The German leftwing party Die Linke won the state elections in Berlin on 20 September. It’s unclear whether the party will be able to form a coalition(联合政府), appoint its lead candidate Elif Eralp as mayor, and follow through on(兑现、贯彻到底) her core campaign promise: to socialise(社会化、收归公有) the housing stock of the city’s biggest real-estate companies. A barrage of accusations started to circulate immediately after the results came in. Even by the standards of present-day polarisation(两极分化), the pitch(推销话术、主张) was extreme.
德国左翼党于9月20日赢得了柏林州选举。目前尚不清楚该党能否组建联合政府、任命其首席候选人埃利夫·埃拉尔普为市长，并兑现她的核心竞选承诺：将柏林最大房地产公司的住房存量社会化。选举结果一出，铺天盖地的指控便立刻传开。即便以当今两极分化的标准衡量，这些攻击也堪称极端。
On the basis of one leaked chat and one rapper’s performance, the party was described as schmoozing with criminal clans and endangering the lives of Berlin Jews. Accusations of antisemitism(反犹主义) prompt(促使、引发)ed the Greens and the SPD – potential coalition partners – to question any potential cooperation, while “alt-right” opinion-makers suggested that “Hamas and Hezbollah” had won the elections, or that the German Democratic Republic (the old East Germany) was about to come back. Alice Weidel of the rightwing AfD allege(声称、指控)d that Die Linke intended to “shoot the rich”.
仅凭一次泄露的聊天记录和一位说唱歌手的表演，该党就被描述为与犯罪家族勾肩搭背，并危及柏林犹太人的生命安全。反犹主义的指控促使绿党和社民党——潜在的联盟伙伴——质疑任何可能的合作，而“另类右翼”的舆论制造者则暗示“哈马斯和真主党”赢得了选举，或者东德（前东德）即将回归。右翼政党德国选择党（AfD）的艾丽丝·魏德尔声称，左翼党意图“枪杀富人”。
Our liberal capitalist orders are designed to protect property. Touch one bit of it, and the whole thing is apparently on fire(着火、陷入危机). And yet, nerves aren’t always this raw. The current flare-up(突然爆发)s reveal a deep crisis. Sober-sounding commentators have pointed out that the accusations against Die Linke are simply a strategy to stop the socialisation agenda. But that account of moral panic(道德恐慌) as deliberate strategy can hardly explain everything. Why do so many people want to believe the smear campaign(抹黑运动)s, especially while the simultaneous wins for the AfD are swiftly normalise(正常化、使常态化)d?
我们的自由资本主义秩序旨在保护财产。只要触碰其中一点，整个体系似乎就会着火。然而，神经并不总是如此紧绷。当前的爆发揭示了一场深层危机。一些听起来冷静的评论员指出，对左翼党的指控不过是阻止社会化议程的策略。但将道德恐慌视为刻意策略的说法，很难解释一切。为什么这么多人愿意相信这些抹黑运动，尤其是在选择党同时获胜却被迅速正常化的情况下？