▲美國德州茶黨人士手持一疊卡片，準備寄給夏威夷州州長，要求公布總統歐巴馬的出生證明。（圖文／路透）

諸如「出生地陰謀論者」和「政府主導一切陰謀論者」（否定911事件的既定解釋，認為911事件是美國政府自導自演的恐怖主義行動）等極端主義者的政治陰謀論，可能都是美國在911之後的重要論調。但亞瑟．葛德偉格的新書指出，現代保守主義團體可能是歷史重覆下的產物。

Extremist political conspiracies such as "birthers （1）" and "truthers （2）" may be a dominant theme of post-9/11 America, but in a new book by Arthur Goldwag, he argues that modern conservative groups may be a product of history repeating itself.

葛德偉格 2月7日出版的《新仇恨：民粹右派的恐懼及嫌惡史》新書中，追溯出生地陰謀論、伊斯蘭恐懼症、反移民情結以及諸如茶黨運動等現代保守主義分支，探索其修辭及意識形態的歷史根源。

In Goldwag's book, "The New Hate: A History of Fear and Loathing on the Populist Right," due out on February 7, the author traced the historical origins of rhetoric and ideologies associated with birtherism, Islamophobia, anti-immigration sentiment and other touchstones of modern conservative factions such as the Tea Party movement.

整本書中，葛德偉格強調過去及目前的政治論述之間有其相似性。他指出，1百年前的反猶和反天主教著作，與當代政治人物、評論家擔憂穆斯林對美國安全及生活方式造成威脅的論述間，彼此有類似之處。

Throughout his book, Goldwag highlighted similarities in rhetoric between such past movements and some present political discourse, drawing parallels between anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic literature from 100 years ago and statements from contemporary politicians and commentators concerned that Muslims represent a threat to America's security and way of life.

「如果你閱讀反伊斯蘭的文章，會發現它們讀起來就跟1920年代反猶著作一樣。」葛德偉格向《路透》表示：「這種文字具有化約的特性，把某些永恆不變的特質加諸在某一群人的身上。這麼做永遠得不到真相。」

"If you read the really anti-Islamic stuff, it reads exactly like the anti-Semitic stuff from the 1920s," Goldwag told Reuters. "It has this totalizing quality, projecting immutable characteristics onto a whole class of people, and it's never going to be true if you do that."

雖然葛德偉格擔心，這些運動潮流的擴散是根植於仇恨與簡化的思想，但他也表示，美國已遠離「往日仇恨」。他舉例，2008年歐巴馬獲得多數選票，當選第一位非裔美人總統，這就是進步的象徵。

Although Goldwag is worried about the spread of movements based on hatred （3） and simplistic thought, he said America has come a long way from the days of "the old hate," citing the 2008 election of Barack Obama as the nation's first African American president by a significant majority as a sign of progress.

「我們成為一個更成熟的社會，變成一個較不具有種族歧視的社會。」他說：「我們有所進步，但我們各種真切的挑戰中，有一群人試圖將我們往後拉，而這些人得到許多幫助。」

"We're a more sophisticated society, and a less racist society," he said. "We are improving, but one of the real challenges that we face are the people who are trying to pull us backward, and they have a lot of help."

葛德偉格表示，這群人所獲得的「協助」，是以許多不同的形式出現，而這就是新仇恨與舊日仇恨之間的不同。他指的是24小時有線電視新聞、政治評論電台和網路，與過去相比，這些平台更大程度地讓偏激的思想滲透至政治主流中。

The author said this "help" comes in several forms, and is what separates the new hate from the old. He pointed to the proliferation of 24-hour cable news, talk radio, and the Internet as platforms that have allowed fringe ideas to penetrate the political mainstream to a much larger degree than in the past.

「其中一個重點在於，現在的媒體數量比過去要多得多。」他說：「為數甚少的一群人所能造成的衝擊比過去要來得大。這個少數族群、這些真正的死忠種族主義者透過網路，擁有了過去沒有的擴音器。」

"One thing is that there is so much more media than there used to be," he said. "People that are small in number have a much larger impact that they did before. The tiny minority, the really hard-core racists, have a megaphone that they didn't used to have in the Internet."

葛德偉格指出，政治團體過去高度仰賴實體郵件和報紙，而網路讓它們能以更有效也更節約成本的方式接觸到更多閱聽者，透過網站、電子郵件、網路廣播和影片，將政治討論的重點轉移到更意識形態層面的議題。

While political groups previously relied heavily on postal mail and newspapers, the Internet made it easy to reach a larger audience more efficiently and cost-effectively with websites, email, podcasts, and video, shifting the focus of political discussion toward more ideological issues, the author said.

葛德偉格說：「過去的報紙偏頗黨派的現象很常見，可是當時的報紙不會24小時對著你轟炸。現在的人們卻用一種前所未有的激情，經常談論大而化之的意識形態觀念。」

"Newspapers used to be very partisan, but newspapers weren't being shouted at you 24 hours a day. People are talking about big ideological ideas with an intensity that they didn't use to so much," he said.

作者也針對1917年俄國布爾什維克革命至2001年911攻擊這段期間進行分析，探討艱困時局和不確定性是如何為那些激進的觀念提供肥沃土壤。

The author also explored how tough times and uncertainty -- from Russia's 1917 Bolshevik Revolution to the 2001 September 11 attacks -- can create fertile ground for more extreme ideas.

「無論何時，只要經濟變差，人們就會開始尋找地位低於自己的人做為譴責對象，或是譴責地位高於自己的人。」他解釋：「其間存在著許多的憤恨。」

"Whenever the economy gets bad, people start looking for people below them to blame, or people above them to blame," he explained. "There's a lot of resentment."

然而，他也懇求讀者不要沮喪，並建議不同政治立場的民眾要訴諸邏輯，將維持合宜的懷疑論，提防過度簡化的論述。

However, he implored readers not to despair, advising people of all political stripes to rely on logic, to maintain a level of healthy skepticism （4） and to be wary of simple explanations.

「解藥是真相以及健康的懷疑主義。」他說：「對於過度簡化的論述要保持懷疑，真實生活總是更具有開放性也更複雜的。」

"The antidote is truth and healthy skepticism," he said. "Be very suspicious of simple explanations. Real life is always more open-ended （5） and complicated."

（路透Reuters）

1. birther

(n.) 認為歐巴馬不是出生在美國的人

2. truther

(n.) 認為911事件是美國政府自導自演的人

3. hatred

(n.) 仇恨

4. skepticism

(n.) 懷疑論

5. open-ended

(a.) 開放式的