The magic washing machine | Hans Rosling

Translator: Juan Jose Sanchez Penas Reviewer: Xusto Rodriguez

I was only four years old

Eu tiña só catro anos

when I saw my mother load a washing machine

cando vin á miña nai cargar a lavadora

for the very first time in her life.

por primeira vez na súa vida.

That was a great day for my mother.

Foi un gran día para a miña nai.

My mother and father had been saving money for years

A miña nai e o meu pai estiveran aforrando diñeiro durante anos

to be able to buy that machine,

para poder mercar a máquina.

and the first day it was going to be used,

E o primeiro día no que ía ser usada,

even Grandma was invited to see the machine.

ata a miña avoa foi convidada

a ver a máquina.

(Laughter)

E a avoa estaba aínda máis entusiasmada.

And Grandma was even more excited.

Throughout her life, she had been heating water with firewood,

Ao longo da súa vida

ela estivera quentando auga con leña,

and she had hand-washed laundry for seven children.

e lavara a man a roupa

de sete nenos.

And now, she was going to watch electricity do that work.

E agora ía ver

como a electricidade facía ese traballo.

My mother carefully opened the door,

A miña nai abriu a porta con coidado,

and she loaded the laundry into the machine,

e cargou a roupa

na máquina,

así.

like this.

And then, when she closed the door,

E entón, cando ela pechou a porta,

Grandma said, "No, no, no, no!

a avoa dixo, "Non, non, non, non.

Let me! Let me push the button!"

Déixame, déixame premer o botón."

(Laughter)

And Grandma pushed the button,

E a avoa premeu o botón,

e dixo, "Oh, fantástico.

and she said, "Oh, fantastic!

I want to see this! Give me a chair! Give me a chair! I want to see it,"

Quero ver isto. Dádeme unha cadeira.

Dádeme unha cadeira. Quero velo."

and she sat down in front of the machine,

E sentou diante da máquina,

and she watched the entire washing program.

e viu o programa de lavado enteiro.

(Laughter)

Estaba abraiada.

She was mesmerized.

To my grandmother, the washing machine was a miracle.

Para a miña avoa,

a lavadora era unha milagre.

Today, in Sweden and other rich countries,

Hoxe, en Suecia e outros países ricos,

people are using so many different machines.

a xente usa

moitas máquinas diferentes.

Look -- the homes are full of machines.

Mirade, as casas están cheas de máquinas;

I can't even name them all.

Nin sei o nome de todas.

And they also, when they want to travel,

E eles tamén, cando queren viaxar,

usan máquinas voadoras

they use flying machines

that can take them to remote destinations.

que poden levalos a destinos remotos.

And yet, in the world,

Mais, no mundo, hai tanta xente

there are so many people who still heat the water on fire,

que aínda quenta auga ao lume,

e que cociña a súa comida ao lume.

and they cook their food on fire.

Sometimes they don't even have enough food.

Ás veces nin sequera teñen comida abonda.

E viven por debaixo da liña de pobreza.

And they live below the poverty line.

There are two billion fellow human beings

Hai 2 mil millóns de compañeiros seres humanos

who live on less than two dollars a day.

que viven con menos de dous dólares ao día.

E a xente rica aí --

And the richest people over there -- there's one billion people,

hai mil millóns de persoas --

and they live above what I call the "air line" --

e viven por enriba do que eu chamo a liña do ar

(Laughter)

because they spend more than 80 dollars a day

porque gastan máis de 80 dólares por día

de consumo.

on their consumption.

Pero isto son só un, dous, tres mil millóns de persoas,

But this is just one, two, three billion people,

and obviously, there are seven billion people in the world,

e obviamente hai sete mil millóns de persoas no mundo,

so there must be one, two, three, four billion people more

así que teñen que existir un, dous, tres, catro mil millóns de persoas máis,

que viven entre a pobreza e a liña do ar.

who live in between the poverty and the air line.

Teñen electricidade,

They have electricity,

but the question is: How many have washing machines?

pero a pregunta é, cantos teñen lavadoras?

I've done the scrutiny of market data, and I've found that, indeed,

Fixen unha análise dos datos de mercado,

e atopei que, de feito,

the washing machine has penetrated below the air line,

a lavadora penetrou por debaixo da liña do ar,

e hoxe existen mil millóns de persoas a maiores

and today, there's an additional one billion people out there

que viven por enriba da liña de lavado.

who live above the "wash line."

(Laughter)

(Sorrisos)

And they consume for more than 40 dollars per day.

E consumen máis de 40 dólares ao día.

So two billion have access to washing machines.

Así que dous mil millóns teñen acceso a lavadoras.

And the remaining five billion --

E os cinco mil millóns restantes,

como lavan?

how do they wash?

Or, to be more precise,

Ou, para ser máis exactos,

how do most of the women in the world wash?

como lavan a maioría das mulleres do mundo?

Because it remains the hard work for women to wash.

Porque lavar segue a ser un traballo duro para as mulleres.

They wash like this: by hand.

Elas lavan así: a man.

It's hard, time-consuming labor,

É unha tarefa dura e que leva tempo,

que teñen que facer durante horas cada semana.

which they have to do for hours every week.

E ás veces tamén teñen que carrexar auga de lonxe

And sometimes they also have to bring water from far away

para facer a coada na casa.

to do the laundry at home,

or they have to bring the laundry away to a stream far off.

Ou teñen que levar a roupa a un regato afastado.

And they want the washing machine.

E queren a lavadora.

They don't want to spend such a large part of their life

Non queren pasar tanto tempo na súa vida

doing this hard work

facendo este traballo duro

with so relatively low productivity.

cunha produtividade relativamente baixa.

E non hai nada diferente no seu desexo

And there's nothing different in their wish

do que tiña a miña avoa.

than it was for my grandma.

Mirade aquí, hai dúas xeracións en Suecia --

Look here, two generations ago in Sweden --

picking water from the stream,

collendo auga dun regato,

heating with firewood and washing like that.

quentándoa ao lume e lavando así.

They want the washing machine in exactly the same way.

Queren a lavadora exactamente do mesmo xeito.

But when I lecture to environmentally concerned students,

Pero cando dou aulas a estudantes preocupados polo medio ambiente,

they tell me, "No, everybody in the world cannot have cars and washing machines."

eles dinme, "Non, non todo o mundo pode ter coches e lavadoras."

How can we tell this woman

Como podemos dicirlle a esta muller

that she isn't going to have a washing machine?

que non vai ter unha lavadora?

And then I ask my students -- over the last two years, I've asked --

E entón eu pregúntolles aos meus estudantes,

Lévolles preguntando -- durante os últimos dous anos preguntei,

"How many of you don't use a car?"

"Cantos de vós non usades un coche?"

And some of them proudly raise their hand and say, "I don't use a car."

E algúns deles erguen a man con orgullo

e din, "Eu non uso coche."

And then I put the really tough question:

E entón lanzo a pregunta realmente dura:

"How many of you hand-wash your jeans and your bedsheets?"

"Cantos de vós

lavades a man os vosos pantalóns e a roupa da cama?"

And no one raised their hand.

E ninguén ergue a man.

Incluso os máis radicais no movemento ecoloxista

Even the hardcore in the green movement use washing machines.

usan lavadoras.

(Laughter)

(Sorrisos)

So how come [this is] something that everyone uses

Entón, como é que isto é algo que todo o mundo usa

and they think others will not stop it?

e pensan que ninguén deixará de facelo? Que ten de especial?

What is special with this?

I had to do an analysis about the energy use in the world.

Tiven que facer unha análise sobre a enerxía usada no mundo.

Here we are.

Aquí está.

Look here. You see the seven billion people up there?

Mirade isto, vedes os sete mil millóns de persoas aí enriba:

The air people, the wash people,

a xente do ar, xente do lavado,

the bulb people and the fire people.

a xente das bombillas, e a xente do lume.

One unit like this

Unha unidade destas

is an energy unit of fossil fuel -- oil, coal or gas.

é unha unidade de enerxía de combustible fósil --

petróleo, carbón ou gas.

That's what most of the electricity and the energy in the world is.

Iso é o que a maioría da enerxía no mundo é.

And it's 12 units used in the entire world,

E todo o mundo usa 12 unidades,

and the richest one billion, they use six of them.

e os mil millóns máis ricos, usan seis delas.

Half of the energy is used by one seventh of the world population.

A metade da enerxía é usada por unha sétima parte da poboación mundial.

And these ones, who have washing machines

E estes que teñen lavadoras,

pero non unha casa chea doutras máquinas,

but not a house full of other machines,

usan dúas.

they use two.

This group uses three, one each.

Este grupo usa tres, unha cada un.

E teñen tamén electricidade.

And they also have electricity.

E aí non usan nin unha cada un.

And over there, they don't even use one each.

That makes 12 of them.

Iso fai o total de 12.

But the main concern

Pero a principal preocupación

for the environmentally interested students -- and they are right --

para os estudantes interesados no medio ambiente -- e teñen razón --

is about the future.

é o futuro.

Cales son as tendencias? Se prolongamos as tendencias,

What are the trends?

If we just prolong the trends, without any real advanced analysis,

sen ningunha análise real avanzada, ata 2050,

to 2050,

hai dúas cousas que poden incrementar o consumo de enerxía.

there are two things that can increase the energy use:

Primeiro, o crecemento da poboación.

first, population growth; second, economic growth.

Segundo, o crecemento económico.

Population growth will mainly occur among the poorest people here,

O crecemento da poboación acontecerá principalmente entre a xente máis pobre,

porque teñen mortaldade infantil alta

because they have high child mortality

e teñen moitos fillos por muller.

and they have many children per woman.

E con iso temos dúas a maiores,

And that will get you two extra,

pero iso non vai cambiar o uso da enerxía moito.

but that won't change the energy use very much.

O que acontecerá é o crecemento económico.

What will happen is economic growth.

The best of here in the emerging economies --

O mellor del nas economías emerxentes --

eu chámolles o Novo Leste --

I call them "the New East" --

they will jump the air line.

saltarán a liña do ar.

"Wopp!" they will say.

"Wopp!" dirán.

And they will start to use as much as the Old West are doing already.

E comezarán a consumir tanto como o Vello Oeste está a facer xa.

(Laughter)

E esta xente, queren a lavadora.

And these people, they want the washing machine.

Díxenvolo. Subirán aí.

I told you. They'll go there.

And they will double their energy use.

E van multiplicar por dous o seu consumo enerxético.

And we hope that the poor people will get into the electric light.

E esperamos que a xente pobre chegue a ter luz eléctrica.

And they'll get a two-child family without a stop in population growth.

E terán unha familia de dous fillos sen unha interrupción do crecemento poboacional.

Pero o consumo enerxético total

But the total energy consumption will increase to 22 units.

incrementarase a 22 unidades.

E destas 22 unidades

And these 22 units --

ainda a xente máis rica usa a maior parte.

still, the richest people use most of them.

Entón, que debe facerse?

So what needs to be done?

Because the risk,

Porque o risco,

the high probability of climate change is real.

a alta probabilidade de cambio climático é real.

It's real.

É real.

Of course, they must be more energy efficient.

Por suposto eles teñen que ser máis eficientes coa enerxía.

They must change their behavior in some way.

Teñen que cambiar o seu comportamento dalgún xeito.

They must also start to produce green energy,

Teñen tamén que comezar a producir enerxía verde,

moita máis enerxía verde.

much more green energy.

But until they have the same energy consumption per person,

Pero ata que teñan o mesmo consumo enerxético por persoa,

non deberían darlles consellos a outros --

they shouldn't give advice to others --

what to do and what not to do.

qué facer e qué non facer.

(Laughter)

(Aplausos)

(Applause)

Here, we can get more green energy all over.

Aquí podemos obter máis enerxía verde.

Isto é o que esperamos que poida acontecer.

This is what we hope might happen.

É un reto real para o futuro.

It's a real challenge in the future.

But I can assure you that this woman in the favela in Rio,

Pero eu podo asegurarvos que esta muller na favela de Rio,

quere unha lavadora.

she wants a washing machine.

Ela está moi contenta coa súa ministra de enerxía

She's very happy about her minister of energy

that provided electricity to everyone --

que lles proporcionou electricidade a todos --

so happy that she even voted for her.

tan contenta que ata votou por ela.

E ela converteuse en Dilma Rousseff,

And she became Dilma Rousseff,

the president-elect of one of the biggest democracies in the world,

a presidenta electa

dunha das maiores democracias do mundo --

pasando de ministra de enerxía a presidenta.

moving from minister of energy to president.

Se tedes unha democracia,

If you have democracy, people will vote for washing machines.

a xente vai votar polas lavadoras.

A eles encántanlles.

They love them!

(Laughter)

And what's the magic with them?

E cal é a maxia que teñen?

My mother explained the magic with this machine

A miña nai explicou a maxia desta máquina

the very, very first day.

o primeiro día.

Dixo, "Agora, Hans,

She said, "Now, Hans.

que xa cargamos a roupa,

We have loaded the laundry.

a máquina vai facer o traballo.

The machine will make the work.

And now we can go to the library."

E agora podemos ir á biblioteca."

Porque esta é a maxia:

Because this is the magic: you load the laundry,

cargas a roupa,

and what do you get out of the machine?

e que obtés da máquina?

You get books out of the machines,

Obtés libros das máquinas,

libros para nenos.

children's books.

And mother got time to read for me.

E a miña nai tivo tempo para lerme.

She loved this.

Encantáballe. Obtiven o "ABC."

I got the "ABC's" -- this is why I started my career as a professor,

Aí foi cando comecei a miña carreira como mestre,

when my mother had time to read for me.

cando a miña nai tivo tempo para lerme.

And she also got books for herself.

E tamén obtivo libros para ela.

She managed to study English and learn that as a foreign language.

Puido estudar inglés

e aprendelo como lingua estranxeira.

And she read so many novels,

E leu tantas novelas,

so many different novels here.

tantas novelas diferentes.

And we really, we really loved this machine.

E nós queríamoslle de verdade a esta máquina.

(Laughter)

And what we said, my mother and me,

E o que dixemos, a miña nai e máis eu, foi

"Thank you, industrialization.

"Grazas industralización.

Thank you, steel mill.

Grazas fábrica de aceiro.

Thank you, power station.

Grazas central eléctrica.

And thank you, chemical processing industry

E grazas industria de procesamento químico

that gave us time to read books."

por darnos tempo para ler libros."

Thank you very much.

Moitas grazas.

(Laughter)

(Applause)

(Aplausos)