Dave Meslin: The antidote to apathy

Translator: Martin Bozic Reviewer: Špela Reher

How often do we hear that people just don't care?

Kako pogosto slišimo,

da ljudem preprosto ni mar?

Kolikokrat so vam že povedali, da prava,

How many times have you been told

that real, substantial change isn't possible

bistvena sprememba ni mogoča,

ker je večina ljudi preveč sebičnih,

because most people are too selfish,

preveč neumnih ali lenih,

too stupid or too lazy

da bi skušali kaj spremeniti v svoji skupnosti?

to try to make a difference in their community?

I propose to you today that apathy as we think we know it

Danes vam hočem pokazati, da apatija, kot mislimo, da jo poznamo

doesn't actually exist;

pravzaprav ne obstaja,

but rather, that people do care,

ampak da ljudem ni vseeno,

but that we live in a world that actively discourages engagement

vendar živimo v svetu,

ki aktivno jemlje voljo do vključevanja

by constantly putting obstacles and barriers in our way.

s stalnim postavljanjem ovir in preprek na našo pot.

I'll give you some examples of what I mean.

Pokazal vam bom nekaj primerov kaj mislim s tem.

Začnimo z mestno hišo.

Let's start with city hall.

Ste že videli kaj takega?

You ever see one of these before?

To je časopisni oglas.

This is a newspaper ad.

It's a notice of a zoning application change for a new office building

To je obvestilo o prostorskem planiranju nove poslovne zgradbe,

da soseska ve, kaj se dogaja.

so the neighborhood knows what's happening.

Kot lahko vidite, jo je nemogoče prebrati.

As you can see, it's impossible to read.

Potrebno se je prebiti čez polovico,

You need to get halfway down

to even find out which address they're talking about,

da sploh izvemo o katerem naslovu govorijo

in še nižje, v drobni pisavi,

and then further down, in tiny 10-point font,

da izvemo, kako se lahko sploh vključimo.

to find out how to actually get involved.

Imagine if the private sector advertised in the same way --

Predstavljajte si, če bi zasebni sektor oglaševal na enak način -

if Nike wanted to sell a pair of shoes --

če bi Nike hotel prodati par čevljev

(Laughter)

And put an ad in the paper like that.

in dal v časopis takle oglas.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

Now, that would never happen.

To se seveda ne bi nikoli zgodilo.

Takega oglasa ne boste nikoli videli,

You'll never see an ad like that,

ker Nike resnično hoče, da bi kupili njihove čevlje.

because Nike actually wants you to buy their shoes,

whereas the city of Toronto clearly doesn't want you involved

Medtem ko mestna uprava Toronta

zelo jasno noče, da bi se vključevali v načrtovalni proces,

with the planning process,

otherwise their ads would look something like this,

saj bi njihovi oglasi izgledali nekako takole -

z jasno razmeščenimi podatki.

with all the information laid out clearly.

Dokler bo mestna uprava oglaševala na tak način,

As long as the city's putting out notices like this

da bi skušali pripraviti ljudi k vključevanju,

to try to get people engaged,

potem se seveda ljudje ne bodo vključevali.

then of course people aren't going to be engaged.

A to ni apatija;

But that's not apathy; that's intentional exclusion.

to je namerno izključevanje.

Public space.

Javni prostor.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

The manner in which we mistreat our public spaces

Način, kako slabo ravnamo

z našimi javnimi prostori, je velika ovira

is a huge obstacle towards any type of progressive political change,

za kakršen koli tip progresivne politične spremembe.

because we've essentially put a price tag on freedom of expression.

Zato, ker smo v bistvu postavili ceno na svobodo izražanja.

Whoever has the most money gets the loudest voice,

Tisti, ki ima največ denarja, ima najmočnejši glas,

dominating the visual and mental environment.

ki gospoduje vidnemu in miselnemu okolju.

The problem with this model is there are some amazing messages

Težava s tem modelom je v tem,

da obstajajo neverjetna sporočila, ki jih je potrebno povedati,

that need to be said, that aren't profitable to say.

a niso dobičkonosna.

So you're never going to see them on a billboard.

Zato jih ne boste nikoli videli na jumbo plakatu.

Mediji igrajo pomembno vlogo

The media plays an important role

in developing our relationship with political change,

pri razvoju našega odnosa do političnih sprememb,

mainly by ignoring politics and focusing on celebrities and scandals,

v glavnem s tem, da ignorirajo politiko

in se osredotočajo na slavne osebe in škandale.

A tudi takrat, ko govorijo o pomembnih političnih zadevah,

but even when they do talk about important political issues,

they do it in a way that I feel discourages engagement.

to storijo na način, ki po mojem jemlje voljo do vključevanja.

I'll give you an example.

Na primer: revija Now iz prejšnjega tedna -

The "Now" magazine from last week: progressive, downtown weekly in Toronto.

progresiven, urbani tednik iz Toronta.

To je zgodba iz naslovnice.

This is the cover story.

It's an article about a theater performance,

To je prispevek o gledališki predstavi,

and it starts with basic information about where it is,

ki se začne z osnovnimi podatki, kje se dogaja,

in case you actually want to go and see it after you've read the article --

če bi si jo slučajno radi pogledali potem, ko ste prebrali prispevek -

where, the time, the website.

kje, čas, spletna stran.

Same with this -- it's a movie review.

Enako s tem - recenzija filma,

An art review.

recenzija umetniškega dela,

A book review -- where the reading is in case you want to go.

recenzija knjige - kje se nahaja, če bi slučajno radi šli ponjo.

A restaurant -- you might not want to just read about it,

Restavracija - mogoče ne bi radi samo brali o nji,

mogoče bi jo radi obiskali.

maybe you want to go there.

So they tell you where it is, the prices, the address, the phone number, etc.

Tako vam povedo, kje je, kakšne so cene,

naslov, telefonska številka, itd ...

Then you get to their political articles.

Potem pridete do njihovih političnih člankov.

Here's a great article about an important election race that's happening.

Tu je odličen članek o pomembni predvolilni tekmi, ki ravnokar poteka.

Govori o kandidatih - zelo dobro napisano -

It talks about the candidates, written very well,

vendar brez informacij, brez možnosti nadaljevanja,

but no information, no follow-up, no websites for the campaigns,

brez spletnih strani kampanj,

no information about when the debates are, where the campaign offices are.

brez podatkov, kje te debate potekajo ali kje so pisarne volilnih štabov.

Tu je še en dober članek

Here's another good article,

about a new campaign opposing privatization of transit,

o novi iniciativi, ki nasprotuje privatizaciji javnega prevoza

without any contact information for the campaign.

brez kakršnekoli informacije o sami iniciativi.

The message seems to be

Kot kaže je sporočilo to,

that the readers are most likely to want to eat, maybe read a book,

da bralci najverjetneje hočejo jesti,

mogoče prebrati knjigo ali pogledati film, vendar nočejo biti vključeni v svojo skupnost.

maybe see a movie, but not be engaged in their community.

In mogoče si mislite, da je to nekaj majhnega,

You might think this is a small thing, but I think it's important,

vendar mislim, da je to pomembno, ker nastavi podton

because it sets a tone

and it reinforces the dangerous idea that politics is a spectator sport.

in ojača nevarno idejo,

da je politika šport za gledalce.

Heroes: How do we view leadership?

Junaki: kako gledamo na vodenje?

Look at these 10 movies. What do they have in common?

Poglejte teh deset filmov. Kaj imajo skupnega?

Anyone?

Kdorkoli?

Vsi imajo junake, ki so bili izbrani.

They all have heroes who were chosen.

Nekdo je prišel k njim in rekel: "Bil si izbran.

Someone came up to them and said, "You're the chosen one.

Obstaja prerokba. Rešiti moraš svet."

There's a prophecy. You have to save the world."

In potem se ta odpravi in reši svet, ker so mu tako ukazali,

And then they go off and save the world because they've been told to,

še z nekaj ljudmi, ki mu sledijo.

with a few people tagging along.

To mi pomaga razumeti

This helps me understand

why a lot of people have trouble seeing themselves as leaders --

zakaj se veliko ljudi ne vidi samih sebe kot vodje.

because it sends all the wrong messages about what leadership is about.

Zato, ker pošlje prav vsa napačna sporočila o tem kaj je vodenje.

Junaško prizadevanje je skupinsko prizadevanje,

A heroic effort is a collective effort,

prvič.

number one.

Drugič, je nepopolno; ni zelo blesteče;

Number two, it's imperfect; it's not very glamorous,

in se ne nenadoma začne in nenadoma konča.

and doesn't suddenly start and suddenly end.

Je stalen proces, ki traja celo naše življenje.

It's an ongoing process your whole life.

A kar je najbolj pomembno, je prostovoljno.

But most importantly, it's voluntary.

Je prostovoljno.

It's voluntary.

Dokler bomo učili svoje otroke,

As long as we're teaching our kids

that heroism starts when someone scratches a mark on your forehead,

da se junaštvo začne s tem, ko ti nekdo nariše znamenje na čelo,

or someone tells you you're part of a prophecy,

ali ti nekdo pove, da si del prerokbe,

bodo zgrešili najbolj pomembno značilnost vodenja,

they're missing the most important characteristic of leadership,

ki je ta, da pride iz nas samih.

which is that it comes from within.

It's about following your own dreams, uninvited,

Gre se za sledenje svojih lastnih sanj -

nepovabljen, nepovabljen -

and then working with others to make those dreams come true.

in potem delati z drugimi, da se te sanje uresničijo.

Political parties: oh, boy.

Politične stranke: ojoj.

Politične stranke bi lahko in bi morale biti

Political parties could and should be one of the basic entry points

ena od osnovnih vstopnih točk

for people to get engaged in politics.

za ljudi, da se vključijo v politiko.

Instead, they've become, sadly,

Namesto tega, so postale, na žalost,

brez navdiha in neustvarjalne organizacije,

uninspiring and uncreative organizations

that rely so heavily on market research and polling and focus groups

ki se tako trdno držijo tržnih raziskav

in anketiranja in ciljnih skupin,

that they end up all saying the same thing,

da na koncu vse govorijo iste stvari,

pretty much regurgitating back to us what we already want to hear

izbljuvajoč nazaj bolj ali manj to, kar že tako ali tako hočemo slišati

na račun izpostavljanja drznih in ustvarjalnih idej.

at the expense of putting forward bold and creative ideas.

And people can smell that, and it feeds cynicism.

In ljudje to zavohajo in to hrani cinizem.

(Applause)

(aplavz)

Charitable status.

Status dobrodelnosti:

Groups who have charitable status in Canada aren't allowed to do advocacy.

Skupinam, ki imajo v Kanadi status dobrodelnosti, ni dovoljeno zagovarjati svojih stališč.

To je zelo velika težava in velika ovira za spremembe,

This is a huge problem and a huge obstacle to change,

because it means that some of the most passionate and informed voices

ker to pomeni, da so nekateri najbolj strastni in poučeni glasovi

popolnoma utišani, še posebej med volitvami.

are completely silenced, especially during election time.

Kar nas privede do zadnje točke,

Which leads us to the last one, which is: our elections.

naše volitve.

As you may have noticed,

Kot ste najbrž že opazili, so naše volitve v Kanadi "kar neki".

our elections in Canada are a complete joke.

Uporabljamo zastarele sisteme,

We use out-of-date systems

that are unfair and create random results.

ki so nepravični in ustvarjajo naključne rezultate.

Kanado trenutno vodi stranka,

Canada's currently led by a party

that most Canadians didn't actually want.

ki je večina Kanadčanov sploh ni hotela.

How can we honestly and genuinely encourage more people to vote

Kako lahko pošteno in pristno spodbudimo več ljudi k glasovanju,

when votes don't count in Canada?

če glasovi v Kanadi pravzaprav nič ne štejejo?

Ko vse to seštejemo skupaj,

You add all this up together, and of course people are apathetic.

je jasno, da so ljudje apatični.

It's like trying to run into a brick wall.

Kot da bi skušal iti z glavo skozi zid.

Now, I'm not trying to be negative by throwing all these obstacles out

Nočem ostati negativen

z izpostavljanjem vseh teh ovir in razlagati kaj vse nam je napoti.

and explaining what's in our way.

Prav nasprotno: mislim, da so ljudje neverjetni in pametni

Quite the opposite --

I actually think people are amazing and smart and that they do care,

in da jim ni vseeno.

Vendar, kot sem že rekel, živimo v tem okolju

but that, as I said, we live in this environment

where all these obstacles are being put in our way.

kjer se vse te ovire postavljajo v napoto.

As long as we believe that people, our own neighbors,

Dokler bomo verjeli, da so ljudje, naši lastni sosedi,

sebični, neumni ali leni,

are selfish, stupid or lazy,

then there's no hope.

potem ni upanja.

Kljub temu lahko vse te stvari, ki sem jih omenil, spremenimo.

But we can change all those things I mentioned.

Mestno hišo lahko odpremo.

We can open up city hall.

We can reform our electoral systems.

Naše volilne sisteme lahko preoblikujemo.

We can democratize our public spaces.

Naše javne prostore lahko demokratiziramo.

My main message is:

Moje glavno sporočilo je da,

if we can redefine apathy,

če lahko redefiniramo apatijo,

not as some kind of internal syndrome,

ne kot neko vrsto internega sindroma,

but as a complex web of cultural barriers that reinforces disengagement,

ampak kot kompleksno mrežo kulturnih ovir,

ki ojača izključevanje,

and if we can clearly define, clearly identify what those obstacles are,

in če lahko jasno definiramo, lahko jasno prepoznamo,

kaj so te ovire,

in če lahko nato skupaj delamo na tem, da te ovire odstranimo,

and then if we can work together collectively to dismantle those obstacles,

potem je možno karkoli.

then anything is possible.

Hvala.

Thank you.

(Applause)

(aplavz)