Only Obama Can Cure the Conflicts Caused by Republicans’ Neoliberalism

Published in Nanfang Daily
(China) on July 5 2011
by Guo Kai (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Alice Cwern. Edited by Mark DeLucas.
Recently, the revelation of corruption and crony capitalism within Hamid Karzai's government forced the former governor of Afghanistan’s Central Bank to flee in fear of his life to the United States. The United States hopes to help build a superficial democratic government directly without involving the citizens of Afghanistan. In reality, however, entrusting a foreign party to execute the political plan is not going to work. And some of the Republican presidential candidates agree. In other words, the United States needs to have a better military withdrawal plan in Afghanistan than Obama's current plan. It is to America's best interest to completely let go of all of its military interventions and its so-called humanitarian intervention in Afghanistan.

Liberals, including Obama, who also embraces idealism, think that they can develop and improve a country by injecting it with a democratic system. After Japan's complete defeat in World War II, the United States managed to replace Japan's militarism with democracy; however, it would be impossible to replicate that as it was backed by special historical conditionals. On top of that, Japan had already completed its economic and political reform prior to the war. At the moment, in any developing country that is undergoing modernization and democratic change, without the majority of its citizens wanting the improvement and change on their own, the person and organization supported by foreign infiltration and intervention are stuck within the constraints of the country's current stage of development, or are very likely to be a copy of the current corrupt people or dictator. Hamid Karzai is just one example, as the United States has raised many other corrupt people within developing region.

Right now, some of the Republican presidential candidates are not following the mainstream point of view regarding the policy in Afghanistan. Most of the "traditional" Republican opinion leaders refuse to look at the "alternatives." It is frustrating to see that once the Republicans' campaign has reached the shallow stage in which the only agenda is to attack Obama, some Republicans have lost their ability to remain fair and rational as they look at Obama's policies. Actually, these "alternative" points of view are the advantages to the Republicans on taking back the leadership, although they might still not be enough to bring them a victory over Obama. The Republican opinion leaders also predict that former Republican governor Mitt Romney would be blamed for signing the Medicare reform bill in Massachusetts that ultimately served as a model for Obama's Medicare reform. In fact, Mitt Romney's resume on Medicare reform and the Republicans who have a different point of view of the Afghanistan War are helping the Republicans in the presidential campaign by bringing in more voters.

The economic blueprint drawn by U.S. leaders is the most critical factor that decides the result of the presidential campaign and the prosperity of the country. Republicans in general share the characteristics of neoliberalism, and this is the reason why they cannot lead the United States to respond to the external challenges during the era of globalization and cannot lead the United States to economic recovery. The outcasts amongst the Republicans are probably in the same boat. The global economic conflicts are not the only result of the conflict between countries.

As long as international corporations like Apple allow their suppliers in developing countries to use toxic chemicals that can paralyze their workers in order to increase profits, and as long as the farmers in developing countries continue to be denied the right to form unions or to negotiate as if they are workers in the United States and other developed countries, there is no future for job and economic recovery within the United States. Only liberals like Obama or Bill Clinton can find a solution to the economic conflicts and the imbalance in supply and demand brought by the globalization of the neoliberalism that denies the rights of workers.


最近,因为揭露卡尔扎伊政府严重腐败的裙带资本主义、被迫逃亡美国的阿富汗中央银行行长遭受到生命威胁。美国希望通过绕开阿富汗人民、直接扶持一个假模假样的民主政府,但其实外国代理人政权的方案是行不通的。一些共和党总统候选人参选人就持此观点。也就是说,美国需要比奥巴马总统的现行计划还要彻底的阿富汗撤军行动。彻底放弃在阿富汗的军事干预或者所谓的军事人道干预,是美国的最大利益所在。

  拥有理想主义情怀的自由主义者,包括奥巴马在内,认为外部力量移入的民主形式,可以发展和改良一个国家。可惜,二战后美国在彻底战败的前军国政权统治下的日本的民主政治扶持业绩,是当时的特殊历史条件下无法复制的产品,而且日本在战前已经完成了经济生产和社会政策的现代化转型。当前,对于任何一个发展中国家的现代化和民主化转型,没有该国多数民众自发成长的进步和转型要求的话,任何海外干预和渗透所扶植的代理人或者代理组织,都不会摆脱这一国家现有的发展阶段的限制,甚至很可能也只是其所反对的腐败者、独裁者的复制品,比如被扶植出来的阿富汗的卡尔扎伊,还有美国在世界其他发展中地区扶植出来的那些腐败者们。

  目前,美国共和党总统候选人一众参选者中也有些另类人士,其对阿富汗政策的立场,就是另类的一个方面。很多非常“正统”的共和党的意见领袖们,都不看这种“另类”。令人扼腕的是,当共和党人的竞选走入了以攻击奥巴马为全部要义的肤浅阶段时,党内一些人对奥巴马政府的很多主要政策,已经丧失了公平和理性评判的能力。其实,这些“另类”观点,恰恰正是共和党重建领导能力的优势所在,虽然仅凭这些,还不足以保证能够制胜奥巴马。此外,共和党的意见领袖们还预期,签署了实际上是奥巴马医保改革样本的马萨诸塞州医保改革法案的前共和党州长罗姆尼,会因为他在医保改革上的经历而遭到责难。但事实上,罗姆尼的医保改革履历,和对阿富汗战争持另类观点的共和党人一样,都将是帮助共和党在全国大选中,争取更多中间选民、增大和奥巴马竞争优势的加分点。

  最终决定美国大选和美国国运的因素,在于美国领导者刻画出的经济蓝图。而在这一点上,共和党所普遍具有的新自由主义意识形态,这是其无法领导美国应对全球化时代由外部而来的经济挑战、无法引领美国经济复兴的最大原因,即便是共和党的另类者,恐怕也不例外。因为,现在的全球经济矛盾,已经不完全是国家与国家之间的矛盾。

  当苹果公司这样的全球化企业在发展中国家里,为了资本利润而允许其代工厂使用可以致工人四肢麻痹的廉价毒性化学品时,当新兴经济体内的农民工得不到美国和其他发达国家工人所享有的集体谈判和组织议价权时,美国境内的就业和经济复兴是没有前景的。对于把劳动者权利全部抹杀的新自由主义全球化所带来的经济矛盾和需求缺失,只有奥巴马和克林顿这样的自由主义者,能找到解决方案。
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