中英对照-观点/评论：支持渥太华动用《紧急法》，我的民主意识经受考验

当卡车车队占领渥太华街道，在主要边境点设置障碍封锁时，我和65% 的加国人士都认为参加抗议的是一小撮自私自利者。 随着示威者扰乱了该国的首都并封锁了与美国的重要贸易联系，为期三周的抗议活动威胁到加拿大的经济复苏，增加了通货膨胀风险。 在渥太华援引紧急法案，包括动用特殊权利冻结他们的银行账户以赶走示威者和清除障碍后，我和许多加拿大人一样拥护加国政府的这一强硬措施，认为这是挽回从经济损失并恢复社会秩序的最快和最有效的方法。

今天你也许关心的话题：
*观点/评论：在川普眼里 普金值得赞美 特鲁多却是个暴君 这让联邦保守党党魁候选人波利耶夫背上包袱
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*俄罗斯入侵乌克兰 第8天 周四下午1:30更新 *加拿大驻京使馆墙上的一张“我们与乌克兰站在一起”的海报被涂鸦 中国网民“支持莫斯科”抢购俄罗斯商品
想要阅读与本文有关的话题？请点击本文末的链接！



When truck convoy occupied Ottawa streets, setting blockages on major border points, I was among the 65% of Canadians who believed that the protests represented a small group of selfish Canadians. The three-week-long protests had threatened Canada's economic recovery, raising inflation risks as demonstrators disrupted the nation's capital and blocked vital trade links to the US. Ottawa invoked the Emergency Act to clear the blockades and demonstrators – including using authoritative power to freeze their bank accounts.  I, along with many Canadians, embraced it, believing it was the most effective way to recover from the economic loss and resume the social order.

但正当我对渥太华清除抗议者的举措大加赞赏时，自由党政府的这一行动却遭到西方国际社会的强烈反弹。在越来越多的遭到具有干扰性的反疫苗政策抗议活动的西方国家中，加拿大政府是唯一一个近乎史无前例的利用警务权力来遏制抗议活动的政府。从金融家到政治专栏作家在内的许多西方批评者从都纷纷谴责渥太华的行为，称加拿大极端地地使用紧急法案冻结抗议者账户，这为普通公民反对政府措施设置了极高的经济门槛，使其无法成为反政府的异见者。他们谴责自由党政府的行为最不符合民主精神和原则，警告说其后果是剥夺了卡车司机们抗议、制造噪音和骚乱之民主权利。



But as I lauded Ottawa's move to bring the protestors to heel, the Liberal government's response to the unrest has prompted a backlash in the global community. Among a growing number of western authorities facing disruptive anti-mandate protests, Canada's government was the only one that gave itself a near-unprecedented policing power to keep the rally under control. From venture capitalists to political columnists, Western critics decried Ottawa's action, saying Canada's dystopian usage of the Emergency Act to freeze back accounts makes it prohibitively costly for ordinary citizens to be political dissenters. They denounced the most illiberal behavior of the Liberal government, warning it deprived truckers of democratic rights to protest, make noise, and disrupt.

西方国际社会的批评浪潮是民主意识的一面镜子。 研究表明，人类具有支持威权主义观点的自然弱点和倾向。 动用庞大的权力来恢复社会秩序对政府来说是再简单方便不过的方式，而当抗议活动干涉到个人利益时，拥护当局的这种手段也会是许多人的自然反应。 在专制国家中，当局对持不同政见者的无情镇压往往能引起被洗脑的公民的强烈共鸣。

The foreign critics served as a mirror for democratic awareness. Research shows that humans are predisposed to endorse authoritarian views. Tapping into massive power at disposal to restore order is an easy and convenient way for the government, while embracing such an order from the authorities when the protest interferes with individuals' interests could be a natural reaction for many people. The fierce leaders' crackdown against dissidents often resonated well with the brainwashed citizens in an authoritarian regime.



但占领渥太华街道的自由卡车司机们的确有他们的苦衷，要表达他们的不满。 一些人士来自边缘化群体，被疫情限制措施所深深困扰，强制疫苗政策让他们不寒而栗，而封锁令则给他们的生活造成巨大困境。他们希望心中的不满和抗议的呼声能获得反响和尊重。 但只有对民主有深刻的理解，对人类的脆弱天性有清醒的认识，并付出巨大的努力来遏制心理障碍，才能承认抗议活动的合法性，尊重他们吵闹发声的权利，并允许他们制造一定的混乱。

But freedom truckers occupying Ottawa streets may have legitimate grievances to tell. Some were from marginalized groups who had faced hardships caused by the pandemic restrictions – including vaccine mandate that sparked their fears or lockdown orders that turned their lives upside down. Their grievances needed to be heard and respected. But it takes a profound understanding of democracy, a sober view on human frailty, and remarkable efforts to fight against it to recognize their legitimacy, respect their rights to be noisy, and allow them to make disruptions.  



作为一名微信用户的我，曾亲身经历了作为一名少数派而遭到多数人的围攻。这些多数派的代表人士习惯于专制统治，相信反民主观点并持有相应的社会价值观。当我的观点激怒了那些完全不接受言论自由甚至对其强加抵制的人士时，便对我这名异见人士发起了强烈炮轰，并试图发起文革式的攻击战而扼杀我作为少数派的发声。

As a WeChat user, I had a firsthand experience of being on the minority side, facing backlash from the majority who have adapted to the authoritarian's rule, holding opinions and social values against democracy. My dissenting comments irritated some extremists, who, lacking faith in free speech, attacked me as a dissident, waging a campaign to crush my voice in a Cultural Revolution-style.



民主的意识不是与生俱来的，需要后天的栽培和历练才能逐渐形成。 即使是民主国家的领导人也可能做出反民主的举措，而践踏民主行径的受害者也可能会转而支持当局采取的破坏民主秩序的手段。 但民主对于人类的福祉和文明社会的建设至关重要， 值得我们前赴后继，竭尽全力去建设，维护，并使其得到健康发展。 当一个独裁政权用军事优势入侵其较小的邻国，试图向全球展示其危险的专制扩张时，建设民主的责任的努力显得格外重要。

Democracy is not natural, and it takes cultivating efforts to establish it. Even a leader in a democratic country could commit an un-democratic act, and victims of democracy abuse could support efforts that disrupt a democratic world order. But democracy is crucial to the well-being of the human race and the healthy growth of civil society. It is worth making every effort to build it, protect it, and make it thrive. These efforts are critical when a dictatorship uses the military advantage to invade its smaller neighboring country, demonstrating the dangerous expansion of the authoritarian power.