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美国之后,欧盟民众对疫情的态度也日趋分裂

美国之后,欧盟民众对疫情的态度也日趋分裂

SOPHIE MELLOR 2021-10-13
在欧盟,不同国家的民众在新冠疫情期间有着迥异的经历,而且连指责的对象都存在差异。

欧盟和美国在处理新冠疫情方面的方式有着非常大的差异,然而,这两个地区也存在着共同之处:在撤销疫情防控工作之际,其民众的分裂程度较疫情之前更加严重。

欧洲对外关系委员会 (ECFR) 的新研究发现,在欧盟,不同国家的民众在新冠疫情期间有着迥异的经历,而且连指责的对象都存在差异。

这种分歧与美国所经历的现象惊人的相似,在那里,贫困人数较多的州在疫情爆发时的新冠病例数要远高于其他州,而且疫苗出现后其接种率也远低于其他州。

在ECFR报告中,欧盟受调对象之间之所以会存在差异,一个重要因素在于:各国民众将疫情看作是一场经济危机还是公共卫生危机。北欧和西欧国家的居民更有可能感到自己没有受到疫情的影响,而南欧和东欧国家的民众则认为自己遭受了更大的经济和健康影响。

该调查在6月采访了超过1.6万名居民后发现,在瑞典、丹麦、法国、荷兰、奥地利和德国这类国家,很多居民将新冠疫情视为“一种令人厌恶的观赏性体育节目,而不是令人震惊的生活经历。”这些国家参与调查的大多数居民表示,他们自己并未受到疾病、丧友或经济拮据的严重影响。丹麦在这一方面居于首位,其72%的受调对象称丝毫没有受到疫情的影响。

与此同时,南欧、东欧国家(例如保加利亚、波兰、西班牙和葡萄牙)超过半数的民众称自己在经济或健康方面受到了新冠疫情的影响。在西班牙和匈牙利,几乎三分之二的民众称受到了疫情的直接影响。

研究人员在报告中写道:“欧洲的新冠疫情体验可谓是水火两重天。”

不同国家之间存在的这种差异在欧盟是屡见不鲜,基本上类似于欧元危机期间债权人和债务人之间的差异,亦与2015年接受难民和未接受难民的国家阵营相同。最近,在疫苗接种方面同样出现了这样的分界线,西欧国家的接种率要远高于东欧国家。

欧盟还出现了美国曾经经历过的另一个重大趋势:因疫情而变得更加贫困的民众对于实施封锁举措的政府更加愤怒。

越穷越愤怒

这种区域性的差异带来了巨大的政治影响。

经济受疫情冲击的民众往往更加怀疑其政府实施封锁令的动机,而且更有可能指控政府使用新冠疫情作为借口来控制公众。他们还会抱怨限制过于严苛。在波兰这个民众怀疑度最高的国家,仅有38%的受调居民信任其政府的意图。

民众在“谁该背锅”方面也存在分歧。北欧和西欧国家的民众更有可能指责那些不遵守规定的个人,荷兰在这一方面领先,比例达到了63%,而南欧和东欧的居民则会指责高层,他们将矛头对准了国家政府、欧盟委员会、跨国公司、疫苗接种民族主义或中国采取的行动。波兰在这一方面夺得头筹,比例达到了58%,紧随其后的是法国和西班牙。

该调查指出,这一特点可能也解释了为什么诸多主流党派开始重新拥护政府行动,而更多的民粹主义党派却在向自由意志主义靠近。

年龄差异

代际之间也存在着重大分歧。

尽管社会中的高龄人感染新冠病毒的概率最高,但调查显示,年轻人觉得他们才是疫情的主要受害者。

同时,这两个群体在指责对象方面也存在着差异。欧洲60岁以上的老年人批评个人的可能性更大,而30岁以下的年轻人往往会批评政府和其他机构。

这一现象也导致年轻人对政府的意图越发冷嘲热讽。调查发现,尽管政府称自己在疫情期间采取限制举措的主要目的是为了防止病毒的传播,但年轻人对这个理由并不买账。

在30岁以下的受调对象中,43%的人对政府的动机表示怀疑;23%的人认为政府只是为了制造有能力控制疫情的假象;还有20%的人甚至称政府使用疫情为幌子,来加强对公众的控制。

这种新闻并不是什么新鲜事。即便在疫情爆发之前,剑桥大学民主未来中心(Centre for the Future of Democracy)的研究就发现,如今的年轻人是对民主政府表现最不满意的一代。

然而,随着欧盟准备退出疫情防范工作,欧盟政府将不得不认真对待那些被迫接种疫苗、满腹牢骚的年轻人。(财富中文网)

译者:冯丰

审校:夏林

欧盟和美国在处理新冠疫情方面的方式有着非常大的差异,然而,这两个地区也存在着共同之处:在撤销疫情防控工作之际,其民众的分裂程度较疫情之前更加严重。

欧洲对外关系委员会 (ECFR) 的新研究发现,在欧盟,不同国家的民众在新冠疫情期间有着迥异的经历,而且连指责的对象都存在差异。

这种分歧与美国所经历的现象惊人的相似,在那里,贫困人数较多的州在疫情爆发时的新冠病例数要远高于其他州,而且疫苗出现后其接种率也远低于其他州。

在ECFR报告中,欧盟受调对象之间之所以会存在差异,一个重要因素在于:各国民众将疫情看作是一场经济危机还是公共卫生危机。北欧和西欧国家的居民更有可能感到自己没有受到疫情的影响,而南欧和东欧国家的民众则认为自己遭受了更大的经济和健康影响。

该调查在6月采访了超过1.6万名居民后发现,在瑞典、丹麦、法国、荷兰、奥地利和德国这类国家,很多居民将新冠疫情视为“一种令人厌恶的观赏性体育节目,而不是令人震惊的生活经历。”这些国家参与调查的大多数居民表示,他们自己并未受到疾病、丧友或经济拮据的严重影响。丹麦在这一方面居于首位,其72%的受调对象称丝毫没有受到疫情的影响。

与此同时,南欧、东欧国家(例如保加利亚、波兰、西班牙和葡萄牙)超过半数的民众称自己在经济或健康方面受到了新冠疫情的影响。在西班牙和匈牙利,几乎三分之二的民众称受到了疫情的直接影响。

研究人员在报告中写道:“欧洲的新冠疫情体验可谓是水火两重天。”

不同国家之间存在的这种差异在欧盟是屡见不鲜,基本上类似于欧元危机期间债权人和债务人之间的差异,亦与2015年接受难民和未接受难民的国家阵营相同。最近,在疫苗接种方面同样出现了这样的分界线,西欧国家的接种率要远高于东欧国家。

欧盟还出现了美国曾经经历过的另一个重大趋势:因疫情而变得更加贫困的民众对于实施封锁举措的政府更加愤怒。

越穷越愤怒

这种区域性的差异带来了巨大的政治影响。

经济受疫情冲击的民众往往更加怀疑其政府实施封锁令的动机,而且更有可能指控政府使用新冠疫情作为借口来控制公众。他们还会抱怨限制过于严苛。在波兰这个民众怀疑度最高的国家,仅有38%的受调居民信任其政府的意图。

民众在“谁该背锅”方面也存在分歧。北欧和西欧国家的民众更有可能指责那些不遵守规定的个人,荷兰在这一方面领先,比例达到了63%,而南欧和东欧的居民则会指责高层,他们将矛头对准了国家政府、欧盟委员会、跨国公司、疫苗接种民族主义或中国采取的行动。波兰在这一方面夺得头筹,比例达到了58%,紧随其后的是法国和西班牙。

该调查指出,这一特点可能也解释了为什么诸多主流党派开始重新拥护政府行动,而更多的民粹主义党派却在向自由意志主义靠近。

年龄差异

代际之间也存在着重大分歧。

尽管社会中的高龄人感染新冠病毒的概率最高,但调查显示,年轻人觉得他们才是疫情的主要受害者。

同时,这两个群体在指责对象方面也存在着差异。欧洲60岁以上的老年人批评个人的可能性更大,而30岁以下的年轻人往往会批评政府和其他机构。

这一现象也导致年轻人对政府的意图越发冷嘲热讽。调查发现,尽管政府称自己在疫情期间采取限制举措的主要目的是为了防止病毒的传播,但年轻人对这个理由并不买账。

在30岁以下的受调对象中,43%的人对政府的动机表示怀疑;23%的人认为政府只是为了制造有能力控制疫情的假象;还有20%的人甚至称政府使用疫情为幌子,来加强对公众的控制。

这种新闻并不是什么新鲜事。即便在疫情爆发之前,剑桥大学民主未来中心(Centre for the Future of Democracy)的研究就发现,如今的年轻人是对民主政府表现最不满意的一代。

然而,随着欧盟准备退出疫情防范工作,欧盟政府将不得不认真对待那些被迫接种疫苗、满腹牢骚的年轻人。(财富中文网)

译者:冯丰

审校:夏林

The European Union and the United States have handled the COVID-19 pandemic very differently, but the two have something in common: They’re both leaving the pandemic more divided than they were before it.

Across the EU, people in various countries have had very different experiences of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and are pointing fingers in different directions on whom to blame, new research from the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR) has found.

It is a split that bears a striking similarity to one seen in the U.S., where states that began the pandemic with higher levels of poverty experienced far higher COVID-19 case numbers—and had far lower levels of vaccine uptake once the jabs became available.

A key point of divergence among EU respondents in the ECFR report was whether they saw the pandemic as an economic or a public health crisis. Residents of Northern and Western EU countries were far more likely to not have been affected by the pandemic at all, while those in countries in the South and East reported greater economic and health impacts.

For residents of countries like Sweden, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Austria, and Germany, the virus for many has been “more of a gruesome spectator sport than a shattering lived experience,” according to the survey, which interviewed more than 16,000 respondents in June. The majority of the people who replied from these countries noted they had not been personally impacted by serious disease, bereavement, or economic hardship. Leading this group is Denmark, where 72% of respondents said they had not been affected at all.

Meanwhile, more than half of the people from countries in the South and East—like Bulgaria, Poland, Spain, and Portugal—said they had been personally affected by COVID-19 economically or in terms of health. In Spain and Hungary, almost two-thirds of the population reported direct impacts.

“Europe’s COVID-19 experience has been a tale of two pandemics,” the researchers noted in the report.

This split of countries has been seen repeatedly in the EU. It is largely the same difference as the one between the creditors and the debtors during the euro crisis, and it is the same divide between countries that saw an influx of refugees in 2015 and those that did not. More recently, the split can be seen in the uptake of vaccines, with inoculation much higher in Western European countries over Eastern European countries.

And as has been seen in the U.S., another major trend is clear in the EU: People left poorer by the pandemic are more angry at the government that locked them down.

Poorer and pointing fingers

This regional skew has had great political consequences.

The economic victims of the pandemic tended to be more skeptical about their governments’ intentions behind lockdowns and were more likely to accuse them of using COVID-19 as an excuse to control the public. Economically impacted people also tended to say that the restrictions were too strict. In Poland, the most distrustful country, only 38% of respondents trusted their government's intentions.

People were also divided on whom to blame. People from Northern and Western countries were more likely to blame individuals who didn’t follow the rules—the Netherlands led this group, at 63%—while residents in Southern and Eastern countries blamed those up top, focusing on the actions of their national government, the European Commission, multinational companies, vaccine nationalism, or China. Poland, at 58%, led this group, followed by France and Spain.

The study suggests this may be why many mainstream parties are re-embracing government action, while more populist parties have become more libertarian.

The age gap

There is also a major generational divide.

While the oldest members of society were most in harm’s way of catching COVID-19, the study found that young people felt they were the major victims of the pandemic.

And the two groups placed blame in different places. Europeans age 60 and over were more likely to blame individuals, while Europeans under 30 tended to blame governments and other institutions.

This adds to the growing cynicism among young people about government intention. The poll found that young people didn’t accept the claim that government's main reasons for introducing pandemic-related restrictions was to limit the spread of the virus.

Of the respondents under 30, 43% were skeptical of government motives; 23% thought that the government just tried to create the appearance of control; while 20% went as far as to say government used the pandemic to increase the control of the public.

The news isn’t new. Even before the pandemic, research by the Centre for the Future of Democracy at Cambridge University found that today’s young people are the generation most dissatisfied with the performance of democratic governments.

But as the EU prepares to exit the pandemic, disgruntled youth whom the EU has pressured into vaccinating will have to be reckoned with.

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