[2023-01-29]独立记者凯特琳·约翰斯通：你为什么从来不批评俄罗斯的好战行为？？

"Why don't you ever criticize RUSSIA'S warmongering?" is a question I am often asked with great indignation. People cannot comprehend why I would spend all my time criticizing the warmongering of the power structure I live under without spending any time criticizing the government they're used to hearing criticisms of.

“你为什么从来不批评俄罗斯的战争行为？”经常有人愤慨地问我这个问题。他们无法理解，为什么我把所有的时间都花在批评我所生活的权力机构的好战行为上，而没有花多少时间批评他们习惯于听到批评的政府。

It's a question born of delusion and propaganda brainwashing, and it has several good answers. Here are some of my favorites.

这是一个源于妄想和宣传洗脑的问题，它有几个不错的回答。以下是我最喜欢的一些回答。

"Why don't you ever criticize RUSSIA'S warmongering?"

“为什么你从来不批评俄罗斯的战争行为？”

First of all, I actually do sometimes criticize Russia's warmongering. That criticism generally goes something like this: Putin is responsible for Putin's decisions, and the US empire is responsible for the US empire's decisions. Putin is responsible for deciding to invade Ukraine, and the US empire is responsible for provoking that invasion.

首先，我确实有时候会批评俄罗斯的好战行为。这种批评通常是这样的：普京要为普京的决定负责，美帝要为美帝的决定负责。普京要为决定入侵乌克兰负责，美帝要为挑起这一入侵负责。

It's not actually complicated. If I provoke someone into doing a bad thing, then we each have a degree of moral responsibility for the bad thing that was done. So much modern empire apologia revolves around pretending that provocation is simply not a thing; that this very simple and fundamental concept we all learned about as children. It's bizarre and undignified and people should feel embarrassed for doing it. You know what provocation is. Stop acting like an idiot.

这其实并不复杂。如果我激怒某人做坏事，那么我们每个人都对所做的坏事负有一定程度的道德责任。现代帝国的许多辩解都是围绕着假装激怒根本就不存在，而这是我们小时候学过的非常简单而基本的概念。这很奇怪，也很不体面，人们应该为这样做而感到尴尬。你知道“激怒”是什么意思。不要再像个白痴一样了。

"Why don't you ever criticize RUSSIA'S warmongering?"

“为什么你从来不批评俄罗斯的战争行为？”

Why don't I instead spend all my time criticizing the most powerful and destructive government on earth, whose crimes are always either ignored or supported by the political and media institutions of the English-speaking world?

为什么我不把所有的时间用于批评地球上最强大和最具破坏性的政府呢？这些政府的罪行总是被英语世界的政治和媒体机构忽视或者支持。

Focusing one's criticisms on the world's most powerful and destructive government is actually the only normal and sane thing to do. It's not strange and suspicious that I do it, it's strange and suspicious that more people don't.

将自己的批评集中在世界上最强大和最具破坏性的政府身上，实际上是唯一正常和理智的做法。我这样做并不奇怪，也没什么可疑的，奇怪和可疑的是更多的人没有这样做。

The United States is the most tyrannical government on earth. It is currently circling the planet with hundreds of military bases and waging wars which have killed millions and displaced tens of millions just since the turn of this century. Its sanctions and blockades continuously target civilians with deadly force in nations like Venezuela, Yemen and Syria. It works to destroy any nation which disobeys its dictates by toppling their governments via CIA coups, proxy armies, partial and full-scale invasions, and the most egregious number of election interferences in the entire world.

美国是地球上最暴虐的政府。它目前在地球上建立了数百个军事基地，发动战争，自本世纪初以来，已经造成了数百万人死亡，数千万人流离失所。在委内瑞拉、也门和叙利亚等国，它的制裁和封锁一直以平民为目标，使用致命的武力。它通过中央情报局的政变、代理军队、局部和全面入侵，以及全世界最恶劣的选举干扰，来摧毁任何不服从其命令的国家，推翻他们的政府。

None of these things are true of Russia. Focusing on the world's worst offender is normal, especially in a western media environment where that offender receives almost no meaningful criticism from major institutions. None of this means I think Russia's government is wonderful and perfect, only that the government most sorely in need of criticism in our society is not Russia's.

这些都不是俄罗斯的真实情况。关注世界上最恶劣的罪犯很正常，特别是在西方的媒体环境中，主要机构几乎不会真正意义上批评罪犯。这并不意味着我认为俄罗斯的政府是出色完美的，只是我们社会中最需要批评的政府，不是俄罗斯政府。

That's the imbalance I'm trying to fix. You don't help restore balance in a wildly imbalanced information environment by spending half your time criticizing the governments that are always criticized in that environment and half your time criticizing the far worse offender who never gets criticized, you help restore balance by focusing your criticisms on the far worse offender who doesn't receive anywhere near an appropriate level of criticism.

这就是我打算解决的不平衡问题。在一个严重失衡的信息环境中，你花一半时间批评那些总是被批评的政府，花一半时间批评从未被批评的更严重的罪犯，对恢复平衡没什么帮助，你应该把你的批评集中在更严重的、基本没受过批评的罪犯身上。

"Why don't you ever criticize RUSSIA'S warmongering?"

“为什么你从来不批评俄罗斯的战争行为？”

This is going to blow your mind, but I don't actually have a Russian audience. I have an English-speaking audience which lives predominantly under the thumb of the western empire. That's where my voice gets heard, and that's where my voice can make a difference.

这会让你很吃惊的，但实际上我没有多少俄罗斯粉丝。我有一群讲英语的听众，他们主要生活在西方帝国的统治之下。这就是我的声音传达的地方，也是我的声音能够发挥作用的地方。

"Why don't you ever criticize RUSSIA'S warmongering?"

“为什么你从来不批评俄罗斯的战争行为？”

The only reason it even occurs to you to ask that question is because you are surrounded all day by voices who spend all their time criticizing Russia's warmongering and no time criticizing US warmongering. It's what you're accustomed to and what you've been conditioned to expect. Someone focusing their criticisms on the world's most powerful and destructive government only looks weird to you because you've been conditioned by propaganda to see criticism of Russia as normal and criticism of the US empire as a freakish aberration, and because the imperial narrative managers have created a neo-McCarthyite atmosphere which frames all critics of US foreign policy as treasonous Kremlin loyalists.

你之所以会问这个问题，是因为你整天都被一些声音包围着，他们整天都在批评俄罗斯的好战行为，而没有花时间批评美国的好战行为。这是你所习惯的，也是你所期待的。有人把他们的批评集中在世界上最强大和最具破坏性的政府身上，这在你看来很奇怪，是因为你已经被宣传所影响，把批评俄罗斯看成是正常的，而批评美帝则是一种畸形的反常现象，而且因为帝国的叙事管理者已经创造了一种新麦卡锡主义的氛围，把所有批评美国外交政策的人都定性为拥护克里姆林宫的叛徒。

Only in the most propaganda-addled of minds does focusing one's criticisms on the world's most powerful and destructive government look strange and suspicious. Only in the most brainwashed of brains does does focusing one's criticisms on the most powerful empire to ever exist look like a sign of immorality, dysfunction, treason, or support for the Kremlin.

只有在受宣传影响最严重的人看来，把批评集中在世界上最强大和最具破坏性的政府上才会显得奇怪和可疑。只有在最被洗脑的人看来，把批评集中在有史以来最强大的帝国上，才是不道德、行为异常、叛徒或拥护克里姆林宫的表现。

"Why don't you ever criticize RUSSIA'S warmongering?"

“为什么你从来不批评俄罗斯的战争行为？”

Why don't you go watch TV? If you've got some desperate, aching need to hear one more westerner offer one more criticism of Russia's warmongering, simply switch on the nearest television to any channel and wait a few minutes.

你为什么不去看电视呢？如果你十分迫切想再听到又一个西方人对俄罗斯的好战行为提出的又一个批评，只需打开你旁边的电视，转到任何频道，然后等几分钟即可。

"Why don't you ever criticize RUSSIA'S warmongering?"

“为什么你从来不批评俄罗斯的战争行为？”

Nobody has ever once been able to provide me with a logically coherent answer for why I should spend any time whatsoever criticizing a government all western institutions criticize 24/7/365 while those institutions totally ignore US imperial criminality. I often get quasi-leftists much closer to the mainstream worldview than myself arguing that I should criticize both Russia and the US empire, but not a single one of them has ever been able to provide me with a lucid argument for that position which holds up to scrutiny. It's always just some unexamined assumption they hold as a belief because they haven't thought terribly hard about it.

从来没有人能够向我提供一个逻辑上连贯的回答，解释我为什么要花一些时间去批评一个所有西方机构全天候批评的政府，而这些机构完全无视美帝国的犯罪行为。我经常遇到比我更接近主流世界观的准左翼人士的观点，认为我应该同时批评俄罗斯和美帝，但他们中没有一个人能够为这一立场提供经得起推敲的清晰论据。总是一些未经检验的假设，他们将其作为一种信念，因为他们没有认真思考过这个问题。

Nobody can ever intelligibly explain to me what actual, concrete good is done for the world by one more westerner lending their voice to a message that is already being amplified as much as any message could possibly be amplified in the English-speaking world. They always wind up resorting to saying things like "Well it makes you look bad if you don't criticize both" — like they transform into my pro bono PR agents who suddenly pretend to care very deeply about protecting my public image. Really they just want me to shut up and stop criticizing the empire.

没有人能够清楚地向我解释，再多一个西方人为一个已经被放大的消息发声，对世界有什么实际、具体的好处，而这个消息已经在英语世界中被放大到了最大化。他们最后总是说“如果你不批评这两个国家，会让你看起来很糟糕”这样的话——仿佛他们变成了我的无偿公关代理人，突然假装非常关心保护我的公众形象。其实他们只是想让我闭嘴，停止批评帝国。

"Why don't you ever criticize RUSSIA'S warmongering?"

“为什么你从来不批评俄罗斯的战争行为？”

Because I don't want to be a goddamn Pentagon propagandist. In a media environment that is being flooded with propaganda messaging designed to manufacture consent for more proxy warfare, militarism and nuclear brinkmanship, we all have to be very careful about what we put our energy behind. Throwing your weight behind "Russia bad!" messaging in such an environment is an irresponsible use of your voice, especially when you could be using your voice to call for de-escalation, diplomacy and detente and help people understand that they are being deceived.

因为我不想成为一个操蛋的五角大楼宣传员。在一个充斥着旨在为更多代理战争、军国主义和核边缘政策制造认同的宣传信息的媒体环境中，我们都必须非常谨慎地对待我们精力的投入。在这样的环境下，将你的精力投入“俄罗斯不好！”的信息传递中，是不负责任地使用你的声音，特别是当你可以用你的声音来呼吁缓和局势、外交和改善，帮助人们明白他们被欺骗了。

Before they drop bombs, they drop narratives. Before they launch missiles, they launch propaganda campaigns. If you choose to lend your energy to the narrative control operations designed to pave the way to death and destruction, then you're just as responsible for that death and destruction when it occurs as the person who hits the launch button.

在他们投下炸弹之前，他们会投入叙事。在他们发射导弹之前，他们会发起宣传运动。如果你选择将你的精力用于旨在为死亡和毁灭铺平道路的叙事控制行动上，那么当死亡和毁灭来临时，你和按下发射按钮的人一样要对此负责。