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罗姆尼竞选总策划:支不支持特朗普是个道德问题

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  斯图亚特·史蒂文斯(Stuart Stevens), 2012年美国大选共和党提名候选人米特·罗姆尼(Mitt Romney)的总策划师。斯图亚特从数量上,绝对是共和党竞选最成功的媒体指导,成功助选过最多的州长和参议员。总统竞选里,他帮助小布什(George W。 Bush)2000年和2004年竞选总统;帮助2008年麦凯恩(John McCain)竞选总统;2012年帮助罗姆尼竞选总统,拿下了初选(Primary Election)的37个州。斯图亚特热血十足,非常诚恳。他还是一位电影人,指导过好莱坞2011年政治惊悚片The Ides of March(《选战风云》)。他还是一位极限运动专家,曾滑过北极的最后100英里。他的第一本书,是写在中国的游记,从北京出发,行致新疆的喀什。“羊说”这次与这位竞选干将对话六大话题:包括辩论与大选、罗姆尼其人其事、竞选民调和竞选预测市场、共和党的保守主义面临的危机、高校自由主义倾向。
  斯图亚特作为罗姆尼亲密的伙伴,对罗姆尼各种大加赞赏。2016大选的今天,他和共和党初选的领跑者唐纳德·川普结下了梁子。斯图亚特可以说是最早一批,呼吁共和党的参选者直接挑战川普,他发推特说:支持或不支持川普已不是一个政治立场问题,而是一个道德立场问题。川普是邪恶的。
  当然川普的反应异常激烈,正好符合川普见批评就回咬的个性。川普在一次集会上,花了大量功夫,攻击斯图亚特。川普攻击斯图亚特的推特和集会发言文稿如下:
  而斯图亚特坚持不懈地和川普作战。1月26号,他接受了华盛顿邮报的采访,采访中他指出:川普是一个极度情绪化且易变的人,对于任何他认为的指责都要回击。他对政策问题一无所知,就和很多懒惰的人一样,声称自己不需要知道那些。
  2016年1月28日,我采访了斯图亚特。不论斯图亚特对川普的预判能否成真,但至少斯图亚特是个极为诚恳的人。在专访斯图亚特的过程中,他表现出的是沉静、稳重、慎思。斯图亚特的英语说得很简洁明快,语速偏慢,适合听力。
  专访音频
  专访文稿
  Stuart Stevens
  Interviewed 1/28/2016
  Duration: 40min
  STUART: Well you know, remember when in 2004 when Mitt Romney said self-deport? [YANG: Yeah, yeah, that’s the question I am gonna talk about。] So, if you go back and look at it in the debate, I mean it’s a weird expression to say self-deport。 But what he was trying to say was, that people would leave voluntarily, rather than being forced to leave。
  斯图亚特:记得2004年米特·罗姆尼提到“自我遣返”的时候吧?[向杨:是的,是的,我正准备谈谈这个问题。] 如果你回过头去看那场辩论,你会觉得“自我遣返”这种说法很诡异。但他(罗姆尼)本来想要说的是,人们会自愿离开,而不是被迫离开。(注:关于美国墨西哥非法移民问题,参见第四期“羊说”,深度解析:美国非法移民问题)
  YANG: Yeah, so it’s more like a natural outcome。
  向杨:是的,(墨西哥非法移民的减少)更像是自然而然的结果。
  STUART: Natural, yeah, which was basically everybody does want。 I mean you want Mexico to have good enough economy for people to go home。 And when he said self-deport, it just came out to this weird (expression)。 [YANG: So that’s about media narrative。] Exactly! [YANG: And it is taking something out of the context。] And even people like David Axelrod using it to。。。
  斯图亚特:是的,自然而然。基本上是人人都想要(的结果)。我的意思是,你想让墨西哥拥有良好健康的经济,人们可以回国(就业)。当他(罗姆尼)提到“自我遣返”时,这个说法显得十分诡异(并且传播开来)。[向杨:这和媒体报道有关。] 没错![向杨:而且媒体在断章取义。] 就连大卫·阿克塞尔罗德这样的人都用这个说法来(攻击罗姆尼)……(注:大卫·阿克塞尔罗德是奥巴马2012年竞选团队的首席策划师,而斯图亚特是同年罗姆尼的首席策划师,双方是直接的竞争对手。斯图亚特提到大卫·阿克塞尔罗德,是因为访谈的双方都很了解后者。)
  YANG: (LAUGHTER) He sure did! [STUART: I know!] Yeah,he should and it was a very crushing。。。
  向杨:(笑) 他(阿克塞尔罗德)确实用了![斯图亚特:我知道!] 是的,他肯定会用,而且(对罗姆尼一方)造成了致命的(打击)。
  STUART: You know President Obama has deported…
  斯图亚特:你知道奥巴马总统已经遣返了……
  ***
  YANG: Yeah。 400,000 in one year, in 2011 or 2012。 That’s a lot。 That’s the largest scale of deportation。 [STUART: Yeah!] And I also saw the graph about the money they put in the border patrol。 [STUART: Right!] That’s like twice as before。 [STUART: Right!] Ok, so I have several questions。 Let’s have a formal talk。 [STUART: Yeah, yeah, yeah。] The first question is about Mitt Romney。 I’ve heard a lot of things about him and he came here in UChicago a few months ago。 [STUART: Right!] You know as Chinese, we often feel overwhelmed by such great debater, and such great speaker, like Mitt Romney definitely had a knack in debating。 [STUART: Right!] I mean…[STUART: He is very good!] In making speech, he might not be the rival of Obama, but in debating some very concrete issues, he is very good at it。 And in the first debate with Obama, he actually won the debate…[STUART: Yeah!] I mean from a lot of Chinese’s perspective, he won the debate。 Only after the second debate, Obama seemed to be more forceful and more…how to say…informative about certain foreign policy issues, while Mitt Romney just simply concurred with Obama。 So people talk about, “Mitt Romney, you don’t really know about foreign policy, and all you have to do is to concur with the President!” So I just wanna know a little bit about Mitt Romney。 What kind of person he is?
  向杨:我知道,在2011年还是2012年的时候,一年内遣返了40万非法移民。那是很多的人,是美国历史上最大规模的遣返。[斯图亚特:没错!] 我还看过奥巴马政府在边界巡防一项上开支的图表。[斯图亚特:是的!] 差不多是以前(布什时期)的两倍。[斯图亚特:对!] 嗯,我准备了几个问题,我们正式开始吧。[斯图亚特:好的,好的。] 第一个问题有关罗姆尼。我听说过很多有关他的事情,而且他几个月前还来过芝大。[斯图亚特:没错!] 我们中国人常会为此类优秀的辩手、演说家折服。像米特·罗姆尼,就很有辩论天赋。[斯图亚特:没错!] 我是说……[斯图亚特:他很擅长(辩论)。] 在演讲方面,他可能不是奥巴马的对手。但在辩论一些具体的议题时,他就很擅长了。在和奥巴马对峙的(全国选举)第一场辩论中,实际上他赢了……[斯图亚特:是的!] 我是说,在很多中国人看来,是他(罗姆尼)赢了。直到第二场辩论之后,奥巴马似乎才开始在某些对外政策的议题上表现得强势且……怎么说呢……知根知底。而罗姆尼只是一直在附和奥巴马。所以人们谈论此事时都说,“罗姆尼你不懂外交政策,你只知道附和(奥巴马)总统。”所以我想了解下罗姆尼,他是个怎样的人?
  STUART: Oh, you know, he is… have you seen the film Mitt? It’s a documentary made。 You can get on Netflix。 It’s called Mitt。 It’s made by a filmmaker who travelled with Romney and shot all these videos during both campaigns behind the scenes。 You really should watch it, cause it gives you a good sense of who he is。
  斯图亚特:噢,他是个……你看过电影《米特》吗?是部纪录片。你可以在网飞(Netflix)上看到,就叫《米特》。这部片子是一位与罗姆尼随行的制片人拍摄的,他把两次竞选活动背后的故事都拍成了视频。你真的该去看看,因为它可以告诉你很多有关罗姆尼的事。
  YANG: Yeah, I know he is a…his religion is interesting [STUART: Yeah。] … got a lot of kids, a big family [STUART: five kids。] Yeah, five kids。 He is very like a business-as-usual guy。 Every time I hear him speak, he would dig something very hard and try to think very hard about the issue。 Sometimes you feel like that he is so straight-faced and a little bit businessman-like, not a smooth talker。
  向杨:好嘞。我知道他(罗姆尼)是个……他信仰的宗教很有趣…(注:摩门教,美国第四大宗教团体,世界上最大的新兴宗教)[斯图亚特:是的。]…(他)有很多孩子,一个大家庭。[斯图亚特:五个孩子。] 对,五个孩子。他很像是个一个萝卜一个坑的商人。每次我听他讲话,他都会对一些事追根究底,对任何一个问题都不轻易放过。有时候你感觉他总是板着脸,有些商人范儿,却又不是那种花言巧语的人。
  STUART: First you know, he is very well-educated。 And he comes from an educational philosophy to always ask questions。 And he has been criticized by some conservatives because he is not ideological enough。 He’ll ask “does this work to solve the problem?” and look at it from a practical perspective, not just an ideological perspective。 And he is very analytical, which is why…one of the reasons he is so successful in business。
  斯图亚特:首先,他受过良好的教育。而且他接受的教育理念是时刻带着问题。一些保守党人士批评他,认为他没有强烈的保守派意识形态。(注:可以理解成没有很强的党性)他(罗姆尼)会问“这个办法能解决问题吗?”并且从务实的角度来审视问题,不会仅仅停留在意识形态的水平。他很善于分析,这也是他在商业领域如此成功的原因之一。
  YANG: He actually nursed Bain back to life [STUART: Yeah! Yeah!] and he was very successful making the Salt…[STUART: Salt Lake Olympic Games。] Lake Olympics, yeah, yeah, it was a huge success, and also the universal healthcare in Massachusetts。 So he is a very。。。 As a cover story of the Economist, like “Would Mitt Romney be the next America’s CEO?”
  向杨:他实际上将贝恩公司(注:贝恩咨询,一家全球范围内的管理咨询公司。)盘活了。[斯图亚特:是的,没错!] 而且他在举办盐…[斯图亚特:盐湖城奥运会。]…是的,盐湖城奥运会,他举办得很成功,那是场盛会。还有马萨诸塞州的全民医保(注:奥巴马的医改方案“Obamacare”,很大程度上借鉴了罗姆尼在麻省所推广的全民医保方案“Romneycare”)。所以他是个非常……而且他上过《经济学人》杂志的封面,标题是“米特·罗姆尼会是美国的下一任CEO吗?”
  STUART: So…uh…in the campaign, he is a very good person to work with。 Everybody who has worked with Mitt Romney at different stages of his career likes…uh…like working with him。 He is very funny behind the scene。 [LAUGHTER] He is someone who can。。。 in a tense situation, he usually finds humor in it。 And he always takes responsibility for anything。 And he works really hard himself, so that always makes you wanna work harder。 He kind of leads by example。 And…he is… After, you know, in this debate, he is someone who always wants to know and looks at what he did wrong。 A lot of people after debates, “Ah, we’ve won! You are great!” [YANG: very self-critical]。 Yeah, he is not like that。 He said, “you know, I don‘t think on this question my answer was very good,” or “Had we talked about these two more questions? I don’t know really what I would have said?” What it is we are really trying to say here: he is very self-critical。 [YANG: Yeah。] I think he really…uh…is sort of one of his secrets of his success。 Plus he is very well-balanced emotionally。 He is not an angry person。 [LAUGHTER] He is very steady。 He is not like Donald Trump。 [YANG: Yeah] And you know, he is very modest。 You know he has his belief and his value system based on religion that making money is not the greatest good。 It’s something that doesn’t validate you as a good person。 He’s been very fortunate; he’s been very successful, but that doesn’t prove you as a good person。
  斯图亚特:额…在竞选的过程中,他是个很好的工作伙伴。在米特·罗姆尼事业的不同阶段,每一位和他共事过的人都喜欢和他共事。他在幕后是个很有趣的人。(笑)他是那种能……在非常紧张的时刻,他却常常能找到乐子。而且他总是把各种事的责任都往自己身上揽。他自己工作很勤奋,所以这让你也总是想更努力地工作。 他是个通过以身作则来树立榜样的人。 他还……在…在辩论中,他总想搞清楚、看清楚自己哪儿做错了。很多人在辩论后都是“噢耶!我们赢了,大家都很棒!”[向杨:(罗姆尼)很善于自省、自我批评。] 是的,他不是那种(得意忘形的)人。他会说,“你看,我认为自己这个问题回答得不好。”或者“我们讨论过这两个额外的问题吗?我真得不知道我该说点什么?” 我们这里想强调的是,他真的非常善于自我反省。[向杨:是的。] 我认为他真的……这种自省本身就是他事业成功的秘籍之一。再者,他把自己的情绪也控制得很好。他不怎么易怒,(笑)很稳重,不像唐纳德·川普。[向杨:是的。] 而且你也知道,他很谦虚。他有自己的信仰,价值观也是建立在宗教信仰之上,认为赚钱不是至善之举。 赚钱没法证明你是个好人。他(罗姆尼)很幸运,事业有成,但这一切依然不足以证明你是个好人。
  ***
  YANG: Yeah。 Ok, so you’ve been a very successful campaign strategist。 I just wanna know a little bit about some make-or-break moments that a strategist is critical, because in China we don’t have this opportunity, we don‘t have this job at the moment because we have a one-party system。 [STUART: Right!] We don’t need people like you working for the candidate。
  向杨:的确。好的,你是位非常成功的竞选策划师。我想了解一些竞选顾问发挥了关键作用的时刻,以及决定成败的细节。因为在中国,我们没有这样的机会。当下也没有竞选顾问这种职业。因为我们是一党制。[斯图亚特:没错!] 我们不需要你这种职业的人来为候选人出谋划策。
  STUART: You know, I think the main thing we do is…to me…your help is not to change someone, is to help them do what they do well, do that better。 And to make things that they don’t do well…just make sure that they don‘t do them badly enough to stop them from winning。 It’s sort of like a coach。 You don’t wanna re-make a player。 [YANG: Yeah。] Say if you have someone who is a fantastic soccer player。。。uh…he is a fantastic shooter, you wanna get him the position where he gets to shoot a lot… she gets to shoot a lot。 I will give you an example。 There was a criticism against Mitt that he was a flip-flopper。 He changed his mind。 You know in business you change your mind all the time based on data。 But in politics, somehow that’s seen as a bad thing sometimes。 You know we were talking about this before one of the…When he ran in 2008, that’s one of the big charges that he changes。 When we talked about before one of the debates in 2012, in the primary debates, you know we would have these sessions before the debates where we would talk about it。 I said that these things are crazy because you are the most steady person I know。 You have been married to the same person, the same religion, you have a very steady family, you basically have the same job in your entire life。 You’re the least。。。 un-flip-floppy person I know。 And that’s what you need to say。 I mean, it’s not so much about what is your specific opinion on this or that。 It’s what are you as a person, what are you bringing to。 And you’re incredibly constant。 And he really brought that to it, he got asked in the debate and answered that。 And it really ended that question!
  斯图亚特:对于我来说,我认为我们的主要工作在于。。。。。。并非是要改变某个人,而是帮他们把能做好的事做得更好。同时把他们做不好的事给……就是确保他们不会把事情搞砸,结果输掉选举。就像是一个教练。你不想重塑一位选手。[向杨:是的。] 比如说,你手里有一位非常优秀的足球运动员……一位优秀的射击选手,你想教他正确的射击姿势,这样他就能射中很多……她能射到很高(分数)。 我给你举个例子。有人批米特,说他立场飘忽不定,爱改主意。你知道在商界你时刻都会根据最新数据改变主意。但是在政坛,不知怎的,有时候那就会被视作一件坏事。我和罗姆尼曾经讨论过这个,在一次……在他2008年参选时,他面临的最猛烈地指责之一就是说他变来变去的。2012年我和他在一场辩论开始前讨论过,在初选辩论中,我们在辩论前有这样的环节,我们谈到过这事。我说这都什么跟什么啊,因为你(罗姆尼)是我见过的最稳重的人。你婚姻从一而终,信仰坚定,家庭和睦,基本上一辈子都没换过工作。你是我见过的最不爱变来变去的人。这就是你需要(在辩论中)讲的。我是说,辩论时不是要说你对这个问题或是那个问题有什么具体的看法,而是你是个怎样的人,你会带来什么。而且你绝对是个表里如一的人。结果他真得这么做了,在辩论中被质问时他就是那么回答的。结果就真得让那些怀疑指责烟消云散了!
  YANG: Yeah。 I can relate it to my experience as a coach for lots of kids。 They are competing in some tournaments。 [STUART: Uh Huh。] They have to have prepared speeches。 Prepared speeches are about your thoughtfulness。 It’s about the content; it’s about your delivery, your eye contact, your gesture。 So I did a lot about those micro-management。 [STUART: Right!] But in terms of the impromptu speech, it’s more about that person。 [STUART: Yeah!] So you cannot over-prepare。 If you over-prepare, you are gonna…
  向杨:是的。这样我想起了自己当老师指导一些孩子的经历。这些孩子要参加一些英语竞赛。[斯图亚特:嗯。] 他们得事先准备演讲。准备演讲考验的是你的思维缜密,你演讲的内容,你演讲的风格、眼神接触、手势。所以我做过很多这种细节调整培训。[斯图亚特:是的!] 但就即兴演讲而言,更多的还是你这个人本身。[斯图亚特:没错!] 你不能准备地过火,要是矫枉过正的话,就会……
  STUART: Yeah, exactly。 You know one of the big。。。 You know there is always in debate… there tend to be lines that are memorable, like a big line。 And I found that candidates。。。 they have this natural tendency to want to know what the line is, like “give me a great line!” I hate that! [YANG: LAUGHTER] Because you know, actors。。。 I also work in television sometimes。 It is very hard for actors to deliver a line the first time correctly, and they are professionals。 So I find that if you give a candidate a line, like “we want you to say X,” they are thinking the whole debate “ok, should I say X now?” And their heads are in the debate。 The lines have to come out of the argument。 Debates are arguments。 And nine times out of ten from my experience, the best lines that someone gives in a debate is something that comes to them whether they are on the stage, or they are smart, or they wouldn’t be there, and they are into the argument。 And it’s about that logic。 You know, what is here that is good。
  斯图亚特:没错,正是这样。一个重要的……在辩论中总有……总是有些被大家记住的、脍炙人口的句子,比如一个金句。而我发现参选人……他们很自然地倾向于想要知道这个地方金句是什么,比如会常说“求金句一枚!”我很反感这样![向杨:(笑)] 因为即便演员……我有时也在电视台工作,连那些演员都很难一次性就把台词念对,而且他们还是专业的。所以我发现,如果你给一位候选人准备了台词,像“我们希望你说X”,他们就会在整个辩论过程中都想着这个:“好,现在该我说X了吧?”结果他们的思路就陷在辩论(该选哪个金句)里了。好的句子必须要在唇枪舌战中渗透出来。辩论就是要唇枪舌战。从我的经验来看,那些在辩论中出自某人之口的金句十有八九是因为他们在台上(参与辩论),或者是因为他们头脑灵活,不然它们也不可能登上那样的舞台,同时思维却跟着辩论走。所以归根到底辩论是逻辑。在辩论里,当下最适合的才是最好的。
  YANG: I also ask my students to memorize some quotes, famous quotes, great lines。 But when it comes to the impromptu speech, if they try very hard to retrieve those quotes, that’s gonna cause a lot of problems。 I always say you have to unlearn。
  向杨:我也要求我的学生背诵一些格言、名人名言、金句。但到了即兴演讲,如果他们拼命想要记起某句名言时,就会碰壁。我总是说你们要学会“放下”,无招胜有招。
  STUART: Yes, that’s a very good way to say it。 Unlearn! Yeah, It’s very smart。 So in China you do a lot of debating right? And you do a lot of speaking right? [YANG: Yeah, speaking and debate。 I was a practitioner。] It’s the educational system you do right? [YANG: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah!] Is debate used a lot?
  斯图亚特:没错,你这个说法很到位。“放下”!是的,这种讲法很智慧。那么在中国你们经常辩论,是吗?而且你们也会做很多演讲,是吗?[向杨:是的,演讲,辩论,我是一位践行者。] 那是你在实践的教育方式,对吧?[向杨:是的,没错,是这样。] 辩论在中国很常用吗?
  YANG: Well, there is a (trend of) emerging grassroot debate organizations in China。 [STUART: That’s interesting!] It was spearheaded by some Singaporean coaches。 Because in Singapore they basically have the best debaters in Asia。 And there are lots of very entrepreneurial, very smart persons coming to China, organizing lots of grassroot debate organizations。 You see that in 2011, The Economist magazine had a short piece about the Chinese debate organizations emerging and these are organizations that promote lots of ideas about democracy, institution building, something controversial in the conservative perspective, like monetarizing organ transplant, stuff like that。 [STUART: Interesting! ] So people get more information about certain issues that might be even controversial in the United States。 [STUART: Right。 ] So, it’s very interesting… You know we don’t have to worry about the party monitoring because we are just a bunch of students。 [STUART: Right。] We are not affiliated with any organizations。 There’s not much censorship in this regard。 [STUART: Right。] So we are free in a small public space。 [STUART: Right。 It’s very cool! ]
  向杨:嗯,在中国草根辩论组织越来越多了。[斯图亚特:听起来很有趣!] 发起人是一些来自新加坡的教练。因为在新加波,他们可以说拥有全亚洲最棒的辩手。 有很多富有创业精神、头脑灵活的人来中国,成立了许多草根辩论组织。在2011年时,《经济学人》杂志针对中国兴起的辩论组织还写过一篇小文。这些组织传播了很多理念,关于民主啊、制度建设啊,还有些在保守派看来颇具争议的议题,像器官移植市场化之类的。[斯图亚特:很棒!] 因此人们会接触到很多关于争议性话题的讯息,有些议题即便是在美国也是颇具争议。 [斯图亚特:没错。] 这些都很有吸引力……大家也不必担心党组织的监视,因为大家只是一帮(组织松散的)学生。[斯图亚特:没错。] 我们并不隶属任何组织。在这方面没有太多的审查。[斯图亚特:没错。] 所以我们在这种小范围的公共空间里很自由。[斯图亚特:是的,很赞!]
  ***
  YANG: My third question is about the outsider in this campaign。 From the political science perspective, we know that one of the perils of the American presidentialism is that it would encourage certain outsider to instigate from the outside, like Donald Trump。 Bernie is an institutionalist, but he used tactics like instigating from the outside and criticizing the incumbent, not just the President, but the whole system。 So my question is how would you define the outsider?
  向杨:我的第三个问题和竞选中的局外人有关。从政治科学的角度来看,美国总统制的危险之一就是这种体制会激励某些局外人从外部怂恿发难,比如唐纳德·川普。伯尼是体制内的人,但他却用了类似从局外发难的策略来批评建制内的政客,不仅仅是批评总统,而是整个体制。所以我的问题就是,你如何定义局外人?
  STUART: I don’t think there are any outsiders in this race。 I think it’s people trying to pretend to be the outsiders。 I mean you look at Donald Trump。 He inherited money。 He lives on Fifth Avenue。 He is a billionaire。 Hillary Clinton came to his wedding。 He is the ultimate insider。 You know he is not a political insider, but he is riding popular culture。 As far as he is controlling the levers of power, he is someone who has tremendous ability to do that。 I think an outsider is someone who is outside the system of powerful people who can have these impacts。 So that’s certainly not Donald Trump。 [YANG: Yeah!] And if you take Ted Cruz, he went to Ivy League schools; he worked for Governor Bush; he worked for President Bush; he was the Supreme Court clerk; [LAUGHTER] he is an United States’ senator。
  斯图亚特:我不认为这次竞选中有局外人,我觉得那是假装成身在局外的人。我是说,你看唐纳德·川普。他继承了财产,住在第五大道,是位亿万富翁。希拉里·克林顿都来参加他的婚礼。他根本就是个局内人啊。他虽然在政治上不是局内人,但他可以驾驭流行文化。只要他还控制着权力的杠杆,他就能有强大的力量驾驭体制内的量。我觉得局外人应该是一个置身于权势人物圈之外的人。所以川普根本不是局外人。[向杨:没错!] 如果拿泰德·克鲁兹来说,他在常春藤名校念过书,为布什州长工作过,还为布什总统工作过,当过最高法院法官的助理。(笑) 他还是一名美国参议员。
  YANG: Yeah, I think one of the answers given by a famous journalist Jorge Ramos is very true。 He said as a journalist, you need to stay outside the circle of power。 [STUART: Right。 ] What it means is you don’t make friends with people in power。 [STUART: Right。 ] You don’t have friends in the Senate。 You don’t have friends in the Congress。 So if you can be like that, you can faithfully say, “well, I am an outsider and I stay outside the circle of power。”
  向杨:是的。我觉得一位知名记者豪尔赫·拉莫斯给出的一个答案很能说明问题。他说身为一名新闻工作者,你得置身于权力圈外。[斯图亚特:没错。] 就是说你不能和有权势的人交朋友。[斯图亚特:没错。] 你不能在参议院有朋友。你不能在国会里有朋友。所以如果你能做到这种程度的话,你就能堂堂正正地说:“嗯,我是个局外人,我在权力圈之外。”
  STUART: The closest one to outsider is probably Bernie Sanders。 He is not wealthy。 He really is a Socialist。 He says same things now as he said forty years ago。 [LAUGHTER] He wouldn’t even join the Democratic Party until this year。 [YANG: He is the longest-serving independent!] Independent! Yeah! You know in Vermont, his home state, the local democratic party hates him because he stops any democrat from winning。 Because he is seen as a democratic candidate, but he is not a democratic candidate。 [YANG: Yeah!] I think he is the closest thing to an outsider。
  斯图亚特:最像局外人的可能是伯尼·桑德斯。他没什么钱,真的是个社会主义者,说的也是他四十年前说的那一套。(笑)在今年以前,他一直都不是民主党的。[向杨:他是(美国国会历史上)无党派人士里面做得最久的一位。] 没错!无党派人士!在佛蒙特州,就是他的故乡,当地的民主党痛恨他,因为他妨碍任何民主人士获胜。因为他虽然被看做是一位民主党候选人,但他实际却不是民主党候选人。[向杨:是的。] 我觉得他最像一名局外人。
  ***
  YANG: So my next question is… I know that you are against certain polling system, like (you may believe) the national poll is a far-fetched statistics。 [STUART: Right! ] You also said something like that: national polls are basically meaningless。 [STUART: Yeah! ] It is like polling in Louisiana for governor’s race in Arkansas。 [STUART: Right! ] But I also know there is another system, i.e。 the prediction market, [STUART: Yeah! ] like a famous Iowa Electronic Market (IEM)。 [STUART: Yes! ] So what do you think of this system?
  向杨:我下一个问题是……我知道你反对一些民意测验体系,比如你认为全国性民调就是很不靠谱的数据。[斯图亚特:没错!] 你还说过,像全国民调之类的东西毫无意义。[斯图亚特:是的!] 因为它就像是在路易桑那州举行针对阿肯萨斯州州长竞选的民调。[斯图亚特:没错!] 但我还知道另外一种体系,即预测市场(注:以进行预测为目的而产生的一种投机市场。输赢与某一特定事件(例如马英九先生会胜出下任中华民国总统选举吗?)或者参数(例如明日的股市升跌)相绑定,从而决定最终能取得的金钱/物质价值)。[斯图亚特:是的!] 像著名的爱荷华电子市场(Iowa Electronic Markets, IEM)。[斯图亚特:是的!] 你怎么看这个体系呢?
  STUART: I think in the United States, the predicting system like that is not very efficient。 If you look at England where you can actually bet with real money and get a number of people betting。 [YANG: Yeah。] If you look at the Scottish election, for the independents, there were crazy polls, but one of the best predictors was the betting pool。 [YANG: Yeah, the betting pool。] Yeah! Here it is not enough people。 I think the dataset is too small and it is too self-selecting。 In other words, the people that are coming to it are coming often with the approval points。 [YANG: Uh Huh。] So it is an artificial betting pool。 Whereas, if you get a larger betting pool, like you had in Scotland, because it was legalized, you had much bigger universal voters。 [YANG: Yeah。] And I think it becomes more…
  斯图亚特:我觉得在美国,像这种预测市场并不有效。而在英国,人们可以赌真钱,下注的人也多。[向杨:是的。] 还有苏格兰的选举,对闹独立的一帮人来说, 民调也很离谱。但有最佳预测指标之一就是彩池。[向杨:对,彩池。] 没错!在美国下注的人还不够多。我觉得数据集太小,而且自选性太强。换句话说,来彩池下注的人通常不具代表性,带来支持率偏差。[向杨:嗯。] 所以这是个伪彩池。但如果彩池规模变大,比如像苏格兰那样,因为彩池是合法的,所以会有更多的下注人。[向杨:是的。] 所以我觉得它会变得更……
  YANG: Yeah。 One conceptual stuff is fascinating。 It is about。。。 you know, sometimes people know about what other people think more than they know about themselves。 [STUART: Yeah! ] We can pool this knowledge together to elicit expert knowledge。 [STUART: Yeah! ] However, the polling is like you ask yourself who you are gonna vote。 These are two very different mechanisms。 [STUART: Yes! ] The Iowa system is more like a stock market。 It is very much like what Friedrich Hayek said about the very capitalist system, the ultimate incarnation of the capitalism。 [STUART: Yes! ]
  向杨:是的,有一个概念性的东西很精彩。它是……有时候人们对他人的想法的了解胜过对自己的了解。[斯图亚特:没错!] 你可以通过前者,将对他人的了解信息进行汇合,从而能够引导出专业的信息。[斯图亚特:对的!] 然而,对于民调,类似于让被调查的人自己问自己到底要投谁。这是两种截然不同的机制。[斯图亚特:没错!] 爱荷华电子市场更像是一个股票市场,它很像弗里德里希·哈耶克所说的那种资本主义制度的优势,一种资本主义的最终形态。[斯图亚特:没错!]
  STUART: I think, you look at。。。 there’s another one called Predict It that started this year。 There have been pretty big swings in it。 And I think it is more of a trailing indicator than a leading indicator。 I think it is just following what seems to be happening rather than predicting what’s going to happen。 Does that make sense? [YANG: Yeah。]
  斯图亚特:我觉得,你看……还有一个今年刚启动的网站叫Predict It,这个网站上的投票走势就有很多的变数。不过我认为网站上的结果更像是一种盘点类的指标,而非预测类指标。因为它只是在追踪正在发生的事情,而非预测什么会发生。 我这么讲没错吧?[向杨:没错。]
  YANG: I think also in stock market there are two camps: one is the Warren Buffett’s “value camp,” another is the “momentum camp。” The momentum is like trailing the [STUART: Yeah。] status quo, the previous results。 It works in certain countries like…in the United States it works, but it doesn’t work in Japan。 [STUART: Right!] We have different system, different culture。 So…yeah, it’s about the sample size。 [STUART: Right, the sample size is…] Is it legalized in the United States? Or it depends on circumstance?
  向杨:我还知道在股市投资有两个阵营:一个是以沃伦·巴菲特为代表的“价值派阵营”;另一个是“走势派阵营”。走势派就有点像追逐着…[斯图亚特:是的。] …当前走势,追着之前的结果。这在某些国家行得通,像在……在美国就行,但在日本就行不通。[斯图亚特:没错。] 因为制度不同,文化不同,所以…的确,和样本容量有关。[斯图亚特:没错,样本容量是…] 预测市场在美国是合法的吗?还是说得看具体情况?
  STUART: Not…It is very complicated。 [YANG: Yeah。] I think it’s an interesting… it is something I’m interested in trying to do something with actually。 But it’s very complicated。 [YANG: Yeah。] You know, fantasy… this big fantasy sports betting now? [YANG: Yeah!] It’s under all this pressure! So polling is increasingly hard to do。
  斯图亚特:不…这很复杂。[向杨:是的。] 我觉得这个预测市场很有意思…这也是我正在尝试去做的事情。但是这个是非常复杂的。[向杨:是的。] 你听过那种……规模很大的虚拟体育博彩吧?[向杨:听说过!] 这些都面临着这种(法律)压力!所以民调这事越变越难了。
  YANG: Yeah, there are all sorts of sorting… you know, I mean it’s getting harder for people to get to the voters。
  向杨:是的,有各种分选的预设在里面。。。。。。 我的意思是,要真正面对面投票者了解情况是越来越不容易了。
  STUART: Exactly!
  斯图亚特:正是如此!
  ***
  YANG: It used to be easier but there’re lots of Internet polling。 It’s not like going to someone’s house and, you know。。。 face to face conversation, knowing what they truly believe。 [STUART: Right!] OK, my next question has to do with the media。 It’s something I work on as well, because my master thesis was about media corruption in China。 [STUART: Uh Huh。] And one of the papers I found interesting, you know, depicting Chinese media, not watchdog but demagogue。 [STUART: Uh Huh。] But I found in the United States the stories are more mixed。 It’s on the one hand, a very important watchdog system。 On the other hand, it also works as a demagogue。 Because I watched different sorts of media, the far right, Rush Limbaugh, Hannity, and I also watch the very liberal side of the media。 [STUART: Right!] So it’s very fragmented。 It’s a very diverse system。 And I also know from the political science perspective that media is so important to affect the voters。 It’s like, you know, the media would feed the beast, spend lots of money。 And in the local newspaper, it’s all about… if you are gonna write a lot of stories about certain public official people would know him。 [STUART: Right!] If you write so little, people wouldn’t even know what the name of the public official in that local area。 So, my question is, is there something that people can do in the United States about the media in this respect? Because it’s so fragmented, so people can’t pool information together。 They tend to have a lot of fragmented bits and pieces…
  向杨:过去还相对容易些,但现在又很多网络民调。它不像是去某个人的家里,然后面对面谈谈,了解一下这个人心里的真实想法。 [斯图亚特:是的。] 好,我的下一个问题和媒体有关。我正好也在研究媒体,因为我的硕士论文就和中国的媒体腐败有关。[斯图亚特:嗯。] 我读到一篇很有趣的论文,把中国官媒比喻成煽动者,而不是监督者。[斯图亚特:嗯。] 但我发现在美国情况就比较复杂了。一方面,媒体是一类重要的监督机构;另一方面,它又扮演着鼓动人心的喉舌。我看过各类不同的媒体节目,有极右的,像拉什·林博的电台节目,还有肖恩·汉尼提秀。我还看过左派的媒体节目。[斯图亚特:很好!] 我的感觉是在美国,媒体变得很碎片化和部落化。当然也多元。我也知道,从政治科学的角度看,媒体对选民的影响至关重要。就好像,媒体在喂养一头野兽,花大把大把的钱。在地方报纸上,全都是……如果你写了很多有关某个政府官员的事迹,人们就都知道这个人了。[斯图亚特:没错!] 如果你没么报道过(这个官员),那当地的人可能连这个官员的名字都不知道。所以,我想问的是,在这个方面美国能对媒体做怎样的改进?因为目前分化很严重,所以民众没法整合信息。他们更多的只是掌握了一些零零碎碎的信息…
  STUART: Yeah, I think one of the problems we have is, people tend to read and consume media to reinforce their opinion rather than to inform it。 You read stuff that is much more。。。uh… stuff you agree with。 The way that you self-select information… I mean your computer directs it to you now about stuff going on liberal websites… you know, Google starts sending me more liberal, and it becomes the self-fulfilling information circle。 [YANG: Yeah。] The economic model of a fair-minded, un-opinionated media source has become much more difficult。 You have Fox on the right, and MSNBC on the left。 And it is harder to go to the middle。 Who are the referees? Who do you read as sort of unbiased? It’s much harder now。
  斯图亚特:我觉得我们面临的一个问题就是,人们习惯在阅读媒体、消费媒体的过程中强化自己的观念,而不是主动获取知识。你会读一些……你赞同的东西。你会自我过滤一些不同的观点…我的意思是,你的电脑会给你推送一些自由派的网站…谷歌开始给你推送更多自由派的讯息,然后就变成了不断自我强化的信息环流。[向杨:没错。] 媒体源保持公正中立的商业模式也变得越来越难。福克斯新闻是右翼媒体,MSNBC是左翼媒体。很难走向中立。问题是谁来当这个裁判?你看哪家媒体是那种不带偏见的?如今保持中立太难了。
  ***
  YANG: Yeah! So relating to this question, I wanna ask something about the Republican Party。 So as Chinese, everybody wants Democrat to be the President, because you know, in the foreign policy respect, Republican has become more interventionist over the years。 [STUART: Right!] But back in Eisenhower and Reagan’s era, there was much less military involvement in the foreign countries。 [STUART: Yeah!] There were little interference in social arrangements, but nowadays lots of Republicans talk about, you know… [STUART: Let’s get some coffee。 Want some coffee?] Ok! [STUART: Yeah, come on! Let’s go!]
  向杨:没错!关于这个问题,我想问些有关共和党的事。中国的立场是,几乎人人都希望民主党人士当选总统。因为在外交政策方面,共和党这些年越来越倾向于干预主义。[斯图亚特:没错!] 但是在艾森豪威尔时期和里根时期,对外国的军事干预可要少得多。[斯图亚特:对!] 对社会生活方面也很少干预,可如今很多共和党人都在谈论……[[斯图亚特:要不先喝点咖啡吧,要喝点吗?] 好的![斯图亚特:好,我们一起!]
  ***Coffee Break Begun***
  ***咖啡时间开始***
  STUART: You know Rand Paul… you follow Rand Paul at all? [YANG: Yeah, yeah。] Cause you know he’s really against it。 He’s really against that。 He’s been very against trying to…do you want some coffee?
  斯图亚特:你知道兰德·保罗……你关注兰德·保罗了吗? [向杨:是的,我知道] 他真的反对过多干预,很是反感。他一直反对政府试图(军事干预)……你要加点咖啡吗?
  YANG: Uh… I am fine。 I just drank two cups…
  向杨:呃…不用了,我那会儿喝了两杯了…
  STUART: Ah, you did。 Haha… I think it’s a problem for Republican Party to be seen too much that way… that is a result of, you know, Iraq and Afghanistan War。 But then, you know at the same time, you look at ISIS, and I think Americans want more just stronger approach… Ok, I think Obama’s been a disaster in foreign policy。
  斯图亚特:是嘛,哈哈…我觉得让共和党头疼的一点就是总是被别人贴上“爱干预”的标签…这都是让伊拉克和阿富汗战争给闹的。但是,同时你也看伊斯兰国,我觉得美国人希望对他们能使用更强硬的手段…我认为,在外交政策方面奥巴马就是个灾难。
  YANG: Lots of my friends who are probably 30 years older than me, they think Obama’s foreign policy is kind of like a joke。
  向杨:我有不少比我大三十多岁的朋友,他们觉得奥巴马的外交政策就像是一个笑话。
  STUART: I think this is a disaster。
  斯图亚特:我觉得是一场灾难。
  YANG: Yeah, I know that it has become harder for America to be the global hegemon over the decades。 It can be a very strong regional hegemon, but you know, to be the world police will be much harder than 30 years back。
  向杨:我看美国在这几十年里担当世界霸主是越来越不容易了。美国能稳坐一个区域内的霸主,但是和三十年前相比,当世界警察可要难多了。
  STUART: I think he’s very uncomfortable with that, President Obama。
  斯图亚特:我觉得奥巴马对(做世界警察这)这一点是很不自在的。
  YANG: In his State of the Union address, he talked about how America can lead without being the world police。 This one strikes me a lot。 Actually deep in his heart, to be more interventionist is something he will oppose。
  向杨:今年在他发表国情咨文时,他提到美国如何能够“引领世界但又不用充当世界警察”。这让我感触很深。实际上在他内心深处,他是反对采取更多的干预政策。
  ***Coffee Break Ended***
  ***咖啡时间结束***
  STUART: Yes, I think so。 And it’s hard for him to associate it with the community ethics。 I mean, if you go back and read this speech that he gave in Cairo, in the Summer of 2009。 It laid out his approach to the Muslim world。 [YANG: Uh Huh。] You read it now, it reads like a fantasy! [LAUGHTER] It’s really worth reading! It was June of 2009 in Cairo。 [YANG: Yeah, yeah。] I mean that is his vision for what… a new beginning it was called。
  斯图亚特:是的,我同意。他很难把干预主义和社区伦理联系到一块儿。我是说,你回头去看他在2009年夏天访问开罗时发表的讲话,那里面他阐述了自己应对穆斯林世界的构想。[向杨:嗯。] 你现在读来会感觉那像一部玄幻小说!(笑) 那真值得一读。2009年,在开罗发表的。[向杨:好的。] 我是说,他的设想是……称其为一个“新的开端”。
  YANG: [LAUGHTER] So, my latest video, I started out with the line that two things will usually sway the public opinion in the United States in the wrong way: one is the liberal lie。 It’s like you invite people to have this collective imagination of something without realizing that you have limited resources, you have limited power, and then you become extremely liberal。 The other end is the misleading truth。 You touch upon certain facts, but you don’t tell people the whole picture, like Donald Trump [STUART: Right!] And people become so angry and。。。 [STUART: So what was the first? The first is。。。] The liberal lies; another is the misleading truth。 So one lie and one truth… [STUART: This is fantastic! You did it for the video?] I did it at the beginning (of the video)。 My big idea is tell people that you have to seek the truth on your own, you cannot depend on any particular person。 You know, I made a video about Chinese stock market。 Chinese investors, you know, retail investors are so immature! Lots of them follow some analysts, on the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, you know 2 million fans of that guy。 If the stock market is going as the analyst predicts, people think that this guy is a deity, and praise him so highly。 But if it falls, 80% of the comments are criticisms and in a very very harsh way。 The harshest you can ever think of。 So these are the Chinese retail investors。 So that’s about people tend to believe in certain person, put all the eggs in one basket, and it’s a joke! [STUART: Right!] They need more critical thinking and need to know about what’s really happening。 So I think it also happens in the United States。 [STUART: Right!] They don’t have that enough time to pool information together and think critically。
  向杨:(笑) 我最近做了个视频,在开头我就说有两件事通常会误导美国公众的观点:一个是自由主义式的谎言。它就好比你邀请大家畅想美好未来,却没有意识到实现这些承诺,资源和力量是有限的。结果就是你变得非常理想化。而另一个是具有误导性的真相。就是一个人只是简单地提到某些事实,却不会告诉大家事情的全部面貌,就像唐纳德·川普。[斯图亚特:没错!] 结果人们的愤怒被激起……[斯图亚特:第一个是什么来着?第一个是……] (第一个是)自由主义式的谎言,另一个是误导性的真相。 一边是谎言,一边是真相…[斯图亚特:太赞了!你做的这个视频?] 我在(视频的)开始时说的。我的主旨在于告诉大家你得自己寻求真相,不能依靠某个个人来获得真相。我还做了一个有关中国股市的视频。中国的股民,散户居多,特别不理性。他们中的很多会在微博上关注一些股情分析师。这个人(英大证券的李大霄)有200万粉丝,如果股情走势和这个分析师预测的一致,散户就会奉他为神明,对他们赞不绝口。但如果股市跌了,80%的评论都是在指责这些分析师,那些话都不堪入耳,要多难听有多难听。这就是中国散户的现状,就是他们习惯性地相信某个人,把所有的鸡蛋都放在一个篮子里,这不是胡闹嘛![斯图亚特:没错!] 这些股民需要更具批判性的思考,还要了解当下正在发生着什么。我觉得美国也有这样的事。 [斯图亚特:是的!] 股民没空整合信息并认真思考。
  ***
  YANG: So my next question has to do with the so called new conservatism。 And there are lots of criticisms about it。 It says that the new conservatism is powered largely by emotion and religion, and have, for the most part, weak intellectual groundings。 As a UChicago student, I tend to read a lot about the UChicago Economics [STUART: Right!] by Milton Friedman, George Stigler, they are intellectual giants back in 1980s and 1970s。 But its seems to me that public intellectuals in the United States are far left skewed。 One of the study done by a professor in UChicago is the intellectual split in the United States, is 2:1。 Two is the left and one is the right.I just want to know why it is the case? Why the conservative intellectuals are so weak?
  向杨:我的下一个问题和所谓的新保守主义有关。对这个的批评很多,说新保守主义在很大程度上是由情绪和宗教在推动,而且大部分(主张)都站不住脚。身为芝大的学子,我也读了不少芝大经济学方面的理论。[斯图亚特:很好!] 像米尔顿·弗里德曼、乔治·斯蒂格勒等都是1970年代和1980年代的思想大家。不过在我看来美国的公共知识分子都严重左倾。芝大的一名教授曾做个一份研究,指出在美国知识界有个2:1的比例,左派知识分子是2,右派知识分子是1。我想知道为什么会这样?为什么保守派知识分子如此势单力薄?
  ***
  YANG: So my next question has to do with the so called new conservatism。 And there are lots of criticisms about it。 It says that the new conservatism is powered largely by emotion and religion, and have, for the most part, weak intellectual groundings.As a UChicago student, I tend to read a lot about the UChicago Economics [STUART: Right!] by Milton Friedman, George Stigler, they are intellectual giants back in 1980s and 1970s。 But its seems to me that public intellectuals in the United States are far left skewed。 One of the study done by a professor in UChicago is the intellectual split in the United States, is 2:1。 Two is the left and one is the right。 I just want to know why it is the case? Why the conservative intellectuals are so weak?
  向杨:我的下一个问题和所谓的新保守主义有关。对这个的批评很多,说新保守主义在很大程度上是由情绪和宗教在推动,而且大部分(主张)都站不住脚。身为芝大的学子,我也读了不少芝大经济学方面的理论。[斯图亚特:很好!] 像米尔顿·弗里德曼、乔治·斯蒂格勒等都是1970年代和1980年代的思想大家。不过在我看来美国的公共知识分子都严重左倾。芝大的一名教授曾做个一份研究,指出在美国知识界有个2:1的比例,左派知识分子是2,右派知识分子是1。我想知道为什么会这样?为什么保守派知识分子如此势单力薄?
  STUART: I think in America, we have a very weak intellectual class period。 I mean, I don’t think that we have strong public intellectuals… I don’t think we have a strong world for public intellectuals in America now。 I think it’s decreased and important。 And I think it’s because the barriers of information。。。 a lot of reasons, if you go through…
  斯图亚特:我觉得在美国,我们在一个知识分子阶层羸弱的时期。我是说,我们并没有强有力的一帮公共知识分子……现在我们还没有为美国的公共知识分子营造出一个理想的土壤。这样的土壤很重要,但它却在萎缩。我觉得这是因为信息壁垒……有很多因素,如果你去回顾……
  YANG: One thing I found very exciting about Milton Friedman is that he’s not only championing for self-interest, but through this championing for self-interest you’re actually maximizing social interest, the collective interest。 So that’s the appeal of a more conservative economic intellectual grounding。 But it seems to me that not only is intellectual climate more left-skewed, but also the cultural production, like the movie, especially Hollywood movie is naturally liberal left。 And we Chinese understand America in a large sense through the Hollywood movies, you know。 [STUART: Right!] We have a very huge market, you know, lots of Hollywood studios want to have their premieres in China as soon as possible。 So what do you think of the film industry。 You are one of the film guys, so what do you think of this left-skewed Hollywood film industry?
  向杨:我发现和米尔顿·弗里德曼(自由选择)的观点之所以吸引人,就是他不仅捍卫个人利益,而且在捍卫个人利益的过程中,实际上也将社会利益、集体利益最大化了。所以这是保守的经济观的吸引人的地方。但在我看来,不仅是知识界左倾严重,文化产业也是如此,像电影界,特别是好莱坞的电影,很自然地就偏向左派自由主义了。而中国人在很大程度上是通过好莱坞的电影来认识美国的。[斯图亚特:没错!] 我们有巨大的(票房)市场,许多好莱坞的电影公司都想尽快在中国进行首映。你怎么看待电影产业?你也是电影人,你对这个明显左倾的好莱坞电影产业有什么看法吗?
  STUART: I think that there’s a big division in this country between… um…It’s complicated, but。。um…
  斯图亚特:我觉得在国内有一个大的分歧……嗯……非常复杂……不过……
  YANG: As a businessman, you tend to more pro-business, economically conservative, but as an actor, if you say something conservative, [STUART: It’s right! Right! It’s not good! Not good。] you are gonna be unpopular。 [STUART: Yeah, it’s true。] Very few conservative actors in the United States。
  向杨:如果是个商人,会更倾向于逐利,经济观上保守一些;但作为一名演员,如果你说些保守的观点…[斯图亚特:没错,是的!那样不好,不好。]…你就火不起来了。 美国保守派的演员很少。(注:美国保守主义的好莱坞演员屈指可数,比如演员时期的美国前总统罗纳德·里根,《勇敢的心》的主演梅尔·吉布森,《终结者》中的阿诺·施瓦辛格)
  STUART: But it’s。。。Yeah。 I think that there。。 it’s complicated, but I think there has been a popular culture that is represented in many ways an elite class, and that elite class pretended to speak for those who are not elite。 But in fact, I think they were very much elitists。 Like John Stewart。
  斯图亚特:但是……是的,我觉得……这很复杂。我认为在许多时候大众文化是代表了精英阶层的生活,而这个精英阶层又装作是在替非精英阶层说话。但实际上,他们奉行的是精英主义。就像乔恩·斯图尔特(囧叔,囧司徒)
  YANG: Yeah, he is so popular in China。
  向杨:没错,他(囧叔,囧司徒)在中国很火。
  STUART: If you compare John Stewart to John Steinbeck, the writer during the depression。 I think that’s very interesting。 So John Stewart is this multi-millionaire, suburban。。
  斯图亚特:如果你对比一下乔恩·斯图尔特和约翰·史坦贝克,就是大萧条时期的那个作家,就会发现很有趣的事。乔恩·斯图尔特是这种身价数百万的大富翁,在市郊长大……(注:约翰·史坦贝克是美国著名作家,以描写社会不公和底层人民的生活闻名于世,1962年获得诺贝尔文学奖)
  YANG: [LAUGHTER] We just know he’s a funny guy; we don’t know about his wealth。
  向杨:(笑) 我们只知道他是个很有趣的人,对他的财富状况并不了解。
  STUART: Yeah, he’s a rich guy from New Jersey [YANG: Yeah。] who is a social critic。 But he doesn’t speak for those who are not really doing well in the system。 Have you ever read or seen The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck’s book?
  斯图亚特:是的,他可是个从新泽西来的富豪。[向杨:嗯。] 但他爱针砭时事。不过他并不爱替体制里不幸的群体说话。你读过约翰·史坦贝克写的《愤怒的葡萄》吗?
  YANG: Yeah yeah。
  向杨:嗯,读过。
  STUART: So John Steinbeck spoke for those who really were failing in the American system。 And the differences in those two voices… I think are really important。 For the last。。。 I think President Obama has been in office, there has been a need to try to pretend that things are better than they are。 The rich have gotten a lot richer; the stock market has been going up。 I think that there has been a sort of conspiracy of silence about how difficult things are they are in the country.And when you look at unemployment number, sort of going down, they really hide what is really happening in the country。
  斯图亚特:约翰·史坦贝克就会为美国社会中那些落魄阶层的人呐喊。而这两种声音的不同之处……我认为真的很重要。在最近的几年……我觉得自从奥巴马总统就任以来,好像有一种非要试着粉饰当下要比事实状况要美好的需要。富人更富有了,股市也上涨了。但对国内真实的情况有多糟糕却保沉默不语,我觉得这就像一场阴谋。你看失业人数,好像是减少了,但他们(官方)实际上掩盖了国内其它的一些真实情况。
  YANG: Yeah。 Just talk about the general number, the employment recovery, 14 million people get the job, but the American system is getting more polarized, and you know, in China we talk a lot about our Gini coefficient。 It’s more than America’s but。。。 the 1% at the top has 1/3 of the wealth。 But in the United States the number is 42%。 That means the United States has very very rich people at the top, [STUART: Yeah。] even though you have a large bulk of middle class… [STUART: But that is getting smaller。] Getting smaller! And for lots of figures, those lower class, the lowest 5%, their income is falling for 6% or 5% over the past several decades。 So, yeah I think if we look more closely, there’s always gonna be some problem。 But Obama just gave a very big picture。
  向杨:是的。就拿总数来说吧,就业复苏,新增1400万人找到了工作。但美国的两极分化却加剧了。而且,在中国,我们常常谈到中国的基尼系数,比美国要高。最富有的1%的人掌控了三分之一的财富。但在美国,最富有的1%的人却占有了42%的财富。这意味着美国顶层人群的非常非常的富有,[斯图亚特:是的。] 即便美国社会还有一群数量庞大的中产阶级……[斯图亚特:但中产人数却在减少。] (中产人数)是在减少。 而且从很多数据来看,处在社会较低层的人,最底层的那5%,他们的收入在过去几十年里下降了6%或5%。的确是,如果追究数据细节,就会发现问题。奥巴马只是给了个粗略的数据(1400万新增就业人数)来描绘当下的图景。
  STUART: I think that if Obama was a Republican, I think Senator Obama would be tearing him apart。 I mean, you have the highest inequality we’ve ever had; you have。。。 the last 7 years, we’ve had a sharp increase in poverty; we’ve had… um。。。 for the first time now, you know, we have the poor, the middle class and the rich。 For the first time now in the modern history, the middle class is smaller than the poor and the rich。 And all this just happened… these are all long-term trends, but they have all escalated。。。
  斯图亚特:我想假若奥巴马是一名共和党人,我觉得奥巴马参议员会把他自己撕成两半不可。我是说,你搞出了有史以来最严重的不平等。你整得……过去七年里,贫困人数急剧上升。我们都有了……有史以来第一次,我们有穷人、中产和富豪三个阶级。从现代史以来,中产阶级地数量,少于穷人和富豪地数量总和。而且这些才是开始,还要持续很久,程度还在不停加剧……
  YANG: But I think one of the events that is so critical to this outcome is the financial crisis。 And the financial crisis is not the outcome of Obama’s administration。 Obama actually helped rescue those banks, to prevent the systematic risks。 Well there are lots of debates about what he should do at the moment, to save those big banks or not。 [STUART: Presidents are to solve problems。] Yeah, solve problems!
  向杨:我认为对于如今这种局面来说,一个至关重要的事件就是金融危机。而金融危机并不是奥巴马政府上台搞出来的。奥巴马实际上帮助拯救了那些大银行,以防出现系统性风险。对于奥巴马当时该做些什么,该不该救助这些大银行,人们也是议论纷纷。[斯图亚特:总统理就是用来解决问题地。] 对,解决问题!
  STUART: I mean, Roosevelt came into the depression and had the World War II, you know, … Truman had the Cold War… He had to decide if he …
  斯图亚特:你看,罗斯福上台时撞上了大萧条,还经历了二次世界大战,杜鲁门时期碰上了冷战,他要决定他要不要……
  YANG: So throughout the crisis building-up and solving the crisis, it’s always the rich that get the largest share of the benefits。 That’s…
  向杨:从金融危机逐渐积累到金融危机后的收拾残局,整个过程中获利最多的总是富人,这……
  STUART: My problem is always that… He’s like a lot of conservatives。 He’s much more interested in social causes than economic。 He talked more about guns and gay marriage than about the economy。 And I think he is very disconnected from the economy。
  斯图亚特:我想说的是这个问题……他(奥巴马)和现在很多保守派一样。相比经济问题,他更喜欢插手人们地社会生活。他总是谈枪支问题和同性婚姻,却不怎么谈经济。我觉得他对经济的认识严重脱节了。
  YANG: Yeah, I think he is more like a… I mean in the academic sense, a more sociologist than an economist。 [STUART: Yeah!] And my last question is about college education。 [STUART: Yeah!] So UChicago is a very peculiar phenomenon because we have so many famous conservative thinkers in law school, in economics department, but they are aging guys, you know, they are old, and lots of their friends die recently。 So…[STUART: Right!] but UChicago actually ranks the first in terms of its tolerance for conservative ideas。 It was reported by the U.S.A Today。 And there is a notion of the institutionalization of liberal skew in universities, [STUART: Yeah!] because people say that the professors, they tend to work in this quasi-socialist environment。 [STUART: Yes!] They don’t get lots of pay, but they are satisfied with the pay。 So they tend to have this more liberal view, there might be lots of variation of across different disciplines, like economics major may be more, you know, on the right side, [STUART: Yes!] but sociology major might be most liberal type of persons… So what do think of the effect of education on the political ideology of the general American citizens? Is it a problem or it is just… [STUART: What do you mean?] just part of their…
  向杨:是的,我觉得他(奥巴马)更像一个……从学术意义上讲,更像一个社会学家而不是经济学家。[斯图亚特:没错!] 我最后一个问题和大学教育有关。[斯图亚特:好的!] 芝大是一种独特的存在。因为芝大有很多保守派学者在法学院、经济学院任教,但他们在老去,有些人最近也去世了。所以……[斯图亚特:是的!] 但在包容保守派思想的方面,芝大名列榜首,《今日美国》报道过这一点。 还有一种看法是关于高校中自由主义制度化倾向,[斯图亚特:是的!] 因为人们觉得教授大多习惯在这种“准社会”主义的环境中工作。[斯图亚特:是的!] 他们收入并不高,但很知足。所以他们更倾向于自由主义地观点。不同学科之间可能又各不相同,像经济学专业的就可能要更右倾一些,[斯图亚特:是的!] 而社会学专业中自由派人士要更多一些……你怎么看待教育对美国普通公民的政治意识形态产生的影响?这是个问题还是只是……[斯图亚特:我不太明白你的意思。] 只是他们的一部分……
  STUART: You mean a lack of… ?
  斯图亚特:你是说缺乏……?
  YANG: Because the education system is disproportionately liberal, but the traditional American value [STUART: It’s a very profound question。] yeah, is conservative。 I mean, maybe after working for a couple of years people get more realistic and they become more conservative, [STUART: Right。] but isn’t it a threat to conservatism itself that the educational system is getting institutionalized liberal-skewed?
  向杨:因为教育体系现在自由化得很不成比例,但是传统的美国价值观…[斯图亚特:你提的这个问题相当深刻!] 是的,是保守主义。我是说,可能工作几年后人们会变得更加务实,同时也变得更加保守。[斯图亚特:没错!] 但是教育体系自由化倾向严重且被制度化,这难道不会威胁到保守主义本身吗?
  STUART: I don’t know。 It’s the answer。 I mean, I went to school a lot, you know。 I got a lot of degrees, and things I never use。 But I come from a tradition…in my family that it was just good to study, to learn how to think。 And the more you knew, the richer your life would be。 Not to use it for the practical…And the schools I went to have more classics… Well, you know, I went to this undergraduate place called Colorado College… [YANG: Yeah, Colorado。] which is a small liberal arts college which is traditionally seen as very liberal。 I was in the same class with David Axelrod’s wife… But also all the Cheneys, Mrs Cheney went there and her two daughters went there and her grand daughter went there。 So, you know, uh… David’s son went there too。 So, I don’t know。 I mean, uh, you know when I was at Oxford, which was very conservative… the college at Oxford… I went to Pembroke College at Oxford。 It was very conservative。 I don’t…I know there are concerns of a lot of people that… [YANG: You know in the United States, you have the system of affirmative action which is liberal in nature, and all the stuff coming together is becoming more liberal。] I tend to… I think the bigger problem is getting people into college, not what happens to them in college。 I mean the fact the college is so expensive now in the United States。[YANG: Yeah。] Not to me…[YANG: especially to international students。] Yeah, if I was gonna rank the problems, I’m a lot worried about the people who aren’t going to college, than what’s happening to the people who are in college。 Because I think when you’re in college, one of the things you should have been equipped with… hopefully is the ability to think for yourself…[YANG: Uh Huh。]
  斯图亚特:我不知道。我说不上来。我的意思是,我上过很多学,拿了不少文凭,很多都是些我根本用不上的东西。但我来自这样一个家庭传统……在我家,学习,学习如何思考是件好事。你学得越多,你的生活就越富足。学习倒不是为了实际的……我念书的那些学校有很多经典阅读……我有次去本科院校科罗拉多学院……[向杨:我知道科罗拉多。] 那是一所小型的文理学校,一向很自由。我和大卫·阿克塞尔罗的爱人当时同班……还有切尼一家(注:小布什时期的副总统迪克·切尼),切尼太太去了,她的两个女儿、她的孙女都去了。还有大卫·阿克塞尔罗的儿子也去了。所以我不知道,我是说,我在牛津的时候,那里的思想就非常保守……在牛津的学院…我去过牛津彭布罗克学院,那里的思想很保守。我不……我知道很多人都有顾虑……[向杨:在美国,你们有平权措施制度,(注:指防止对“肤色、宗教、性别或民族出身”等少数群体或弱势群体歧视的一种手段,将这些群体给予优待来消除歧视,从而达到平等。如入学的种族配额及选举的性别配额等,籍此减少歧视及避免少数族群在就业和教育上受到不公平对待。但这种措施也时常引起逆向歧视等争议。)这种制度本质上就是自由主义的,而且这些东西合在一起又推动了自由化的趋势。] 我觉得更重要的问题是让人们进入大学,而不是在大学里发生了什么,事实是如今在美国上大学非常昂贵。[向杨:是的。] 不是对我而言……[向杨:特别是对留学生而言。] 对,如果让我给所有问题排个序,我最担心的是那些上不了大学的人。因为如果你进了大学,你会具备的一项本领就是…但愿如此……通过独立思考,你会明白自己的利益所在…… [向杨:嗯。]
  YANG: So, great!
  向杨:聊得很过瘾。
  STUART: I am gonna be around。
  斯图亚特:我随时奉陪。
  YANG: Thank you for that。
  向杨:谢谢你。
  STUART: Yeah, it’s cool!
  斯图亚特:是啊,这样很棒!
  YANG: It’s so interesting to talk with you!
  向杨:和你聊天很开心!
  STUART: Yeah, I am gonna be around, man! So let’s do it again!
  斯图亚特:不客气,我随时奉陪,我们下次再聊!
  YANG: Great!
  向杨:好嘞!
  STUART: You know, the first book I wrote was about China。
  斯图亚特:你知道嘛,我写的第一本书就是讲中国的。
  YANG: Really?
  向杨:哦?
  STUART: About traveling across China。
  斯图亚特:讲得是横穿中国的旅行。
  YANG: Oh, traveling across China?
  向杨:噢,是穿越中国之旅?
  STUART: I re-traced…[YANG: Did you travel by yourself or?] Yes, I re-traced the trip of the guy, Peter Fleming。 [YANG: Oh!] He was the Ian Fleming’s brother。 They traveled in their thirties。 He wrote a book called… [STAFF: Do you want a slice of pizza before we get…] No… I don’t。 [STAFF: Are you sure?] I can’t eat pizza。 I’ll die!
  斯图亚特:我沿着……[向杨:你是一个人去的还是?] 是的,我一个人。我沿着彼得·弗莱明的路线走的。[向杨:噢!] 他是伊恩·弗莱明(注:007詹姆斯·邦德系列小说的作者)的兄弟。 他们三十来岁那年来中国旅游,他(彼得·弗莱明)写了本书叫(注:书名应为《刺刀指向拉萨》,该书讲述了1904年发生在西藏的一系列历史事件。电影《红河谷》也再现了当时最为壮烈的江孜保卫战,并在片尾致谢彼得·弗莱明。)……[员工:你想吃点披萨吗?…] 不,我不吃了。[员工:确定?] 我吃不了披萨,我会休克!(注:有可能斯图亚特对芝士过敏)
  特别鸣谢Leon的英翻中
  向杨的微博:向杨Alan
  微信公众号:xy88chicago
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