What is Taiwan’s sense of tragedy?

Analysis of Taiwan’s “sense of tragedy” As the election approaches, the media and scholars are analyzing several major factors that affect Taiwan’s election results. The United States and mainland China are of course two very important points. But in my opinion, the biggest factor affecting Taiwanese people’s voting tendency is cultural background. Almost all the behaviors of the Taiwanese people that are "incomprehensible" to the outside world in voting can be found in the concept of history. "Even if you are going to die, you will die in the hands of your own people." From this point of view, we can clearly see why the "economic issues" that are considered the lifeblood of voting in so-called Western democracies are not so popular in Taiwan. thing. President Bush Sr. defeated Iraq's Saddam Hussein in the 1991 Gulf War. At that time, his support rate among the American people exceeded 70%. However, in the general election less than a year later, his popularity fell far behind. In his Clinton hands. Clinton's most famous mantra at the time was "It's the economy, stupid." This is almost impossible to happen in Taiwan, especially southern Taiwan. In southern Taiwan, the mantra we hear is "Even if you have to die, you must die at the hands of your own people." To a considerable extent, this represents the thoughts of middle-aged and older Taiwanese. Taiwan's culture is to a considerable extent a culture of "escape and tragedy". As we all know, Taiwan is an immigrant society. One of the important reasons why Taiwanese people started to come to Taiwan a long time ago is to "escape". This is not necessarily to pursue a better life, but more importantly to escape the oppression of the government. Escape from natural and man-made disasters. During the pioneering period of the American West, the pursuit of a better future was the main idea of ??Americans at that time. The same immigrants, the optimistic and enterprising spirit of the United States from the Western pioneer era and the "escape" concept of immigrants to Taiwan, due to the different backgrounds at the time, left completely different trajectories in subsequent cultural development. The practice of gaining people's support through confrontation with the mainland has almost never failed in an election campaign. Since there is "escape", there must be "tragedy" behind it. Whether it is from the beginning of the idea of ????"escape", to the ensuing process of escaping, to finally settling down, the process is full of disaster, sadness and pain. This impression will be deeply imprinted in the hearts of Taiwanese immigrants, and often It will be passed down from generation to generation in the process of "father teaching son, brother teaching brother". This background, coupled with the conflicts caused by a series of cultural differences after Taiwan's liberation, the seemingly non-existent discrimination after the Kuomintang government moved to Taiwan, and even the "oppressed mentality" formed by confrontation with the mainland, have all been strengthened tangibly and intangibly. This kind of "sadness" and "oppression" consciousness. As a result, the simplest and most primitive division between "oppressed" and "oppressed" is formed between "us" and "them". This concept of "us" and "them" goes down to "we are good and they are bad", "we are oppressed and they oppress us", "we came to Taiwan first, They came later, but they usurped our resources." In the end, it was easy to form a moral proposition: "We love Taiwan, but they do not love Taiwan." Therefore, the label of "selling Taiwan" was easily put on the other side's head. To a considerable extent, this can explain why in the early days of Taiwan's democratic development, the so-called "unsqueezable rose" is still often used by politicians with an "oppressed complex" to this day. Taiwanese politicians are still in this "oppressed complex" to draw personal political nutrients and resources. This can also explain why in this "presidential election", Chen Shui-bian repeatedly tried to provoke the mainland and create the illusion of being "persecuted by the mainland again" to defraud the sympathy and support of the Taiwanese people. Since Lee Teng-hui became president, he has almost never failed in an election campaign by using confrontation with the mainland to gain people's support. In such a "tragic" atmosphere and under the manipulation of politicians, there is no room for any rational debate. "Escape and pathos" breeds a "fate-resigning" mentality. The "escape and pathos" complex has another side. To a considerable extent, this is a so-called "acceptance of fate" emotion after "assessing the situation." In such a mood, the people of Taiwan will have a mentality of "accepting fate" after "understanding the situation and finding that there is no escape." This cognitive background has a considerable impact on the voting behavior of Taiwanese people. When the Taiwan authorities go too far and cause resentment in the mainland, Taiwanese people will look at the attitudes and faces of the Americans; if the United States is also angry, the Taiwanese people will be very worried. This worry will affect their voting tendency; but if it is just the mainland that exerts unilateral pressure on Taiwan, it may only have the opposite effect. This can also explain why when Chen Shui-bian proposed the "referendum to formulate a constitution" and even moved it to New York in the United States, his public approval rating in Taiwan increased; and the same issue of "referendum to formulate a constitution" was ignored when Bush After the president publicly warned Chen Shui-bian, his support on the island dropped. This has little to do with whether the people of Taiwan really demand a "referendum on the constitution" per se, but with whether the United States supports it. Of course, there is a deep cultural background at work behind it. Some people in the Democratic Progressive Party have long proposed "rejecting China on the left and rejecting the United States on the right", but they have never succeeded. This is the most important reason. Taiwan has not yet developed enough "anti-American" soil.

There is no doubt that Chen Shui-bian will never compromise on the issue of "referendum" under the pressure of the election, because if he makes a concession, it will inevitably lead to The election collapsed. This action will not be regarded as a rational choice by the Taiwanese people. Instead, it will be regarded as weak, not enough "tragic", and lacking sufficient spirit of sacrifice. Once this happens, Chen Shui-bian will be defeated in the election. On the other hand, if the "referendum" issue is abandoned, Chen Shui-bian will simply not be able to find an issue with such profound democratic and historical structure; not to mention that it is also covered with a moral cloak. For example, the so-called "party property issue" does not have enough historical structure depth to become a dominant topic. Therefore, Chen Shui-bian's current approach is: on the one hand, he uses various channels to explain his goodwill to the United States in private; on the other hand, in public, he still does not deviate from the "tragic" script, emphasizing that he is being suppressed by all parties for the sake of Taiwan's democracy. , he plays the role of a "tragic hero". This is a strategy formulated by Chen Shui-bian under the double attack of the mainland and the United States. It is also an election strategy that is in line with Taiwan's cultural roots.