２０２１年２月１８日 例会報告 南井克之
教材にJapan Times記事を使って、オンラインで行った2月度の勉強会。取り上げた記事は、和訳すれば、「一人の普通の大統領が桁外れの重荷を双肩に担う」というタイトルで書かれている、米国バイデン大統領の就任演説の翌日に掲載された社説である。型破りの前任大統領によって、此れまで以上に深まった米国内の分断と米国第一の姿勢に基づいて実施された外交上の諸施策により失われた国際社会との信用・関係を、如何に修復してゆくのか、また、分断した国内を少しでも結束した社会にするには、迅速に意欲的に取り組むものと慎重に抑制的に取り組むものを、しっかりと見定めての新政権としての施政方針を打ち出し、その方針に基づく行政上の取組みが何より肝要であろうと論じている。なお、教材に使う社説にも繋がる、バイデン大統領による30分の就任演説原文を、各位が事前に読み通し、また、いつものように、ネイティブ記者が記事に使う多くの興味深い英語表現についての各位による予めの下調べもあり、社説の内容理解もそれなりに深まっていた上で、オンラインでの情報共有、質疑応答、諸確認を行った。結果として、米国政治・社会の諸問題や、バイデン政権が向かうべき、また、取り組むべき方向などでの関心が整理され、今後の米国や世界の行方を追うベースになるものを、何よりも時機を得た記事から学び得たように思われる。有益な相互研鑽の時間となり、嬉しい限りである。
We read an article of Japan Times: “An ordinary president shoulders an extraordinary burden,” issued a day after newly elected President Joe Biden delivered his inaugural speech at the Capitol in Washington. As the title of the article shows, its content is focused on descriptions of unprecedented challenges, both domestic and international, which President Biden will have to face and overcome. The following are the descriptions of the challenges: 1) Division within the nation, as occurred only once before in its history – when it erupted in a true civil war – and this time, as a result of his election win or legitimacy which remains contested among substantial parts of the population and as a result of his presentation of himself being ordinary and normal, hence being a safe harbor from the exceptionalism of his predecessor and also from the more extreme options of the left within his Democratic party, and 2) Observance of guiding principles of the new administration, described as an oxymoron, “ambition and restraint,” which needs to be carefully observed by his administration. The most effective way of applying principle of ambition is to complete ambitious projects that materially improve the lives of the embittered voters who believe that only Trump cared about and fought for them, and, on the other hand, however, he must exercise the restraint by resisting the urge, as shown in his campaign to fight on his opponents’ turf, and rather must willingly try to stand in the other person’s shoes.
On how the nation should rise to challenges, not of yesterday but of today and tomorrow, Biden, using an expression full of significance, “pledged to lead, not merely by the example of our power, but by the power of our example,” in order to be a strong and trusted partner for peace, progress and security. We discussed the meaning of this rhetorical expression of his speech and we finally interpreted it as: “the example of our power” meaning the precedent of the power of the U.S., proudly shown and visually known to this date by the people of the world, in the military, economy, technologies and other activities, and “the power of our example” meaning the real or genuine power to be shown hereafter by observing democracy, rule of law, justice, equality and unity of the people, which Biden referred to as the real source of the strength of the U.S.
We enjoyed learning a lot about the challenges the U.S. has to overcome from now under the new Biden administration. Again, it was good for us to read the article, in a highly timely manner, as this kind of article on the U.S. presidential inauguration comes up only once in four years.
Katsuyuki MINAMII
Reporting on February 24, 2021
