美國人反省：英美主宰世界及其迷思（圖）

美國人的反省：英美的世界主宰地位及其迷思

美國資深外政專家 瓦特∙羅素∙米得 最近上NPR演講 ——“英美的主宰：文化或大戰略”。羅素在美國對外關係委員會做高級研究員，由“美國對外政策亨利∙基辛格基金”資助。羅素介紹了他的新著《上帝和金錢：英美和現代世界的形成》及其主要內容。

羅素談到，在最近300來年的世界大衝突中，為什麽英美總是贏 —— 英國在美國的獨立戰爭中輸了可能算是唯一的例外。他們習慣於贏得勝利，占盡上風，但隨之陷入勝利的迷思。

羅素把英美放在現代世界締造者的位置上。他認為，在英美改造世界的過程中，自由貿易政策居功至偉。說荷蘭人創造了自由貿易雛形，英國人將其發揚光大，美國人則將其完善。他形象地舉例說，自由貿易製度給“犯了錯誤”的法西斯德國和日本重新做人的機會 —— 德國大眾和日本本田豐田汽車借助於自由貿易，打敗美國不思進取的汽車工業，幫德國日本贏回了地位和榮譽。

羅素分析了英美成功主宰現代世界幾個世紀的成就，把它歸結於廣泛的英美（基督教）信仰中“個人主義”的價值取向。God helps those who help themselves. 個人主義價值和信仰與資本主義製度相輔相成，在思想上形成一種影響深遠的文化，席卷現代世界；在政治、經濟、貿易等實踐中逐漸形成一種大戰略，造就了戰無不勝的神話。

羅素談到，資本主義，金錢銅臭人人嫌棄，但“沒有金錢是萬萬不能的”，最後自命清高的光棍漢們還是要討回醜陋但有錢的老女人做老婆（old ugly daughter of the rich neighbor）. 他暗示俄羅斯和中國等一些國家多多少少在走這樣的路。

據一些書評說，羅素熟習神學和教會，比“理應學富五車的學問家們”更了解英美曆史。評論說羅素的選材和用語很講究，既令人捧腹開懷又叫人暴跳如雷。“美國白癡們一定很氣憤，他們以為關於生命、自由和追求快樂的理念1776年才開始； 如今的美國新保守主義者熱衷於‘改造世界，從中漁利’的信念，到了意醉神迷、不能自拔的地步，自由派英國癲子要是知道他們才是這種迷信的真正始作俑者，一定會老羞成怒； 世界各地的外國佬們，尤其是法語國家和阿拉伯人，曆來狐疑是英美在蓄意操弄世界事務，當他們確認英美在過去至少四個世紀裏確實有意為之，而如今又並不打算改變這一習慣時，還有什麽比這更可惡的呢？”

（“American know-nothings who assume life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness only began in 1776; liberal Brits who will be furious at the idea that they are the true and only forebears of our neocons’ obsession with changing the world and making a profit from it; and foreigners everywhere, especially in French-speaking and Arabic-speaking countries, who will have their worst historical myth confirmed, that the Anglo-Saxons have been intent on dominating world affairs for at least the past four centuries and have no plans to give up the habit now.”）

麵對如今動蕩的世界，美國人在反思他們的輝煌勝利史。這本書的介紹中說，英美曾經的想法是：“自從克倫威爾時代起，英語國家的人們就認為，他們的敵人仇恨自由和上帝、沒有道德、為了勝利不擇手段，他們把毫無忠誠可言的“第五縱隊”當救命稻草。這些敵人，從西班牙天主教徒，法國路易十四，德國納粹，共產黨，到阿凱達恐怖主義分子，都大同小異，敵視英美國家的信仰。英美雖然偶有小敗，但在世界大衝突中，沒有失敗紀錄，至少到現在為止沒有。”言外之意是，得道天助，神佑英美，既然贏了，就是對了，因為對了，上帝才幫忙。

（Since Oliver Cromwell's day, the English-speakers have seen their enemies as haters of liberty and God who care nothing for morality, who will do anything to win, and who rely on a treacherous fifth column to assure victory. Those enemies, from Catholic Spain and Louis XIV to the Nazis, communists, and Al-Qaeda, held similar beliefs about their British and American rivals, but we see that though the Anglo-Americans have lost small wars here and there, they have won the major conflicts. So far.）

在他們的反思中，有人認為基督教文明戰無不勝的曆史要宣告結束；包括羅素在內的其他人則持樂觀態度，認為目前的亂象隻是不同文明之間的磕磕碰碰而已。羅素的反思是，目前中東的衝突，對英美一直努力建立的全世界自由民主的資本主義體係提出新挑戰。對此，他沒有良方，隻是含糊其辭地提供一個永遠不會錯的建議 —— 對自由世界和她的敵人之間一再發生的衝突要深入理解，在此基礎上，建立一種多文明的外交體係（a diplomacy of civilizations based on a deeper understanding of the recurring conflicts between the liberal world system and its foes）。

NPR Radio Broadcasting, Mar 24, 2008

It's Your World (formerly World Affairs Council)
Anglo-American Dominance: Culture or Grand Strategy -- The program's speaker is Walter Russell Mead, Henry A. Kissinger senior fellow for U.S. Foreign Policy at the Council on Foreign Relations. In his new book, "God and Gold: Britain, America and the Making of the Modern World" Mead argues that the key to the predominance of the U.S. and England has been the individualistic ideology of the prevailing Anglo-American religion. Mead explains how this helped create a culture uniquely adapted to capitalism. Where some see an end to history and others a clash of civilizations, Mead sees the current conflicts in the Middle East as the latest challenge to the liberal, capitalist and democratic world system that the Anglo-Americans are trying to build. What we need now, he says, is a diplomacy of civilizations based on a deeper understanding of the recurring conflicts between the liberal world system and its foes.

Book Review
“Persuasively optimistic . . . he knows more theology and church than do most public intellectuals, and more Anglo-American history than do many of the more theologically learned; this makes for an interesting combination.”
-American Heritage

“Walter Mead’s new book is both delightful and outrageous: delightful in his mischievous, well-chosen use of poems, pamphlets, and political speeches to illustrate his arguments; and outrageous in the proper sense of the word–for it will outrage lots of readers: American know-nothings who assume life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness only began in 1776; liberal Brits who will be furious at the idea that they are the true and only forebears of our neocons’ obsession with changing the world and making a profit from it; and foreigners everywhere, especially in French-speaking and Arabic-speaking countries, who will have their worst historical myth confirmed, that the Anglo-Saxons have been intent on dominating world affairs for at least the past four centuries and have no plans to give up the habit now.”
-Paul Kennedy

“Ingenious . . . Mead enlivens the text with numerous amusing and illustrative anecdotes, artful literary allusions and helpful invocations of great historians and philosophers. A remarkable piece of historical analysis bound to provoke discussion and argument in foreign-policy circles.”
-Kirkus

“Walter Russell Mead has done it again. With his distinctive sweep and penetration, America's premier archeologist of ideas and their consequences unearths the cultural roots of large political movements and developments. Readers of this scintillating volume will see the modern world afresh.”
-George F. Will

"Walter Russell Mead has written yet another fascinating, thought-provoking book about America's global role. Mead weaves together history, theology, economics and politics to tell the story of the rise of the English speaking peoples and the world that they made. Churchill would have approved."
-Fareed Zakaria

Book Description

An illuminating account of the birth and rise of the global political and economic system that, sustained first by Britain and now by America, created the modern world.

Walter Russell Mead, one of our most distinguished foreign policy experts, makes clear that the key to the predominance of the two countries has been the individualistic ideology of the prevailing Anglo-American religion. Mead explains how this helped create a culture uniquely adapted to capitalism, a system under which both countries thrived. We see how, as a result, the two nations were able to create the liberal, democratic system whose economic and social influence continues to grow around the world.

With wit, verve, and stunning insight, Mead recounts what is, in effect, the story of a centuries-long war between the English-speaking peoples and their enemies. Sustained by control of the oceans that surround them, the British and their American heirs built a global system of politics, power, investment, and trade over the past three hundred years. Along the way, the two nations developed a sophisticated grand strategy that brought the English-speaking powers to a pinnacle of global power and prestige unmatched in the history of the world.

Since Oliver Cromwell's day, the English-speakers have seen their enemies as haters of liberty and God who care nothing for morality, who will do anything to win, and who rely on a treacherous fifth column to assure victory. Those enemies, from Catholic Spain and Louis XIV to the Nazis, communists, and Al-Qaeda, held similar beliefs about their British and American rivals, but we see that though the Anglo-Americans have lost small wars here and there, they have won the major conflicts. So far.

The stakes today are higher than ever; technological progress makes new and terrible weapons easier for rogue states and terror groups to develop and deploy. Where some see an end to history and others a clash of civilizations, Mead sees the current conflicts in the Middle East as the latest challenge to the liberal, capitalist, and democratic world system that the Anglo-Americans are trying to build. What we need now, he says, is a diplomacy of civlizations based on a deeper understanding of the recurring conflicts between the liberal world system and its foes. In practice, this means that Americans generally, and especially the increasingly influential evangelical community, must develop a better sense of America's place in the world.

Mead's emphasis on the English-speaking world as the chief hero (and sometimes villain) in modern history changes the way we see the world. Authoritative and lucid, God and Gold weaves history, literature, philosophy, and religion together into an eminently important work—a dazzling book that helps us understand the world we live in and our tumultuous times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nice7777]

回複bmsy的評論:
文明的盛衰是循環的,沒有永遠昌盛的文明
可憐的基督教文明隻是近代幾百年站到世界的最高點(基督教思想太狹隘,排他性太強)
儒家文明領先世界一千多年,隻是近代暫時落後,很快就會複興,重新站在世界文明的最高點
中國太老了,失去了創新發展的活力,新中國成立後,這個古老的國家重生了,逐漸恢複勃勃生機和創新發展的活力，儒家思想是包容的,因此隻要中國人恢複年輕的蓬勃朝氣活力,儒家文明將必然成為海納百川的最精深最廣大的文明,重回世界文明的頂點

[bmsy]

我認為基督教文明仍然是當代的文明的頂峰,沒有其它文明能超越.比如:伊斯蘭教文明,儒教文明等

[猜猜我是誰？]

有點高深，偶們不懂，露個臉。問好！

[飛飛~]

“changing the world and making a profit from it”--真是形象。
第一次聽說fifth column，去GOOGLE了一下才知道是什麽意思。
現在這種“亂象”會不會動搖基督教徒們對基督教的信仰？估計可能會激發他們對“敵人”更多的仇視。
“Mead sees the current conflicts in the Middle East as the latest challenge to the liberal, capitalist, and democratic world system that the Anglo-Americans are trying to build.”--英美還是認為他們是救世主。