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PiaMancini_2014G-_网络时代如何改进民主_
I have the feeling that we can all agree that we're moving towards a new model of the state and society. 我想我们都会同意 我们的国家和社会面貌 正在发生改变
But, we're absolutely clueless as to what this is or what it should be. 但是 它应当是怎样 将会变成怎样 我们却毫无头绪
absolutely:adv.绝对地;完全地; clueless:adj.无线索的;愚蠢的;
It seems like we need to have a conversation about democracy in our day and age. 看来我们需要 对我们这个时代的民主制度 进行一场讨论
democracy:n.民主,民主主义;民主政治;
Let's think about it this way: 不妨这样考虑
We are 21st-century citizens, doing our very, very best to interact with 19th century-designed institutions that are based on an information technology of the 15th century. 我们是 21 世纪的公民 尽最大的努力 与基于 15 世纪的信息技术设计 设计于 19 世纪的机构体系打交道
interact:v.互相影响;互相作用;n.幕间剧;幕间休息; institutions:n.机构;慈善机构;风俗习惯,制度;(institution的复数) information technology:n.信息技术;
Let's have a look at some of the characteristics of this system. 让我们看一看 这个体系的特点
have a look at:看一看,看一眼; characteristics:n.特征;特点;品质;(characteristic的复数)
First of all , it's designed for an information technology that's over 500 years old. 首先 它所基于的信息技术 已经过时 500 年了
First of all:adv.首先;
And the best possible system that could be designed for it is one where the few make daily decisions in the name of the many. 基于此 能设计出的最好的系统 也只能是少数人 以多数人的名义 进行日常决策
in the name of:以…的名义;
And the many get to vote once every couple of years. 而多数人 只能每隔几年投一次票
In the second place, the costs of participating in this system are incredibly high. 其次 参与这个体系的成本 非常高
participating:v.参加;参与(participate的现在分词) incredibly:adv.难以置信地;非常地;
You either have to have a fair bit of money and influence , or you have to devote your entire life to politics . 要么 你非常有钱 非常有影响力 要么 你终生投身政治
influence:n.影响;势力;感化;有影响的人或事;v.影响;改变; devote:v.贡献;把…专用于;听任; politics:n.政治;钩心斗角;政治观点;v.(贬)从事政治活动;(politic的第三人称单数)
You have to become a party member and slowly start working up the ranks until maybe, one day, you'll get to sit at a table where a decision is being made. 你必须加入政党 然后慢慢的往上爬 也许某天 你终于有资格 坐在桌前 参与决策
And last but not least , the language of the system —it's incredibly cryptic . 还有啊 异常的晦涩难懂
last but not least:最后但不是最不重要的一点; cryptic:adj.神秘的,含义模糊的;[动]隐藏的;
It's done for lawyers, by lawyers, and no one else can understand. 它是律师写给律师看的 普通人很难读懂
So, it's a system where we can choose our authorities , but we are completely left out on how those authorities reach their decisions. 在这样的体系下 我们倒是能选择代表 我们却无法得知 他们会如何决策
authorities:n.权力;威权;职权;批准;(authority的复数)
So, in a day where a new information technology allows us to participate globally in any conversation, our barriers of information are completely lowered and we can, more than ever before, express our desires and our concerns . 现在我们的信息技术高度发展 我们可以与世界上任何角落对话 信息的壁垒前所未有的低 我们比任何时候 都能更好的表达需求与担忧
participate:v.参加;参与; barriers:n.障碍;栅栏;篱笆墙(barrier的复数形式); express:v.表达; adj.特快的; n.特快列车; v.使用快速服务; concerns:n.关注; v.使关心(concern的三单形式);
Our political system remains the same for the past 200 years and expects us to be contented with being simply passive recipients of a monologue . 而我们的政治系统一成不变 已经有200年了 还指望我们能安安静静的 看着政客们表演
contented:adj.满足的;心安的;v.使…满足;使…安心(content的过去式和过去分词); passive:adj.被动的,消极的;被动语态的;n.被动语态; recipients:n.收件人(recipient的复数); monologue:n.独白;
So, it's really not surprising that this kind of system is only able to produce two kinds of results: silence or noise. 毫不奇怪 这样的系统 只能产生两种结果 沉默 或是喧嚣
Silence, in terms of citizens not engaging , simply not wanting to participate. 沉默 就是公民懒于参与 对政治没有兴趣
engaging:adj.有趣的; v.吸引住(注意力、兴趣); (engage的现在分词)
There's this commonplace [idea] that I truly, truly dislike, and it's this idea that we citizens are naturally apathetic . That we shun commitment . 我非常不喜欢这种陈词滥调 说我们天生漠然 说我们拒绝承担公民责任
commonplace:n.老生常谈;司空见惯的事;普通的东西;adj.平凡的;陈腐的; naturally:adv.自然地;自然而然地;轻而易举;天生地;大方地; apathetic:adj.冷漠的;无动于衷的,缺乏兴趣的; shun:vt.避开,避免;回避; commitment:n.承诺;投入;保证;许诺;
But, can you really blame us for not jumping at the opportunity of going to the middle of the city in the middle of a working day to attend, physically, a public hearing that has no impact whatsoever ? 怎么能这么说呢？ 就因为我们没有 在上班时间 走到城市中 亲身参加政治活动吗 就因为我们没有参与毫无影响力的听证会
working day:n.一天中的工作时间;工作日; impact:n.影响;效果;碰撞;冲击力;v.挤入,压紧;撞击;对…产生影响; whatsoever:pron.无论什么;
Conflict is bound to happen between a system that no longer represents , nor has any dialogue capacity , and citizens that are increasingly used to representing themselves. 当这个体系无法代表大众 或是没有对话空间的时候 大众就会站出来 自己代表自己
Conflict:n.冲突;矛盾;争执;抵触;v.抵触; is bound to:一定会:必然: represents:v.代表;维护…的利益;相当于;(represent的第三人称单数) capacity:n.能力;容量;资格,地位;生产力; increasingly:adv.越来越多地;渐增地; representing:v.代表;维护…的利益;等于;相当于;(represent的现在分词)
And, then we find noise: 这就产生了喧嚣
Chile, Argentina , Brazil , Mexico Italy, France, Spain, the United States, they're all democracies . 智利 阿根廷 巴西 墨西哥 意大利 法国 西班牙 美国 都是民主国家
Argentina:n.阿根廷(位于拉丁美洲); Brazil:n.巴西(拉丁美洲国家); United:adj.联合的; v.联合,团结; (unite的过去分词和过去式) democracies:民主;
Their citizens have access to the ballot boxes. But they still feel the need, they need to take to the streets in order to be heard. 它们的公民有选票 但这些民众仍然觉得 他们需要走上街头 表达诉求
ballot:n.投票;投票用纸;投票总数;vi.投票;抽签决定;vt.使投票表决;拉选票;
To me, it seems like the 18th-century slogan that was the basis for the formation of our modern democracies, "No taxation without representation ," 在我看来 这就像是 那个十八世纪的口号 促成了现代民主的那个口号 “若无代表 不要缴税”
slogan:n.口号;标语; taxation:n.课税,征税;税款; representation:n.表现;代表;描述;陈述
can now be updated to "No representation without a conversation." 现在可以套用成:“若不对话 不要代表”
updated:adj.更新的;现代化的;v.使现代化;更新;(update的过去分词和过去式)
We want our seat at the table. 我们想要决策权
And rightly so. 我们有权参与
rightly:adv.正确地;恰当地;公正地;合适地;
But in order to be part of this conversation, we need to know what we want to do next, because political action is being able to move from agitation to construction . 但若想参与决策对话 就需要知道下一步做什么 因为 政治决策就是 从震荡 走向建设
agitation:n.激动;搅动;煽动;烦乱; construction:n.建设;建筑物;解释;造句;
My generation has been incredibly good at using new networks and technologies to organize protests , protests that were able to successfully impose agendas, ro l l back extremely pernicious legislation , and even overthrow authoritarian governments. 我们这一代人 非常善于使用网络技术 来组织抗议 通过抗议 我们影响政策 终止恶法 甚至推翻独裁政府
technologies:n.技术;科技(technology的复数); organize:v.组织;安排;处理;分配;管理; protests:v.抗议;反对(protest的三单形式);n.抗议(protest的复数); extremely:adv.非常,极其;极端地; pernicious:adj.有害的;恶性的;致命的;险恶的; legislation:n.立法;法律; overthrow:n.推翻;倾覆;瓦解;vt.推翻;打倒;倾覆; authoritarian:adj.独裁主义的;权力主义的;n.权力主义者;独裁主义者;
And we should be immensely proud of this. 我们应当为此 深感骄傲
immensely:adv.极大地;无限地;广大地;庞大地;
But, we also must admit that we haven't been good at using those same networks and technologies to successfully articulate an alternative to what we're seeing 但我们也承认 我们没能好好利用 同样的网络技术 来根据所见 提出改进方案
articulate:vt.清晰地发(音); vi.发音; adj.发音清晰的; alternative:adj.供选择的;选择性的;交替的;n.二中择一;供替代的选择;
and find the consensus and build the alliances that are needed to make it happen. 并找到共识 凝聚力量 促成实践
consensus:n.一致;舆论;合意; alliances:n.联盟,同盟;盟国(alliance的复数形式);联姻;
And so the risk that we face is that we can create these huge power vacuums that will very quickly get filled up by de facto powers, like the military or highly motivated and already organized groups that generally lie on the extremes . 所以 风险在于 我们能创造巨大的权力真空 但却迅速的被权力占据 比如军政府 比如有目的有组织的 极端群体
vacuums:n.真空装置; v.用真空吸尘器清扫; de facto:adj.实际上存在的(不一定合法); military:adj.军事的;军人的;适于战争的;n.军队;军人; highly:adv.高度地;非常;非常赞许地; motivated:adj.有动机的; v.使产生动机; organized:adj.有组织的; v.组织; (organize的过去分词和过去式) generally:adv.通常;普遍地,一般地; extremes:n.极端不同的感情;极端;极度;极限;(extreme的复数)
But our democracy is neither just a matter of voting once every couple of years. 但我们的民主 既不是每隔几年 来投一次票
But it's not either the ability to bring millions onto the streets. 也不是把民众拉上街头
So the question I'd like to raise here, and I do believe it's the most important question we need to answer, is this one: 在此 我想提出一个问题 我相信 这是我们需要回答的 最为重要的问题 那就是
If Internet is the new printing press , then what is democracy for the Internet era? 如果互联网是新时代的出版社 那么互联网时代的民主应该是什么样的
printing press:n.印刷机;
What institutions do we want to build for the 21st-century society? 我们能为 21 世纪的社会 建造出怎样的体系
I don't have the answer, just in case . 我没有答案 我承认
just in case:以防万一;作为准备;
I don't think anyone does. 可能谁都没有
But I truly believe we can't afford to ignore this question anymore. 但 不应该继续视这个问题了
afford:v.给予,提供;买得起; ignore:v.驳回诉讼;忽视;不理睬;
So, I'd like to share our experience and what we've learned so far and hopefully contribute two cents to this conversation. 所以 我打算分享我们的经历 以及我们的体会 希望能对这个问题有所启发
contribute:v.贡献,出力;投稿;捐献;
Two years ago, with a group of friends from Argentina, we started thinking, "how can we get our representatives , our elected representatives , to represent us?" 两年前 和一帮阿根廷朋友们一起 我们想 怎么能让那些代表 我们亲手选出的代表 代表我们说话呢
representatives:n.代表;众议院(representative的复数形式);
Marshall McLuhan once said that politics is solving today's problems with yesterday's tools. M-M曾说 政治 就是用昨天的工具 解决今天的问题
So the question that motivated us was, can we try and solve some of today's problems with the tools that we use every single day of our lives? 这使我们想到 我们能否用今天的方法 日常的技术 来解决今天的问题呢
Our first approach was to design and develop a piece of software called DemocracyOS. 我们的第一个尝试 是研发了 一个叫做 DemocracyOS (民主操作系统) 的软件系统
approach:n.方法;路径;v.接近;建议;着手处理;
DemocracyOS is an open-source web application that is designed to become a bridge between citizens and their elected representatives to make it easier for us to participate from our everyday lives. DemocracyOS 是一个开放源码的网络应用 我们期待它能成为 选民和代表之间的沟通桥梁 让我们更方便的参与政治
open-source:adj.(计算机)开放源代码; application:n.应用;申请;应用程序;敷用;
So first of all, you can get informed so every new project that gets introduced in Congress gets immediately translated and explained in plain language on this platform . 首先 议会上提出的每个议题 都会通知到你 并被写成了 大众能理解的文字
informed:adj.见多识广的; v.通知; (inform的过去分词和过去式) Congress:n.国会;代表大会;会议;社交; platform:n.平台; v.把…放在台上[放在高处;
But we all know that social change is not going to come from just knowing more information, but from doing something with it. 但是 我们都知道 并不是我们掌握了信息 社会变革就会发生 还需要有所行动
So better access to information should lead to a conversation about what we're going to do next, and DemocracyOS allows for that. 掌握信息之后 应当促成谈话 讨论接下来改做什么 这就是 DemocracyOS 所提供的功能
Because we believe that democracy is not just a matter of stacking up preferences , one on top of each other, but that our healthy and robust public debate should be, once again, one of its fundamental values. 我们相信 民主 并不是喜好的排列 谁比谁好 谁比谁坏 民主的核心价值 应当是健全的公共讨论
stacking:n.[交]堆垛;v.堆叠,堆积(stack的现在分词); preferences:n.偏爱;爱好;喜爱;偏爱的事物;(preference的复数) robust:adj.强健的;健康的;粗野的;粗鲁的; debate:n.辩论;争论;考虑;v.辩论;争论;考虑; fundamental:n.基础; adj.十分重大的;
So DemocracyOS is about persuading and being persuaded . 所以 DemocracyOS 关乎如何劝说 关乎如何听劝
persuading:v.劝说;说服;使信服;使相信;(persuade的现在分词) persuaded:v.劝说;说服;使信服;使相信;(persuade的过去式和过去分词)
It's about reaching a consensus as much as finding a proper way of channeling our disagreement. 关乎达成共识 关乎找到更合适的方法 来沟通彼此的分歧
channeling:n.通道作用;[电子]沟道作用;掏槽;
And finally , you can vote how you would like your elected representative to vote. 最终 你可以投票 来告诉代表们 你希望他们怎么投票
finally:adv.终于;最终;(用于列举)最后;彻底地;
And if you do not feel comfortable voting on a certain issue , you can always delegate your vote to someone else, allowing for a dynamic and emerging social leadership. 如果你不方便 就某事进行投票 你可以把你的投票权 委托给别人 从而产生动态变化的领导者
issue:n.重要议题;争论的问题;v.宣布;公布;发出;发行; delegate:n.代表; v.授(权); dynamic:n.动力; adj.充满活力的; emerging:adj.新兴的;v.出现,浮现,露出;暴露;(emerge的现在分词)
It suddenly became very easy for us to simply compare these results with how our representatives were voting in Congress. 这样 就可以轻松地比较 代表在国会的投票 是否合乎民意
compare:v.比较;对比;n.比较;
But, it also became very evident that technology was not going to do the trick . 很显然 仅靠科技 无法做到
evident:adj.明显的;明白的; do the trick:n.达到目的;获得成功;
What we needed to do to was to find actors that were able to grab this distributed knowledge in society and use it to make better and more fair decisions. 还需要找到 愿意利用这项科技 获取分散在民众中的意愿 并依此做出更公平决定的人
grab:v.攫取;霸占;将…深深吸引;n.攫取;霸占;夺取之物; distributed:adj.分布的;分散的;v.分发;分配;使分布(distribute的过去分词和过去式)
So we reached out to traditional political parties and we offered them DemocracyOS. 于是 我们找到了传统政党 我们把 DemocracyOS 给他们
traditional:传统的,惯例的,
We said, "Look, here you have a platform that you can use to build a two-way conversation with your constituencies ." “嘿 这有一个系统 你可以用它” “与选民进行双向沟通”
two-way:adj.双向的;相互的;两路的; constituencies:n.选区;赞助者(constituency的复数);
And yes, we failed. 是的 我们失败了
We failed big time. 大失败
We were sent to play outside like little kids. 像哄小孩一样 我们被请了出去
Amongst other things, we were called naive . 我们被人说“幼稚”
Amongst:prep.在…之中;在…当中(等于among); naive:adj.天真的,幼稚的;
And I must be honest: I think, in hindsight , we were. 我也承认 事后看来 我们确实够幼稚
hindsight:n.后见之明;枪的照门;
Because the challenges that we face, they're not technological , they're cultural . 因为我们所要解决的 并非技术问题 而是文化问题
technological:adj.技术[工程](上)的;因工艺技术高度发展而引起的; cultural:adj.与文化有关的;文化的;与艺术、文学、音乐等有关的;
Political parties were never willing to change the way they make their decisions. 政党不会愿意 改变他们做决定的套路
So it suddenly became a bit obvious that if we wanted to move forward with this idea, we needed to do it ourselves. 于是 很显然 若想推广这个点子 我们只能自己上场
obvious:adj.明显的;显著的;平淡无奇的;
And so we took quite a leap of faith , and in August last year, we founded our own political party, 我们开始了尝试 去年的 8 月 我们成立了自己的政党
leap:n.跳越;跳跃;跳高;骤变;v.跳;跳跃;跳越;猛冲; faith:n.信心;信任;宗教信仰;
El Partido de la Red, or the Net Party, in the city of Buenos Aires. 网络党 就在布宜诺斯艾利斯
And taking an even bigger leap of faith, we ran for elections in October last year with this idea: if we want a seat in Congress, our candidate, our representatives were always going to vote according to what citizens decided on DemocracyOS. 我们继续尝试 参加了去年十月的选举 秉承这样的理念 若想获取席位 我们的候选人 将始终依照 DemocracyOS 上 选民的决定来投票
according to:根据,据说;
Every single project that got introduced in Congress, we were going vote according to what citizens decided on an online platform. 议会上每一个提案 我们都将按照 这个网络平台上的意见来投票
It was our way of hacking the political system. 这是我们颠覆现有政治体制的方式
hacking:v.黑客行为;砍;劈;猛踢;(hack的现在分词)
We understood that if we wanted to become part of the conversation, to have a seat at the table, we needed to become valid stakeholders , and the only way of doing it is to play by the system rules. 我们明白 如果想参与对话 如果想参与决策 首先得获得席位 我们只能遵守现行规则
valid:adj.有效的;有根据的;合法的;正当的; stakeholders:n.利益相关者;赌款保存人(stakeholder的复数);
But we were hacking it in the sense that we were radically changing the way a political party makes its decisions. 但我们也在颠覆 我们彻底改变了 政党决策的方式
radically:adv.根本上;彻底地;以激进的方式;
For the first time, we were making our decisions together with those who we were affecting directly by those decisions. 这是史上首次 决策会影响到谁 我们就与谁一起做决策
directly:adv.直接地;立即;马上;正好地;坦率地;conj.一…就;
It was a very, very bold move for a two-month-old party in the city of Buenos Aires. 对于一个在布宜诺斯艾利斯成立仅两个月的政党 这个举动很大胆
bold:adj.大胆的,英勇的;黑体的;厚颜无耻的;险峻的;
But it got attention. 但人们注意到了我们
We got 22,000 votes, that's 1.2 percent of the votes, and we came in second for the local options . 我们赢得了 22000 张选票 占总票数的 1.2% 在当地排名第二
options:n.选择; v.得到或获准进行选择; (option的三单形式)
So, even if that wasn't enough to win a seat in Congress, it was enough for us to become part of the conversation, to the extent that next month, 这个票数不够获得议会席位 但 它足够让我们 参与到对话当中
extent:n.程度;范围;长度;
Congress, as an institution, is launching for the first time in Argentina's history,a DemocracyOS to discuss, with the citizens, three pieces of legislation: two on urban transportation and one on the use of public space. 阿根廷史上首次 在 DemocracyOS 上 国会就三个法案 与民众展开网上对话 其中两个 是关于都市交通的 另外一个 是关于公共空间使用的
launching:n.发射;开办;起飞;v.开始从事,发起,发动;(launch的现在分词) urban:adj.城市的;都市的;城镇的;都市音乐的; transportation:n.运输;运输系统;运输工具;流放;
Of course, our elected representatives are not saying, "Yes, we're going to vote according to what citizens decide," 诚然 代表们并不是 完全按照选民的意愿 做出决定
but they're willing to try. 但他们愿意尝试
They're willing to open up a new space for citizen engagement and hopefully they'll be willing to listen as well. 愿意打开讨论空间 让民众参与 希望他们也愿意倾听民众的声音
engagement:n.婚约;约会;交战;诺言;n.参与度;
Our political system can be transformed , and not by subverting it, by destroying it, but by rewiring it with the tools that 政治体系可以被改变 并非打翻 亦非摧毁 而是利用互联网
transformed:v.使改变形态;使改变外观(或性质);(transform的过去分词和过去式) subverting:vt.颠覆;推翻;破坏; rewiring:v.重新布线;重新接线(rewire的ing形式);
Internet affords us now. 重新连接政治的参与方
affords:vt.给予,提供;买得起;
But a real challenge is to find, to design to create, to empower those connectors that are able to innovate , to transform noise and silence into signal and finally bring our democracies to the 21st century. 真正的挑战在于 设计一个系统 连接彼此 让沉默的人 喧嚣的人 可以好好表达意愿 最终促进民主制度 走向 21 世纪
empower:vt.授权,允许;使能够; connectors:n.[电子]连接器;[电子]接插件(connector的复数形式); innovate:vi.创新;改革;革新;vt.改变;创立;创始;引人;
I'm not saying it's easy. 这并非唾手可得
But in our experience, we actually stand a chance of making it work. 我们的经历证明 我们确有机会 让这一理想实现
stand a chance:有希望;有可能;
And in my heart, it's most definitely worth trying. 我从心底认为 值得放手一试
definitely:adv.清楚地,当然;明确地,肯定地;
Thank you. 谢谢
(Applause) (掌声)