Margaret Heffernan: The dangers of "willful blindness"

Translator: Peter Štrba Reviewer: Barborka Bošková

In the northwest corner of the United States,

V severozápadnom rohu Spojených štátov,

right up near the Canadian border,

hneď blízko pri kanadských hraniciach,

there's a little town called Libby, Montana,

je malé mesto nazývané Libby, v Montane

and it's surrounded by pine trees and lakes

a je obklopené borovicami a jazerami

and just amazing wildlife

a úžasnou divočinou

and these enormous trees that scream up into the sky.

a ohromnými stromami, ktoré sa týčia k oblakom.

And in there is a little town called Libby,

A tam je malé mesto nazývané Libby,

which I visited, which feels kind of lonely,

ktoré som navštívila, z ktorého ide pocit samoty,

a little isolated.

miernej izolácie.

And in Libby, Montana, there's a rather unusual woman

A v Libby, v Montane, žije dosť neobyčajná žena

named Gayla Benefield.

menom Gayla Benefieldová.

She always felt a little bit of an outsider,

Vždy sa cítila byť tak trochu outsiderom,

although she's been there almost all her life,

hoci tam žila takmer celý život,

a woman of Russian extraction.

žena s ruským pôvodom.

She told me when she went to school,

Povedala mi, že keď chodila do školy,

she was the only girl who ever chose

bola jediným dievčaťom, ktoré si zvolilo

to do mechanical drawing.

mechanické kreslenie.

Later in life, she got a job going house to house

Neskôr v živote dostala prácu navštevovať dom za domom,

reading utility meters -- gas meters, electricity meters.

odčítavať rôzne merače -- plynové, elektrické.

And she was doing the work in the middle of the day,

A robila tú prácu uprostred dňa

and one thing particularly caught her notice, which was,

a špeciálne jedna vec ju upútala, ktorou bolo,

in the middle of the day she met a lot of men

že keď uprostred dňa stretla veľa mužov,

who were at home, middle aged, late middle aged,

ktorí boli doma, mužov v strednom veku a trochu starších,

and a lot of them seemed to be on oxygen tanks.

veľa z nich vyzeralo byť na kyslíkových prístrojoch.

It struck her as strange.

Zdalo sa jej to čudné.

Then, a few years later, her father died at the age of 59,

Potom po niekoľkých rokoch zomrel jej otec vo veku 59 rokov,

five days before he was due to receive his pension.

päť dní predtým, ako mal ísť do dôchodku.

He'd been a miner.

Bol baníkom.

She thought he must just have been worn out by the work.

Myslela si, že bol iba zodratý prácou.

But then a few years later, her mother died,

Ale potom o pár rokov zomrela jej matka

and that seemed stranger still,

a to sa zdalo byť ešte viac zvláštne,

because her mother came from a long line of people

pretože pochádzala z dlhej línie ľudí,

who just seemed to live forever.

ktorí akoby žili navždy.

In fact, Gayla's uncle is still alive to this day,

Po pravde, Gaylin strýko ešte stále žije

and learning how to waltz.

a učí sa tancovať valčík.

It didn't make sense that Gayla's mother

Nedávalo zmysel, že by Gaylina matka

should die so young.

mala zomrieť taká mladá.

It was an anomaly, and she kept puzzling over anomalies.

Bola to anomália a ona si rada lámala hlavu nad anomáliami.

And as she did, other ones came to mind.

A popri tom aj iné jej prišlo na rozum.

She remembered, for example,

Pamätala si, napríklad,

when her mother had broken a leg and went into the hospital,

že keď si jej matka zlomila nohu a šla do nemocnice

and she had a lot of x-rays,

a spravili jej veľa röentgenov

and two of them were leg x-rays, which made sense,

dva z nich boli na nohu, čo dávalo zmysel,

but six of them were chest x-rays, which didn't.

ale šesť bolo na hruď, čo nebolo.

She puzzled and puzzled over every piece

Neustále si lámala hlavu nad každým kúskom

of her life and her parents' life,

jej života a života jej rodičov,

trying to understand what she was seeing.

snažiac sa pochopiť, čo videla.

She thought about her town.

Myslela na svoje mesto.

The town had a vermiculite mine in it.

To mesto malo vermikulitovú baňu.

Vermiculite was used for soil conditioners,

Vermikulit sa používal na vyživovanie pôdy,

to make plants grow faster and better.

aby rastliny rástli rýchlejšie a lepšie.

Vermiculite was used to insulate lofts,

Vermikulit sa používal na izoláciu povál,

huge amounts of it put under the roof

pod strechu sa dávali veľké množstvá,

to keep houses warm during the long Montana winters.

aby domy boli v teple počas dlhých zím v Montane.

Vermiculite was in the playground.

Vermikulit bol v ihrisku.

It was in the football ground.

Bol na futbalovom ihrisku.

It was in the skating rink.

Bol v korčuliarskej ploche.

What she didn't learn until she started working this problem

Nezistila, až kým nezačala pracovať na tomto probléme,

is vermiculite is a very toxic form of asbestos.

že vermikulit je veľmi toxická forma azbestu.

When she figured out the puzzle,

Keď vylúštila tajničku,

she started telling everyone she could

začala rozprávať každému, komu mohla,

what had happened, what had been done to her parents

čo sa stalo, čo sa urobilo na jej rodičoch

and to the people that she saw on oxygen tanks

a na ľuďoch, ktorých videla na kyslíkových prístrojoch

at home in the afternoons.

doma popoludní.

But she was really amazed.

Ale ostala skutočne užasnutá.

She thought, when everybody knows, they'll want to do something,

Myslela si, že keď budú vedieť, budú chcieť niečo urobiť,

ale v skutočnosti nikto nechcel vedieť.

but actually nobody wanted to know.

In fact, she became so annoying

Po pravde, stala sa takou otravnou,

as she kept insisting on telling this story

ako sa pokúšala trvať na rozprávaní tohto príbehu

to her neighbors, to her friends, to other people in the community,

susedom, priateľom, iným ľuďom v komunite,

že sa jedného dňa niekoľko z nich spojilo

that eventually a bunch of them got together

a spravili nálepku na nárazník,

and they made a bumper sticker,

which they proudly displayed on their cars, which said,

ktorú hrdo vystavili na svojich autách, ktorá hovorila:

"Yes, I'm from Libby, Montana,

"Áno, som z Libby, v Montane,

and no, I don't have asbestosis."

a nie, nemám azbestídu."

But Gayla didn't stop. She kept doing research.

Ale Gayla neprestala. Pokračovala vo výskume.

The advent of the Internet definitely helped her.

Príchod internetu jej rozhodne pomohol.

She talked to anybody she could.

Rozprávala sa s každým, s kým mohla.

She argued and argued, and finally she struck lucky

Hádala sa a hádala, až napokon ju postretlo šťastie,

when a researcher came through town

keď prechádzal mestom výskumník,

studying the history of mines in the area,

študujúci históriu baní v okolí

and she told him her story, and at first, of course,

a ona mu povedala jej príbeh a najprv, samozrejme,

like everyone, he didn't believe her,

ako každý, jej neveril,

but he went back to Seattle and he did his own research

ale šiel späť do Seattlu a urobil svoj vlastný výskum

a uvedomil si, že má pravdu.

and he realized that she was right.

So now she had an ally.

Takže teraz mala spojenca.

Nevertheless, people still didn't want to know.

A predsa, ľudia stále nechceli vedieť.

They said things like, "Well, if it were really dangerous,

Hovorili veci ako: "Nuž, ak by to ozaj bolo nebezpečné,

someone would have told us."

niekto by nám povedal."

"If that's really why everyone was dying,

"Ak to je naozaj dôvod, prečo každý zomieral,

the doctors would have told us."

doktori by nám povedali."

Some of the guys used to very heavy jobs said,

Niektorí chlapi, zvyknutí na veľmi ťažké práce, povedali:

"I don't want to be a victim.

"Nechcem byť obeťou.

I can't possibly be a victim, and anyway,

Nie je možné, aby som bol obeťou a, akokoľvek,

every industry has its accidents."

každé odvetvie priemyslu má svoje nehody."

But still Gayla went on, and finally she succeeded

Ale Gayla pokračovala a napokon sa jej podarilo

in getting a federal agency to come to town

dostať do mesta federálnu agentúru,

and to screen the inhabitants of the town --

aby spravili prehliadku obyvateľov mesta --

15,000 people -- and what they discovered

15 000 ľudí -- a zistili,

was that the town had a mortality rate

že mesto malo úmrtnosť

80 times higher than anywhere in the United States.

80-krát vyššiu ako kdekoľvek inde v Spojených štátoch.

That was in 2002, and even at that moment,

To bolo v roku 2002 a dokonca aj vtedy

no one raised their hand to say, "Gayla,

nikto nezdvihol ruku a nepovedal: "Gayla,

look in the playground where your grandchildren are playing.

pozri sa na ihrisko, kde sa hrajú tvoji vnuci.

It's lined with vermiculite."

Je lemovaný vermikulitom."

This wasn't ignorance.

Toto nebola ignorancia.

It was willful blindness.

Išlo o úmyselnú slepotu.

Willful blindness is a legal concept which means,

Úmyselná slepota je právnický termín, ktorý znamená,

if there's information that you could know and you should know

že ak existuje informácia, ktorú by ste mohli a mali vedieť,

but you somehow manage not to know,

ale akosi sa vám podarí nevedieť,

the law deems that you're willfully blind.

zákon vás pokladá za úmyselne slepých.

You have chosen not to know.

Zvolili ste si, že nebudete vedieť.

There's a lot of willful blindness around these days.

V dnešných dňoch je veľa úmyselnej slepoty.

You can see willful blindness in banks,

Môžete ju vidieť v bankách,

when thousands of people sold mortgages to people

keď tisícky ľudí predávajú hypotéky ľuďom,

who couldn't afford them.

ktorí si ich nemôžu dovoliť.

You could see them in banks

Mohli by ste ju vidieť v bankách,

when interest rates were manipulated

keď úrokové miery sú manipulované

and everyone around knew what was going on,

a každý naokolo vie, o čo ide,

but everyone studiously ignored it.

ale každý to úzkostlivo ignoruje.

You can see willful blindness in the Catholic Church,

Môžete ju vidieť u katolíckej cirkvi,

where decades of child abuse went ignored.

kde boli ignorované dekády rokov zneužívania detí.

You could see willful blindness

Mohli by ste ju vidieť

in the run-up to the Iraq War.

v rozbehu do irackej vojny.

Willful blindness exists on epic scales like those,

Úmyselná slepota existuje v takých ohromných rozmeroch

and it also exists on very small scales,

a tiež existuje vo veľmi malých rozmeroch,

in people's families, in people's homes and communities,

v rodinách, v domovoch a v komunitách

and particularly in organizations and institutions.

a špeciálne v organizáciách a inštitúciách.

Companies that have been studied for willful blindness

Spoločnostiam, ktoré boli predmetom štúdií na úmyselnú slepotu,

can be asked questions like,

mohla byť položená otázka ako:

"Are there issues at work

"Existujú v práci problémy,

that people are afraid to raise?"

ktoré sa ľudia boja otvárať?"

And when academics have done studies like this

A keď vedci spravili takéto štúdie

of corporations in the United States,

na korporáciách v Spojených štátoch,

what they find is 85 percent of people say yes.

zistili, že 85% ľudí hovorí áno.

Eighty-five percent of people know there's a problem,

85% ľudí vie, že existuje problém,

but they won't say anything.

ale nič nepovedia.

And when I duplicated the research in Europe,

A keď som opakovala výskum v Európe,

asking all the same questions,

pýtajúc sa rovnaké otázky,

I found exactly the same number.

zistila som presne to isté číslo.

Eighty-five percent. That's a lot of silence.

85%. To je veľa ticha.

It's a lot of blindness.

Je to veľa slepoty.

And what's really interesting is that when I go to companies in Switzerland,

A skutočne zaujímavé je, že keď idete do firiem vo Švajčiarsku,

hovoria mi: "Toto je jedinečný švajčiarsky problém."

they tell me, "This is a uniquely Swiss problem."

And when I go to Germany, they say, "Oh yes, this is the German disease."

A keď idem do Nemecka, hovoria: "Och, áno, toto je nemecká choroba."

And when I go to companies in England, they say,

A keď idem do firiem v Anglicku, hovoria:

"Oh, yeah, the British are really bad at this."

"Och, áno, Briti sú v tomto naozaj hrozní."

And the truth is, this is a human problem.

A pravdou je, že je to ľudský problém.

We're all, under certain circumstances, willfully blind.

Všetci sme za istých okolností úmyselne slepí.

What the research shows is that some people are blind

Výskum ukázal, že niektorí sú slepí

out of fear. They're afraid of retaliation.

zo strachu. Boja sa odplaty.

And some people are blind because they think, well,

A niektorí sú slepí, pretože si myslia, že, nuž,

seeing anything is just futile.

čokoľvek vidieť je proste zbytočné.

Nothing's ever going to change.

Nikdy sa nič nezmení.

If we make a protest, if we protest against the Iraq War,

Ak spravíme protest, ak budeme protestovať proti vojne v Iraku,

nothing changes, so why bother?

nič sa nezmení, tak načo sa trápiť?

Better not to see this stuff at all.

Najlepšie je vôbec tieto veci nevidieť.

And the recurrent theme that I encounter all the time

A téma, ktorá sa neustále vracia a s ktorou sa vždy stretávam,

is people say, "Well, you know,

je, že ľudia hovoria: "Veď viete,

the people who do see, they're whistleblowers,

ľudia, ktorí vidia, sú to informátori

and we all know what happens to them."

a všetci vieme, čo sa im stáva."

So there's this profound mythology around whistleblowers

Takže existuje okolo informátorov hlboká mytológia,

which says, first of all, they're all crazy.

ktorá hovorí, že v prvom rade sú všetci šialení.

But what I've found going around the world

Ale čo som zistila pri cestách po svete

and talking to whistleblowers is, actually,

pri rozhovoroch s informátormi, že v skutočnosti

they're very loyal and quite often very conservative people.

sú to veľmi lojálni a dosť často veľmi konzervatívni ľudia.

They're hugely dedicated to the institutions that they work for,

Sú hlboko oddaní inštitúcii, pre ktorú pracujú

and the reason that they speak up,

a dôvod, prečo prehovoria,

the reason they insist on seeing,

dôvod, prečo trvajú na odhalení,

is because they care so much about the institution

je, že im veľmi záleží na inštitúcii

and want to keep it healthy.

a chcú ju udržať zdravú.

And the other thing that people often say

A druhá vec, ktorú ľudia často hovoria

about whistleblowers is, "Well, there's no point,

o informátoroch, je: "Nemá to zmysel,

because you see what happens to them.

pretože vidíte, čo sa s nimi stane.

They are crushed.

Sú rozdrvení.

Nobody would want to go through something like that."

Nikto by si nechcel prejsť niečím takým."

And yet, when I talk to whistleblowers,

A napriek tomu, keď sa rozprávam s informátormi,

the recurrent tone that I hear is pride.

tón, ktorý sa neustále vracia, je hrdosť.

I think of Joe Darby.

Myslím na Joea Darbyho.

We all remember the photographs of Abu Ghraib,

Všetci si pamätáme na fotky Abu Ghraib,

which so shocked the world and showed the kind of war

ktoré tak šokovali svet a ukázali, aký druh vojny

that was being fought in Iraq.

sa vedie v Iraku.

But I wonder who remembers Joe Darby,

Ale rozmýšľam, kto si pamätá na Joea Darbyho,

the very obedient, good soldier

veľmi oddaného, dobrého vojaka,

who found those photographs and handed them in.

ktorý našiel tie fotky a posunul ich.

And he said, "You know, I'm not the kind of guy

A povedal: "Viete, nie som ten typ,

to rat people out, but some things just cross the line.

čo durí ľudí, ale niektoré veci proste prekračujú medze.

Ignorance is bliss, they say,

Nevedomosť je sladká, hovorí sa,

but you can't put up with things like this."

ale nemôžete tolerovať takéto veci."

I talked to Steve Bolsin, a British doctor,

Hovorila som so Steveom Bolsinom, britským doktorom,

who fought for five years to draw attention

ktorý bojoval päť rokov, aby priviedol pozornosť

to a dangerous surgeon who was killing babies.

na nebezpečného chirurga, ktorý zabíjal bábätká.

And I asked him why he did it, and he said,

A spýtala som sa ho, prečo to urobil a on povedal:

"Well, it was really my daughter who prompted me to do it.

"V skutočnosti to bola moja dcéra, ktorá ma primäla konať.

She came up to me one night, and she just said,

Prišla za mnou jednu noc a iba sa spýtala:

'Dad, you can't let the kids die.'"

Oco, nemôžeš nechať tie deti zomierať."

Or I think of Cynthia Thomas,

Alebo myslím na Cynthiu Thomasovú,

a really loyal army daughter and army wife,

skutočne oddanú vojenskú dcéru a vojenskú manželku,

who, as she saw her friends and relations

ktorá keď videla jej priateľov a známych,

coming back from the Iraq War, was so shocked

ako prichádzajú z irackej vojny, bola tak šokovaná

by their mental condition

ich duševným stavom

and the refusal of the military to recognize and acknowledge

a odmietaním armády pripustiť a uznať

post-traumatic stress syndrome

post-traumatický stresový syndróm,

that she set up a cafe in the middle of a military town

že zriadila kaviareň uprostred vojnového mestečka,

to give them legal, psychological and medical assistance.

aby im poskytovala právnu, psychologickú a lekársku asistenciu.

And she said to me, she said, "You know, Margaret,

A povedala mi: "Viete, Margaret,

I always used to say I didn't know what I wanted to be

vždy som hovorievala, že neviem, čím chcem byť,

when I grow up.

keď vyrastiem.

But I've found myself in this cause,

Ale v tomto prípade som sa našla

and I'll never be the same."

a už nikdy nebudem tým istým človekom."

We all enjoy so many freedoms today,

Všetci sa dnes tešíme toľkým právam,

hard-won freedoms:

ťažko vybojovaným právam:

the freedom to write and publish without fear of censorship,

právu písať a uverejňovať bez strachu z cenzúry,

a freedom that wasn't here the last time I came to Hungary;

právu, ktoré tu nebolo, keď som naposledy prišla do Maďarska;

a freedom to vote, which women in particular

právu voliť, za ktoré špeciálne ženy

had to fight so hard for;

museli tak ťažko bojovať;

the freedom for people of different ethnicities and cultures

právu pre ľudí iných etník a kultúr

and sexual orientation to live the way that they want.

a sexuálnej orientácie, aby žili spôsobom, akým chcú.

But freedom doesn't exist if you don't use it,

Ale právo neexistuje, ak ho nepoužijete

and what whistleblowers do,

a to práve informátori robia

and what people like Gayla Benefield do

a to ľudia ako Gayla Benefieldová robia,

is they use the freedom that they have.

že použijú právo, ktoré majú.

And what they're very prepared to do is recognize

A boli pripravení uznať,

that yes, this is going to be an argument,

že, áno, tu bude hádka

and yes I'm going to have a lot of rows

a, áno, budem sa veľa hádať

with my neighbors and my colleagues and my friends,

s mojimi susedmi a kolegami a priateľmi,

but I'm going to become very good at this conflict.

ale stanem sa veľmi dobrou v týchto sporoch.

I'm going to take on the naysayers,

Vyzvem odmietačov,

because they'll make my argument better and stronger.

pretože oni vylepšia a zosilnia moje argumenty.

I can collaborate with my opponents

Môžem spolupracovať s mojimi oponentmi,

to become better at what I do.

aby som sa stala lepšou v tom, čo robím.

These are people of immense persistence,

Toto sú nesmierne vytrvalí ľudia,

incredible patience, and an absolute determination

úžasne trpezliví a s absolútnym odhodlaním

not to be blind and not to be silent.

nebyť slepým a nebyť mlčiacim.

When I went to Libby, Montana,

Keď som šla do Libby, v Montane,

I visited the asbestosis clinic

navštívila som azbestovú kliniku,

that Gayla Benefield brought into being,

ktorú Gayla Benefieldová uviedla do života,

a place where at first some of the people

miesto, kde najprv niektorí ľudia,

who wanted help and needed medical attention

ktorí chceli pomoc a potrebovali lekársku starostlivosť,

went in the back door

vchádzali zadnými dverami,

because they didn't want to acknowledge

pretože nechceli uznať,

that she'd been right.

že mala pravdu.

I sat in a diner, and I watched

Sedela som v jedálni a sledovala,

as trucks drove up and down the highway,

ako kamióny prichádzali a odchádzali po diaľnici,

carting away the earth out of gardens

odvážali zem zo záhrad

and replacing it with fresh, uncontaminated soil.

a nahrádzali ju čerstvou, nekontaminovanou pôdou.

I took my 12-year-old daughter with me,

Vzala som so sebou moju 12-ročnú dcéru,

because I really wanted her to meet Gayla.

pretože som naozaj chcela, aby sa stretla s Gaylou.

And she said, "Why? What's the big deal?"

A povedala: "Prečo? Čo je na tom také?"

I said, "She's not a movie star,

Ja som povedala: "Nie je to filmová hviezda

and she's not a celebrity, and she's not an expert,

a nie je to celebrita a nie je to expertka

and Gayla's the first person who'd say

a Gayla by bola prvým človekom, ktorý by povedal,

she's not a saint.

že nie je sväticou.

The really important thing about Gayla

Skutočne dôležitou vecou na Gayle je,

is she is ordinary.

že je obyčajná.

She's like you, and she's like me.

Je ako vy a je ako ja.

She had freedom, and she was ready to use it."

Mala právo a bola pripravená ho použiť.

Thank you very much.

Ďakujem veľmi pekne.

(Applause)

(potlesk)