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EfosaOjomo_2019S-_创新是根治腐败的良方_-
So in 2011, someone broke into my sister's office at the university where she teaches in Nigeria. 在 2011 年, 有人闯进了我妹妹 在尼日利亚一所大学任教的办公室。
Now thankfully , the person was caught, arrested and charged to court. 幸运的是,我们抓获,逮捕 并且向法庭起诉了此人。
thankfully:adv.感谢地;感激地;
When I get into court, the clerks who were assigned to my sister's case informed her that they wouldn't be able to process the paperwork unless she paid a bribe . 当我进入法庭时, 被分派处理我妹妹案件的办事员 告诉我妹妹说, 如果我妹妹能给点好处,他们才会 处理她的文书工作。
assigned:v.分配(某物);分派;指定;委派;(assign的过去分词和过去式) informed:adj.见多识广的; v.通知; (inform的过去分词和过去式) process:v.处理;加工;列队行进;n.过程,进行;方法,adj.经过特殊加工(或处理)的; paperwork:n.文书工作; bribe:v.贿赂,收买;n.贿赂;
Now, at first she thought it was part of a practical joke . 我妹妹最初认为这是种政治玩笑,
practical joke:n.恶作剧;捉弄人的把戏;
But then she realized they were serious. 但后来才意识到他们没有开玩笑。
And then she became furious . 于是我妹妹变得十分愤怒。
furious:adj.激烈的;狂怒的;热烈兴奋的;喧闹的;
I mean, think about it: here she was, the recent victim of a crime, with the very people who were supposed to help her, and they were demanding a bribe from her. 试想一下,她是作为 此次犯罪的受害者, 理应负责帮助我妹妹的每一个人 却向我妹妹索要好处。
victim:n.受害人;牺牲品;牺牲者; supposed:adj.误信的;所谓的;v.认为;假设;设想;(suppose的过去分词和过去式)
That's just one of the many ways that corruption impacts millions of people in my country. 这只是腐败影响我国 数百万人中,众多方式的一种。
corruption:n.贪污,腐败;堕落; impacts:n.影响; v.有影响,有作用;
You know, growing up in Nigeria, corruption permeated virtually every element of the society. 在我成长的尼日利亚, 腐败几乎渗透到社会的各个层面。
permeated:v.弥漫(permeate的过去式和过去分词);遍布;渗入;渗透; virtually:adv.事实上,几乎;实质上; element:n.元素;要素;原理;成分;自然环境;
Reports of politicians embezzling millions of dollars were common. 政客们贪污数百万美元 的报道屡见不鲜。
politicians:n.政治家;(蔑)政客;(美)政治贩;(politician的复数) embezzling:v.盗用,挪用,贪污,侵吞(款项);(embezzle的现在分词)
Police officers stealing money or extorting money from everyday hardworking citizens was routine practice. 警察盗窃金钱 或向每天辛勤工作 的公民勒索钱财 早已司空见惯。
extorting:v.敲诈;勒索;强夺;(extort的现在分词)
I felt that development could never actually happen, so long as corruption persisted . 这我觉得,只要持续存在腐败问题, 社会就永远得不到发展。
so long as:adv.只要; persisted:v.持续(persist的过去分词);坚持不懈;
But over the past several years, in my research on innovation and prosperity , 但在过去几年中, 在我所进行的关于 创新与繁荣的研究中,
innovation:n.创新,革新;新方法; prosperity:n.繁荣,成功;
I've learned that corruption is actually not the problem hindering our development. 我了解到,腐败其实 并不是阻碍我们发展的问题所在。
hindering:妨碍;
In fact, conventional thinking on corruption and its relationship to development is not only wrong, but it's holding many poor countries backwards. 事实上, 对腐败和发展的关系的传统想法 不仅是错误的, 而且它拖了很多贫穷国家的后腿。
conventional:adj.符合习俗的,传统的;常见的;惯例的;
So, the thinking goes like this: in a society that's poor and corrupt, our best shot at reducing corruption is to create good laws, enforce them well, and this will make way for development and innovation to flourish . 这种想法大概是这样的: 在贫穷且腐败的社会中, 我们减少腐败的最好方法 是构建良好的法律, 并有效执行, 这将辅助发展与创新走向繁荣。
enforce:v.强制执行;强迫;迫使; flourish:n.兴旺; vt.夸耀; vi.繁荣,兴旺;
Now, it makes sense on paper, which is why many governments and development organizations invest billions of dollars annually on institutional reform and anti-corruption programs. 在纸上倒是行的通, 这也是为什么很多政府和发展组织 在机构改革和反腐败项目上面, 每年投资数十亿美元。
organizations:n.组织,构造,有机体(organization的复数);组织机构; invest:v.投资;(把资金)投入;投入(时间、精力等);授予; annually:adv.每年;一年一次; institutional:adj.制度的; reform:v.改革;改进;改良;(使)悔改;n.改革;改良;改善; anti-corruption:n.反腐败;反贪腐;廉政风暴;
But many of these programs fail to reduce corruption, because we have the equation backwards. 但很多这些项目没能减少腐败, 因为我们本末倒置了。
equation:n.方程式,等式;相等;[化学]反应式;
You see, societies don't develop because they've reduced corruption. 要知道,不是因为腐败减少了 而社会得以发展,
They're able to reduce corruption because they've developed. 而是社会发展了才能减少腐败。
And societies develop through investments in innovation. 社会发展是通过 对创新的投资来实现。
investments:n.[经]投资,投资的财产;投资学;(investment的复数)
Now, at first, I thought this was impossible. 起初,我认为这不可能。
Why would anyone in their right mind invest in a society where, at least on the surface, it seems a terrible place to do business? 怎么会有一个正常人 投资一个至少表面看起来 非常不适合做生意的地方？
You know, a society where politicians are corrupt and consumers are poor? 怎么会有人投资一个腐败的、 消费贫瘠的社会？
consumers:n.消费者;顾客;用户;(consumer的复数)
But then, the more I learned about the relationship between innovation and corruption, the more I started to see things differently. 但在更多的了解了 创新与腐败的关系后, 我开始以不同眼光看待事情。
Here's how this played out in sub-Saharan Africa as the region developed its telecommunications industry. 撒哈拉以南非洲地区 在发展电信产业时 就面临这样的情况。
played out:adj.失去影响(或作用); sub-Saharan:撒哈拉以南地区; region:n.地区;范围;部位; telecommunications:n.电信;电讯;
In the late 1990s, fewer than five percent of people in sub-Saharan Africa had phones. 在 1990 年代末, 不到 5% 的撒哈拉以南非洲 地区的人们拥有手机。
In Nigeria, for example, the country had more than 110 million people but fewer than half a million phones in the whole nation. 比如尼日利亚有超过 1.1 亿人口, 但整个国家只拥有不到 50 万部手机。
Now, this scarcity fueled widespread corruption in the industry. 手机的稀缺加剧了行业的腐败。
scarcity:n.不足;缺乏; widespread:adj.普遍的,广泛的;分布广的;
I mean, public officials who worked for the state-owned phone companies demanded bribes from people who wanted phones. 在该州电话公司工作的公务人员 要求想拥有电话的人提供好处。
state-owned:adj.国有的;国营的;州立的; bribes:n.贿赂;v.向(某人)行贿;贿赂(bribe的第三人称单数和复数)
And because most people couldn't afford to pay the bribes, phones were only available to those who were wealthy. 由于很多人付不起贿赂金额, 所以只有富人用得起电话。
afford:v.给予,提供;买得起;
Then an entrepreneur named Mo Ibrahim decided that he would set up a telecommunications company on the continent . 然后有一名叫莫·伊布拉欣的企业家, 他决定要在这个国家成立 一家电信公司。
entrepreneur:n.企业家;承包人;主办者; continent:n.大陆,洲,陆地;adj.自制的,克制的;
Now, when he told his colleagues about his idea, they just laughed at him. 当他告诉同事们他的想法时, 他们只是取笑他。
colleagues:n.同事;同行(colleague的复数);
But Mo Ibrahim was undeterred . 但莫·伊布拉欣并未放弃。
undeterred:adj.未受阻的;未被吓住的;
And so in 1998, he set up Celtel. 于是在 1998 年,他创立了Celtel。
The company provided affordable mobile phones and cell service to millions of Africans, in some of the poorest and most corrupt countries in the region -- 该公司为数百万非洲人 提供了可负担的移动电话 和电话服务。 甚至包括该地区一些 非常贫穷和腐败的国家——
provided:conj.假如; v.提供; (provide的过去分词和过去式) affordable:adj.负担得起的; mobile:n.手机;汽车;移动电话;adj.活跃的;可动的;
I mean countries such as Congo, Malawi , 比如刚果、马拉维、
Malawi:n.马拉维(非洲国家);
Sierra Leone and Uganda . 塞拉利昂和乌干达。
Sierra:n.(尤指西班牙和美洲的)锯齿状山脉; Leone:n.利昂(塞拉利昂货币单位); Uganda:n.乌干达(非洲国家);
You see, in our research, we call what Mo Ibrahim built a "market-creating innovation." 在我们的研究中, 我们将莫·伊布拉欣构建服务 的称为“市场创建创新”。
Market-creating innovations transform complicated and expensive products into products that are simple and affordable, so that many more people in society could access them. “市场创建创新”把 复杂昂贵的产品转型成为 简单可负担的产品。 让社会中的每一个人都可以使用。
innovations:n.创新(innovation的复数);改革; transform:v.使改变;使改观;使转换;n.[数]变换式;[化]反式; complicated:adj.复杂的;难懂的;v.使复杂化;(complicate的过去分词和过去式)
Now in this case, phones were expensive before Celtel made them much more affordable. 在此案例中,Celtle 使电话 相较之前的价格更加负担得起。
As other investors -- some of his colleagues, actually -- saw that it was possible to create a successful mobile phone company on the continent, they flooded in with billions of dollars of investments. 其它投资者而言, 确切来说,一些他的同事, 认为在非洲成功的 建设一家电信公司 是有可能的, 他们投资了数十亿美元。
mobile phone:移动电话
And this led to significant growth in the industry. 这一行为给该行业带来了明显增长。
significant:adj.重大的;有效的;有意义的;值得注意的;意味深长的;n.象征;有意义的事物;
From barely nothing in 2000, today, virtually every African country now has a vibrant mobile telecommunications industry. 从 2000 年的几乎一无所有, 到如今几乎每个非洲国家 现在都拥有一个 充满活力的移动通信市场。
barely:adv.仅仅,勉强;几乎不;公开地;贫乏地; vibrant:adj.振动的;充满生气的;响亮的;战栗的;
The sector now supports close to one billion phone connections, it has created nearly four million jobs and generates billions of dollars in taxes every year. 这个行业目前支持 将近 10 亿个用户终端, 创造了将近 400 万份工作, 并且每年增加了数十亿的税收。
sector:n.部门;扇形,扇区;象限仪;函数尺;vt.把…分成扇形; generates:[计]生成;发生;
These are taxes that governments can now reinvest into the economy to build their institutions . 政府现在能使用税收 重新投入到经济中 建设他们的体系。
reinvest:vt.再投资于;再授给;vi.再投资; economy:n.经济;节约;理财; institutions:n.机构;慈善机构;风俗习惯,制度;(institution的复数)
And here's the thing: because most people no longer have to bribe public officials just to get a phone, corruption -- at least within this industry -- has reduced. 重点是: 大部分的人不再为了得到一部电话 而贿赂公务人员, 至少在该行业中, 腐败自然就减少了。
Now, if Mo Ibrahim had waited for corruption to be fixed in all of sub-Saharan Africa before he invested , he would still be waiting today. 如果莫·易卜拉欣 在沙哈拉以南非洲地区 的腐败问题解决后投资, 他现在仍旧在等待。
invested:v.投资;投入;(invest的过去分词和过去式)
You know, most people who engage in corruption know they shouldn't. 诚然,大多数人知道 自身不应该参与腐败。
engage:v.吸引,占用;使参加;雇佣;使订婚;预定;
I mean, the public officials who were demanding bribes from people to get phones and the people who were paying the bribes -- they knew they were breaking the law. 向想得到一部电话的人要求贿赂 的公务人员 以及支付贿赂金额的人 他们清楚自己违反了法律,
But they did it anyways. 但他们还是这样做了。
The question is: Why? 问题是为什么？
The answer? 答案？
Scarcity. 稀缺。
See, whenever people would benefit from gaining access to something that scarce , this makes corruption attractive . 无论何时,一个人将从稀缺中获利 都会使得腐败 具有诱惑力。
scarce:adv.勉强;刚;几乎不;简直不;adj.缺乏的;不足的;稀少的; attractive:adj.吸引人的;有魅力的;引人注目的;
You know, in poor countries, we complain a lot about corrupt politicians who embezzle state funds . 在贫穷的国家, 我们经常抱怨腐败的政客, 他们私吞国家公款。
complain:v.投诉;发牢骚;诉说; embezzle:v.盗用,挪用,贪污,侵吞(款项); funds:n.[会计]资金,现金(fund的复数);基金;v.资助(fund的三单形式);提供资金;
But in many of those countries, economic opportunity is scarce, and so corruption becomes an attractive way to gain wealth . 但是在这些众多的国家里, 经济机会是稀缺的, 所以腐败成为了具有诱惑力 的获得钱财的方式。
economic:adj.经济的,经济上的;经济学的; wealth:n.财富;大量;富有;
We also complain about civil servants like police officers, who extort money from everyday hardworking citizens. 我们也经常抱怨 像警察这样的公务人员 从每天辛勤工作的 公民身上敲诈钱财。
civil:adj.公民的;民间的;文职的;有礼貌的;根据民法的; servants:n.仆人;服务员(servant的复数);
But most civil servants are grossly underpaid and are leading desperate lives. 但是绝大多数公务人员 的工资越来越少, 过着令人绝望的生活。
grossly:adv.很;非常; underpaid:adj.所得报酬过低的;v.[会计]未足额支付(underpay的过去分词); desperate:adj.不顾一切的;令人绝望的;极度渴望的;
And so for them, extortion or corruption is a good way to make a living . 所以对他们而言, 敲诈或腐败是他们谋生的好方法。
extortion:n.勒索;敲诈;强夺;被勒索的财物; make a living:谋生,维持生活;
You know, this phenomenon also plays itself out in wealthy countries as well. 这个现象在富裕国家也普遍存在。
phenomenon:n.现象;杰出的人;非凡的人(或事物);
When rich parents bribe university officials -- 当富裕的父母贿赂 大学工作人员时——
(Laughter) （笑声）
When rich parents bribe university officials so their children can gain admission into elite colleges, the circumstance is different, but the principle is the same. 当富裕的父母贿赂大学工作人员, 让他们的孩子可以获得 进入精英大学就读的机会, 情况则不同。 但原理一样。
admission:n.入场费;进入权;招供;门票费; elite:n.精英;精华;杰出人物; circumstance:n.环境,情况;事件;境遇; principle:n.原理,原则;主义,道义;本质,本义;根源,源泉;
I mean, admission into elite colleges is scarce, and so bribery becomes attractive. 我的意思是进入精英大学 就读的机会稀缺, 所以贿赂变得具有诱惑力。
bribery:n.[法]贿赂;受贿;行贿;
The thing is, 关键在于,
I'm not trying to say there shouldn't be things that are scarce in society or things that are selective . 我并不是说,在社会中 不应该存在稀缺的或是 具有选择性的事物,
selective:adj.选择性的;有选择的;认真挑选的;严格筛选的;
What I'm just trying to explain is this relationship between corruption and scarcity. 我只是想解释 腐败与稀缺之间的关系。
And in most poor countries, way too many basic things are scarce. 在绝大多数贫穷的国家里, 很多基本物品都是稀缺的。
I mean things like food, education, health care , economic opportunity, jobs. 我指的是像食物、 教育、 医疗、 经济机会 和工作等。
health care:n.卫生保健;
This creates the perfect breeding ground for corruption to thrive . 这是孕育腐败的温床, 会任其肆意滋长。
breeding ground:n.(野生动物的)繁殖地;(尤指坏事物的)滋生地; thrive:v.繁荣;茁壮成长;蓬勃发展;兴旺发达;
Now, in no way does this excuse corrupt behavior. 这绝不是腐败行为的借口,
in no way:决不;
It just helps us understand it a bit better. 只是能帮助我们更好的了解腐败。
Investing in businesses that make things affordable and accessible to so many more people attacks this scarcity and creates the revenues for governments to reinvest in their economies . 投资那些让更多人能够负担得起 并且可以获取的业务, 能够对抗稀缺问题, 并给政府制定一个 经济再投资解决方案。
Investing:v.投资;投入(时间、精力等);(invest的现在分词) accessible:adj.易接近的;可进入的;可理解的; revenues:n.[会计]收入;税收;[会计]收益;营业收入(revenue的复数形式); economies:n.经济;经济结构;节约;(economy的复数)
Now, when this happens on a countrywide level, it can revolutionize nations. 在全国水平上发生这些事情时, 可以给这个国家带来改革。
countrywide:adj.全国范围的;adv.全国性地; revolutionize:vt.发动革命;彻底改革;宣传革命;vi.革命化;从事革命;
Consider the impact in South Korea. 思考一下这对于韩国的影响。
Now, in the 1950s, 在 1950 年,
South Korea was a desperately poor country, and it was very corrupt. 韩国是个非常贫穷并且 腐败的国家。
desperately:adv.拼命地;绝望地;不顾一切地;极度地;
The country was ruled by an authoritarian government and engaged in bribery and embezzlement . 这个国家由一个独裁的政府控制, 并且政府参与了贪污和挪用。
authoritarian:adj.独裁主义的;权力主义的;n.权力主义者;独裁主义者; engaged in:从事于;忙于; embezzlement:n.侵占;挪用;盗用;
In fact, economists at the time said South Korea was trapped in poverty , and they referred to it as "an economic basket case ." 事实上,那时的经济学家说 韩国陷入了贫困, 他们把它称为“经济上的烂摊子”。
trapped:adj.受困的;受限制的;v.使落入险境;使陷入困境;(trap的过去分词和过去式) poverty:n.贫困;困难;缺少;低劣; referred:v.提到;引用;认为;指示;涉及;(refer的过去式和过去分词) basket case:四肢不全的人;完全伤残者;完全没有希望的人;
When you looked at South Korea's institutions, even as late as the 1980s, they were on par with some of the poorest and most corrupt African countries at the time. 看看韩国的体系, 甚至到了 1980 年末, 还与那时候的一些最贫穷 和最腐败的非洲国家 处于同等水平。
par:n.标准;票面价值;平均数量;adj.标准的;票面的;
But as companies like Samsung, Kia, Hyundai invested in innovations that made things much more affordable for so many more people, 然而像三星、起亚和现代这些公司 的投资创新使大多数的人 能够负担的起 这些物品。
South Korea ultimately became prosperous . 韩国社会最终繁荣了起来。
ultimately:adv.最终;最后;归根结底;终究; prosperous:adj.繁荣的;兴旺的;
As the country grew prosperous, it was able to transition from an authoritarian government to a democratic government and has been able to reinvest in building its institutions. 随着国家日渐繁荣, 它能够实现从独裁政府 向民主政府的转变。 并且能够再投资去建设其体系。
transition:n.过渡;转变;变革;变迁;v.经历转变过程;过渡; democratic:adj.民主的;民主政治的;大众的;
And this has paid off tremendously . 这一变化已经取得了惊人的成功。
tremendously:adv.非常地;可怕地;惊人地;
For instance , in 2018, 例如,在 2018 年,
instance:n.实例;情况;建议;v.举...为例;
South Korea's president was sentenced to 25 years in prison on corruption-related charges. 韩国总统因为腐败相关指控 被判处 25 年监禁。
This could never have happened decades ago when the country was poor and ruled by an authoritarian government. 在几十年前,作为由独裁政府 所控制的贫困国家, 这是绝不会发生的。
In fact, as we looked at most prosperous countries today, what we found was, they were able to reduce corruption as they became prosperous -- not before. 实际上,对于现在大多数 的繁荣国家而言, 我们发现,在发展繁荣的过程中, 这些国家也能够 减少腐败。
And so where does that leave us? 那么我们该如何处理呢？
I know it may sound like I'm saying we should just ignore corruption. 我知道,这听起来像是在说, 我们应该忽视腐败。
ignore:v.驳回诉讼;忽视;不理睬;
That's not what I'm saying at all. 我可没这个意思。
What I'm suggesting, though, is that corruption, especially for most people in poor countries, is a work-around. 相反,我想表达的是, 腐败,尤其是对贫穷国家 的大多数人来说, 是一种权宜之计,
especially:adv.尤其;特别;格外;十分;
It's a utility in a place where there are fewer better options to solve a problem. 一种在没有 更优解决方案情况下的实用工具。
utility:n.公用事业;实用;实用程序;adj.多用途的;多效用的; options:n.选择; v.得到或获准进行选择; (option的三单形式)
Investing in innovations that make products much more affordable for many people not only attacks this scarcity but it creates a sustainable source of revenue for governments to reinvest into the economies to strengthen their institutions. 在产品上投资创新,让更多的人 负担得起, 不仅能够对抗稀缺问题, 还能为政府创造持续的税收来源, 用于重新投入经济运营, 从而加强体系建设。
sustainable:adj.可以忍受的;足可支撑的;养得起的;可持续的; source:n.来源;水源;原始资料;
This is the critical missing piece in the economic development puzzle that will ultimately help us reduce corruption. 在经济发展拼图中至关重要 并遗失的这一块拼图, 将最终帮助我们减少腐败。
critical:adj.鉴定的;[核]临界的;批评的,爱挑剔的;危险的;决定性的;评论的; puzzle:n.谜;疑问;智力游戏;不解之谜;v.迷惑;使困惑;
You know, I lost hope in Nigeria when I was 16. 对尼日利亚失去希望时,我 16 岁。
And in some ways, the country has actually gotten worse. 在某种程度上, 这个国家正变得越来越糟。
In addition to widespread poverty and endemic corruption, 除了普遍的贫穷和地方腐败,
In addition to:除…之外; endemic:adj.地方性的;风土的;n.地方病;
Nigeria now actually deals with terrorist organizations like Boko Haram . 尼日利亚实际上正在 跟博科圣地这样 的恐怖组织做交易。
Boko:n.鼻子; Haram:n.女眷;闺房;
But somehow , I am more hopeful about Nigeria today than I have ever been before. 然而,我对尼日利亚从未 像现在这样充满希望。
somehow:adv.以某种方法;莫名其妙地;
When I see organizations investing in innovations that are creating jobs for people and making things affordable -- 当我看到组织机构投资创新, 为人们创造工作机会, 并且努力降低商品价格时——
I mean organizations like Lifestores Pharmacy , making drugs and pharmaceuticals more affordable for people; or Metro Africa Xpress, tackling the scarcity of distribution and logistics for many small businesses; 我指的是像 Lifestores Pharmacy 这样 生产廉价药品的公司, 或者 Metro Africa Xpress, 解决了许多小企业 配送和物流不足的问题;
Pharmacy:n.药房;配药学,药剂学;制药业;一批备用药品; pharmaceuticals:n.药物(pharmaceutical的复数); Metro:地铁 tackling:n.装备,用具;扭住;v.处理;抓住;(tackle的现在分词); distribution:n.分布;分配;分发;分销; logistics:n.[军]后勤;后勤学;物流;
or Andela, creating economic opportunity for software developers -- 或者 Andela, 他们为 软件开发者创造了经济机会。
developers:n.开发商;发展者;[摄]显影剂(developer的复数);
I am optimistic about the future. 我对未来非常乐观。
optimistic:adj.乐观的;乐观主义的;
I hope you will be, too. 我希望你们也一样。
Thank you. 谢谢。
(Applause) （鼓掌）