On the eve of the 2016 U.S. election, European and American media published a review of the book "No Silver in This Place" to explore the similarities between the book's fictional U.S. president and Trump. The Guardian is on the left, Time magazine is on the upper right, and The New Yorker is on the lower right.
In ancient times there was Plato's "Utopia", in recent times there was More's "Utopia", and later there were various ideological trends that envisioned the future for mankind. Europe gave birth to the concept of utopia. However, in the process of pursuing ideals, people not only did not give up, but indulged in the original evil diseases, and ended up in the opposite direction; in response, Europe issued a cry for dystopia, so there was the famous trilogy: "Us" "Brave New World" and "1984".
On the other side of the Atlantic, in the United States, European descendants did not place their hopes on utopia like their predecessors did, but they remained alert to the possibility that utopia could go astray. At the beginning of the 20th century, before the first part of the trilogy "Us" came out, Jack London warned the world with his "Iron Heel" in 1907. In the 1930s, when the Nazi movement emerged in Germany, Sinclair Lewis, the first American novelist to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, published "It Can't Happen Here" (It Can't Happen Here).
Lewis won the Nobel Prize because of "his powerful, touching narrative art. He was talented and created a new style of wit and humor." Also because his works profoundly criticized American society and social values. In his speech at the award ceremony, he said, "The United States today is the most contradictory, depressing, and tormenting country in the world." He said that society is almost useless, and society respects such people as honored guests.
Lewis's masterpieces, "Main Street" in 1920 and "Babbitt" in 1922, use various description techniques to satirize and criticize the narrow mentality of people in society. They always have a negative attitude toward outsiders and outside things. Innately strong resistance, intolerance to dissent, contentment with the status quo, almost everything in life is subject to an invisible constraint. In fact, all this is the breeding ground for society to go astray.
What is remarkable is that after winning the award in 1930, in 1935, Lewis even produced "No Silver Here" to warn the Chinese people that if they continue to stick to the rules and not think about improvements, the United States will really follow in the footsteps of European fascism. Although the book does not have the insight of a European dystopian classic, it has also become a cautionary book on this side of the ocean.
Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) wrote the book "No Silver Here". The cover uses a fictional presidential candidate's campaign speech, which is quite similar to Trump's "Make America Great Again".
"No Silver in This Place" fictionalizes a politician "Wen Rip". He took advantage of people's mentality of conforming to the past and following others' opinions, and used the campaign slogan of supporting traditional American values in the presidential election. After winning the election, he immediately silenced Congress, banned demonstrations, abolished state institutions, and divided them into administrative regions in an attempt to monopolize power. At the same time, he drove critics into concentration camps and formed militia units loyal to him. As a result, this country, which had been based on democratic elections and federalism since its founding, became a fascist country, and "Winrip" became the first American president in history to hold all power alone. Although people did not appreciate these arbitrary measures at first, they acquiesced due to the improvement in social efficiency. Later, as the tyranny became more and more heavy, the people began to resist...
Regarding this conceptual novel, Lewis wrote: "When thinking about history, I believe more and more that all valuable achievements in the world are due to freedom. Obtained under the spirit of exploration, inquiry and criticism; maintaining this spirit is more important than maintaining any social system."
Because of this spirit, there are often works on the market to warn the world. Soon, in 1962, another masterpiece came out and received good reviews: "Seven Days in May". In March 1964, the New York Times commented on the text of "God Bless America": "This is the most powerful work since Lewis's "No Silver Here". In the past two years, thousands of readers have read it every night. I crawled into bed with this book, my hands were trembling, my heart was trembling..."
"Seven Days in May" was later made into a movie of the same name.The plot in
's book is truly thrilling. The background is that there has been a breakthrough in the negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union to reduce strategic nuclear weapons. The two countries are about to sign a treaty to destroy the nuclear weapons they possess. However, some soldiers are dissatisfied with the president's policies, believing that his indifference to opponents' deception will eventually weaken the country's power. Among them, an Air Force general, together with several senior generals, secretly built a military base in Texas and prepared to launch a military coup to oust the president and reverse national policy.
The president heard about the news and called the general to the Oval Office to question him face to face, asking him to resign from the military. He also advised him that if he was dissatisfied with the national conditions, he could vote in the next election and change national policy through legal means. The general denied it and refused to obey the order. Fortunately, the president's aides were able to track down the case effectively and forced a general to reveal the truth. Another righteous but alcoholic senator broke into the secret base while half drunk. As a result, the president had conclusive evidence, and the general could not deny it this time. Because of his lifelong military service and military exploits, the president announced that the general would retire voluntarily in order to preserve his dignity. A thrilling contest between the democratically elected government and the powerful military has come to an end.
The eager soldiers failed, but later generations did not relax their vigilance and let Manan Mountain go. Sure enough, someone else sounded the alarm, and it was an active military member. He declared that this time, the military "coup" was successful.
American military officer Charles Dunlap and his award-winning paper "The Origins of the 2012 U.S. Military Coup". When he wrote this paper, Dunlap was an Air Force lieutenant colonel. He later retired as a major general and taught at Duke University Law School.
"The Atlantic Monthly" published a report in January 1993: In 1992, the U.S. National Defense University held the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Strategy Paper Competition. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Charles Dunlap’s entry is: “The Origins of the 2012 U.S. Military Coup.”
The article begins with the statement that twenty years later, in 2012, the military coup was successful. The
article tells the story in the voice of an army officer. The officer resisted military orders and opposed the coup, and was thrown into prison and sentenced to death. Before his execution, he wrote a letter to a friend, reviewing how the military coup was brewed and how it was succeeded.
Military interference in government has always been a taboo, and various countries have adopted various preventive measures. Since the founding of the United States, military personnel have never interfered in government, but people have always been wary of it.
The U.S. Department of Defense Directive No. 1344.10, which contains dozens of articles, stipulates that active duty military personnel shall not participate in, support, or sponsor any political party activities while performing their civic duties. After military personnel retire, they are not allowed to wear military uniforms to participate in political activities.
In the article, Dunlap used the words of an officer in prison to point out that various factors leading to military rule are actually lurking quietly in many corners of life. Once the time comes, they will gather together and form a force; Democratic checks and balances, which have their own weaknesses, can no longer be stopped, and Xiao Xiaoran is in decline.
I am afraid that no one can be better than those who pessimize the fate of the country. This article was widely circulated in the U.S. Department of Defense and won the first prize. At the award ceremony, General Colin Powell, then Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, personally awarded the award to the author.
General Colin Powell, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, presented Dunlap with the medal. Colin Powell later became U.S. Secretary of State.
A rumor in the United States for many years has said that "expressing different opinions is the highest form of patriotism." Some say it was said by Franklin, others say it came from Jefferson. Its exact origin seems to have not been confirmed so far. But the rumors in history often contain people's hopes and wishes. This is a fact. Later, there was a written record by President Theodore Roosevelt. He once wrote, "Whether the president is right or wrong, he must cater to him. This is not only unpatriotic, but also a moral betrayal of the American public."
Li Bohong
Editor-in-Chief Liu Xiaolei
