書介：《美國統治》

昨天看見油管上一名作者接受訪談。Jared Yates Sexton寫的《American Rule: How a Nation Conquered the World but Failed Its People》是2020年出版的，副標題的意思是--美國作為一個國家，怎麼會征服了世界卻辜負了自己的人民呢？

我打算從圖書團借來看看。在亞馬遜網站找到這本書，讀者評價挺不錯的，422位寫書評的人，有83%給它5顆星的最高評級。人們說這本書令人大開眼界，從美國歷史的真實面貌中看到，原來我們總是告訴自己一個並不真實的歷史神話--好像美國主要是歐洲基督徒移民和平建立的，好像黑奴的經濟貢獻幾乎為零等等--我曾經寫過美國中小學歷史教科書中的造英雄和抹殺歷史教訓現象，反映出這個題材。

亞馬遜網站列出出版商的介紹：近年來美國迎來了一場歷史回顧。隨著猖獗的政治腐敗、嚴重的不平等和暴力偏見浮現，許多人面臨著兩個至關重要的問題：我們是怎麼來到這個地步的？我們要如何往前走？

誠實地審視過去——以及歷史是如何被掩蓋的——是找到答案的唯一途徑。從建國伊始，當權的美國人就虐待和征服其他族裔，而美國獨特善良的神話既助長了這種不公正，又掩蓋了世代的真相。在《美國統治》這本書中，深入的研究與令人驚嘆的故事相結合，Sexton深刻探討了把我們帶到目前這個地步的過程--每個成長和變革時代--揭示出美國人的重要基本神話只是個想像。

《美國統治》是一本激勵人心、直截了當、令人難忘的書，講述了這個國家一直以來的真實樣式，並挑戰我們開闢一條新的道路。

下面書評是最新寫的幾個帖子，括號中是我的小結/評論。

December 10, 2022 5星 Serves a valuable purpose: There is not a lot new or revealing here for those who have read deeply into American history. But it’s a worthwhile read, particularly for those whose reading has been more casual. We didn’t get where we are by accident or “out of the blue.” Sexton pulls together a lot of strands to help make sense of the dystopia of the last several years. To be sure, Sexton sometimes takes an overly cynical or unbalanced view. For example, he highlights Lincoln’s letter to Greeley in August 1862 to support his point that Lincoln was morally indifferent to slavery. Lincoln was not, although he recognized the constitutional and legal restraints on his power. Lincoln in the Greeley letter was trying to prepare public opinion for the Emancipation Proclamation, which he had already drafted but not announced. He knew it would be unpopular with many in the generally racist North, so he had to frame it as a narrow measure aimed at saving the Union. Another example is Sexton’s discussion of the decision to drop the atomic bombs on Japan in 1945. Sexton seems to argue that a “demonstration” should have preceded the bombings, ignoring the arguments of many historians that (a) it was by no means certain that a demonstration would be a success, (b) there was a very limited number of atomic bombs available in those early days, and (c) there was no guarantee that even a successful demonstration would have convinced Japan to surrender. But such reservations aside, he's on the mark in explaining today’s pathological and traitorous Republican Party. Although dark, this book serves a valuable purpose in exposing what Sexton calls the “Noble Lie” of traditional American history.
(這位讀者並不同意作者的每個觀點，比如對林肯的評價--他的蓄奴立場屬於溫和派？那只是政治家的說詞，林肯希望爭取廣大不反對蓄奴的北方白人支持，所以把國家統一擺在首位。但總的說來，美國歷史的傳統講法的確是「高尚的謊言」，揭露出來是很有價值的。)

July 6, 2021 2星 Overambitious and Overreaching: I really wanted to like this book. When I first heard about it I thought it sounded like something right up my alley. I read it very intermittently and honestly found myself annoyed at times with the conclusions or at the very least wanting to agree but unconvinced with the argument outlined. I feel as though the author really lacks historical context on a lot of these issues and events, or missed an opportunity to come to a conclusion by choosing the wrong angle and intentionally works historical events into his already-decided-upon narrative, particularly as those events become further removed from the present. I think the author takes a lot of his own conclusions for granted, and needless rhetorical flourishes betray any pretense of objectivity.
(這位讀者覺得作者假裝客觀，其實是先入為主，從錯誤的視角看問題。)

Debunking the "American Myth" is a noble enough pursuit, but by the time I finished reading I found myself wanting more but not in a good way, wanting what I thought I was getting. For example, lambasting Madison for setting up a system of government that favored the upper-crust, one of the main causes of the renewed Constitutional Convention, according to Unruly Republic, was actually an excess of Democracy. Too many impoverished farmers placing demands on their local and state legislatures to print more money, leading to rampant inflation and a federal government powerless to deal with a failing national economy. That and given most of the population was illiterate, I can't really blame Madison and the other founders for concentrating power in the hands of the elites at the time, regardless of how it impacted the present, because how could they have known? They were reacting in a way that their situation demanded of them. And yes, undeniably the protection of slavery played a role in the shaping of the new government and that is deplorable, but the author doesn't really examine the debate around the issue, the Founders that spoke out against slavery and who is to blame for its ultimate and thankfully temporary triumph.
(比如作者抨擊Madison總統建立一個有利於上層階級的政府體系，保護奴隸制，可當時大多數人是文盲，只會要求政府印鈔票解決經濟問題，怎能怪總統？作者本該圍繞奴隸制問題辯論，他沒有。)

The author could have talked about the earliest abolitionists, how there have always been people speaking out against the evils of slavery up until the Civil War, how whites permitted and encouraged the abuses of slavery despite what more courageous individuals were arguing publicly. The author could have talked about the eradication of the US indigenous and American expansion into the West, the specific policies toward the indigenous and correspondence between generals, senators and the executive that shaped our genocidal behavior, the friends of the US indigenous speaking out as loudly as the abolitionists, again proving we always knew what we were doing was wrong, but you won't find any of that here.
(作者本可以談論南北戰爭之前的那些公開主張廢奴的人士，談清除原住民和向西擴張的抗議和信件，來說明當時政府明知很多做法是錯的，可他沒有。)

Talk about the specific goons and companies behind the military-industrial complex, the through line of American history being the gradual reinforcement of the lesson that expansionism means profit and profit should be protected at all costs. Like I said, the closer the author gets to the modern era the less equivocal I feel, but I think an entire book could be written on the creation and the management of Ronald Reagan and how that opened the door to our current mess. Also, not to give away too much, I found it ended on a very dour note, not much in the way of advocating actual solutions or making me feel like things can improve. Just a vague call to action that doesn't address the obstacle that 90% of the world would rather just chase fame, but I digress. If it's everyone's responsibility, it's no one's responsibility.
(擴張主義帶來利潤，不惜一切代價保護利潤是個教訓，世界上90%的人寧願追逐名利，而作者沒有提出甚麼解決或改善方案，只有一個模糊的行動號召。)

All in all, I did pull a few interesting historical anecdotes to follow up on out of this book and enjoyed the Reagan-onward stuff, but feel that the author too-transparently worked our history into a "eat-the-elites" narrative that says more about our time than about theirs. History is a complex subject and shouldn't be treated as anything but. (歷史複雜，不只是「精英主宰」的故事。)

June 29, 2022 5星 History Repeats: History repeats when education fails because the natural human reaction is positive and uplifting when the truth is known. Democracy only succeeds with an informed populace. Real history 'American Rule' has to be taught in our schools such that myth is given no chance to perpetuate. (教育失敗讓歷史重演，了解事實歷史才會進步。)

November 24, 2021 5星 Powerful: I buy copies to send to friends. Profound revisionist history of particular value at this time in US history. Fascinating and gripping. You will learn things you haven’t known before starting with the factors, forces, agendas that influenced the shape of the Constitution. When was the last time you could not put down a history book?
(買幾本送給朋友，讀這樣的歷史對當今具有特殊價值。)

October 24, 2020 5星 Worth the read: This book is contains a lot of referenced quotes and contains a lot of information concerning American History that my education system did not cover (NC high school or college). American History had always presented highlights of people, locations, court cases, and war strategies. They rarely discussed the social events occurring that influenced the people, locations, court cases, or battles. This book uses quotes from influencers to help the reader understand the social views that helped shape America into the country is is today. Don't take other peoples opinion on leaders, read their statements (in this book) and form your own opinion for yourself. This book does an excellent job communicating many contradicting statements in the conversation about the "American Values". Excellent read.
(美國歷史很少討論影響人物、地點、法庭案件或戰役的社會事件。這本書引用歷史人物的話來幫助讀者理解這個國家目前一些社會觀點的來歷，值得一讀。)