Ronny TONG Ka Wah: American-style democracy

Ronny TONG Ka Wah: American-style democracy

湯家驊: 美式民主

很多人預期美國總統特朗普在中期選舉中可能會遇上滑鐵盧，誰知特朗普宣布，假如共和黨勝出他會「每人」派發5000 美元。明目張膽買票，在很多地方包括香港均是犯法，但在美國卻似乎沒有人覺得不妥。你會說，只是又一個大話罷了，我認為未必。美國甚多只看眼前利益的選民，否則特朗普也不能當選，所以特朗普這一招是可能行得通的；那假若他真的以5000 美元買票，結果會是怎樣？

上網問問人工智能，答案卻嚇了我一跳。原來「每人」就算只是指美國公民也需約1.2 萬億美元。1.2 萬億美元是多少錢？美國每年軍費只是8000多億美元。美國國家每年赤字是2 萬億美元，假若在此數目上再加1 萬億，人工智能說，必須發債。但一時多借1萬億美元並令國民同時多花了錢肯定會推高利息及通脹，結果可能是令國民購買力下降，得不償失。你會說，如此愚蠢的事，特朗普會做嗎？身邊幕僚沒有人勸他嗎？首先，特朗普並非愚蠢，他的目標是勝出選舉，其他的均是次要。國民如他一樣也只看眼前利益，這是絕對只看重個人自由的社會所種下的種子，也是美國負債穩守全球第一幾十年的原因，從來沒有人認為需要糾正。

民主制度與社會主義的出發點皆是一種追求烏托邦的政治理想；但物極必反，這制度的表表者如美國，卻似乎正在演活着這制度的天然缺陷。今天世態已與大半世紀前不同了。越来越多人把自己看得比什麼也更重要；你可說是民智開了，也可說是民智倒退了。美式民主危險之處正在這裡；但局外人看着除了搖頭嘆息又可以做什麼？

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP83KgbFu/

https://weixin.qq.com/sph/A5t6NDGMea
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0WhY2bA5iEdKHvyveJvCKog7zYWBtaZFdTfJvNwnU44PXyAXngQ18rfygeQoSRwbBl&id=100036400039778&mibextid=wwXIfr

Many people expected that US President Trump might suffer a Waterloo in the midterm elections, but who knew that Trump announced that if the Republicans won, he would give “everyone” $5,000. Openly buying votes is illegal in many places, including Hong Kong, but in the United States it seems no one thinks it is improper. You might say it is just another big lie, but I think it may not be. There are many voters in the United States who look only at immediate interests; otherwise Trump could not have been elected. So this move by Trump might actually work. Then if he really did buy votes with $5,000, what would the result be?

I asked artificial intelligence online, and the answer gave me quite a shock. It turns out that “everyone,” even if it refers only to US citizens, would require about $1.2 trillion. How much is $1.2 trillion? The United States’ annual military spending is only more than $800 billion. The US national annual deficit is $2 trillion. If another $1 trillion were added to that number, artificial intelligence says, debt would have to be issued. But borrowing an extra $1 trillion at once and causing citizens to spend more money at the same time would certainly push up interest rates and inflation. The result might be a decline in citizens’ purchasing power, with more loss than gain. You might say, would Trump do such a stupid thing? Is there no one among his advisers to dissuade him? First, Trump is not stupid. His goal is to win the election; everything else is secondary. If citizens, like him, also look only at immediate interests, this is the seed sown by a society that absolutely emphasizes individual freedom, and it is also the reason why US debt has firmly remained the world’s number one for decades. No one has ever thought it needed to be corrected.

The starting point of both democracy and socialism is a kind of political ideal pursuing utopia; but when things reach an extreme, they reverse. The exemplar of this system, such as the United States, seems to be demonstrating this system’s natural defects. Today’s world situation is already different from that of more than half a century ago. More and more people regard themselves as more important than anything else. You can call it an awakening of the people’s wisdom, or you can call it a regression of the people’s wisdom. This is exactly where the danger of American-style democracy lies; but what can outsiders do besides shake their heads and sigh as they watch?