To Voters Afflicted with Post-Sunflower Distress Disorder

To Voters Afflicted with Post-Sunflower Distress Disorder
United Daily News Editorial (Taipei, Taiwan, ROC)
A Translation
October 22, 2015

Executive Summary: The 2016 general election is less than three months away. Yet voters remain disaffected. One reason is that the blue camp suffered a major setback when the KMT “changed generals before the charge”. But the main reason is that last year's Sunflower Student Movement undermined respect for the government. Many voters are now disillusioned with democracy. It is difficult to whip up enthusiasm among them. This phenomenon is especially prevalent among blue camp supporters, and could be termed “Post-Sunflower Distress Disorder" or “PSDD”.

Full Text Below:

The 2016 general election is less than three months away. Yet voters remain disaffected. One reason is that the blue camp suffered a major setback when the KMT “changed generals before the charge”. But the main reason is that last year's Sunflower Student Movement undermined respect for the government. Many voters are now disillusioned with democracy. It is difficult to whip up enthusiasm among them. This phenomenon is especially prevalent among blue camp supporters, and could be termed “Post-Sunflower Distress Disorder" or “PSDD”.

The Sunflower Student Movement had both positive and negative effects on Taiwan. But it has not been subjected to serious review and discussion. Positive effects include increased political participation among young people, increased awareness of the plight and aspirations of the younger generation, and increased awareness of economic inequality and generational injustice. Negative effects include the undermining of democracy and social order by violent street protests, the whitewashing of illegal occupation of public buildings, the sidelining of rational debate, the monopolization of public expression on the Internet, and the bullying of those who dare dissent. Older citizens in particular, those not conversant with the Internet, had their values demeaned and opinions belittled. They have become politically disaffected and withdrawn.

Consider the matter of democratic evolution. Last year, during the Sunflower Student Movement, the political atmosphere on Taiwan was electric. Today, all that remains is apathy. This is definitely not a healthy phenomenon. In any society, reform requires passion. It requires political action exercised within the system. If extremists run amok with impunity, those who value rational debate will withdraw. Few will take part in the election process. The result will be democracy in which the tail wags the dog.

The Sunflower Student Movement cited opposition to the STA as its pretext. Green camp support enabled it to morph into an “anti-[Mainland]China", "anti-Ma" “appendectomy" movement. It even occupied the Legislative Yuan, and with Wang Jin-pyng's assistance, formed an anti-Ma army. Add to the mix blue vs green political wrangling, all of which attacked the soft underbelly of the Ma government. The blue camp's nine in one election debacle last year cowed ruling KMT leaders. They tucked their tails between their legs and did nothing. These factors are likely to lead to the same result in the general election next year.

The Sunflower Student Movement dealt the ruling KMT a severe blow. Yet it does nothing. This is its own fault. This is something it must reflect upon. Meanwhile, many have lost faith in politics in the wake of the Sunflower Student Movement. Some feel intense disgust. These people need reassurance and encouragement. We hope they will resume participation in politics. Only that will prevent democracy on Taiwan from imploding. After all, the backbone of democracy, apart from political parties, is support from independent citizens.

The Sunflower Student Movement has left many disaffected with politics, for three reasons. Reason One. When students occupied the legislature and paralyzed the government, it exposed the weakness of their democratic institutions. Their disillusionment led to disaffectation. Reason Two. Violence in the streets and vituperation on the Internet, reflected predominantly the feelings of the younger generation. The feelings of non-Internet users and older generations have been ignored. More mature, more thoughtful insights have been drowned in a sea of unconsidered opinion. Many can no longer be bothered to speak out. Many cannot not even be bothered to participate in politics. Reason Three. The student movement's violence challenged the values of more conservative members of society. In most democracies, universities are leftist, while the grass-roots are conservative. This is the norm. But the Sunflower Student Movement on Taiwan had too intense a political coloration. It seethed with hatred and indulged in outright provocation. It shook the faith of many in politics, and left them with the sense that political participation is futile.

The most obvious example of this is of course blue camp dejection in the face of the upcoming election. The KMT recently replaced Hung with Chu. Supporters now plan to boycott the election or cast invalid ballots in protest. During last week's plenary session, attendance fell to 60%. Among party representatives from Taipei City, attendance plummeted to 40%. This reflects their alienation from the party. Rumors have emerged over the past two days. Apparently the KMT Central Committee intends to change the rules for non-constituency legislators, to enable Wang Jing-pyn to remain in office. Voters are threatening to cast invalid party vote ballots in protest. These are serious symptoms of Post-Sunflower Distress Disorder that the blue camp must address.

Many blue camp supporters pride themselves on being independent voters. They reserve the right to criticize KMT decisions or repudiate them categorically. Nearly 20 years of voting history show that most blue camp divisions, election boycotts, or casting of invalid ballots in protest, are the result of these same people's actions. Such is the paradox of democracy. From a libertarian perspective, voting as an individual chooses is entirely understandable. The problem is that too many such independent voters have made it impossible to transform and upgrade the KMT. This is deeply regrettable. Even more worrisome, if these independent voters become indifferent, hostile, or even nihilistic, as a result of the student movement, it means disaster for democracy.

If Taiwan's democracy degenerates, the critical factor will not be who represents Taiwan, or who represents the Republic of China. It will be voter indifference or even contempt, for politics.

致後太陽花的政治冷感症患者
2015-10-22 聯合報

二○一六大選僅剩不到三個月，而選情卻出奇的冷。這除了受藍軍陣前換將周折影響，最主要的因素，是去年的太陽花學運對馬政府的威信構成嚴重挑戰，更使得許多選民對於民主政治感到深沉失望，難再點燃熱情。這種情況，尤以藍營支持者為甚，或可稱之為「後太陽花」的政治冷感症候群。

太陽花學運對台灣政治的衝擊，有利有弊，卻始終未受到認真的檢視和討論。其正面影響，諸如：年輕人的政治參與熱度升高，新世代的困境和心聲受到注意，台灣分配不均及世代剝奪問題表面化；而其負面影響則是：街頭運動衝撞民主體制和社會秩序，違法占領受到美化，政治論述出現倒退現象，網路聲量唯我獨尊，動輒霸凌民間的不同意見。尤其後者，對於那些非年輕世代、非網路活躍族群而言，他們認同的價值遭到抹煞，他們的意見甚至受到蔑視，他們的政治態度也因此變得退縮和冷漠。

從民主發展的角度看，去年台灣社會在太陽花運動期間的熱情澎湃，對比民眾今天對二○一六大選的反應冷淡，絕對不是一個健康的現象。原因是，任何社會激情或改革訴求，都必須透過體制的政治行動中尋求扎根，才有落實的可能；如果街頭燃燒的憤怒溫度如此之高，而選舉討論和參與的情緒卻如此低落，可能只會產生「尾巴搖狗」的民主。

假「反服貿」之名而起的太陽花運動，在綠營的補給下，演變成「反中」乃至「反馬」及「割闌尾」行動，甚至以占領立法院的方式借王金平之力反將馬政府一軍；其間，摻雜了複雜的藍綠政治角力因素，卻重擊了馬政府的軟肋。藍營去年九合一選舉的大敗，即肇因於執政者的畏首畏尾與處理無方；同一因素，極可能再度重挫明年的大選。

執政黨飽受太陽花衝擊，卻束手無策，這是它咎由自取，必須深刻反省。但與此同時，對於那些因太陽花後遺症而對政治喪失信任、乃至感到極度厭棄的民眾，我們則認為這是需要寬慰與鼓勵的一群，也希望他們能重拾政治參與的動力，台灣民主政治的根基才不致崩壞或傾斜。畢竟，民主政治最重要的骨幹，除了政黨，還是要靠一個個具有獨立意志的公民支撐。

太陽花運動之所以造成民眾的「政治冷感症」，主要作用有三：第一，學生占領國會、癱瘓政府的行動，讓許多人看到了民主體制的無力，因失望而轉為冷漠。第二，街頭的激烈行動和網路流行的批評言論，反映的主要是年輕世代的聲音，其他世代或非網路活躍者的意見相對受到輕忽，許多更成熟、深思的見解更淹沒於輕浮的民意之海。有些人因此懶得再發言，有些人甚至懶得再過問政治。第三，學生運動的激進性，不免對比較保守的民眾構成價值上的衝擊與挑戰。在一般民主國家，「大學向左，草根保守」原是常態，而台灣的太陽花學運卻因添加了太多政治香精，摻入太多仇恨與挑釁，竟讓許多人對自己的信念產生動搖，進而有了「政治無用」的倦怠感。

最明顯的例子是，藍軍選情一片低迷，在國民黨最近的「抽柱換朱」風波中，陸續有支持者傳出「不投票」或「投廢票」的聲音。上週臨全會的出席率僅六成，而台北市黨代表的出席率更低至四成，在在反映了黨內的疏離。這兩天，傳出黨中央將修改規章以便王金平出任不分區立委，「政黨票投廢票」的聲音亦不絕於耳。這些，都是症狀不輕的政治冷感徵候，有待藍軍設法克服。

許多藍軍支持者自詡是「自主選民」，對國民黨的決策常保持批評，或動輒予以否定。然而，觀察近廿年的投票歷史，最常在分裂、拒投或投廢票行動中飽嘗挫折的，也正是這些人，這實在是民主政治的弔詭。從自由意志的角度看，投票行為只要是個人的自主選擇，即無可厚非。問題是，這麼多的自主選民，多年來卻無法促成國民黨內部的轉型與提升，實在是令人遺憾的事。更值得擔心的是，如果這些所謂自主選民，卻因為一場學生運動而變得冷漠、消極、甚至虛無，那才是民主的大患。

台灣民主政治若走向退化，癥結其實不在誰代表台灣、誰代表中華民國的問題，而在選民變得冷漠與退卻，甚至對政治感到嫌惡。