這是Julian Casablancas在2019年為Henry Giroux的新書(shū)The Terror of the Unforeseen寫(xiě)的一篇序言。沒(méi)想到抽象歸抽象，組織長(zhǎng)篇語(yǔ)言的能力豬還是有一點(diǎn)的。

除了序言，更值得關(guān)注的顯然是這本書(shū)本身。下文的評(píng)論節(jié)選于《洛杉磯書(shū)評(píng)》“自我隔離中的思想家”系列。

本書(shū)討論了特朗普治理時(shí)期的美國(guó)民主情況，并認(rèn)為特朗普在表達(dá)時(shí)用到的分裂語(yǔ)言本身就是一種暴力行為，構(gòu)成了新自由主義法西斯（neoliberal fascism）的崛起和漫長(zhǎng)威權(quán)主義歷史的觀點(diǎn)。

祝您閱讀愉快！

When I speak about politics, I’m not speaking as a musician; I'm speaking as a citizen of a country imperiled. And because Henry So kindly and humbly handed me the microphone.

當(dāng)我談?wù)撜螘r(shí)，我不是以音樂(lè)家的身份發(fā)言;?我是作為一個(gè)處于危險(xiǎn)國(guó)家的公民發(fā)言的。同時(shí)，也因?yàn)楹嗬℉enry Giroux）如此善良和謙卑地給我發(fā)聲的機(jī)會(huì)。

Since the dawn of modern civilization the influence of wealth on power has been a relentless, often brutal, force. It might shape-shift through the eras, but the phenomenon has regenerated itself countless times. Whether it manifests through sheer military might or elaborate fraud and subterfuge, it is?ever-present,?ever-toxic, and?ultra-persistent.

自現(xiàn)代文明誕生以來(lái)，富人始終是一種無(wú)情地、甚至殘酷地影響著權(quán)力的力量。它可能會(huì)隨著時(shí)代的演變而變形，但這種現(xiàn)象已經(jīng)無(wú)數(shù)次再生。無(wú)論是通過(guò)純粹的軍事力量還是精心策劃的欺詐和詭計(jì)表現(xiàn)出來(lái)，富有階層對(duì)權(quán)力的控制都永遠(yuǎn)存在、永遠(yuǎn)有毒、永遠(yuǎn)維持著。

The wealthy don't need to hire armies to maintain their oppressive schemes anymore - they bribe politicians and control media elements instead. There is no system of oversight by independent bodies that can be trusted to maintain public welfare or truth as their priority.?The internet is now the world's largest subduction zone of myth.?Weaponized media?is the new propaganda, essentially an evolution of the?medieval model of?affluence and?oppression.

富人不再需要雇傭軍隊(duì)來(lái)維持他們的壓迫——他們可以直接賄賂政客并控制媒體。沒(méi)有一個(gè)可以信任的獨(dú)立機(jī)構(gòu)能夠監(jiān)督系統(tǒng)來(lái)維護(hù)公共福利，或把尋求真相作為其已任?；ヂ?lián)網(wǎng)現(xiàn)在是世界上最大的神話俯沖帶。武器化的媒體是新的宣傳機(jī)器，本質(zhì)上不過(guò)是中世紀(jì)富裕和壓迫模式的演變。

The elusiveness of truth is a central problem facing democracy as we now know it. That's why reading and celebrating people like Henry Giroux, who have dedicated themselves to?uncovering and teaching the truth, is so important.

真理的難以捉摸是我們目前民主所面臨的一個(gè)核心問(wèn)題。所以，閱讀和關(guān)注像亨利·吉魯（Henry Giroux）這樣致力于發(fā)現(xiàn)和教導(dǎo)真理的人非常重要。

In this moving and passionate book, Henry revives a spirit we can find in the great abolitionist Fredrick Douglass's words:“ It is not the light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused;?the propriety of the nation must be startled;?the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed." Henry eloquently describes an economic system that has produced massive inequities in wealth and power, undermining the very notion of justice, equality, and democracy itself.

在這本感人而充滿激情的書(shū)中，亨利（Henry Giroux）復(fù)興了一種古老的精神。我們可以從偉大的廢奴主義者弗雷德里克·道格拉斯（Fredrick Douglass）的話中找到這樣的精神：“需要的不是光，而是火;?需要的不是溫柔的陣雨，而是雷聲。我們需要風(fēng)暴、旋風(fēng)和地震。必須促進(jìn)國(guó)家的感情；必須喚起國(guó)家的良知；國(guó)家的虛禮必須被打破;?國(guó)家的虛偽必須被揭露。”亨利（Henry Giroux）雄辯地描述了當(dāng)下存在的這種經(jīng)濟(jì)體系：它造成了財(cái)富和權(quán)力的巨大不平等，破壞了正義、平等和民主。

I wish to offer a rallying cry for the separation of wealth and state, while lovingly confining capitalism to the?private sector, as opposed to having a for-profit government, and various other for-profit political vehicles. Of course, not all business activity is bad. But as many folks are finally beginning to realize, the corporate world's indifferent attitude to the suffering it creates - not to mention their control over policy - will likely end up trashing earth. The divisive jargon and disinformation in support of neoliberal ideals is all political distraction, a basic con laid out by billionaires for one dumb reason: so that they can pay no taxes.

我希望為財(cái)富和國(guó)家分離發(fā)出戰(zhàn)斗口號(hào)，同時(shí)將資本主義模式限制在私營(yíng)部門(mén)，[1]而不是讓它掌握著一個(gè)營(yíng)利性政府和其他各種營(yíng)利性的政治工具。當(dāng)然，并非所有的商業(yè)活動(dòng)都是壞的。但正如許多人終于開(kāi)始意識(shí)到的那樣，企業(yè)對(duì)于其造成的痛苦的漠不關(guān)心態(tài)度——更不用說(shuō)他們對(duì)政策的控制——最終可能會(huì)破壞全世界。支持新自由主義理想的分裂性術(shù)語(yǔ)和虛假信息都只不過(guò)是一種政治障眼法，只不過(guò)是億萬(wàn)富翁出于一個(gè)愚蠢的原因而設(shè)置的簡(jiǎn)單騙局：這樣他們就可以不納稅。

The word for this clean-cut attitude of modern pillaging is neoliberalism. This savage word is one that Henry uses a whole lot. It sounds so sophisticated, civilized, and reasonable: the “free market" is to be left alone to do its thing. Sounds positive, right?

用來(lái)描述這種干凈利落的現(xiàn)代掠奪態(tài)度的名詞正是新自由主義。這個(gè)野蠻的詞是本書(shū)作者（Henry Giroux）經(jīng)常使用的詞。這個(gè)詞聽(tīng)起來(lái)是這樣復(fù)雜、文明和合理：“自由市場(chǎng)”意味著自由地進(jìn)行交易而不受其他勢(shì)力干涉。聽(tīng)起來(lái)很積極，對(duì)吧？

But the fatal flaw of unchecked free markets and privatization is that the private sector doesn't care if people die. The private sector doesn't care if people suffer, or even if they are themselves the cause of the suffering.

但不受約束的自由市場(chǎng)和私有化的致命缺陷是，私營(yíng)部門(mén)不在乎人們是否死亡。私營(yíng)部門(mén)不在乎人們是否受苦，就算他們自己就是人們受苦的原因，他們也并不在乎。

Capitalism can work (the night is young!), but it must be more in balance with other important human values. Values like truth. Values like freedom while respecting the freedom of others. The value of human happiness over harming people to make a buck.

資本主義當(dāng)然還可以繼續(xù)下去（夜還長(zhǎng)著呢?。?，但它必須進(jìn)一步和其他重要的人類(lèi)價(jià)值取得平衡：譬如真相，譬如自由并尊重他人的自由。人類(lèi)幸福的價(jià)值是遠(yuǎn)勝過(guò)通過(guò)傷害他人來(lái)賺錢(qián)的。

In an ideal civilized world, companies and people would be incentivized to not hurt people. Currently, it's the other way around. Instead of using research to stop deadly behavior we use it to minimize costs. To evolve past medieval cultural values, we have to require that business succeeds without causing horrific suffering.

在一個(gè)理想的文明世界里，企業(yè)和（富）人們往往不傾向于傷人。但是，現(xiàn)在的情況正好相反。我們并不利用研究結(jié)果來(lái)阻止可能的致命傷害行為，而是用來(lái)降低成本。為了擺脫那種中世紀(jì)的文化價(jià)值觀，我們必須要求企業(yè)在不造成（工人）可怕痛苦的情況下取得成功。

Our system motivates and rewards this behavior. It perpetuates greed as our only clear value. Corporations will never change the system and relinquish their power; it is the system?that must change. That's why, for the good of everyone, we need to lovingly return real?power to the people.

我們的系統(tǒng)會(huì)激勵(lì)和獎(jiǎng)勵(lì)這種行為。我們的系統(tǒng)把貪婪永久化為我們唯一明確的價(jià)值。企業(yè)永遠(yuǎn)不會(huì)改變制度并放棄權(quán)力，必須改變的是制度。所以，為了每個(gè)人的利益，我們需要將真正的權(quán)力歸還給人民。

Henry Giroux's work, The Terror of the Unforeseen, is perhaps his most painfully relevant work yet, is a brilliant condemnation of the most oppressive force of this modern era: propaganda. It is a clarion call for citizens who seek truth in the face of disinformation and oppression.

亨利·吉魯（Henry Giroux）的《不可預(yù)知的恐怖》（The Terror of the Unforeseen）也許是他迄今為止最痛苦的作品，是對(duì)“宣傳”這一現(xiàn)代社會(huì)壓迫力量的精彩譴責(zé)。這也是對(duì)面對(duì)虛假信息和壓迫尋求真相的公民的一聲號(hào)角。

[1]?與公共部門(mén)（public sector）對(duì)應(yīng)，指國(guó)家經(jīng)濟(jì)中的私營(yíng)部分。The part of economy that is run by individuals and companies for profit and is not state controlled.?

written by Julian Casablancas

translated by Emu