評論
打印
He was attempting to repress and criminalize
他試圖壓制和定罪
those who sympathized with an economic system that was, even then, failing
那些贊同哪怕在當時都已經很失敗的經濟體制的人
McCarthy's Red Scare destroyed thousands of lives
麥卡錫的紅色恐懼讓數以千計的人失去了生命
but what was he so afraid of?
他害怕的是什么呢
An idea in this case, communism
是一種思想 也就是共產主義
that he and others deemed dangerous
他和一些人認為這種思想很危險
But he was right about one thing
不過他至少在一點上是正確的
Ideas can be dangerous
思想確實危險
They can change society
思想能夠改變社會
They can upend traditions
思想能夠顛覆傳統
They can start revolutions
思想能夠開啟革命
That's why throughout history
這就是為什么歷史上
those in authority have tried to repress ideas that threaten their
那些權貴要抑制思想 避免這些思想威脅到
power, their religion, their ideology, or their reelection chances
他們的權力 宗教 意識形態以及地位
That was true for Socrates and Galileo
蘇格拉底和伽利略是這樣
it was true for Nelson Mandela and Václav Havel
納爾遜?曼德拉和瓦茨拉夫?哈維爾是這樣
and it has been true for Ai Wei Wei, Pussy Riot
艾未未 造反貓咪樂隊
and the kids who made the "Happy" video in Iran
以及在伊朗制作"快樂"視頻的孩子們也是這樣
Repressing free expression is a natural human weakness
壓抑自由言論表達是人類本性上的弱點
and it is up to us to fight it at every turn
每次出現時 我們都需要同它進行斗爭
Intolerance of ideas whether liberal or conservative
對思想的不寬容 無論是自由還是保守派思想
is antithetical to individual rights and free societies
都是同個人權利和自由社會背道而馳的
and it is no less antithetical to great universities and first-rate scholarships
以上這些自然也適用于偉大大學和頂尖學者
There is an idea floating around college campuses including here at Harvard I think
大學校園正流傳著一種觀點 我想哈佛也不例外
that scholars should be funded only if their work conforms to a
認為學者只有在研究符合特定正義觀念的前提下
particular view of justice
才應獲得資助
There's a word for that idea: censorship
這種觀點可以用一個詞來概括：審查
And it is just a modern-day form of McCarthyism
這是麥卡錫主義的當代表現
Think about the irony
想想這有多么諷刺
In the 1950s, the right wing was attempting to repress left wing ideas
40年代 右翼試圖抑制左翼思想
Today, on many college campuses
而今天 在很多大學校園
it is liberals trying to repress conservative ideas
自由派則開始抑制保守派思想
even as conservative faculty members are at risk of becoming an endangered species
保守派教職員工甚至就快成為瀕危物種
And that is probably nowhere more true than here in the Ivy League
這種情況尤其是在常春藤盟校最為突出
