“西方之乱”:民粹主义还是资本主义危机

The“Chaos of the West”: A Crisis of Populism or Capitalism?

西方主流舆论流行以"民粹主义泛滥"来解释近些年西方各国出现的社会抗议活动和政治动荡现象,但驳杂、模糊、混乱、歧义且贬义化的民粹主义概念不仅不能解释"西方之乱"的根源,而且还被西方主流舆论作为一个政治话语工具将制造经济停滞和社会动荡的责任推诿给广大民众。从马克思主义视角看,被一些人概括为民粹主义的种种西方乱象,本质上是资本主义经济危机的政治效应和社会效应。同时,民粹主义概念在分析"西方之乱"时的盛行程度,能从侧面反映出当前右翼强势与左翼无力及民众涣散共存的现实。历史已表明,当资本主义无法通过改良主义解决自身危机时,极有可能转向更加极端的法西斯主义,这也是复兴世界社会主义运动具有紧迫性的原因之一。

It has become popular for mainstream Western public opinion to use the term "rampant populism"to explain the social protests and political unrest in Western countries in recent years. However, the concept of populism,which is heterogeneous, vague, confusing, ambiguous and pejorative, not only fails to explain the root causes of the"chaos in the West", but hasbeen misused as a political discourse tool by mainstream Western public opinion to shift the blame for economic stagnation and social unrest ontothe general public. From a Marxist perspective, the Western chaos outlined as populism is essentially the political and social effects of thecapitalist economic crisis. At the same time, the prevalence of populist concepts in the analysis of the"chaos in the West"demonstrates thecurrent reality of a strong right-wing, a powerless left-wing, and a disorganised population. History has shown that when capitalism is unable tosolve its own crisis through reformism, it is likely to turn to more extreme fascism, which is one of the reasons for the urgency of reviving the world socialist movement.