Name: 什麼是麥卡錫主義？它又是如何發生的？- 艾倫-施雷克 (What is McCarthyism? And how did it happen? - Ellen Schrecker)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T08:16:21.000Z
Duration: 5 min 43 s

Imagine that one day, you're summoned before a government panel.

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Helen Chang

Even though you haven't  committed any crime,

想像有一天，你被一個 政府專門小組傳喚。

進階被動語態

you are repeatedly questioned about your political views,

你卻被反覆詢問你的政治觀點，

and asked to incriminate your friends and associates.

If you don't cooperate, you risk jail or losing your job.

還被要求要歸罪於你的朋友跟同事。

This is exactly what happened in the United States in the 1950s

若不合作，你要冒入獄或 失去工作的風險。

as part of a campaign to expose suspected communists.

五○年代的美國就是這個樣子，

Named after its most  notorious practitioner,

這是讓疑似共產黨員 曝光的政治活動。

the phenomenon known as McCarthyism destroyed thousands of lives and careers.

這個現象叫做麥卡錫主義， 名稱來自它最惡名昭彰的實踐者，

For over a decade, American political  leaders trampled democratic freedoms

它摧毀了數以千計的人和職涯。

美國政治領袖以捍衛民主自由之名

there had been an active but small communist party in the United States.

美國有一個活躍的小型共產黨。

While it played crucial roles in wider  progressive struggles

雖然它扮演了一個 重要角色，影響為了爭取

勞工及公民權而 更廣泛去做的革新努力，

From the start, the American  Communist Party faced attacks

as well as from liberals who criticized its ties to the oppressive Soviet regime.

來自保守派及企業領導人的攻擊，

During World War II, when the USA and USSR were allied against Hitler,

還要面對自由派批評它 和壓迫人民的蘇聯政權有聯繫。

some American communists actually spied for the Russians.

第二次世界大戰時， 美國與蘇聯結盟對抗希特勒，

When the Cold War escalated and this espionage became known,

有些美國共產黨員 其實是俄國的間諜。

domestic communism came to be seen as a threat to national security.

當冷戰逐漸加劇， 這間諜活動開始被揭露出來，

國內的共產主義開始被視為是 對國家安全的威脅。

soon turned into the longest lasting and most widespread episode

of political repression  in American history.

the campaign wildly exaggerated the danger of communist subversion.

suspected of holding  left-of-center political views

被懷疑抱持中間偏左 政治觀點的任何人，

若你把現代藝術掛在你的牆上、

or signed petitions against nuclear weapons,

used the resources of his agency to hunt down such supposed communists

and eliminate them from any position of influence

就利用他局內的資源， 追捕這些可能是共產黨的人，

And the narrow criteria that Hoover and his allies used

胡佛及他的盟友使用狹隘的標準，

and thousands of other public and private employers

和數以千計的國營、民營企業主

were imposing the same political tests on the men and women who worked for them.

對他們僱用的男男女女 實施同樣的政治測試。

Meanwhile, Congress conducted  its own witchhunt

同時，國會也開始進行 它自己的政治迫害。

subpoenaing hundreds of people to testify before investigative bodies

傳喚了數百個人 在調查單位面前作證，

like the House Un-American  Activities Committee.

如眾議院非美活動 調查委員會這類調查單位。

If they refused to cooperate, they could be jailed for contempt,

如果他們拒絕合作， 就可能會因藐視的罪名而坐牢，

或，更常見的情況 是被解僱並列入黑名單。

Ambitious politicians, like Richard Nixon

會把這種聽證會 當作擁護黨派的武器，

accusing democrats  of being soft on communism

指控民主黨對共產主義不夠強硬，

and deliberately losing China to the Communist Bloc.

McCarthy, a Republican senator  from Wisconsin

麥卡錫是來自威斯康辛的 共和黨參議員 ，

became notorious by flaunting ever-changing lists of alleged communists

因誇耀國務院內 結盟之共產黨員的名單

he continued to make  outrageous accusations

while distorting or fabricating evidence.

Many citizens reviled McCarthy while others praised him.

許多公民斥責麥卡錫， 但其他人則稱讚他。

And when the Korean War broke out, McCarthy seemed vindicated.

of the Senate's permanent subcommittee on investigations in 1953,

It was his investigation of the army that  finally turned public opinion against him

終於使得公眾輿論的矛頭轉向他，

McCarthy's colleagues  in the Senate censured him

and he died less than three years later, probably from alcoholism.

麥卡錫在參議院的同事譴責他，

此後不到三年他便過世了， 死因可能是酗酒。

It had ruined hundreds,  if not thousands, of lives

and drastically narrowed the American political spectrum.

被它毀掉的人， 若沒有數千個也有數百個，

Its damage to democratic institutions would be long lasting.

並大大地縮減了美國的政治光譜。

In all likelihood, there were both Democrats and Republicans

它對於民主制度的傷害 是很長久的。

who knew that the anti-communist purges were deeply unjust

很可能，在民主黨 和共和黨內都有人

but feared that directly opposing them would hurt their careers.

知道反共產主義的肅清 有很深的不公平性，

Even the Supreme Court failed to stop the witchhunt,

但害怕直接反對肅清 會影響到自己的職涯。

condoning serious violations of constitutional rights

即便是最高法院 也沒能阻止政治迫害，

Was domestic communism an actual threat to the American government?

赦免了嚴重違反憲法權利的行為。

美國國內的共產主義 真的會威脅到美國政府嗎？

But the reaction to it was so extreme that it caused far more damage

但，對共產主義的反應 卻如此極端，

And if new demagogues appeared in uncertain times

其所造成的損害遠超過威脅本身。

to attack unpopular minorities in the name of patriotism,

如果在不確定的時代， 又有新的煽動者出現，

以愛國主義之名去攻擊 不受歡迎的少數族群，