苏格兰公投文明的统独之争

2014-09-24 17:57:34来源：可可英语

　　This suggests Scotland would not be independent in the sense my Chinese friends mightunderstand the word. There would be only a difference of degree between independence anda future as a devolved part of the UK. Scotland would be tightly tied to the economy of theremaining UK and deeply enmeshed in the greater European whole. Some pro-union politicianswarn darkly that independence would undermine the security of the west and comfort itsenemies, but it seems much more likely that the European order would quickly adjust to theappearance of an independent Scotland ready to make its own contribution to commonsecurity.

　　这意味着苏格兰的独立，或许会跟我的中国朋友们理解的独立不一样。独立跟作为英国的享有一定自治权的一部分，两者只有程度的差别。苏格兰经济将与英国其余地区紧密联系在一起，并将深深融入欧盟整体。一些支持联盟的政客阴暗地警告称，独立将破坏西方的安全，让敌人如意，但可能性大得多的情况是，欧洲的秩序将迅速根据新独立的苏格兰做出调整，独立后的苏格兰将乐于对共同安全做出自己的贡献。

　　It is also striking how willing Scotland’s pro-independence campaign is to embrace afuture in which national autonomy is limited, so long as it is the Scots who can decide whataspects of their sovereignty to share or pool.

　　苏格兰支持独立的阵营愿意接受一种国家自治权有限的未来，只要分享和共用哪些主权是由苏格兰人决定，这一点也令人惊异。

　　Indeed I would like to think that Scotland’s independence referendum, whatever the result,might eventually be seen as only one step in a much longer and broader process of change inEurope away from the automatic assumption that the fundamental unit of political affairs isthe traditional sovereign nation state.

　　事实上，我倒认为，欧洲正在经历一种更长远、更广泛的变化进程，摆脱一种理所当然的观念，即政治事务的基本单位为传统主权民族国家，苏格兰的独立公投(无论其结果如何)或许最终会被视为这一进程中的一步。

　　We should not be afraid of such change. The nation state is after all only a social construct, inits current conception generally dated to the mid-17th century. As the examples of Ukraineor Tibet suggest, democracy and the rule of law are much more likely to promote humanhappiness than allegiance to a particular flag or set of borders.

　　我们不应害怕这样的改变。民族国家毕竟只是一种社会观念，按照其目前定义，大体上可追溯至17世纪中期。如乌克兰和西藏的例子所示，民主和法治能够促进人类福祉的可能性，大大高于效忠某面特定旗帜或版图的界线所能做到的。

　　I will vote on September 18, but my choice will not be decided by any particular passion forstatehood, British or Scottish. In my ideal world, nation states would actually fade inimportance and emphasis shift to a wider range of political units that would allow genuinelyglobal co-operation on issues such as climate change and truly local decision-making forindividual communities.

　　我会在9月18日那天投票，但我的选择将不会由我对某个国家(无论是英国还是苏格兰)的热爱所决定。在我看来，在理想的世界中，民族国家事实上会越来越不重要，重心将转移到范围更广的政治单位上，这会使气候变化等问题能够实现真正的全球合作，让每个社会能够真正实现本地事务本地决策。

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