“The first steps into the Unrest seem straightforward enough—anger at the fall of real wages, at capitalist aggression, at the unwillingness of Parliament; anger fomented(煽动，挑起) by agitators...reason wars with instinct(理性与本能交战).” Few of those who mobbed(成群围攻) French cities this week would recognise those words. But many would agree with George Dangerfield(英美记者，著有《自由英格兰的奇异死亡》), the British-American journalist who wrote them. The demonstrators were consumed by rage. Rage at the failure of the state and against the floundering(挣扎的，举步维艰的) centrist politicians who govern. Rage at high prices and economic dysfunction. And for some, rage against the idea of centrist politics at all.
“踏入动荡的最初步伐似乎再简单不过——对实际工资下降的愤怒，对资本主义侵略的愤怒，对议会不作为的愤怒；这些愤怒由煽动者挑起……理性与本能交战。”本周在法国城市参与骚乱的人中，很少有人能认出这些话。但许多人会认同写下这些话的英美记者乔治·丹杰菲尔德。示威者被愤怒吞噬。他们愤怒于国家的失败，愤怒于治理无方的中间派政客。他们愤怒于高物价和经济失调。而对一些人来说，他们愤怒于中间派政治理念本身。
Dangerfield wrote about “the strange death of liberal England” in the years before the first world war. Some predict a similarly grim fate for liberal Europe today. Arson, mob violence, looting(抢劫，掠夺) and mass protests show how much citizens despair of their leaders. France has a long tradition of the manif(（法语）游行示威), but the violence unleashed(释放，引发) by hooded and masked rioters across the country over the past weekend was unusually severe. Protests also flared in Belgium, Italy and Portugal. In looming elections, first in Spain next month, then in France and Poland next year, voters are poised to punish moderate parties—and in Italy the far right is outflanking(包抄，侧翼超越) the populist Giorgia Meloni, who has governed from the centre. In the wings wait more charismatic figures from the extremes, including Marine Le Pen(法国极右翼国民联盟领袖) in France and Alice Weidel(德国选择党联合主席) in Germany.
丹杰菲尔德所写的是第一次世界大战前数年“自由英格兰的奇异死亡”。如今有人预测，自由欧洲也将遭遇同样严峻的命运。纵火、暴民暴力、抢劫和大规模抗议表明，民众对领导人的绝望何其深重。法国素有游行示威的传统，但上周末全国蒙面暴徒引发的暴力异常严重。比利时、意大利和葡萄牙也爆发了抗议。在即将到来的选举中——先是下个月的西班牙，然后是明年的法国和波兰——选民准备惩罚温和政党；而在意大利，极右翼正在包抄从中间立场执政的民粹主义者焦尔吉娅·梅洛尼。侧翼还蛰伏着更多来自极端阵营的魅力人物，包括法国的玛丽娜·勒庞和德国的爱丽丝·魏德尔。
Many in America and in Europe say the centre has only itself to blame. Donald Trump crows(得意洋洋地说) that Europe is on fire because its leaders spurned(拒绝，摒弃) his advice, left their borders open and let millions of immigrants rush in each year, from Afghanistan, Algeria and Syria. Those on the MAGA right(特朗普“让美国再次伟大”右翼阵营), such as Elon Musk, say growing Muslim populations pose the greatest threat. Some talk, apocalyptically(以末世论的方式，危言耸听地) and absurdly, of “civilisational erasure(文明抹除)” or civil war. Even in Germany the chancellor, Friedrich Merz(德国总理，基民盟领袖), said this week that high rates of migration and a failure to integrate the foreign-born are partly behind the sudden, violent upheaval(剧变，动荡). So has Hungary’s newish prime minister, Peter Magyar.
美国和欧洲的许多人都说，中间派只能怪自己。唐纳德·特朗普洋洋得意地说，欧洲之所以着火，是因为其领导人拒绝了他的建议，敞开边境，每年让数百万来自阿富汗、阿尔及利亚和叙利亚的移民涌入。MAGA 右翼人士，如埃隆·马斯克，声称不断增长的穆斯林人口构成最大威胁。一些人危言耸听且荒谬地谈论“文明抹除”或内战。就连德国总理弗里德里希·默茨本周也表示，高移民率和未能融合外国出生者，是这场突然暴力动荡的部分原因。匈牙利新近上任的总理彼得·马扎尔也持同样说法。