|
Paul Krugman Op Ed in the New York Times
เรื่อง "Donald the Menace" จากคอลัมน์ของนักเศรษฐศาสตร์รางวัล Nobel ผู้วิจารณ์ Donald Trump อย่างเต็มพลัง ราวกับว่าได้ดินระเบิดมาจาก Alfred Nobel ตอนตั้งชื่อเรื่อง ท่านคงจะอิงชื่อการ์ตูนเรื่อง Dennis the Menace ผมเลยได้โอกาสแปลชื่อบทความของท่านว่า "โดนัลด์จอมซ่า" อ่านบทความของท่านมาหลายเรื่องเกี่ยวกับ Donald Trump แล้ว เข้าใจดีเลยว่าท่านห่วงปัจจุบันและอนาคตของสหรัฐอเมริกาภายใต้ Donald Trump มากจนทนต่อไปไม่ไหวแล้วจริงๆ ทั้งเรื่องเศรษฐกิจ และเรื่องการต่างประเทศ นักวิจารณ์ในอเมริกาจัด Paul Krugman เข้าอยู่ในกลุ่มเสรีนิยม (Liberal) หรือ "ซ้าย" ตรงข้ามกับพวกอนุรักษ์นิยม (Conservative) ส่วน Donald Trump หากเขามีความคิดทางการเมืองจริงๆ ก็จัดเข้าเป็นพวกอนุรักษ์นิยม หรือพวก "ขวา" ความคิดทางการเมืองไม่ว่าจะซ้ายหรือขวาก็ยังแยกแตกต่างออกไปได้อีกเป็น "ซ้ายกลาง" "ซ้ายจัด" "ขวากลาง" และ "ขวาจัด" ได้ แถมตอนนี้เกิด "ขวาใหม่" ขึ้นมาอีกพวกหนึ่ง Stephen K. Bannon ที่ปรึกษาคนสำคัญผู้มีอิทธิพลเชิดหุ่น Trump อยู่เบื้องหลัง ถือเป็นพวก "ขวาใหม่" (Altright / Alternative Right) พวกนี้ขวาจัดแบบทางเลือกใหม่ แสดงความคิดเห็นรุนแรงผ่านสื่อของตน โดยเฉพาะ Breitbart News [http://www.breitbart.com] ในสหรัฐฯมีเสียงวิจารณ์กันว่า Steve Bannon เป็นประธานาธิบดีตัวจริง เชิญติดตามคอลัมน์ของ Krugman ได้เป็นประจำที่ The New York Times [https://www.nytimes.com/column/paul-krugman…] หรือเข้ามาอ่านที่นี่เป็นครั้งคราว แล้วแต่เรื่องที่อาจเชื่อมโยงความสนใจ |
The New York Times
The Opinion Pages | OP-ED COLUMNIST Paul Krugman FEB. 3, 2017 Donald the Menace Donald จอมซ่า For the past couple of months, thoughtful people have been quietly worrying that the Trump administration might get us into a foreign policy crisis, maybe even a war. Partly this worry reflected Donald Trump’s addiction to bombast and swagger, which plays fine in Breitbart and on Fox News but doesn’t go down well with foreign governments. But it also reflected a cold view of the incentives the new administration would face: as working-class voters began to realize that candidate Trump’s promises about jobs and health care were insincere, foreign distractions would look increasingly attractive. The most likely flash point seemed to be China, the subject of much Trumpist tough talk, where disputes over islands in the South China Sea could easily turn into shooting incidents. But the war with China will, it seems, have to wait. First comes Australia. And Mexico. And Iran. And the European Union. (But never Russia.) And while there may be an element of cynical calculation in some of the administration’s crisismongering, this is looking less and less like a political strategy and more and more like a psychological syndrome. The Australian confrontation has gotten the most press, probably because it’s so weirdly gratuitous. Australia is, after all, arguably America’s most faithful friend in the whole world, a nation that has fought by our side again and again. We will, of course, have disputes, as any two nations will, but nothing that should disturb the strength of our alliance — especially because Australia is one of the countries we will need to rely on if there is a confrontation with China. But this is the age of Trump: In a call with Malcolm Turnbull, Australia’s prime minister, the U.S. president boasted about his election victory and complained about an existing agreement to take some of the refugees Australia has been holding, accusing Mr. Turnbull of sending us the “next Boston bombers.” Then he abruptly ended the conversation after only 25 minutes. Well, at least Mr. Trump didn’t threaten to invade Australia. In his conversation with President Enrique Peña Nieto of Mexico, however, he did just that. According to The Associated Press, he told our neighbor’s democratically elected leader: “You have a bunch of bad hombres down there. You aren’t doing enough to stop them. I think your military is scared. Our military isn’t, so I just might send them down to take care of it.” ⤴︎ 
|
White House sources are now claiming that this threat — remember, the U.S. has in fact invaded Mexico in the past, and the Mexicans have not forgotten — was a lighthearted joke. If you believe that, I have a Mexico-paid-for border wall to sell you.
The blowups with Mexico and Australia have overshadowed a more conventional war of words with Iran, which tested a missile on Sunday. This was definitely a provocation. But the White House warning that it was “putting Iran on notice” raises the question, notice of what? Given the way the administration has been alienating our allies, tighter sanctions aren’t going to happen. Are we ready for a war? There was also a curious contrast between the response to Iran and the response to another, more serious provocation: Russia’s escalation of its proxy war in Ukraine. Senator John McCain called on the president to help Ukraine. Strangely, however, the White House said nothing at all about Russia’s actions until Nikki Haley, the United Nations ambassador, issued a condemnation late Thursday night to the Security Council. This is getting a bit obvious, isn’t it? Oh, and one more thing: Peter Navarro, head of Mr. Trump’s new National Trade Council, accused Germany of exploiting the United States with an undervalued currency. There’s an interesting economics discussion to be had here, but government officials aren’t supposed to make that sort of accusation unless they’re prepared to fight a trade war. Are they? I doubt it. In fact, this administration doesn’t seem prepared on any front. Mr. Trump’s confrontational phone calls, in particular, don’t sound like the working out of an economic or even political strategy — cunning schemers don’t waste time boasting about their election victories and whining about media reports on crowd sizes. No, what we’re hearing sounds like a man who is out of his depth and out of control, who can’t even pretend to master his feelings of personal insecurity. His first two weeks in office have been utter chaos, and things just keep getting worse — perhaps because he responds to each debacle with a desperate attempt to change the subject that only leads to a fresh debacle. America and the world can’t take much more of this. Think about it: If you had an employee behaving this way, you’d immediately remove him from any position of responsibility and strongly suggest that he seek counseling. And this guy is commander in chief of the world’s most powerful military. Thanks, Comey. Paul Krugman Macroeconomics, trade, health care, social policy and politics. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/03/opinion/donald-the-menace.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur&_r=0 This column has been updated to reflect news developments. Read my blog, The Conscience of a Liberal, and follow me on Twitter, @PaulKrugman. Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook and Twitter (@NYTopinion), and sign up for the Opinion Today newsletter. A version of this op-ed appears in print on February 3, 2017, on Page A27 of the New York edition with the headline: Donald the Menace. Today's Paper|Subscribe |