ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jeff Smith - Recovering politician
Once an up-and-coming star in the Missouri State Senate, Jeff Smith went to prison for covering up an election law violation. Since his release, he's created a new space for himself as a professor, writer, political commentator and advocate for those he was locked up with.

Why you should listen

In 2004, Jeff Smith ran for the U.S. Congressional seat vacated by Dick Gephardt, and came this close to defeating Republican Russ Carnahan. His inspiring, but ultimately unsuccessful, campaign was documented in the award-winning documentary, Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?

A year later, Smith ran for the Missouri State Senate and won in a hotly contested election. He quickly became a rising star in the legislative body, focusing on education reform and tax credits among other things. However, in 2009, the FBI opened a criminal investigation into whether Smith had lied about a violation in his 2004 campaign. He ultimately plead guilty and spent a year in jail. It’s a story he has told on This American Life

Since being released from prison, Smith accepted a position as an assistant professor at The New School's Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy in New York City. His research focuses on political campaigns, the role of race in urban politics and the legislative process. At the same time, he writes for The Recovering Politician, City & State NY and Politico's The Arena, and is working on an memoir. 

More profile about the speaker
Jeff Smith | Speaker | TED.com
TED@New York

Jeff Smith: Lessons in business ... from prison

Jeff Smith:监狱里的商业课程

Filmed:
1,324,960 views

Jeff Smith曾在监狱中服刑一年。他所接触的真实监狱与预期截然不同——在狱友身上,他看到了无穷的智慧和灵活的商业头脑。他提出了这样一个问题:为什么我们不发掘这样的创业潜力让囚犯们出狱之后为社会做出贡献呢?(录制于TED@NewYork的TED Talent Search活动)
- Recovering politician
Once an up-and-coming star in the Missouri State Senate, Jeff Smith went to prison for covering up an election law violation. Since his release, he's created a new space for himself as a professor, writer, political commentator and advocate for those he was locked up with. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:16
B.J. was one of many许多 fellow同伴 inmates囚犯
0
253
2870
和许多囚犯一样,
00:19
who had big plans计划 for the future未来.
1
3123
2285
B.J.有着宏大的未来计划。
00:21
He had a vision视力. When he got out,
2
5408
2231
他的愿望是,出狱之后
00:23
he was going to leave离开 the dope涂料 game游戏 for good and fly straight直行,
3
7639
2855
不再贩毒,坦荡做人
00:26
and he was actually其实 working加工 on merging合并 his two passions激情 into one vision视力.
4
10494
5127
他正在努力将他的两项爱好融合成一项事业。
00:31
He'd他会 spent花费 10,000 dollars美元
5
15621
1514
他花了一万美元
00:33
to buy购买 a website网站 that exclusively featured精选 women妇女
6
17135
3284
购买了一个网站
00:36
having sex性别 on top最佳 of or inside of luxury豪华 sports体育 cars汽车. (Laughter笑声)
7
20419
5889
网站的主要内容是美女在奢侈跑车的上面或者里面做爱。(笑声)
00:42
It was my first week in federal联邦 prison监狱,
8
26308
2986
那时我进联邦监狱刚刚一周,
00:45
and I was learning学习 quickly很快 that it wasn't what you see on TV电视.
9
29294
3817
但我很快就发现那里的情形和电视上很不一样。
00:49
In fact事实, it was teeming丰富的 with smart聪明, ambitious有雄心 men男人
10
33111
3903
事实上,监狱充满了聪明、野心勃勃的人
00:52
whose谁的 business商业 instincts本能 were in many许多 cases
11
37014
2741
六个月之前
00:55
as sharp尖锐 as those of the CEOs老总
12
39755
2402
作为密苏里州参议院”冉冉升起的新星“
00:58
who had wined大吃大喝 and dined吃了饭 me six months个月 earlier
13
42157
1829
我和CEO们一起吃饭
00:59
when I was a rising升起 star in the Missouri密苏里州 Senate参议院.
14
43986
4552
进监狱之后,我感觉囚犯们的商业直觉和高管们一样敏锐。
01:04
Now, 95 percent百分 of the guys that I was locked锁定 up with
15
48538
2841
我的狱友中95%
01:07
had been drug药物 dealers经销商 on the outside,
16
51379
2740
都是因为贩毒被捕的,
01:10
but when they talked about what they did,
17
54119
3408
他们说起自己的过去时
01:13
they talked about it in a different不同 jargon行话,
18
57527
2703
会用到独特的行话
01:16
but the business商业 concepts概念 that they talked about
19
60230
1784
但他们谈到的经商理念
01:17
weren't unlike不像 those that you'd learn学习 in a first year MBAMBA class at Wharton沃顿商学院:
20
62014
3680
和沃顿商学院工商管理硕士的一年级课程颇为相似:
01:21
promotional促销 incentives奖励, you never charge收费 a first-time第一次 user用户,
21
65694
4504
促销激励,新顾客可以免费试用
01:26
focus-grouping焦点组 new product产品 launches发布会,
22
70198
3571
针对某一顾客群体的新产品发布,
01:29
territorial领土的 expansion扩张.
23
73769
2237
市场拓展。
01:31
But they didn't spend a lot of time reliving重温 the glory荣耀 days.
24
76006
3271
他们并没有整天沉浸在对过去光辉岁月的追忆之中。
01:35
For the most part部分, everyone大家 was just trying to survive生存.
25
79277
2849
大多数情况下,他们不过是为了生存而已。
01:38
It's a lot harder更难 than you might威力 think.
26
82126
2197
这可能比你想象的要困难很多。
01:40
Contrary相反 to what most people think,
27
84323
2787
和大部分人所想的不同
01:43
people don't pay工资, taxpayers纳税人 don't pay工资, for your life
28
87110
3378
人民,纳税人是不支付
01:46
when you're in prison监狱. You've got to pay工资 for your own拥有 life.
29
90488
1790
囚犯在监狱的生活费用的。你必须自己养活自己。
01:48
You've got to pay工资 for your soap肥皂, your deodorant除臭剂,
30
92278
2752
你必须付钱购买肥皂、除臭剂、
01:50
toothbrush牙刷, toothpaste牙膏, all of it.
31
95030
2298
牙刷、牙膏等等(一切的生活必需品)。
01:53
And it's hard for a couple一对 of reasons原因.
32
97328
1352
有几个原因导致在监狱中生存颇为困难。
01:54
First, everything's一切的 marked up 30 to 50 percent百分
33
98680
2395
首先,所有东西的价格都比
01:56
from what you'd pay工资 on the street,
34
101075
1367
市场价高出30%到50%,
01:58
and second第二, you don't make a lot of money.
35
102442
2582
第二,你挣得钱不多。
02:00
I unloaded卸载 trucks卡车. That was my full-time全职 job工作,
36
105024
2269
我为卡车卸货。这是一份全职工作,
02:03
unloading卸载 trucks卡车 at a food餐饮 warehouse仓库,
37
107293
2289
在一个食品仓库给卡车卸货
02:05
for $5.25, not an hour小时, but per month.
38
109582
4353
一个月,不是一个小时,赚5.25美元。
02:09
So how do you survive生存?
39
113935
2158
怎样才能生存呢?
02:11
Well, you learn学习 to hustle喧嚣, all kinds of hustles催促.
40
116093
3519
我们必须做买卖,各种各样的买卖。
02:15
There's legal法律 hustles催促.
41
119612
1599
有合法的买卖。
02:17
You pay工资 everything in stamps邮票. Those are the currency货币.
42
121211
2168
以邮票为货币买东西。
02:19
You charge收费 another另一个 inmate犯人 to clean清洁 his cell细胞.
43
123379
2416
有偿为狱友打扫牢房。
02:21
There's sort分类 of illegal非法 hustles催促, like you run a barbershop理发店 out of your cell细胞.
44
125795
4903
也有轻微违规的买卖,比如在你的牢房里开个理发店。
02:26
There's pretty漂亮 illegal非法 hustles催促: You run a tattoo parlor客厅 out of your own拥有 cell细胞.
45
130698
4222
违规情节稍微严重一点的是:在牢房里开纹身店。
02:30
And there's very illegal非法 hustles催促, which哪一个 you smuggle走私 in,
46
134920
3283
也有违规情节非常严重的买卖:从外面偷运
02:34
you get smuggled走私 in, drugs毒品, pornography色情,
47
138203
4103
或者请人偷运毒品、色情制品、
02:38
cell细胞 phones手机, and just as in the outer world世界,
48
142306
3467
手机,和监狱外的商业世界一样
02:41
there's a risk-reward风险回报 tradeoff交易, so the riskier风险较高 the enterprise企业,
49
145773
3503
监狱里存在着风险收益的平衡,所以一项生意风险越大
02:45
the more profitable有利可图 it can potentially可能 be.
50
149276
1864
它所能带来的利润可能也越高。
02:47
You want a cigarette香烟 in prison监狱? Three to five dollars美元.
51
151140
4936
在监狱想买一根香烟?3到5美元。
02:51
You want an old-fashioned过时 cell细胞 phone电话 that you flip翻动 open打开
52
156076
3305
想要翻盖的、
02:55
and is about as big as your head? Three hundred bucks雄鹿.
53
159381
3646
和人脑袋差不多大的手机?300美元。
02:58
You want a dirty magazine杂志?
54
163027
2336
想要色情杂志?
03:01
Well, it can be as much as 1,000 dollars美元.
55
165363
3384
那可能要花1000美元。
03:04
So as you can probably大概 tell, one of the defining确定 aspects方面
56
168747
3106
你可能也发现了,灵活的头脑
03:07
of prison监狱 life is ingenuity创造力.
57
171853
3550
在监狱生活中非常重要。
03:11
Whether是否 it was concocting炮制 delicious美味的 meals
58
175403
2404
无论是用从仓库偷来的废料
03:13
from stolen被盗 scraps下脚料 from the warehouse仓库,
59
177807
4199
烹制美味的食物
03:17
sculpting雕刻 people's人们 hair头发 with toenail趾甲 clippers剪子,
60
182006
3150
还是用指甲钳为人做发型
03:21
or constructing建设 weights权重 from boulders巨石 in laundry洗衣店 bags包装袋
61
185156
5624
抑或是用挂在树上装满岩石的洗衣袋健身
03:26
tied on to tree limbs四肢, prisoners囚犯 learn学习 how to make do with less,
62
190780
4769
囚犯们知道如何在物质条件贫乏的条件下生存
03:31
and many许多 of them want to take this ingenuity创造力
63
195549
2671
很多人也希望能利用自己
03:34
that they've他们已经 learned学到了 to the outside
64
198220
2186
在监狱中培养锻炼出的灵活头脑
03:36
and start开始 restaurants餐馆, barber理发师 shops商店,
65
200406
2246
在出狱之后开餐厅、理发店
03:38
personal个人 training训练 businesses企业.
66
202652
2345
或者搞个人健身辅导。
03:40
But there's no training训练, nothing to prepare准备 them for that,
67
204997
3495
然而监狱中没有意在帮助囚犯重返社会自力更生的课程
03:44
no rehabilitation复原 at all in prison监狱,
68
208492
2295
囚犯在监狱中并没有得到真正的改造。
03:46
no one to help them write a business商业 plan计划,
69
210787
2201
没有人帮助囚犯撰写商业计划,
03:48
figure数字 out a way to translate翻译 the business商业 concepts概念
70
212988
3258
帮助他们找到把来自直觉的商业理念
03:52
they intuitively直观地 grasp把握 into legal法律 enterprises企业,
71
216246
3023
转化为合法生意的方法,
03:55
no access访问 to the Internet互联网, even.
72
219269
2575
囚犯们甚至不能上网。
03:57
And then, when they come out, most states状态
73
221844
2584
随后,出狱之后,很多州
04:00
don't even have a law prohibiting禁止 employers雇主
74
224428
2352
没有禁止
04:02
from discriminating鉴别 against反对 people with a background背景.
75
226780
3720
雇主歧视有前科的求职者的法律。
04:06
So none没有 of us should be surprised诧异
76
230500
2304
所以在三分之二的囚犯出狱后
04:08
that two out of three ex-offenders前罪犯 re-offend再得罪
77
232804
2844
五年之后还会再犯的事实面前
04:11
within five years年份.
78
235648
2588
我们根本无需惊讶。
04:14
Look, I lied说谎 to the Feds联邦调查局. I lost丢失 a year of my life from it.
79
238236
5312
我对联邦政府撒谎,因此在联邦监狱服刑一年。
04:19
But when I came来了 out, I vowed誓言 that I was going to do
80
243548
3659
不过,出狱之后,我发誓
04:23
whatever随你 I could to make sure
81
247207
1826
尽全力帮助那些
04:24
that guys like the ones那些 I was locked锁定 up with
82
249033
2433
和我的狱友们有相似经历的人们
04:27
didn't have to waste浪费 any more of their life than they already已经 had.
83
251466
4047
让他们不要再继续浪费生命。
04:31
So I hope希望 that you'll你会 think about helping帮助 in some way.
84
255513
3648
因此,我希望你们能够考虑伸出援手。
04:35
The best最好 thing we can do is figure数字 out ways方法
85
259161
2568
我们的最佳选择是
04:37
to nurture培育 the entrepreneurial创业 spirit精神
86
261729
2688
想办法扶持监狱中的创业精神
04:40
and the tremendous巨大 untapped未开发 potential潜在 in our prisons监狱,
87
264417
3244
发掘囚犯身上隐藏的巨大潜力
04:43
because if we don't, they're not going to learn学习 any new skills技能
88
267661
3075
因为如果我们不这么做的话,囚犯们就无法学到
04:46
that's going to help them, and they'll他们会 be right back.
89
270736
2549
能够帮助他们谋生的新技能,他们还会回到监狱当中。
04:49
All they'll他们会 learn学习 on the inside is new hustles催促.
90
273285
2876
而他们在监狱里所能学到的不过是新的骗术而已。
04:52
Thank you. (Applause掌声)
91
276161
4000
谢谢。(掌声)
Translated by Yi Shao
Reviewed by Simon Chen

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Jeff Smith - Recovering politician
Once an up-and-coming star in the Missouri State Senate, Jeff Smith went to prison for covering up an election law violation. Since his release, he's created a new space for himself as a professor, writer, political commentator and advocate for those he was locked up with.

Why you should listen

In 2004, Jeff Smith ran for the U.S. Congressional seat vacated by Dick Gephardt, and came this close to defeating Republican Russ Carnahan. His inspiring, but ultimately unsuccessful, campaign was documented in the award-winning documentary, Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore?

A year later, Smith ran for the Missouri State Senate and won in a hotly contested election. He quickly became a rising star in the legislative body, focusing on education reform and tax credits among other things. However, in 2009, the FBI opened a criminal investigation into whether Smith had lied about a violation in his 2004 campaign. He ultimately plead guilty and spent a year in jail. It’s a story he has told on This American Life

Since being released from prison, Smith accepted a position as an assistant professor at The New School's Milano Graduate School of Management and Urban Policy in New York City. His research focuses on political campaigns, the role of race in urban politics and the legislative process. At the same time, he writes for The Recovering Politician, City & State NY and Politico's The Arena, and is working on an memoir. 

More profile about the speaker
Jeff Smith | Speaker | TED.com