◎黃裕美輯譯
Sarah Palin loves the word "ex-ceptional." At a rally in Nevada the other day, the Republican vice-pres-idential candidate said: "We are an exceptional nation." Then she de-clared: "America is an exceptional country." In case anyone missed that, she added: "You are all exceptional Americans." In fact, the election is very much about American excep-tionalism.
莎拉‧裴林很愛用「例外的」或譯「卓異的」、「獨特的」這個字眼。不久前某一天，在內華達州一項造勢場合，這位共和黨副總統候選人說：「我們是個卓異的民族。」她接著又宣稱：「美國是個卓越特異的國家。」為了避免有人沒聽到，她又說：「各位都是很獨特的美國人。」事實上，這次選舉有極大部分在談美國例外主義。
This is the idea, around since the founding fathers, and elaborated on by Alexis de Toqueville, that the United States is a nation unlike any other with a special mission to build the "city upon a hill" that will serve as liberty’s beacon for mankind. But exceptionalism has taken an ugly twist of late. It’s become the angry refuge of the America that wants to deny the real state of the world.
這個概念於美國開國先賢時代就存在了，並由托克維爾加以闡述，認為美國和其他國家不同，肩負特殊的任務，要建「嶺上之都」，做為人類自由的燈塔。但這種「例外主義」最近出現醜陋的轉折，它已經成為有意否定世界真實狀態的美國人憤怒的避難所。
From an inspirational notion, however flawed in execution, that has buttressed the global spread of liberty, American exceptionalism has mor-phed into the fortress of those who see themselves threatened by "one-worlders". That's Palinism.
從鼓舞人心的觀點，無論執行時出了什麼差錯，那還是支撐了全球自由的散播，美國「例外主義」變形成那些自認遭到「世界大同主義者」威脅的人的堡壘。那就是「裴林主義」。
Behind Palinism lies anger. It's been growing as America's relative decline has become more manifest in falling incomes, imploding markets, massive debt and rising new centers of wealth and power from Shanghai to Dubai. The damn-the-world, God-chose-us rage of that America has sharpened as U.S. exceptionalism has become harder to square with the 21st-century world's interconnect-edness. How exceptional can you be when every major problem you face, from terrorism to nuclear prolifera-tion to gas prices, requires joint ac-tion
在裴林主義的背後燃燒著熊熊怒火。自從美國相對沒落，尤其表現在收入減少、市場破滅、債台高築，及新興財富和權力中心從上海到杜拜不斷興起，這股怒氣更是高漲。美國那股「該死的世界，上帝選擇我們」的怒火益形尖銳，因為美國例外主義在21世紀這個互相聯結的世界已經愈來難立足。當你面對的每一個主要問題，從恐怖主義到核子擴散到油價，都需要和其他國家合作採取行動時，你能有多獨特例外？
Very exceptional, insists Palin, and so does John McCain by choosing her. (He has said: "I do believe in Ameri-can exceptionalism. We are the only nation I know that really is deeply concerned about adhering to the principle that all of us are created e-qual.")
但裴林堅持美國非常卓異，相中她當副手的〔共和黨總統候選人〕馬侃也不遑多讓。（他曾說：「我絕對相信美國例外主義。我們是我所知唯一的國家，真正深深關切堅守「人類生而平等的」原則。）
America is distinct. Its habits and attitudes with respect to religion, pa-triotism, voting and the death penalty, for example, differ from much of the rest of the developed world. It is more ideological than other countries, be-lieving still in its manifest destiny. At its noblest, it inspires still. But, let's face it, from Baghdad to Bear Stearns the last eight years have been a lesson in the price of exceptionalism run amok.
美國的確與眾不同。舉例來說，不論是對宗教、愛國主義、投票和死刑等風俗習慣和態度都和其他已開發國家不同。美國比其他國家更墨守成規，仍然相信「美國天命論」。沒錯，在最高貴的地方，它仍有所啟發。但我們應勇於面對，從巴格達到貝爾斯登公司，我們從過去八年例外主義失控衝撞的代價得到教訓。
To persist with a philosophy grounded in America's separateness, rather than its connectedness, would be devastating at a time when the country faces two wars, a financial collapse unseen since 1929, com-modity inflation, a huge transfer of resources to the Middle East, and the imperative to develop new sources of energy. Enough is enough.
死抱一種植根於美國與眾不同而非與世界連結的理念，值此美國面對兩場戰爭，及1929年以來僅見的金融崩盤、通貨膨脹、大量資源移往中東及刻不容緩要開發新能源之際，將會道致毀滅性的後果。真是夠了。
The basic shift from the cold war to the new world is from MAD (mutual assured destruction) to MAC (mutual assured connectedness). Technology trumps politics. Still, Bush and Ch-eney have demonstrated that politics still matter. Which brings us to the first debate — scheduled for Sept. 26 — between Obama and McCain on foreign policy. It pit the former's uni-versalism against the latter's excep-tionalism.
基本上，從冷戰轉移到新世界是從「相互保證毀滅」走向「相互保證連結」。科技戰勝了政治。但布希和錢尼所作所為彰顯了政治仍然重要，這也是歐巴馬和馬侃9月26日舉行第一次外交政策辯論的重點。歐巴馬以「普世主義」槓上馬侃的「例外主義」。
On the Democratic side you have a guy whose campaign has been based on the Internet, who believes Ameri-ca may have something to learn from other countries (like universal health care) and who's unafraid in 2008 to say he's a "proud citizen of the United States and a fellow citizen of the world." On the Republican side, you have a guy who, in 2008, is just dis-covering the Net and Google and whose No. 2 is a woman who got a passport last year and believes she un-derstands Russia because Alaska is closer to Siberia than Alabama.
民主黨候選人〔歐巴馬〕的選戰主要建立在網路上，他相信美國可以向其他國家取經（全民健保就是個例子），他在2008年的今天，仍無所畏懼地說，他以「身為美國公民和世界同胞為榮。」共和黨候選人〔馬侃〕則到2008年才開始使用網路和Google，他的女副手則遲至去年才拿到護照，但她自信，她很了解俄羅斯，因為阿拉斯加和西伯利亞的距離遠比阿拉巴馬州要近。
If I were Obama, I'd put it this way: "Senator McCain, the world you claim to understand is the world of yesterday. A new century demands new thinking. Our country cannot be made fundamentally secure by a man who thought our economy was fun-damentally sound."
如果我是歐巴馬，我會這麼說：「馬侃參議員，你自稱了解的是昨天的世界，新世紀要有新思維。一個自認我們的經濟基本面很健全的人，不可能使我們的國家基本面安全。」
American exceptionalism, taken to extremes, leaves you without the allies you need (Iraq), without the influence you want (Iran) and without any no-tion of risk (Wall Street). The only exceptionalism that resonates, as Obama put it to me last year, is one "based on our Constitution, our principles, our values and our ideals."
美國例外主義，推到極致，將使你不再擁有你所需要的友邦（伊拉克），不再擁有你需要的影響力（伊朗），也不知道風險將至（華爾街）。唯一可以引起共鳴的例外主義，誠如歐巴馬去年告訴我的，「植基於我們的憲法、我們的原則、我們的價值和我們的理想。」
Palinism has its intellectual roots. But it's dangerous for a country in need of realism not rage. I'm sure Henry Kissinger tried to instill Re-alpolitik in the governor of Alaska this week, but the angry exceptionalism that is Palinism is not in the reason game.
裴林主義有其智慧的根基，但對一個需要務實主義而不是憤怒的國家，這不啻鋌而走險。我相信季辛吉本周曾試著灌輸現實政治主張給阿拉斯加州州長，但和裴林主義畫上等號的「憤怒的例外主義」則不是理性的遊戲。
（取材自紐約時報克魯曼專欄）