ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lawrence Lessig - Legal activist
Lawrence Lessig has already transformed intellectual-property law with his Creative Commons innovation. Now he's focused on an even bigger problem: The US' broken political system.

Why you should listen

Lawyer and activist Lawrence Lessig spent a decade arguing for sensible intellectual property law, updated for the digital age. He was a founding board member of Creative Commons, an organization that builds better copyright practices through principles established first by the open-source software community.

In 2007, just after his last TED Talk, Lessig announced he was leaving the field of IP and Internet policy, and moving on to a more fundamental problem that blocks all types of sensible policy -- the corrupting influence of money in American politics.

In 2011, Lessig founded Rootstrikers, an organization dedicated to changing the influence of money in Congress. In his latest book, Republic, Lost, he shows just how far the U.S. has spun off course -- and how citizens can regain control. As The New York Times wrote about him, “Mr. Lessig’s vision is at once profoundly pessimistic -- the integrity of the nation is collapsing under the best of intentions --and deeply optimistic. Simple legislative surgery, he says, can put the nation back on the path to greatness.”

Read an excerpt of Lessig's new book, Lesterland >>

More profile about the speaker
Lawrence Lessig | Speaker | TED.com
TED2013

Lawrence Lessig: We the People, and the Republic we must reclaim

劳伦斯·莱斯格:作为人民,和我们必须夺回的共和国

Filmed:
1,552,121 views

美国政治的核心在腐败,这是由国会候选人依赖向微小比例的公民筹备竞选资金引起的。这是这次法律学者劳伦斯·莱斯格猛烈抨击的核心内容。利用快速的视觉效果, 他展示了募资的过程是怎么从根本上削弱了共和,且呼吁民主、共和两党重整旗鼓,焕发活力,进而让众多美国人甚至更多人产生共鸣。
- Legal activist
Lawrence Lessig has already transformed intellectual-property law with his Creative Commons innovation. Now he's focused on an even bigger problem: The US' broken political system. Full bio

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

00:12
Once一旦 upon a time,
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很久很久以前,
00:15
there was a place地点 called LesterlandLesterland.
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有个地方叫做‘莱斯特国’(Lesterland)。
00:18
Now LesterlandLesterland looks容貌 a lot like the United联合的 States状态.
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莱斯特国跟美国很像。
00:21
Like the United联合的 States状态, it has about 311 million百万 people,
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跟美国一样,人口大约有3.11亿,
00:26
and of that 311 million百万 people,
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而这3.11亿人当中,
00:29
it turns out 144,000 are called Lester莱斯特.
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有14.1万人叫莱斯特(Lester)。
00:33
If Matt's马特的 in the audience听众,
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若麦特(辛普森家庭制作人)在现场,
00:35
I just borrowed that, I'll return返回 it in a second第二,
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你的卡通人物借我用一下,
00:37
this character字符 from your series系列.
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马上就还。
00:40
So 144,000 are called Lester莱斯特,
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那么14.4万人叫莱斯特,
00:42
which哪一个 means手段 about .05 percent百分 is named命名 Lester莱斯特.
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代表0.05%的人叫莱斯特。
00:47
Now, LestersLesters in LesterlandLesterland have this extraordinary非凡 power功率.
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这些莱斯特在莱斯特国有非凡的权力。
00:50
There are two elections选举 every一切 election选举 cycle周期 in LesterlandLesterland.
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这个国家的每次选举有两种投票。
00:53
One is called the general一般 election选举.
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一个叫做大选。
00:56
The other is called the Lester莱斯特 election选举.
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另一个叫做莱斯特选。
00:59
And in the general一般 election选举, it's the citizens公民 who get to vote投票,
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在大选,是由公民投票的,
01:02
but in the Lester莱斯特 election选举, it's the LestersLesters who get to vote投票.
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但在莱斯特选,是由莱斯特们投票的。
01:05
And here's这里的 the trick.
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这其中的窍门是,
01:06
In order订购 to run in the general一般 election选举,
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为了参加大选,
01:10
you must必须 do extremely非常 well
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你必须在莱斯特选中
01:13
in the Lester莱斯特 election选举.
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表现得非常出色。
01:14
You don't necessarily一定 have to win赢得, but you must必须 do extremely非常 well.
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你不必赢,但绝对需要表现地出色。
01:17
Now, what can we say about democracy民主 in LesterlandLesterland?
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那么,关于莱斯特国的民主,我们能说什么?
01:21
What we can say, number one,
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我们可以说,第一
01:22
as the Supreme最高 Court法庭 said in Citizens公民 United联合的,
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就如同最高法院在联合公民中所说的,
01:25
that people have the ultimate最终 influence影响 over elected当选 officials官员,
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人民对当选官员有最终的决定权,
01:29
because, after all, there is a general一般 election选举,
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因为毕竟还有大选,
01:32
but only after the LestersLesters have had their way
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但这只在莱斯特们依照自己所愿
01:35
with the candidates候选人 who wish希望 to run in the general一般 election选举.
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让他们想要的候选人参加大选之后。
01:38
And number two, obviously明显, this dependence依赖 upon the LestersLesters
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第二呢,很明显,取决于莱斯特们的选择
01:42
is going to produce生产 a subtle微妙, understated低调,
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会产生一个微妙,低调
01:45
we could say camouflaged伪装, bending弯曲
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甚至是可以说隐蔽的妥协
01:47
to keep the LestersLesters happy快乐.
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只为让莱斯特们满足。
01:50
Okay, so we have a democracy民主, no doubt怀疑,
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毫无疑问的,我们确实有民主,
01:54
but it's dependent依赖的 upon the LestersLesters
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但这民主取决于莱斯特们
01:55
and dependent依赖的 upon the people.
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同时也取决于人民。
01:57
It has competing竞争 dependencies依赖,
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他们有互相竞争关系,
02:00
we could say conflicting冲突的 dependencies依赖,
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根据莱斯特们是谁,
02:02
depending根据 upon who the LestersLesters are.
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我们也可以说是相互冲突的关系。
02:07
Okay. That's LesterlandLesterland.
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这就是莱斯特国。
02:09
Now there are three things I want you to see now that I've described描述 LesterlandLesterland.
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了解了莱斯特国之后,我想让大家知道三件事情。
02:12
Number one, the United联合的 States状态 is LesterlandLesterland.
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第一,美国就是莱斯特国。
02:15
The United联合的 States状态 is LesterlandLesterland.
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美国就是莱斯特国。
02:17
The United联合的 States状态 also looks容貌 like this, also has two elections选举,
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美国也是如此,也有两次投票,
02:19
one we called the general一般 election选举,
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一个叫做大选,
02:22
the second第二 we should call the money election选举.
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另一个我们应该叫做‘钱选’。
02:26
In the general一般 election选举, it's the citizens公民 who get to vote投票,
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在大选中,是由公民投票的,
02:28
if you're over 18, in some states状态 if you have an IDID.
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只要你年满18岁,在一些州你要有身份证(就可以投票)。
02:30
In the money election选举, it's the funders资助者 who get to vote投票,
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在钱选,则是由投资人投票的,
02:34
the funders资助者 who get to vote投票, and just like in LesterlandLesterland,
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也和莱斯特国一样
02:36
the trick is, to run in the general一般 election选举,
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窍门在于要参选大选
02:39
you must必须 do extremely非常 well in the money election选举.
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这些投资人必须在钱选中表现得非常出色
02:41
You don't necessarily一定 have to win赢得. There is Jerry杰瑞 Brown棕色.
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你不必赢,比如杰利·布朗。
02:44
But you must必须 do extremely非常 well.
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但你必须表现得非常出色。
02:47
And here's这里的 the key: There are just as few少数 relevant相应 funders资助者
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关键在这-美国的投资人数量
02:51
in USA-land美国土地 as there are LestersLesters in LesterlandLesterland.
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跟莱斯特国的莱斯特们一样少。
02:57
Now you say, really?
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你可能会说:“是真的?”
02:58
Really .05 percent百分?
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真的才0.05%?
03:02
Well, here are the numbers数字 from 2010:
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这些是2010年的数据:
03:04
.26 percent百分 of America美国
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0.26%的美国人
03:06
gave 200 dollars美元 or more to any federal联邦 candidate候选人,
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把200美金或以上给了任何一位候选人,
03:09
.05 percent百分 gave the maximum最大值 amount to any federal联邦 candidate候选人,
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0.05%把最高上限金额给了任何一位候选人,
03:13
.01 percent百分 -- the one percent百分 of the one percent百分 --
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0.01%也就是百分之一的百分之一
03:17
gave 10,000 dollars美元 or more to federal联邦 candidates候选人,
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把1万美金或以上给了候选人,
03:20
and in this election选举 cycle周期, my favorite喜爱 statistic统计
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而在这轮选举,我最爱的一个数据
03:23
is .000042 percent百分
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是0.000042%
03:27
— for those of you doing the numbers数字, you know that's 132 Americans美国人
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那些正在计算的人,会知道这是132个美国人-
03:31
gave 60 percent百分 of the Super PACPAC money spent花费
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他们提供了超级政治促进会(Super PAC)花在
03:35
in the cycle周期 we have just seen看到 ending结尾.
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刚结束的这场选举的资金中的60%。
03:38
So I'm just a lawyer律师, I look at this range范围 of numbers数字,
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我只是个律师,看了这些数字之后,
03:40
and I say it's fair公平 for me to say
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我想我可以很公正地说
03:42
it's .05 percent百分 who are our relevant相应 funders资助者 in America美国.
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在美国,0.05%的人口才是相关投资者。
03:46
In this sense, the funders资助者 are our LestersLesters.
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照这么说,这些投资者就是我们的莱斯特们。
03:50
Now, what can we say about this democracy民主 in USA-land美国土地?
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那么,关于美国的民主,我们能说什么?
03:53
Well, as the Supreme最高 Court法庭 said in Citizens公民 United联合的,
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就如同最高法院在联合公民中所说的
03:56
we could say, of course课程 the people have the ultimate最终 influence影响
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我们可以说,人民当然对当选
03:58
over the elected当选 officials官员. We have a general一般 election选举,
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有最终的决定权。我们有大选,
04:02
but only after the funders资助者 have had their way
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但我们只能从投资人们先选出来的
04:06
with the candidates候选人 who wish希望 to run in that general一般 election选举.
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那些希望参加的候选人中选。
04:10
And number two, obviously明显,
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第二呢,很明显
04:12
this dependence依赖 upon the funders资助者
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这种取决于投资者的选择
04:15
produces产生 a subtle微妙, understated低调, camouflaged伪装 bending弯曲
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会产生一个微妙,低调,甚至是可以说隐蔽的妥协
04:18
to keep the funders资助者 happy快乐.
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来满足投资人。
04:21
Candidates候选人 for Congress国会 and members会员 of Congress国会
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国会候选人和国会议员
04:24
spend between之间 30 and 70 percent百分 of their time
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都会花大约30%到70%的时间
04:28
raising提高 money to get back to Congress国会
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筹备资金好让他们回到国会
04:31
or to get their party派对 back into power功率,
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或是让他们的党派重新掌权,
04:32
and the question we need to ask is, what does it do to them,
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我们需要问的是,对这些人到底有什么好处
04:36
these humans人类, as they spend their time
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他们把时间花在
04:38
behind背后 the telephone电话, calling调用 people they've他们已经 never met会见,
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打电话给那些他素不相识的人
04:41
but calling调用 the tiniest最小的 slice of the one percent百分?
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打给那些非常小众的一群人?
04:45
As anyone任何人 would, as they do this,
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就像每个人都会做的,
04:47
they develop发展 a sixth第六 sense, a constant不变 awareness意识
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他们会逐渐产生一种"第六感"
04:51
about how what they do might威力 affect影响 their ability能力 to raise提高 money.
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明白自己所做的将如何影响本身等集资金的能力。
04:54
They become成为, in the words of "The X-FilesX档案,"
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套X档案的说法,他们会变成
04:56
shape-shifters形状转换器, as they constantly经常 adjust调整 their views意见
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变形人,因为他们会为了等集更多资金
04:59
in light of what they know will help them to raise提高 money,
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不断调整他们的观点
05:02
not on issues问题 one to 10,
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不是从1到10的问题上去调整
05:04
but on issues问题 11 to 1,000.
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而是从11到1000。
05:07
Leslie莱斯利 Byrne拜恩, a Democrat民主党人 from Virginia弗吉尼亚州,
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来自维吉尼亚州的民主党成员,莱思丽·柏恩,
05:08
describes介绍 that when she went to Congress国会,
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说她刚到国会的时候,
05:10
she was told by a colleague同事, "Always lean to the green绿色."
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一位同僚对她说:“千万要向绿色靠拢。”
05:14
Then to clarify澄清, she went on,
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为了澄清一下,她接着说,
05:16
"He was not an environmentalist环保人士." (Laughter笑声)
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“他不是个环保主义者。”(笑声)
05:20
So here too we have a democracy民主,
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那么我们也是有民主的,
05:22
a democracy民主 dependent依赖的 upon the funders资助者
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一个取决于投资者
05:24
and dependent依赖的 upon the people,
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和人民的民主
05:26
competing竞争 dependencies依赖,
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有着相互竞争的关系
05:28
possibly或者 conflicting冲突的 dependencies依赖
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取决于投资者是谁
05:30
depending根据 upon who the funders资助者 are.
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这很可能是相互冲突的关系。
05:34
Okay, the United联合的 States状态 is LesterlandLesterland, point number one.
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好,美国就是莱斯特国,这是第一点。
05:37
Here's这里的 point number two.
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接下来,第二点
05:39
The United联合的 States状态 is worse更差 than LesterlandLesterland,
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美国比莱斯特国更糟,
05:42
worse更差 than LesterlandLesterland because you can imagine想像 in LesterlandLesterland
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比莱斯国更糟因为你可以想象在莱斯特国
05:44
if we LestersLesters got a letter from the government政府 that said,
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如果莱斯特们收到一封来自政府的信,写着:
05:47
"Hey, you get to pick who gets得到 to run in the general一般 election选举,"
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“嘿,你们可以挑参加大选的候选人。”
05:50
we would think maybe of a kind of aristocracy贵族 of LestersLesters.
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我们或许会觉得莱斯特们是有特权的阶层。
05:54
You know, there are LestersLesters from every一切 part部分 of social社会 society社会.
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你知道,有来自社会各阶级的莱斯特。
05:56
There are rich丰富 LestersLesters, poor较差的 LestersLesters, black黑色 LestersLesters, white白色 LestersLesters,
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有钱的莱斯特,穷莱斯特,黑人莱斯特,白人莱斯特,
05:59
not many许多 women妇女 LestersLesters, but put that to the side for one second第二.
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没太多女莱斯特,但先把这撇开不谈。
06:02
We have LestersLesters from everywhere到处. We could think,
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我们有来自各地的莱斯特,我们可以想,
06:04
"What could we do to make LesterlandLesterland better?"
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“我们能做什么让莱斯特国更好?”
06:07
It's at least最小 possible可能 the LestersLesters would act法案 for the good of LesterlandLesterland.
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至少有个可能莱斯特们是为了莱斯特国的利益着想。
06:12
But in our land土地, in this land土地, in USA-land美国土地,
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但在我们的国家,这国家,在美国,
06:15
there are certainly当然 some sweet LestersLesters out there,
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当然也有些可爱的好莱斯特们,
06:18
many许多 of them in this room房间 here today今天,
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今天在场的很多都是,
06:20
but the vast广大 majority多数 of LestersLesters act法案 for the LestersLesters,
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但是大部分的莱斯特是为了莱斯特们的利益着想,
06:24
because the shifting coalitions联盟 that are comprising包括 the .05 percent百分
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因为由这0.05%的人口组成的联盟
06:28
are not comprising包括 it for the public上市 interest利益.
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并不是为了大众的利益而组成的。
06:31
It's for their private私人的 interest利益. In this sense, the USA美国 is worse更差 than LesterlandLesterland.
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是为了他们个人的利益,也就是说,美国比莱斯特更糟。
06:35
And finally最后, point number three:
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终于来到第三点,
06:37
Whatever随你 one wants to say about LesterlandLesterland,
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无论谁想评论莱斯特国,
06:40
against反对 the background背景 of its history历史, its traditions传统,
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针对他的历史背景或传统
06:43
in our land土地, in USA-land美国土地, LesterlandLesterland is a corruption腐败,
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在我们的国家,在美国,莱斯特国是个腐败贪污的国家,
06:48
a corruption腐败.
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腐败贪污。
06:49
Now, by corruption腐败 I don't mean brown棕色 paper bag cash现金
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但是,当我说腐败贪污,不是说国会议员之间
06:53
secreted分泌 among其中 members会员 of Congress国会.
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的秘密现金纸袋交易。
06:55
I don't mean Rod竿 Blagojevich布拉戈耶维奇 sense of corruption腐败.
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我也不是指罗德布拉戈耶维奇的那类的腐败贪污。
06:58
I don't mean any criminal刑事 act法案.
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我不是指任何犯罪行为。
07:00
The corruption腐败 I'm talking about is perfectly完美 legal法律.
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我所说的腐败贪污是完全合法。
07:03
It's a corruption腐败 relative相对的 to the framers'立宪者 baseline底线 for this republic共和国.
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是针对这个共和国制定者的底线的腐败贪污。
07:08
The framers成帧器 gave us what they called a republic共和国,
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制定者给我们他们所谓的共和国,
07:12
but by a republic共和国 they meant意味着 a representative代表 democracy民主,
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但共和国他们真正指的是一个代表性民主,
07:16
and by a representative代表 democracy民主, they meant意味着 a government政府,
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而他们指的代表性民主,是政府,
07:19
as Madison麦迪逊 put it in Federalist联邦党人 52, that would have a branch
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如同麦迪逊在联邦党人文集第52篇中提到,会有一派
07:22
that would be dependent依赖的 upon the people alone单独.
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只取决于人民。
07:27
So here's这里的 the model模型 of government政府.
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这就是政府的模式。
07:28
They have the people and the government政府
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有人民和政府
07:31
with this exclusive独家 dependency依赖,
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单纯的相互依赖,
07:33
but the problem问题 here is that Congress国会 has evolved进化 a different不同 dependence依赖,
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但问题在于国会改变了这依赖关系,
07:37
no longer a dependence依赖 upon the people alone单独,
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不再是只取决于人民,
07:40
increasingly日益 a dependence依赖 upon the funders资助者.
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逐渐转变成对投资者的依赖。
07:42
Now this is a dependence依赖 too,
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这也是一种依赖关系,
07:46
but it's different不同 and conflicting冲突的 from a dependence依赖 upon the people alone单独
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但是跟单纯取决于人民的那种依赖性,不同且相冲突
07:49
so long as the funders资助者 are not the people.
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因为投资者并不是那些人民。
07:54
This is a corruption腐败.
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这就是一种贪污腐败。
07:56
Now, there's good news新闻 and bad news新闻 about this corruption腐败.
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然而,贪污腐败有好坏两面。
07:58
One bit of good news新闻 is that it's bipartisan两党,
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好的一部分是两个政党,
08:01
equal-opportunity平等机会 corruption腐败.
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同等机会的贪污腐败。
08:03
It blocks the left on a whole整个 range范围 of issues问题 that we on the left really care关心 about.
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这阻挡了左派真正关心的一系列的问题
(气候变化,合理的医疗保健,食品安全,金融改革)
08:08
It blocks the right too, as it makes品牌
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同时也阻挡右派,因为它让
08:10
principled原则 arguments参数 of the right increasingly日益 impossible不可能.
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右派的主要论点越来越不可能。
08:14
So the right wants smaller government政府.
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右派想要小的政府。
08:16
When Al Gore血块 was Vice President主席, his team球队 had an idea理念
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艾尔高尔任职副总统的时候,他的幕僚有个想法
08:19
for deregulating解除管制 a significant重大 portion一部分 of the telecommunications电信 industry行业.
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对大量的电信公司解除管制。
08:23
The chief首席 policy政策 man took this idea理念 to Capitol国会大厦 Hill爬坡道,
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政策首长把这个想法带到国会山莊,
08:26
and as he reported报道 back to me,
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他回报给我的时候,
08:28
the response响应 was, "Hell地狱 no!
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答复是:“死都不行!
08:30
If we deregulate放松管制 these guys,
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如果我们对这些人解除管制
08:32
how are we going to raise提高 money from them?"
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我们怎么从他们那里筹集资金?”
08:35
This is a system系统 that's designed设计 to save保存 the status状态 quo现状,
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这是一个为了维持现状而设计的系统
08:39
including包含 the status状态 quo现状 of big and invasive侵入的 government政府.
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包含维持大且有侵略性的政府现状。
08:43
It works作品 against反对 the left and the right,
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他可以压制左右两派,
08:45
and that, you might威力 say, is good news新闻.
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因此你可以说是好的一面。
08:47
But here's这里的 the bad news新闻.
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但也有坏的一面。
08:49
It's a pathological病态的, democracy-destroying民主摧毁 corruption腐败,
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这是个病态,毁灭民主的贪污腐败,
08:52
because in any system系统
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因为在任何系统中
08:55
where the members会员 are dependent依赖的 upon
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会员在竞选中依赖极少部分的人
08:57
the tiniest最小的 fraction分数 of us for their election选举,
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会员在竞选中依赖极少部分的人,
09:00
that means手段 the tiniest最小的 number of us,
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代表我们之中的极少数,
09:03
the tiniest最小的, tiniest最小的 number of us,
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极少,极少数的我们,
09:05
can block reform改革.
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可以阻止改革。
09:07
I know that should have been, like, a rock or something.
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我知道我本来应该放颗石头或其他东西。
09:09
I can only find cheese起司. I'm sorry. So there it is.
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但我只能找到芝士,不好意思将就一下。
09:11
Block reform改革.
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阻止改革。
09:14
Because there is an economy经济 here, an economy经济 of influence影响,
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因为存在经济,一个受影响的经济,
09:18
an economy经济 with lobbyists说客 at the center中央
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一个以说客为中心的经济,
09:20
which哪一个 feeds供稿 on polarization极化.
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靠对立而活。
09:23
It feeds供稿 on dysfunction功能障碍.
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靠失序而活。
09:25
The worse更差 that it is for us,
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情况对我们来说越糟,
09:28
the better that it is for this fundraising筹款.
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就对募资越有利。
09:31
Henry亨利 David大卫 Thoreau梭罗: "There are a thousand hacking黑客
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亨利·戴维·梭罗说过:“有一千人在砍罪恶的树枝
09:35
at the branches分支机构 of evil邪恶 to one who is striking引人注目 at the root."
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但只有一个人在砍罪恶的根。”
09:39
This is the root.
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这就是‘根’。
09:43
Okay, now, every一切 single one of you knows知道 this.
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那么现在我们每个人都知道这问题。
09:47
You couldn't不能 be here if you didn't know this, yet然而 you ignore忽视 it.
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若你不知道你就不可能在这里,但你却视而不见。
09:51
You ignore忽视 it. This is an impossible不可能 problem问题.
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你视而不见,因为这是个不可能解决的问题。
09:54
You focus焦点 on the possible可能 problems问题,
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你关注那些可能的解决的问题,
09:57
like eradicating根除 polio脊髓灰质炎 from the world世界,
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如同从地球上根绝小儿麻痹,
10:00
or taking服用 an image图片 of every一切 single street across横过 the globe地球,
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或是拍摄世界上的每一条街,
10:03
or building建造 the first real真实 universal普遍 translator翻译者,
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或是建造第一个万能翻译机,
10:06
or building建造 a fusion聚变 factory in your garage车库.
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或是在你的车库建核融合厂。
10:10
These are the manageable管理 problems问题, so you ignore忽视
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这些都是可以处理的问题,所以
10:13
(Laughter笑声) (Applause掌声) —
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(笑声)(掌声)
10:19
so you ignore忽视 this corruption腐败.
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你对贪污腐败视而不见。
10:21
But we cannot不能 ignore忽视 this corruption腐败 anymore.
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但我们不能继续对贪污腐败视而不见了。
10:27
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
10:30
We need a government政府 that works作品.
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我们需要一个有在做事的政府。
10:33
And not works作品 for the left or the right,
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不是为左派或右派做事的政府,
10:36
but works作品 for the left and the right,
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而是为左派和右派做事的政府,
10:39
the citizens公民 of the left and right,
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为左派和右派的公民,
10:41
because there is no sensible明智 reform改革 possible可能
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因为在我们终结贪污腐败前
10:44
until直到 we end结束 this corruption腐败.
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不可能会有合理的改革。
10:47
So I want you to take hold保持, to grab the issue问题 you care关心 the most about.
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因此我希望你们抓住你们最关心的问题。
10:51
Climate气候 change更改 is mine, but it might威力 be financial金融 reform改革
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气候变迁是我最关心的,但这也可能是经济改革
10:53
or a simpler简单 tax system系统 or inequality不等式.
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或是一个简单点的税制或不平等问题。
10:56
Grab that issue问题, sit it down in front面前 of you,
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抓住那个问题,把它放在面前,
10:58
look straight直行 in its eyes眼睛, and tell it there is no Christmas圣诞 this year.
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直视它双眼,跟它说你今年不会过圣诞节。
11:02
There will never be a Christmas圣诞.
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永远不会有圣诞节。
11:04
We will never get your issue问题 solved解决了
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在我们解决这个腐败问题前
11:06
until直到 we fix固定 this issue问题 first.
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我们永远不会解决你的问题。
11:09
So it's not that mine is the most important重要 issue问题. It's not.
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不是说我的问题最重要,因为真的不是。
11:13
Yours你的 is the most important重要 issue问题, but mine is the first issue问题,
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你们的问题最重要,但我的是首要问题,
11:17
the issue问题 we have to solve解决 before we get to fix固定
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是解决我们所关心的问题前
11:20
the issues问题 you care关心 about.
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首先应该解决的问题。
11:22
No sensible明智 reform改革, and we cannot不能 afford给予
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没有合理的改革,我们是承担不起
11:25
a world世界, a future未来, with no sensible明智 reform改革.
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一个没有合理改革的世界和未来的。
11:29
Okay. So how do we do it?
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好,那我们怎么做?
11:32
Turns out, the analytics分析 here are easy简单, simple简单.
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事实证明,计算起来很简单明了。
11:35
If the problem问题 is members会员 spending开支 an extraordinary非凡
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如果问题是出在国会议员花超多时间
11:38
amount of time fundraising筹款 from the tiniest最小的 slice of America美国,
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向极小部分的美国人募资
11:41
the solution is to have them spend less time fundraising筹款
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解决办法就是让他们花少点时间募资
11:45
but fundraise募捐 from a wider更宽的 slice of Americans美国人,
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但让他们向更多的美国人募资,
11:48
to spread传播 it out,
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把范围扩大,
11:49
to spread传播 the funder资助者 influence影响 so that we restore恢复 the idea理念
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让投资者的影响力扩展,好让我们恢复
11:53
of dependence依赖 upon the people alone单独.
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那种仅依靠人民的依赖关系。
11:56
And to do this does not require要求 a constitutional构成 amendment修订,
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这不需要修宪
11:59
changing改变 the First Amendment修订.
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或修改宪法第一修正案。
12:00
To do this would require要求 a single statute法令,
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我们只需要一个单一法令,
12:04
a statute法令 establishing建立 what we think of
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一项奠定我们对于
12:06
as small dollar美元 funded资助 elections选举,
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小金额资助选举想法的法令,
12:09
a statute法令 of citizen-funded公民资 campaigns活动,
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一项公民资助竞选的法令,
12:11
and there's any number of these proposals建议 out there:
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外界已经有很多的提议:
12:13
Fair公平 Elections选举 Now Act法案,
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立即公平竞选法案、
12:14
the American美国 Anti-Corruption反腐败 Act法案,
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美国反贪污法案、
12:17
an idea理念 in my book that I call the Grant格兰特 and Franklin富兰克林 Project项目
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我书里面的"格兰特和富兰克林计划"
12:20
to give vouchers to people to fund基金 elections选举,
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提倡给人民票券让他们资助竞选,
12:22
an idea理念 of John约翰 Sarbanes萨班斯 called the Grassroots基层 Democracy民主 Act法案.
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还有约翰·萨博尼的基层民主法案。
12:25
Each of these would fix固定 this corruption腐败
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以上每一个都可以解决贪污
12:30
by spreading传播 out the influence影响 of funders资助者 to all of us.
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让投资者的影响力扩展到我们每个人身上。
12:34
The analytics分析 are easy简单 here.
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解决方案是简单明了的。
12:37
It's the politics政治 that's hard, indeed确实 impossibly不可能 hard,
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难在政治,确实极其困难,
12:42
because this reform改革 would shrink收缩 K Street,
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因为这样的改革会削减华盛顿K街,
12:48
and Capitol国会大厦 Hill爬坡道, as Congressman众议员 Jim吉姆 Cooper库珀,
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国会山莊,如同国会议员吉米·库柏,
12:53
a Democrat民主党人 from Tennessee田纳西, put it,
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一名田纳西州的民主党党员说的,
12:56
has become成为 a farm农场 league联盟 for K Street, a farm农场 league联盟 for K Street.
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它成为华盛顿K街的一个联盟。
13:01
Members会员 and staffers员工 and bureaucrats官僚 have
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会员、工作人员和官僚脑海里想着一个
13:03
an increasingly日益 common共同 business商业 model模型 in their head,
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逐渐相同的商业模式,
13:05
a business商业 model模型 focused重点 on their life after government政府,
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这商业模式专注在他们执政后的生活
13:08
their life as lobbyists说客.
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也就是说客生活。
13:11
Fifty五十 percent百分 of the Senate参议院 between之间 1998 and 2004
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1998年到2004年之间,参议院有50%的人
13:14
left to become成为 lobbyists说客, 42 percent百分 of the House.
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,白宫有42%的人,出走当说客。
13:17
Those numbers数字 have only gone走了 up,
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这些数字只增不减,
13:18
and as United联合的 Republic共和国 calculated计算 last April四月,
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去年4月联合共和国(United Republic)计算,
13:21
the average平均 increase增加 in salary薪水 for those who they tracked追踪
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他们有在追踪的人,薪水平均增幅为
13:24
was 1,452 percent百分.
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1,452%。
13:29
So it's fair公平 to ask, how is it possible可能 for them to change更改 this?
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我们可以问,他们怎么可能改变这情况?
13:36
Now I get this skepticism怀疑论.
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我可以理解这种怀疑。
13:40
I get this cynicism玩世不恭. I get this sense of impossibility不可能的事.
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我明白这种无奈,这种不可能性。
13:45
But I don't buy购买 it.
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但我不同意。
13:47
This is a solvable可解 issue问题.
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这是个可以解决的问题。
13:51
If you think about the issues问题 our parents父母 tried试着 to solve解决
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若你想想我们父母在20世纪
13:54
in the 20th century世纪,
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试着解决的问题,
13:56
issues问题 like racism种族主义, or sexism性别歧视,
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像是种族歧视或两性不平等,
13:59
or the issue问题 that we've我们已经 been fighting战斗 in this century世纪, homophobia同性恋,
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或是我们在这世纪奋战的问题: 同性恋恐惧症,
14:02
those are hard issues问题.
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那些都是很困难的问题。
14:05
You don't wake唤醒 up one day no longer a racist种族主义者.
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你不会睡一觉起来就不再是种族主义者。
14:08
It takes generations to tear眼泪 that intuition直觉, that DNA脱氧核糖核酸,
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这得花上好几个世代才能从一个人的灵魂
14:12
out of the soul灵魂 of a people.
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中破除那种观念,那种基因。
14:14
But this is a problem问题 of just incentives奖励, just incentives奖励.
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但这只是个动机问题,只有动机。
14:18
Change更改 the incentives奖励, and the behavior行为 changes变化,
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动机改变了,行为就跟着改变,
14:20
and the states状态 that have adopted采用 small dollar美元 funded资助 systems系统
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那些采用小金额资助制度的几个州
14:23
have seen看到 overnight过夜 a change更改 in the practice实践.
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已经很快地看到实际的效果。
14:26
When Connecticut康涅狄格 adopted采用 this system系统,
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当康乃狄克州(Connecticut)采用这制度之后,
14:28
in the very first year, 78 percent百分 of elected当选 representatives代表
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在第一年,78%的当选代表
14:32
gave up large contributions捐款 and took small contributions捐款 only.
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放弃了大额助选金而选择只收取小额助选金。
14:36
It's solvable可解,
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这是是解决得了的,
14:38
not by being存在 a Democrat民主党人,
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不是通过作为一个民主党党员,
14:41
not by being存在 a Republican共和党人.
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不是通过作为一个共和党党员。
14:43
It's solvable可解 by being存在 citizens公民, by being存在 citizens公民,
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而是通过作为公民解决的,
14:47
by being存在 TEDizensTEDizens.
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通过作为TED成员解决的。
14:50
Because if you want to kickstartKickstart中 reform改革,
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因为若你想要发起一项改革,
14:54
look, I could kickstartKickstart中 reform改革
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我可以发起一项改革,
14:57
at half the price价钱 of fixing定影 energy能源 policy政策,
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只用到解决能源政策所需的一半金额,
15:01
I could give you back a republic共和国.
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我可以还给你一个共和国。
15:04
Okay. But even if you're not yet然而 with me,
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好,若你还不同意我的想法,
15:07
even if you believe this is impossible不可能,
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甚至觉得这是不可能的,
15:11
what the five years年份 since以来 I spoke at TEDTED has taught me
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过去五年我在TED的演讲经验告诉我,
15:14
as I've spoken about this issue问题 again and again is,
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我一而再再而三的讨论这个议题,
15:17
even if you think it's impossible不可能, that is irrelevant不相干.
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就算你觉得这是不可能,没关系。
15:21
Irrelevant不相干.
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没关系。
15:23
I spoke at Dartmouth达特茅斯 once一旦, and a woman女人 stood站在 up after I spoke,
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我曾在达特茅斯演讲一次,我讲完之后有一位女士站起来,
15:26
I write in my book, and she said to me,
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我有写在我书里,她告诉我,
15:28
"Professor教授, you've convinced相信 me this is hopeless绝望. Hopeless绝望.
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"教授,你说服我这没希望了,没希望了。
15:34
There's nothing we can do."
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我们束手无策了。”
15:37
When she said that, I scrambled.
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当她这么说,我慌了。
15:39
I tried试着 to think, "How do I respond响应 to that hopelessness绝望?
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我试着想:“我该怎样回应这种绝望?”
15:41
What is that sense of hopelessness绝望?"
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“这种绝望是什么感觉?"
15:43
And what hit击中 me was an image图片 of my six-year-old六十岁 son儿子.
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让我顿悟的是我六岁的儿子。
15:47
And I imagined想象 a doctor医生 coming未来 to me and saying,
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我想像一位医生向我走来并告诉我:
15:51
"Your son儿子 has terminal终奌站 brain cancer癌症, and there's nothing you can do.
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“你儿子有晚期脑癌,没有办法了。
15:58
Nothing you can do."
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你束手无策了。”
16:00
So would I do nothing?
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我真的什么都不做吗?
16:03
Would I just sit there? Accept接受 it? Okay, nothing I can do?
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我就坐在这?坦然接受?我什么都不能做吗?
16:06
I'm going off to build建立 Google谷歌 Glass玻璃.
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那我就去做研发谷歌眼镜好了。
16:09
Of course课程 not. I would do everything I could,
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当然不是。 我会尽力而为,
16:13
and I would do everything I could because this is what love means手段,
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我会尽力而为因为这就是爱,
16:17
that the odds可能性 are irrelevant不相干 and that you do
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这无关输赢,你就做所有你能够做的
16:19
whatever随你 the hell地狱 you can, the odds可能性 be damned该死.
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管他输还是赢。
16:23
And then I saw the obvious明显 link链接, because even we liberals自由主义者
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然后我就看到其中的显然连系,因为即便是我们这些自由派人士
16:26
love this country国家.
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都爱这个国家。
16:29
(Laughter笑声)
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(笑声)
16:32
And so when the pundits专家 and the politicians政治家
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所以当权威人士或政客
16:34
say that change更改 is impossible不可能,
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说这改变是不可能的,
16:36
what this love of country国家 says back is,
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爱国情操会这么回答:
16:39
"That's just irrelevant不相干."
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“这不重要。”
16:42
We lose失去 something dear,
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若我们失去共和,
16:44
something everyone大家 in this room房间 loves and cherishes珍视,
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失去在场所有人共同珍惜的东西,
16:47
if we lose失去 this republic共和国, and so we act法案
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我们就要采取行动
16:51
with everything we can to prove证明 these pundits专家 wrong错误.
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尽其所能地去证明这些权威人士是错的。
16:56
So here's这里的 my question:
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那么这是我的问题:
16:59
Do you have that love?
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你有这份爱吗?
17:04
Do you have that love?
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你有这份爱吗?
17:06
Because if you do,
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因为如果你有,
17:08
then what the hell地狱 are you, what are the hell地狱 are we doing?
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那我们到底在做什么?
17:13
When Ben Franklin富兰克林 was carried携带的 from the constitutional构成 convention惯例
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1787年9月,当本·富兰克林(Ben Franklin)从制宪会议离开
17:18
in September九月 of 1787, he was stopped停止 in the street by a woman女人 who said,
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他在街上被一位女性拦下来问说,
17:22
"Mr先生. Franklin富兰克林, what have you wrought?"
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"富兰克林先生,你造就了什么?"
17:25
Franklin富兰克林 said, "A republic共和国, madam夫人, if you can keep it."
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富兰克林回答:"一个共和,若你们能继续保持它。”
17:33
A republic共和国. A representative代表 democracy民主.
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一个共和,一个代表性的民主。
17:38
A government政府 dependent依赖的 upon the people alone单独.
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一个’单独‘取决于人民的政府。
17:45
We have lost丢失 that republic共和国.
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我们已经失去了这个共和。
17:50
All of us have to act法案 to get it back.
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我们所有人必须要行动起来,把它找回来。
17:54
Thank you very much.
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非常感谢你们。
17:56
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
18:02
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause掌声)
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谢谢 (掌声)
Translated by Minji Seo
Reviewed by xuan wang

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Lawrence Lessig - Legal activist
Lawrence Lessig has already transformed intellectual-property law with his Creative Commons innovation. Now he's focused on an even bigger problem: The US' broken political system.

Why you should listen

Lawyer and activist Lawrence Lessig spent a decade arguing for sensible intellectual property law, updated for the digital age. He was a founding board member of Creative Commons, an organization that builds better copyright practices through principles established first by the open-source software community.

In 2007, just after his last TED Talk, Lessig announced he was leaving the field of IP and Internet policy, and moving on to a more fundamental problem that blocks all types of sensible policy -- the corrupting influence of money in American politics.

In 2011, Lessig founded Rootstrikers, an organization dedicated to changing the influence of money in Congress. In his latest book, Republic, Lost, he shows just how far the U.S. has spun off course -- and how citizens can regain control. As The New York Times wrote about him, “Mr. Lessig’s vision is at once profoundly pessimistic -- the integrity of the nation is collapsing under the best of intentions --and deeply optimistic. Simple legislative surgery, he says, can put the nation back on the path to greatness.”

Read an excerpt of Lessig's new book, Lesterland >>

More profile about the speaker
Lawrence Lessig | Speaker | TED.com