“Don’t do stupid shit.” With the last word turned demurely into “stuff”, this became known as the “Obama doctrine”. It reflected the lessons Barack Obama had learnt from his presidential predecessor’s unnecessary Iraq war. For many, the doctrine was defeatist. Today, I see its merits. It would be wonderful to see intelligent action in response to our many challenges. Yet, today, application of the Obama doctrine would be a relief.
“不做蠢事”(Don’t do stupid shit)。把最后一个单词shit(屎)委婉地换成stuff(事情),就成了人们所说的“奥巴马学说”。这句话反映了美国前总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)从其前任不必要的伊拉克战争中学到的教训。对于许多人而言,该学说是一种失败主义。今天,我看到了它的优点。如果能够主动采取明智行动来应对我们的许多挑战,那很棒。然而,如今实施奥巴马学说将为我们带来喘息的空间。