The US Is Sick; Are Americans Aware?

Published in Huanqiu
(China) on 6 July 2020
by Zhao Minghao (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Liza Roberts. Edited by Elizabeth Cosgriff.
A recent poll released by the well-known American analytics company Gallup showed that the percentage of respondents who are “very proud” of the United States has decreased to 42%, reaching its lowest point in 20 years. According to records of polling on American pride, this percentage stood at 69% in 2003.

Obviously, this decline in U.S. national pride is closely related to the three major crises that the country is currently facing that have incited large-scale demonstrations and an economic recession with a persistently high unemployment rate: the novel coronavirus that has killed more than 130,000 Americans, racial inequality and police brutality. As the number of infections in many U.S. states surges again, the pandemic may usher in a second wave of outbreaks. Facing continued demonstrations and protests, President Donald Trump’s response is considered by many to be continuing to sow division and intensify conflict. On July 3, in a speech celebrating American Independence Day, Trump called the protestors “left wing thugs”* and accused the demonstrations of threatening the foundations of the American political system. That speech sparked intense controversy in the U.S. On the economic front, the U.S. Congressional Budget Office warned in a July 2 report that the domestic unemployment rate in the third quarter of this year will exceed 14%, and the U.S. economy will shrink by 5.8% in 2020 overall.

Undoubtedly, the above-mentioned crisis has exposed many structural challenges that the U.S. is facing and perhaps the most significant of these challenges is the severe weakening of the effectiveness of U.S. government control. An article in The Atlantic stated that the coronavirus pandemic is the third major crisis in the U.S. in just the first 20 years of this century: “The coronavirus didn’t break America. It revealed what was already broken.” In the face of the pandemic, the United States is “a failed state.” Faced with the death of George Floyd, an African American man, and the demonstrations it incited, the Trump administration has not only failed to work to close the divides between different racial and ethnic groups but instead adds fuel to the fire through harsh words and actions. By attacking the left-wing thugs Trump is trying to consolidate his electoral base of white middle- and lower-class citizens.

The American democratic system is facing an unprecedented attack, and this prompts a continuous decline in American national pride. Francis Fukuyama, the author of “The End of History and the Last Man,” is very concerned about the increasing polarization of American society and the resulting “vetocracy.” Princeton University professor Martin Gilens and other researchers believe that over the last few decades, American democracy has gradually been reduced to rule by the wealthy. Although the U.S. still holds regular elections, the rights and political influence of ordinary Americans have been severely weakened.

Political decay and increased economic inequality are two sides of the same coin. In a country where the poor only get poorer, how can the people be proud? Danny Quah, a celebrated economist at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, said that from 1980 to 2010 the per capita income of the bottom 50% of the U.S. did not increase but actually decreased. This phenomenon has not occurred in any other developed country. Under the influence of “money politics,” wealthy Americans can easily utilize government tax cuts and other policies to achieve a winner-takes-all scenario. According to the World Inequality Database, the problem of income and wealth inequality in the U.S. is continually getting worse. The solidification of economic classes has reduced “equal opportunity” to a myth. Freedom and opportunity are not the same thing, and the tension between the two is actually an important lens through which to observe the current American troubles.

Needless to say, the United States is indeed ill, and the decline in American national pride is a symptom of this illness. However, the paradox is that the root cause of the American sickness is largely related to “American exceptionalism,” which is the belief that American values, political systems and history are unmatched and the best in the world. The U.S. has a mission to be a world leader. Harvard University professor Stephen Walt pointed out that the theory of American exceptionalism allows Americans to turn a blind eye to their own weaknesses, believing instead that the success of the U.S. is due to its unique virtues and that all of the good things in the world can be attributed to American wisdom. Walt asserted that these ideas are nothing but a myth. The decline in national pride may indicate that the American people are becoming more aware of problems in the U.S. and understanding them better. However, to achieve the national change they are expecting remains difficult.

*Editor’s note: This quotation, accurately translated, could not be verified.



近期,美国知名调查公司盖洛普发布的民调显示,对美国“感到特别自豪”的受访者比例已降至42%,达到20年来的最低点。根据这项针对美国国民自豪感的调查记录,在2003年这一比例为69%。

显然,美国国民自豪感的下降与当前美国正在经历的三大危机息息相关,即已造成逾13万美国人死亡的新冠肺炎疫情、种族不平等和警察暴力执法引发的大规模示威抗议、经济衰退和仍然高企的失业率。随着美国多个州感染病例再次激增,疫情或将迎来“第二波”暴发。面对仍在持续的示威抗议,特朗普的做法被认为是选择继续制造分裂、激化矛盾。7月3日,在庆祝美国“独立日”发表的演讲中,特朗普将抗议者称为“左翼暴徒”,并指责示威活动对美国政治制度的根基构成威胁,该讲话在美国引发激烈争议。而在经济方面,美国国会预算办公室在7月2日发布的报告中警告,今年三季度国内失业率将超过14%,2020年美国经济将萎缩5.8%。

无疑,上述危机暴露出美国面临的诸多结构性挑战,而其中最显著的可谓美国政府治理效能的严重弱化。《大西洋月刊》刊文称,此次疫情是本世纪短短20年来美国的第三次重大危机,“新冠病毒并未让美国解体,而只是揭露了已经解体的美国”,疫情下的美国沦为“失败国家”。面对非洲裔美国人乔治·弗洛伊德之死及其引发的示威抗议,特朗普政府非但没有努力弥合国内不同族群之间的分裂,反而不断以强硬言行“火上浇油”,力图通过对“左翼暴徒”的抨击巩固白人中下层民众构成的选民基本盘。

美国民主体制正面临前所未有的冲击,这构成了美国国民自豪感持续下降的大背景。“历史终结论”的提出者弗朗西斯·福山对美国国内社会不断增强的“极化”和由此带来的“否决政体”颇感忧心。普林斯顿大学教授马丁·吉伦斯等人的研究认为,美国民主在过去数十年已逐步沦为“富人统治”,虽然美国仍在举行定期选举,但普通美国人的政治权利和影响力已被严重削弱。

政治衰败和经济不平等加剧是同一个硬币的两面,在一个“穷者愈穷”的国家,何来国民自豪?新加坡国立大学的著名经济学家柯成兴称,1980-2010年间,美国底层50%民众的人均收入不增反降,这是其他发达国家都没有出现的状况。在“金钱政治”的影响之下,美国富人可以轻易地借助政府的减税等政策实现“赢者通吃”。根据“世界不平等数据库”(WID),美国的收入和财富不平等的问题日趋严重。阶层的固化导致“机会平等”沦为一种神话,自由与平等并不是一码事,两者之间的紧张关系实际上是观察当下“美国之困”的重要棱镜。

毋庸讳言,美国的确是病了,美国国民自豪感的下降不过是这一病症的体现。然而,吊诡的是,美国的病根在很大程度上与“美国例外论”有关,即相信美国的价值观、政治制度和历史独一无二,而且是全世界最好的,美国肩负着领导世界的使命。哈佛大学教授斯蒂芬·沃尔特指出,“美国例外论”让美国人对自己的弱点视而不见,相信美国的成功是因为美国所特有的“美德”,认为世界上的所有好事都归功于美国的智慧。沃尔特却断言,这些想法不过是一种迷思。国民自豪感的下降或许表明,美国民众对“美国之困”的认识正变得越发清醒,但要想实现他们所期待的国家变革依然前路多艰。
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