The cold war was a contest between two superpowers, two philosophies — and two assault rifles. The Soviet-made AK-47 was one. It was reliable, if basic. The American M16, built later, was more accurate. But its very sophistication meant that more things could go wrong with it. In Vietnam’s jungle heat, it was liable to jam mid-battle, which is the last thing you want. The guns became metaphors for the ideologies that produced them: communism’s focus on the high minimum, capitalism’s quest for excellence.
冷战是一场两大超级大国之间的较量，也是两种意识形态——甚至两种突击步枪——之间的较量。其一是苏联制造的AK-47，构造朴素，却十分可靠；另一种是后来研制的美制M16，精度更高，但也正因为结构复杂，更容易出问题。在越南炎热的丛林中，M16很容易在战斗中卡壳，而这是战场上最不愿意看到的情况。这两种枪最终也成了孕育它们的两种意识形态的隐喻：共产主义强调把下限抬高，而资本主义则追求卓越的上限。
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