The great populist-insurgent of 100 years ago, one Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov, found time while in cozy Zurich planning his Bolshevik revolution to pen an explanation for why things were “kicking off”, as we say these days: his book was entitled Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism or, in its French translation, the last stage. Were his modern successor (if political opposite) Donald Trump to follow suit in a tweet, he might substitute “globalism” for imperialism, adding “BAD, SICK! BUILD THAT WALL!” Marine Le Pen, France’s far-right presidential candidate, would surely agree.
100年前,偉大的民粹主義造反者弗拉迪米爾•伊里奇•烏里揚諾夫(Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov,即列寧)在安逸的蘇黎世策劃布爾什維克革命時,抽時間寫了一本名爲《帝國主義是資本主義的最高階段》(Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism)的小冊子,解釋爲什麼革命已「箭在弦上」。如果列寧的現代繼任者(雖然政治上對立)唐納•川普(Donald Trump)在Twitter上進行效法的話,他或許會用「全球主義」取代帝國主義,再加上「糟糕,噁心!建起這道牆!(BAD, SICK! BUILD THAT WALL!)」法國極右翼總統候選人馬琳•勒龐(Marine Le Pen)一定會表示贊同。