保守派〈對美國的承諾〉前言 Kevin D. Roberts, PhD Taimocracy翻譯

Foreword

A PROMISE TO AMERICA
對美國的承諾
Kevin D. Roberts, PhD
Taimocracy翻譯

 

Forty-four years ago, the United States and the conservative movement were in dire straits. Both had been betrayed by the Washington establishment and were uncertain whom to trust. Both were internally splintered and strategically adrift. Worse still, at that moment of acute vulnerability and division, we found ourselves besieged by existential adversaries, foreign and domestic. The late 1970s were by any measure a historic low point for America and the political coalition dedicated to preserving its unique legacy of human flourishing and freedom.  44年前，美國和保守派運動陷入了困境。兩者都被華盛頓建制派背叛了，不確定該信任誰。兩者都在內部分裂，並在戰略上漂泊不定。更糟糕的是，在那個極度脆弱和分裂的時刻，我們發現自己被國內外的生存對手包圍。無論以何種標準衡量，1970年代後期都是美國和致力於維護其獨特的人類繁榮和自由遺產的政治聯盟的歷史低谷。

 

Today, America and the conservative movement are enduring an era of division and danger akin to the late 1970s. Now, as then, our political class has been discredited by wholesale dishonesty and corruption. Look at America under the ruling and cultural elite today: Inflation is ravaging family budgets, drug overdose deaths continue to escalate, and children suffer the toxic normalization of transgenderism with drag queens and pornography invading their school libraries. Overseas, a totalitarian Communist dictatorship in Beijing is engaged in a strategic, cultural, and economic Cold War against America’s interests, values, and people—all while globalist elites in Washington awaken only slowly to that growing threat. Moreover, low-income communities are drowning in addiction and government dependence. Contemporary elites have even repurposed the worst ingredients of 1970s “radical chic” to build the totalitarian cult known today as “The Great Awokening.” And now, as then, the Republican Party seems to have little understanding about what to do. Most alarming of all, the very moral foundations of our society are in peril.  今天，美國和保守派運動正在經歷一個類似於 1970年代後期的分裂和危險時代。現在，和那時一樣，我們的政治階層已經因大規模的不誠實和腐敗而名譽掃地。看看今天統治和文化精英統治下的美國：通貨膨脹正在蹂躪家庭預算，吸毒過量死亡人數繼續上升，孩子們遭受著變性人的有毒正常化，變裝皇后和色情製品侵入了他們的學校圖書館。在海外，北京的極權共產主義獨裁政權正在與美國的利益、價值觀和人民進行一場戰略、文化和經濟冷戰——而華盛頓的全球主義精英對這種日益增長的威脅的覺醒只是在緩慢。此外，低收入社區正在淹沒在成癮和政府依賴中。當代精英甚至重新利用了1970年代「激進時尚」最糟糕的成分，以建立今天被稱為「大覺醒」的極權主義崇拜。而現在，和當時一樣，共和黨似乎對該怎麼做知之甚少。最令人擔憂的是，我們社會的道德基礎正處於危險之中。

 

Yet students of history will note that, notwithstanding all those challenges, the late 1970s proved to be the moment when the political Right unified itself  and the country and led the United States to historic political, economic, and global victories.  然而，歷史學生會注意到，儘管存在所有這些挑戰，但事實證明，1970年代後期是政治右翼將自己和國家統一起來並帶領美國取得歷史性政治、經濟和全球勝利的時刻。

 

The Heritage Foundation is proud to have played a small but pivotal role in that story. It was in early 1979—amid stagflation, gas lines, and the Red Army’s invasion of Afghanistan, the nadir of Jimmy Carter’s days of malaise—that Heritage launched the Mandate for Leadership project. We brought together hundreds of conservative scholars and academics across the conservative movement. Together, this team created a 20-volume, 3,000-page governing handbook containing more than 2,000 conservative policies to reform the federal government and rescue the American people from Washington dysfunction. It was a promise from the conservative movement to the country—confident, specific, and clear.  傳統基金會很自豪能夠在這個故事中發揮微小但關鍵的作用。1979年初，在停滯性通貨膨脹、天然氣管道和紅軍入侵阿富汗的情況下，這是吉米·卡特（Jimmy Carter） 萎靡不振的低谷，傳統基金會啟動了領導力授權計劃。我們彙集了數百名保守派學者和保守派運動的學者。該團隊共同編寫了一本20卷、3000頁的治理手冊，其中包含2000多項保守政策，旨在改革聯邦政府並將美國人民從華盛頓的功能失調中拯救出來。這是保守派運動對國家的承諾——自信、具體和明確。

 

Mandate for Leadership was published in January 1981—the same month Ronald Reagan was sworn into his presidency. By the end of that year, more than 60 percent of its recommendations had become policy—and Reagan was on his way to ending stagflation, reviving American confidence and prosperity, and winning the Cold War. The bad news today is that our political establishment and cultural elite have once again driven America toward decline. The good news is that we know the way out even though the challenges today are not what they were in the 1970s. Conservatives should be confident that we can rescue our kids, reclaim our culture, revive our economy, and defeat the anti-American Left—at home and abroad. We did it before and will do it again. As Ronald Reagan put it:  1981年1月，羅納德·雷根（Ronald Reagan）宣誓就任總統，同月出版了〈領導力授權〉。到那年年底，它60%以上的建議已經成為政策——雷根正在結束停滯性通貨膨脹、重振美國的信心和繁榮以及贏得冷戰。今天的壞消息是，我們的政治建制和文化精英再次將美國推向衰落。好消息是，我們知道出路，即使今天的挑戰已不像1970年代那樣。保守派應該有信心，我們可以拯救我們的孩子，恢復我們的文化，振興我們的經濟，並擊敗國內外的反美左翼。我們以前做過，以後還會再做一次。正如雷根所說：

 

Freedom is a fragile thing and it’s never more than one generation away from extinction. It is not ours by way of inheritance; it must be fought for and defended constantly by each generation[.]1  自由是脆弱的東西，它永遠不會超過一代人就滅絕。它不是以繼承的方式屬於我們的;每一代人都必須不斷地為之奮鬥和捍衛它。

 

This is the duty history has put before us and the standard by which our generation of conservatives will be judged. And we should not want it any other way.  這是歷史擺在我們面前的責任，也是評判我們這一代保守派的標準。我們不應享其成。

The legacy of Mandate for Leadership, and indeed of the entire Reagan Revolution, is that if conservatives want to save the country, we need a bold and courageous plan. This book is the first step in that plan.   Mandate for Leadership，實際上是整個雷根革命的遺產是，如果保守派想拯救國家，我們需要一個大膽而勇敢的計劃。這本書是該計劃的第一步。

 

THE CONSERVATIVE PROMISE  保守派的承諾

This volume—The Conservative Promise—is the opening salvo of the 2025 Presidential Transition Project, launched by The Heritage Foundation and our many partners in April 2022. Its 30 chapters lay out hundreds of clear and concrete policy recommendations for White House offices, Cabinet departments, Congress, and agencies, commissions, and boards.  本卷〈保守派的承諾〉是2025年總統交接過渡計劃的開篇，該計劃由傳統基金會和我們的眾多合作夥伴於2022年4月啟動。該書共30章，為白宮辦公室、內閣部門、國會以及各機構、委員會和董事會提出了數百條清晰具體的政策建議。

 

Just as important as the scope of The Conservative Promise’s recommendations is the breadth of its authorship. This book is the product of more than 400 scholars and policy experts from across the conservative movement and around the country. Contributors include former elected officials, world-renowned economists, and veterans from four presidential Administrations. This is an agenda prepared by and for conservatives who will be ready on Day One of the next Administration to save our country from the brink of disaster.  與〈保守派的承諾〉的建議範圍同樣重要的是其作者的廣度。這本書是來自保守派運動和全國各地的400多名學者和政策專家的成果。撰稿人包括前民選官員、世界知名經濟學家和來自四屆總統政府的資深人士。這是由保守派且為保守派而準備的議程，他們將在下一屆政府的第一天做好準備，將我們的國家從災難的邊緣拯救出來。

 

The Heritage Foundation is once again facilitating this work. But as our dozens of partners and hundreds of authors will attest, this book is the work of the entire conservative movement. As such, the authors express consensus recommendations already forged, especially along four broad fronts that will decide America’s future:  傳統基金會再次促進這項工作。但正如我們的數十位合作夥伴和數百位作者將證明的那樣，這本書是整個保守派運動的成果。因此，作者表達了已經形成的共識建議，特別是在將決定美國未來的四大方面：

1. Restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children.  恢復家庭作為美國生活的核心地位，並保護我們的孩子。

2. Dismantle the administrative state and return self-governance to the American people.  廢除行政專擅國家，將自治權歸還給美國人民。

3. Defend our nation’s sovereignty, borders, and bounty against global threats.  保衛我們國家的主權、邊界和賞金，抵禦全球威脅。

4. Secure our God-given individual rights to live freely—what our Constitution calls “the Blessings of Liberty.”  確保上帝賦予我們自由生活的個人權利——我們的憲法所稱之「自由的祝福」。

 

What makes these four pieces of the conservative promise so valuable to the next President is that they cut through superficial distractions and focus on the moral and foundational challenges America faces in this moment of history. This was one of the secrets of conservatives’ success in the Reagan Era, one our generation should emulate.  保守派承諾的這四條對下一任總統如此有價值的原因在於，它們消除了膚淺的干擾，專注於美國在這一歷史時刻面臨的道德和基本挑戰。這是保守派在雷根時代成功的秘訣之一，我們這一代人應該效仿。

 

As in the late 1970s, Americans today experience the failures of political and cultural elites in countless ways: in the job market and in the grocery store checkout lines, on the streets and in our schools, in the media and within our institutions. But in truth, these daily dysfunctions are not innumerable problems, but innumerable manifestations of a few core crises.  與1970年代後期一樣，今天的美國人以無數種方式經歷政治和文化精英的失敗：在就業市場和雜貨店結賬隊伍中，在街道上和我們的學校，在媒體和我們的機構中。但事實上，這些日常功能障礙並不是無數的問題，而是一些核心危機的無數表現。

 

In 1979, the threats we faced were the Soviet Union, the socialism of 1970s liberals, and the predatory deviancy of cultural elites. Reagan defeated these beasts by ignoring their tentacles and striking instead at their hearts.  1979年，我們面臨的威脅是蘇聯、1970年代自由派中的社會主義，和文化精英的掠奪性越軌行為。雷根無視這些野獸的觸手，反而直擊它們的心臟，從而打敗了這些野獸。

His approach to the Cold War? “We win and they lose.”  他對冷戰的態度是什麼？「我們贏了，他們輸了。」

His economic agenda? The human dignity of work and its many rewards.  他的經濟議程是什麼？工作的人類尊嚴及其眾多回報。

His platform in the culture wars? The “community of values embodied in these words: family, work, neighborhood, peace and freedom.”  他在文化戰爭中的平台是什麼？「這些詞所體現的價值觀共同體：家庭、工作、鄰里、和平與自由」。

 

This book—and Project 2025 as a whole—will arm the next conservative President with the same kind of strategic clarity, but for a new age.  這本書——以及整個 2025 年計劃——將為下一任保守派總統提供同樣的戰略清晰度，但面向一個新時代。