，越来越多的移民来到美国。它起始于英国殖民者，他们遇到美洲原住民并将他们从自己的土地赶走。想要自由，殖民地的殖民者们反抗了他们的君王。 1776年，美国获得自由，成为一个独立的国家。然后来了非洲奴隶，在整个19世纪被迫做着艰苦的劳动，虽然他们在美国内战后被解放而获得了“自由”，却又发现自己被Ku Klux Klan（三K党）追击猎杀。接着来了两次世界大战。（这是）为了争获全球统治地位的战争。其附属的效应是接踵而来的数百万移民美国的难民，包括德国人，犹太人，奥地利人和世界上更多的民族。在战争的大屠杀中，幸运的是那些抵达了我们的海岸的难民。最后，在今天，很多拉美人和亚洲的人群也为了寻求更美好的生活来到了美国。当然这就牵涉到当前穆斯林难民的移民困境。

What does that leave us with? Over twenty main races and religions that all have different views on what America should or shouldn't be.

这些会给我们留下什么？（留下的是）超过二十种主要种族和宗教，对美国应该或不应该是什么都持有不同的观点。

The current election was very much not democratic, despite the Founding Fathers’ differing philosophies. It was a desperate effort from candidates to ruthlessly secure votes from racial and religious groups also known as “identity politics." Immigration has made everyone who he is. I for one would not exist if it weren't for my grandparents that came on a boat to America, fleeing Austria just before World War Two. But these diverse racial and interest groups' opinions were also the downfall of many presidential candidates.

目前的选举是非常不民主的，尽管国父们的与此不同的理念。这次选举是候选人做的绝望的努力，他们冷酷无情地去获取各个种族和宗教团体的选票，也称为“身份政治”。移民造就了每一个人。譬如我，如果不是我的祖父母在二战爆发之前逃离奥地利乘船来到美国，我就不会存在。但这些多样化的种族和利益集团的意见也造成了许多总统候选人的败落。

Hillary Clinton was considered politically elite and many people felt she was out of touch with the working class. She misread the country's mood allowing Donald Trump to use this as an opportunity to show how down to earth he was. He explained how the elite were working against the working class and how the system was rigged and so on. This caught many people's attention eventually swaying him to victory!

希拉里·克林顿被认为是政治上的精英，许多人觉得她与劳动阶层脱节。她误解了国家的情绪，促成唐纳德·特朗普用这个机会来展示他是怎样一个接地气的人。他阐明了精英们如何在损害劳动阶层的利益，而且整个系统如何被操纵，等等。这吸引了很多人的注意力，最终天平摆向他的胜利！

I often think that Progressives tend to be hypersensitive about political correctness; as you almost can't say anything without offending a certain race or religion. It is thought that the Clinton campaign's strategy to include pandering to the Progressives and identity politics interest groups, hoping to mine their votes was its fatal mistake. Instead, this strategy alienated them to the dispossessed working class voters in the states whose electoral votes were needed to win the election.

我经常认为激进者们往往对政治正确性过于敏感; 因为你几乎一开口就会冒犯到某一种族或某一宗教。据认为，克林顿竞选阵营的战略的致命错误包括了去迎合激进分子和身份政治利益集团，希望去开采他们的选票。事与愿违，这种战略使他们疏远了一些州里那些被剥夺了财富的劳动阶层选民，而那些州的选举人票却正是赢得这次大选所必需的。

This accounts for why these voters went for Donald Trump. He is willing to state his opinions no matter how rash they may be. America needed a change, and Donald trump was the people's choice to politically incorrectly guide us there. We must re-discover the sacrifices our ancestors made to acquire the freedom that we now take for granted. Because even freedom isn't free.

这就是为什么这些选民投向了唐纳德·特朗普。特朗普愿意陈述他的意见，不管那些意见多么鲁莽。美国需要改变，人民选择了唐纳德·特朗普来“政治上不正确”地引导我们走向改变。我们必须重新发现我们祖先为了获得我们现在认为理所当然的自由所做的牺牲。因为就连自由也不是免费的。

- Alan Deutsch, November 2016, Shanghai

狄艾伦，于2016年11月，上海

注：本文的英文由我十三岁的儿子Alan Deutsch 创作。中文翻译由我本人原创。