公眾人物畢業(yè)演講第13期:邁克爾·彭博哈佛大學2014畢業(yè)典禮演講(5)

He was attempting to repress and criminalize

他試圖壓制和定罪

those who sympathized with an economic systemthat was, even then, failing

那些贊同哪怕在當時都已經很失敗的經濟體制的人

McCarthy's Red Scare destroyed thousands of lives

麥卡錫的紅色恐懼讓數以千計的人失去了生命

but what was he so afraid of?

他害怕的是什么呢

An idea in this case, communism

是一種思想 也就是共產主義

that he and others deemed dangerous

他和一些人認為這種思想很危險

But he was right about one thing

不過他至少在一點上是正確的

Ideas can be dangerous

思想確實危險

They can change society

思想能夠改變社會

They can upend traditions

思想能夠顛覆傳統(tǒng)

They can start revolutions

思想能夠開啟革命

That's why throughout history

這就是為什么歷史上

those in authority have tried to repress ideas that threaten their

那些權貴要抑制思想 避免這些思想威脅到

power, their religion, their ideology, or their reelection chances

他們的權力 宗教 意識形態(tài)以及地位

That was true for Socrates and Galileo

蘇格拉底和伽利略是這樣

it was true for Nelson Mandela and Václav Havel

納爾遜?曼德拉和瓦茨拉夫?哈維爾是這樣

and it has been true for Ai Wei Wei, Pussy Riot

艾未未 造反貓咪樂隊

and the kids who made the "Happy" video in Iran

以及在伊朗制作"快樂"視頻的孩子們也是這樣

Repressing free expression is a natural human weakness

壓抑自由言論表達是人類本性上的弱點

and it is up to us to fight it at every turn

每次出現時 我們都需要同它進行斗爭

Intolerance of ideas whether liberal or conservative

對思想的不寬容 無論是自由還是保守派思想

is antithetical to individual rights and free societies

都是同個人權利和自由社會背道而馳的

and it is no less antithetical to great universities and first-rate scholarships

以上這些自然也適用于偉大大學和頂尖學者

There is an idea floating around college campuses including here at Harvard I think

大學校園正流傳著一種觀點 我想哈佛也不例外

that scholars should be funded only if their work conforms to a

認為學者只有在研究符合特定正義觀念的前提下

particular view of justice

才應獲得資助

There's a word for that idea: censorship

這種觀點可以用一個詞來概括：審查

And it is just a modern-day form of McCarthyism

這是麥卡錫主義的當代表現

Think about the irony

想想這有多么諷刺

In the 1950s, the right wing was attempting to repress left wing ideas

40年代 右翼試圖抑制左翼思想

Today, on many college campuses

而今天 在很多大學校園

it is liberals trying to repress conservative ideas

自由派則開始抑制保守派思想

even as conservative faculty members are at risk of becoming an endangered species

保守派教職員工甚至就快成為瀕危物種

And that is probably nowhere more true than here in the Ivy League

這種情況尤其是在常春藤盟校最為突出