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

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Alban Nako Reviewer: Helena Bedalli

Once upon a time,

Njehere e nje kohe,

there was a place called Lesterland.

ishte nje vend i quajtur "Lesterland".

Now Lesterland looks a lot like the United States.

Tani "Lesterland" duket si Shtetet e Bashkuara.

Like the United States, it has about 311 million people,

Si dhe Shtetet e Bashkuara, ka rreth 311 milion njerez,

and of that 311 million people,

dhe prej atyre 311 milion njerezve,

it turns out 144,000 are called Lester.

na del qe 144,000 quhen Lester.

If Matt's in the audience,

Nese Matt eshte ne publik,

I just borrowed that, I'll return it in a second,

thjesht e morra hua, do ta kthej ne nje sekond,

this character from your series.

kete karakter nga serite e tua.

So 144,000 are called Lester,

Pra 144,000 quhen Lester,

which means about .05 percent is named Lester.

qe do te thote qe rreth 0.05% quhet Lester.

Now, Lesters in Lesterland have this extraordinary power.

Tani, Lester-at ne "Lesterland" kane kete fuqine e jshtezakonshme.

There are two elections every election cycle in Lesterland.

Ka dy zgjedhje cdo cikel zgjedhjesh ne "Lasterland".

One is called the general election.

Njera quhet zgjedhjet e pergjithshme.

The other is called the Lester election.

Tjetra quhet " Zgjedhjet Lester".

And in the general election, it's the citizens who get to vote,

Dhe ne zgjedhjet e pergjithshme, jane qytetaret ate te cilet votojne,

but in the Lester election, it's the Lesters who get to vote.

por ne "Zgjedhjet Lester", jane Lester-at te cilet votojne.

And here's the trick.

Dhe ketu eshte hileja.

In order to run in the general election,

Ne menyre qe te kandidojne per zgjedhjet e pergjithshme,

you must do extremely well

ju duhet te dilni jashtezakonisht mire

in the Lester election.

ne "Zgjedhjet Lester".

You don't necessarily have to win, but you must do extremely well.

Nuk duhet domosdoshmerisht te fitoni, por ju duhet te dilni jashtezakonisht mire.

Now, what can we say about democracy in Lesterland?

Tani, cfare mund te themi ne rreth demokracise ne "Lesterland".

What we can say, number one,

Cfare ne mund te themi, numer nje,

as the Supreme Court said in Citizens United,

sic tha dhe Gjykata e Larte ne Qytetaret e Bashkuar,

that people have the ultimate influence over elected officials,

qe populli ka influencen perfundimtare mbi zyrtaret e zgjedhur,

because, after all, there is a general election,

sepse, ne fund te fundit, jane zgjedhje te pergjithshme,

but only after the Lesters have had their way

por vetem pasi Lester-at te kene pasur mundesine

with the candidates who wish to run in the general election.

per te caktuar se cili kanditat do te kandidoje per zgjedhjet e pergjithshme.

And number two, obviously, this dependence upon the Lesters

Dhe numri dy, natyrisht, kjo varesi prej Lester-ve

is going to produce a subtle, understated,

do te prodhoje nje delikatese, te kuptueshme,

we could say camouflaged, bending

ne mund te themi te fshehte, te nenshtruar

to keep the Lesters happy.

per te mbajtur Lester-at te lumtur.

Okay, so we have a democracy, no doubt,

Ne rregull, keshtu qe ne kemi nje demokraci, pa dyshim,

but it's dependent upon the Lesters

por qe varet tek Lester-at

and dependent upon the people.

dhe qe varet tek populli.

It has competing dependencies,

Ajo ka nje varesi te konkurueshme,

we could say conflicting dependencies,

ne mund te themi nje varesi konfliktuale,

depending upon who the Lesters are.

ne varesi se kush jane Lester-at.

Okay. That's Lesterland.

Ne rregull, Ky eshte "Lesterland".

Now there are three things I want you to see now that I've described Lesterland.

Tani jane tre gjera qe une dua qe ju te shikoni tani qe ju kam pershkruar Lesterland.

Number one, the United States is Lesterland.

Numeri nje, Shtetet e Bashkuara eshte "Lesterland".

The United States is Lesterland.

Shtetet e Bashkuara eshte "Lesterland".

The United States also looks like this, also has two elections,

Shtetet e Bashkuara gjithashtu ngjan si kjo, gjithashtu ka dy zgjedhje,

one we called the general election,

nje qe ne e quajme zgjedhjet e pergjithshme,

the second we should call the money election.

te dyten ne duhet ta quajme "Zgjedhjet e para-se".

In the general election, it's the citizens who get to vote,

Ne zgjedhjet e pergjithshme, jane qytetaret te cilet duhet te votojne,

if you're over 18, in some states if you have an ID.

nese je mbi 18 vjec, ne disa shtete nese ke nje ID (karte identiteti).

In the money election, it's the funders who get to vote,

Ne zgjedhjet e parase, jane financuesit ata te cilet votojne,

the funders who get to vote, and just like in Lesterland,

financuesit te cilet votojne, dhe po ashtu si ne "Lesterland",

the trick is, to run in the general election,

hileja eshte, per te kandiduar ne zgjedhjet e pergjithshme,

you must do extremely well in the money election.

ti duhet tja dalesh jashtezakonisht mire ne zgjedhjet e parase.

You don't necessarily have to win. There is Jerry Brown.

Jo domosdoshmerisht duhet te fitosh. Ja ku eshte Jerry Brown.

But you must do extremely well.

Por duhet tja dalesh jashtezakonisht mire.

And here's the key: There are just as few relevant funders

Dhe ky eshte celsi: Ka vetem pak financues te rendesishem

in USA-land as there are Lesters in Lesterland.

ne token Amerikane sic jane Lester-at ne "Lesterland".

Now you say, really?

Tani ju po thoni, me te vertete?

Really .05 percent?

Me te vertete 0.05 perqind?

Well, here are the numbers from 2010:

Mire, keto jane numrat e 2010:

.26 percent of America

0.26 perqind e Amerikes

gave 200 dollars or more to any federal candidate,

dha 200 dollar ose me shume per cdo kandidat federal,

.05 percent gave the maximum amount to any federal candidate,

0.05 perqind dha maksimumin e te ardhurave per cdo kandidat federal,

.01 percent -- the one percent of the one percent --

0.01 perqind- nje perqindeshi i po atij nje perqindeshi-

gave 10,000 dollars or more to federal candidates,

dha 10.000 dollar ose me shume tek kandidatet federal,

and in this election cycle, my favorite statistic

dhe ne kete cikel zgjedhjesh, statistika ime e preferuar

is .000042 percent

eshte 0.000042 perqindeshi

— for those of you doing the numbers, you know that's 132 Americans —

-per ata qe kane bere llogaritjet, ju e dini qe jane vec 132 Amerikan-

gave 60 percent of the Super PAC money spent

qe dha 60% e "SUPER PAKOS" te parave te shpenzuara

in the cycle we have just seen ending.

ne ciklin qe sapo i pame fundin.

So I'm just a lawyer, I look at this range of numbers,

Keshtu une jam thjesh nje jurist, shkoj kete varg numrash,

and I say it's fair for me to say

dhe them qe eshte e drejte per mua te them

it's .05 percent who are our relevant funders in America.

se jane 0.05 perqindeshi ata qe jane financuesit tane te rendesishem ne Amerike.

In this sense, the funders are our Lesters.

Ne kete kuptim, financuesit jane Lester-at tane.

Now, what can we say about this democracy in USA-land?

Tani, cfare mund te themi ne rreth demokracis ne token Amerikane.

Well, as the Supreme Court said in Citizens United,

Mire, ashtu sic u shpreh Gjykat e larte ne Qytetaret e Bashkuar,

we could say, of course the people have the ultimate influence

ne mund te themi, qe natyrisht njerzit kane ndikimin perfundimtare

over the elected officials. We have a general election,

mbi zyrtaret e zgjedhur. Ne kemi zgjedhje te pergjithshme,

but only after the funders have had their way

por vetem pasi financuesit kane perzgjedhur

with the candidates who wish to run in that general election.

se cilet kanditate do te kandidojne per zgjedhjet e pergjithshme.

And number two, obviously,

Dhe numri dy, natyrisht

this dependence upon the funders

kjo varesi prej financuesve

produces a subtle, understated, camouflaged bending

prodhon nje nenshtrim delikat, te kuptueshem e te fshehte

to keep the funders happy.

per te mbajtur financuesit e lumtur.

Candidates for Congress and members of Congress

Kandidatet per Kongres dhe anetaret e Kongresit

spend between 30 and 70 percent of their time

harxhojne 30 deri ne 70 % te kohes se tyre

raising money to get back to Congress

per te mbledhur para qe te rikthehen perseri ne Kongres

or to get their party back into power,

ose qe cojne partine e tyre perseri ne pushtet,

and the question we need to ask is, what does it do to them,

dhe pyetja qe ne duam te bejme eshte, cfare u ben atyre,

these humans, as they spend their time

ketyre humaneve, nderkohe qe ata harxhojne kohen e tyre

behind the telephone, calling people they've never met,

mbrapa telefonave, duke telefonuar njerez qe ata kurre nuk kane takuar,

but calling the tiniest slice of the one percent?

por duke telefonuar ate pjese te vogel te nje perqindeshit?

As anyone would, as they do this,

Si cdokush, sic e bejne kete,

they develop a sixth sense, a constant awareness

ata zhvillojne nje shqise te gjashte, nje ndergjegje konstante

about how what they do might affect their ability to raise money.

per cka mund te ndikoje aftesine e tyre per te mbledhur para.

They become, in the words of "The X-Files,"

Ata behen, sipas fjaleve te " The X-Files",

shape-shifters, as they constantly adjust their views

forme- ndryshues (Shape-Shifter'), si ata vazhdimisht ndryshojne pikepamjet e tyre

in light of what they know will help them to raise money,

ne driten e asaj qe ata dine qe mund ti ndihmoje per mbledhur para,

not on issues one to 10,

jo nje ceshtje nga njeshi te 10,

but on issues 11 to 1,000.

por nje ceshjet nga 11 te 1000.

Leslie Byrne, a Democrat from Virginia,

Leslie Byrne, nje Demokrate nga Virginia,

describes that when she went to Congress,

pershkruan se kur ajo vajti ne Kongres,

she was told by a colleague, "Always lean to the green."

i'u tha pre nje kolege, " Gjithmone ano nga e gjelberta".

Then to clarify, she went on,

Dhe per ta sqaruar, ajo vazhdoi,

"He was not an environmentalist." (Laughter)

"Ai nuk ishte nje ambjentalist", ( Te qeshura)

So here too we have a democracy,

Keshtu qe edhe ketu kemi demokraci,

a democracy dependent upon the funders

nje demokraci e cila varet prej financuesve

and dependent upon the people,

dhe qe varet nga populli,

competing dependencies,

varesi konkurruese,

possibly conflicting dependencies

mundesisht varesi konfliktuale

depending upon who the funders are.

ne varesi se kush jane financuesit.

Okay, the United States is Lesterland, point number one.

Ne rregull, Shtetet e Bashkuara eshte "Lesterland", pika numer nje.

Here's point number two.

Ja dhe pika numer dy.

The United States is worse than Lesterland,

Shtetet e Bashkuara jane me keq se "Lesterland",

worse than Lesterland because you can imagine in Lesterland

me keq se ne "Lesterland" sepse mund te imagjinoni qe ne "Lesterland"

if we Lesters got a letter from the government that said,

nese ne Lester-at marrim nje leter nga qeveria qe thote,

"Hey, you get to pick who gets to run in the general election,"

"Hej, ti duhet te perzgjedhesh se cili do te kandidoj ne zgjedhjet e pergjithshme,"

we would think maybe of a kind of aristocracy of Lesters.

ne do te mendonim ndoshta per nje tip aristokratik te Lester-ave.

You know, there are Lesters from every part of social society.

Ju e dini, ka Lester-a nga cdo pjese e shoqerise civile.

There are rich Lesters, poor Lesters, black Lesters, white Lesters,

Ka Lester-a te pasur, Lester-a te varfer, Lester-a te zinj, Lester-a te bardhe,

not many women Lesters, but put that to the side for one second.

jo shume femra Lester, por le ta leme menjane per nje sekond.

We have Lesters from everywhere. We could think,

Ne kemi Lester-a nga cdo ane. Ne mund te mendojme,

"What could we do to make Lesterland better?"

" Cfare mund te bejme qe ta bejme "Lesterland" me te mire?"

It's at least possible the Lesters would act for the good of Lesterland.

Me e pakta e mundur eshte qe Lester-at do te veprojne per te miren e "Lesterland".

But in our land, in this land, in USA-land,

Por ne vendin tone, ne kete vend, ne vendin Amerikan,

there are certainly some sweet Lesters out there,

me siguri ka disa Lester-a te mire atje jashte,

many of them in this room here today,

shume prej tyre ne kete dhome ketu sot,

but the vast majority of Lesters act for the Lesters,

por shumica e Lester-ave veprojne per Lester-at,

because the shifting coalitions that are comprising the .05 percent

sepse ndryshimet e koalicioneve qe perfshijne 0.05 perqindeshin

are not comprising it for the public interest.

nuk perfshijne interesin publik.

It's for their private interest. In this sense, the USA is worse than Lesterland.

Eshte per interesin e tyre privat. Ne kete kuptim, SHBA eshte me keq sesa "Lesterland".

And finally, point number three:

Dhe se fundi, pika numer tre:

Whatever one wants to say about Lesterland,

Cfaredo lloj gjeje qe cdokush do te doje te thoje per "Lesterland",

against the background of its history, its traditions,

kunder sfondit te historise se tij, tradites,

in our land, in USA-land, Lesterland is a corruption,

ne token tone, ne token Amerikane, "Lesterland" eshte nje korrupsion,

a corruption.

nje korrupsion.

Now, by corruption I don't mean brown paper bag cash

Tani, me korrupsion nuk kuptoj qesen kafe te letres me para

secreted among members of Congress.

shperndare fshehtasi ndermjet anetareve te Kongresit.

I don't mean Rod Blagojevich sense of corruption.

Nuk kuptoj sensin e korrupsionit te Rod Blagojevich-it.

I don't mean any criminal act.

Nuk kuptoj asnje akt kriminal.

The corruption I'm talking about is perfectly legal.

Korrupsioni per te cilin po flas eshte krejtesisht i ligjshem,

It's a corruption relative to the framers' baseline for this republic.

Eshte nje korrupsion i afert me ate te vijez baze te hartuesve te kesaj republike.

The framers gave us what they called a republic,

Themeluesit na dhane ate qe ata quanin Republike,

but by a republic they meant a representative democracy,

por me republike ata kuptonin demokraci perfaqesuese,

and by a representative democracy, they meant a government,

dhe me demokraci perfaqesuese, ata kuptonin nje qeveri,

as Madison put it in Federalist 52, that would have a branch

sic Madison vendosi ne Federate 52-in, ajo do te kishte nje dege

that would be dependent upon the people alone.

qe do te varej nga njerzit vetem.

So here's the model of government.

Keshtu qe ja ku eshte modeli i qeverisjes.

They have the people and the government

Ata kishin njerzit dhe qeverine

with this exclusive dependency,

me varesine ekskluzive,

but the problem here is that Congress has evolved a different dependence,

por problemi ketu eshte qe Kongresi ka evoluar ne nje varesi tjeter,

no longer a dependence upon the people alone,

prej shume kohesh nuk eshte me nje varesi nga njerezit vetem,

increasingly a dependence upon the funders.

duke rritur nje varesi ndaj financuesve.

Now this is a dependence too,

Tani kjo eshte nje varesi gjithashtu,

but it's different and conflicting from a dependence upon the people alone

por qe eshte e ndryshme dhe konfliktuale nga varesia e vetme e njerzeve

so long as the funders are not the people.

per sa kohe qe financuesit nuk jane njerzit.

This is a corruption.

Ky eshte korrupsion.

Now, there's good news and bad news about this corruption.

Tani, ka nje lajm te mire dhe nje te keq per sa i perket ketij korrupsioni.

One bit of good news is that it's bipartisan,

Nje grime e lajmit te mire eshte qe eshte bi-partiak,

equal-opportunity corruption.

mundesi te barabarta korrupsioni.

It blocks the left on a whole range of issues that we on the left really care about.

Bllokon te majtet per nje varietet ceshtjesh per te cilat ne te majtet kemi interes te vecante.

It blocks the right too, as it makes

Bllokon edhe te djathten gjithashtu, duke i bere

principled arguments of the right increasingly impossible.

argumentat parimore te se djathes gjithnje e me te pamundur.

So the right wants smaller government.

Keshtu te djathtet duan nje qeveri sa me te vogel.

When Al Gore was Vice President, his team had an idea

Kur Al Gore ishte Zevendes President, ekipi i tij kishte nje ide

for deregulating a significant portion of the telecommunications industry.

per te shkrire nje pjese te konsiderueshme te industrise se telekomunikacionit.

The chief policy man took this idea to Capitol Hill,

Burri i politikes e coi kete ide ne "Capitol Hill",

and as he reported back to me,

dhe kur ai me raportoi perseri mua,

the response was, "Hell no!

pergjigja ishte, " Dreqin JO!"

If we deregulate these guys,

Nese i shkrijme keta tipat,

how are we going to raise money from them?"

si do te mund te mbledhim para prej tyre?"

This is a system that's designed to save the status quo,

Ky eshte nje sistem i projektuar per te ruajtur "Status-kuo",

including the status quo of big and invasive government.

perfshire dhe status kuo-ne e nje qeverie te madhe dhe pushtuese.

It works against the left and the right,

Punon kunder te majteve dhe te djathteve,

and that, you might say, is good news.

dhe kjo gje, mund te thoni, eshte nje lajm i mire.

But here's the bad news.

Por ja ku vjen lajmi keq.

It's a pathological, democracy-destroying corruption,

Eshte nje demokraci patologjike, shkaterrimtare e korruptuar,

because in any system

sepse ne cdo sistem

where the members are dependent upon

ku anetaret jane te varur nga

the tiniest fraction of us for their election,

fraksioni me i vogel i tyre per zgjedhjet e tyre,

that means the tiniest number of us,

kjo do te thote qe numri me i vogel prej nesh,

the tiniest, tiniest number of us,

me i vogli, me i vogli numer prej nesh,

can block reform.

mund te bllokoje reformat.

I know that should have been, like, a rock or something.

E di qe duhej te kishte qene nje gur ose dicka tjeter.

I can only find cheese. I'm sorry. So there it is.

Munda vetem te gjej djath. Me falni. Keshtu qe ja ku eshte.

Block reform.

Bllokon reformat.

Because there is an economy here, an economy of influence,

Sepse ka nje ekonomi ketu, nje ekonomi te ndikuar,

an economy with lobbyists at the center

nje ekonomi me lobiste ne qender

which feeds on polarization.

te cilet ushqejne polaritetet.

It feeds on dysfunction.

Ushqejne mosfunksionimin.

The worse that it is for us,

Sa me keq qe te jete per ne,

the better that it is for this fundraising.

aq me mire eshte per mbledhjen e parave.

Henry David Thoreau: "There are a thousand hacking

Henry David Thoreau: " Ka me mijra pirateri

at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root."

tek deget e se keqes tek e cila po sulmon rrenjen."

This is the root.

Kjo eshte rrenja.

Okay, now, every single one of you knows this.

Ne rregull, tani, cdo njeri prej jush tani e di kete.

You couldn't be here if you didn't know this, yet you ignore it.

Ju nuk mund te ishit ketu nese nuk do ta dinit kete, pavarsisht se ju e injoruat ate.

You ignore it. This is an impossible problem.

Ju e injoruat ate. Ky eshte nje problem i pamundur.

You focus on the possible problems,

Ju fokusoheni ne problemet e mundshme,

like eradicating polio from the world,

si zhukjen e poliomelitit nga bota,

or taking an image of every single street across the globe,

ose duke bere nga nje foto cdo rruge rreth e rrotull globit,

or building the first real universal translator,

ose te ndertoni perkthyesin e pare te vertete universal,

or building a fusion factory in your garage.

ose te ndertoni nje fabrike berthamore ne garazhin tuaj.

These are the manageable problems, so you ignore —

Keto jane problemet qe mund te menaxhohen, keshtu qe ju i injoroni.

(Laughter) (Applause) —

(Te qeshura) (Duartrokitje)

so you ignore this corruption.

keshtu ju e injoroni kete korrupsion.

But we cannot ignore this corruption anymore.

Por ne nuk mund te injorojme me kete korrupsion.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

We need a government that works.

Ne duam nje qeveri qe funksionon.

And not works for the left or the right,

Dhe jo qe punon per te majten ose per te djathten,

but works for the left and the right,

por qe punon per te majten dhe te djathten,

the citizens of the left and right,

qyetaret e majte dhe te djathte,

because there is no sensible reform possible

sepse nuk ka asnje reforme te mundeshme

until we end this corruption.

nese ne nuk i japim fund ketij korrupsioni.

So I want you to take hold, to grab the issue you care the most about.

Keshtu qe dua qe ju te merrni, te rrembeni nje ceshtje qe ju intereson me shume.

Climate change is mine, but it might be financial reform

Ndryshimet klimaterike eshte e imja, por mund te jete reforma financiare

or a simpler tax system or inequality.

ose nje sistem taksash me te thjeshta ose pabarazia.

Grab that issue, sit it down in front of you,

Merre kete ceshtje, vendose perpara teje,

look straight in its eyes, and tell it there is no Christmas this year.

shikoje drejt e ne sy dhe thuaji qe nuk ka Krishlindje kete vit.

There will never be a Christmas.

Nuk do te kete me kurre Krishlindje.

We will never get your issue solved

Ne nuk do te zgjidhim kurre ceshtjen tuaj

until we fix this issue first.

deri sa ne te rregullojme kete ceshtje ne fillim.

So it's not that mine is the most important issue. It's not.

Kesisoj jo se ceshtja ime eshte me e rendesishmja, Nuk eshte keshtu.

Yours is the most important issue, but mine is the first issue,

E juaja eshte ceshtja me e rendesishme, por e imja eshte e para,

the issue we have to solve before we get to fix

ceshtja qe ne duhet te zgjidhim perpara se ju te zgjidhni

the issues you care about.

ceshtjet qe ju ju interesojne.

No sensible reform, and we cannot afford

Pa reforma te ndjeshme, ne nuk mund te perballojme

a world, a future, with no sensible reform.

nje bote, nje te ardhme, pa reforma te ndjeshme.

Okay. So how do we do it?

Ne rregull. Si do ta zgjidhim?

Turns out, the analytics here are easy, simple.

Rezulton, ketu analitika eshte e lehte, e thjeshte.

If the problem is members spending an extraordinary

Nese problemi eshte qe anetaret harxhojne jazhtezakonisht

amount of time fundraising from the tiniest slice of America,

kohe duke mbledhur para nga pjesa me e vogel e Amerikes,

the solution is to have them spend less time fundraising

zgjidhja do te jete qe ata te harxhojne me pak kohe duke grumbulluar para,

but fundraise from a wider slice of Americans,

por duke grumbulluar nga nje pjese me e madhe e Amerikes,

to spread it out,

per te perhapur,

to spread the funder influence so that we restore the idea

per te perhapur ndikimin e financuesve keshtu qe ne mund te rikthejme idene

of dependence upon the people alone.

e varesise vetem nga njerezit.

And to do this does not require a constitutional amendment,

Dhe per ta bere kete nuk na nevojitet nje amendamend kushtetues,

changing the First Amendment.

per te ndryshuar Amendamendin e pare.

To do this would require a single statute,

Per te bere kete na duhet vetem nje statut,

a statute establishing what we think of

nje statut per te vendosur se cfare ne mendojme

as small dollar funded elections,

si financuese paraje te vegjel per zgjedhjet,

a statute of citizen-funded campaigns,

nje statut i qytetareve-financues te fushatave,

and there's any number of these proposals out there:

dhe ka shume numra propozimesh atje:

Fair Elections Now Act,

Zgjedhje te Ndershme Vepro Tani,

the American Anti-Corruption Act,

Akti Amerikan Kunder-Korrupsionit,

an idea in my book that I call the Grant and Franklin Project

nje ide ne librin tim qe e quaj projektin "Grant dhe Franklin"

to give vouchers to people to fund elections,

te jape kupona njerzeve qe te financojne zgjedhjet,

an idea of John Sarbanes called the Grassroots Democracy Act.

nje ide e John Sarbanes e quajtur " Grassroots Democracy Act".

Each of these would fix this corruption

Cdonjera prej tyre do mund te rregullonte korrupsionin

by spreading out the influence of funders to all of us.

duke perhapur influencen e financuesve tek te gjithe ne.

The analytics are easy here.

Analitiken e kane te lehte ketu.

It's the politics that's hard, indeed impossibly hard,

Eshte politika qe eshte e veshtire, ne te vertete nje veshtiresi e pamundur,

because this reform would shrink K Street,

sespe kjo reforme do te mund te tkurre "K Street",

and Capitol Hill, as Congressman Jim Cooper,

dhe "Capitol Hill", si dhe Kongresmenin Jim Cooper,

a Democrat from Tennessee, put it,

nje Demokrat nga Tennessee, e vune ate,

has become a farm league for K Street, a farm league for K Street.

eshte vene ne sherbim te "K Street".

Members and staffers and bureaucrats have

Anetaret dhe stafet dhe burokratet kane

an increasingly common business model in their head,

gjithnje nje model te perbashket bisnesi ne mendjet e tyre,

a business model focused on their life after government,

nje model bisnesi fokusuar ne jeten e tyre pas qeverise,

their life as lobbyists.

jeten e tyre si lobist.

Fifty percent of the Senate between 1998 and 2004

50% e Senatit midis 1998 dhe 2004

left to become lobbyists, 42 percent of the House.

jane larguar per tu bere lobista, 42 % e "The House".

Those numbers have only gone up,

Keto numra vecse jane rritur,

and as United Republic calculated last April,

dhe sic Republika e Bashkuar perllogariti Prillin e shkuar,

the average increase in salary for those who they tracked

rritja mesatare ne page e atyre qe ata ndoqen

was 1,452 percent.

ishte 1,452 perqind.

So it's fair to ask, how is it possible for them to change this?

Keshtu qe eshte e drejte te pyesesh, si eshte mundur qe ata ta ndryshojne kete gje?

Now I get this skepticism.

Tani une kam kete skepticizem.

I get this cynicism. I get this sense of impossibility.

Kam kete cinicizem. Une kam kete ndjenjen e te pamundures.

But I don't buy it.

Por nuk e ha kete gje.

This is a solvable issue.

Kjo eshte nje ceshtje e zgjidhshme.

If you think about the issues our parents tried to solve

Nese mendoni rreth ceshtjeve qe prinderit tane u perpoqen te zgjidhnin

in the 20th century,

ne shekullin e 20,

issues like racism, or sexism,

ceshtje si racizmi, ose seksizmi,

or the issue that we've been fighting in this century, homophobia,

ose ceshtje qe ne po luftojme ne kete shekull, homofobia,

those are hard issues.

keto jane ceshtje te veshtira.

You don't wake up one day no longer a racist.

Ti nuk zgjohesh nje dite dhe nuk je me racist.

It takes generations to tear that intuition, that DNA,

Duhet nje gjenerate per te grisur ate intuite, ate ADN,

out of the soul of a people.

jashte shpirtrave te njerzeve.

But this is a problem of just incentives, just incentives.

Por ky eshte vetem nje problem stimujsh, thjesht stimujsh.

Change the incentives, and the behavior changes,

Ndryshoni stimujt, dhe sjellja ndryshon,

and the states that have adopted small dollar funded systems

dhe shtetet te cilat kane adoptuar sitemin e financimeve te vogla

have seen overnight a change in the practice.

kane pare brenda nates ndryshime ne praktike,

When Connecticut adopted this system,

Kur Connecticut adoptoi kete sistem,

in the very first year, 78 percent of elected representatives

ne vitin e pare, 78% e perfaqesuesve te zgjedhur

gave up large contributions and took small contributions only.

hoqen dore nga kontributet e medha dhe moren kontributet e vogla vetem.

It's solvable,

Eshte e zgjidhshme,

not by being a Democrat,

jo duke qene Demokrat,

not by being a Republican.

jo duke qene Republikan.

It's solvable by being citizens, by being citizens,

Eshte e zgjidhshme duke qene qytetare, duke qene qytetar,

by being TEDizens.

duke qene TED-qytetar.

Because if you want to kickstart reform,

Sepse nese ju doni te filloni nje reform,

look, I could kickstart reform

shikoni, une mund te filloj nje reform

at half the price of fixing energy policy,

me gjysmen e cmimit qe duhet per te rregulluar politiken energjitike,

I could give you back a republic.

une mund tju jap mbrapsh nje Republik.

Okay. But even if you're not yet with me,

Ne rregull. Por edhe nese akoma nuk jeni me mua,

even if you believe this is impossible,

nese besoni qe kjo eshte e pamundur,

what the five years since I spoke at TED has taught me

ajo cka kam mesuar ne pese vjet qe kur fola ne TED

as I've spoken about this issue again and again is,

ndersa une kam folur rreth kesaj ceshtje vazhdimisht,

even if you think it's impossible, that is irrelevant.

edhe nese ju mendoni qe eshte e pamundur, kjo ska shume rendesi.

Irrelevant.

E parendesishme.

I spoke at Dartmouth once, and a woman stood up after I spoke,

Fola ne Dartmouth njehere, nje grua u ngrit pasi une fola,

I write in my book, and she said to me,

e kam shkruajtur ne librin tim, dhe me tha,

"Professor, you've convinced me this is hopeless. Hopeless.

"Profesor, me keni bindur qe kjo eshte e pashprese. E pashprese.

There's nothing we can do."

Nuk ka asgje qe ne mund te bejme."

When she said that, I scrambled.

Kur e degjova ate, une u drodha.

I tried to think, "How do I respond to that hopelessness?

U perpoqa te mendoj," Si do mund ti pergjigjem kesaj mungese shprese?

What is that sense of hopelessness?"

Cfare eshte kjo ndjenja pashprese?"

And what hit me was an image of my six-year-old son.

Dhe ajo qe me goditi ishte nje imazh i djalit tim 6 vjecar.

And I imagined a doctor coming to me and saying,

Dhe imagjinova nje doktor qe erdhi tek une dhe me tha,

"Your son has terminal brain cancer, and there's nothing you can do.

"Djali juaj ka kancer te perparuar ne tru, dhe nuk ka asgje qe ne mund te bejme.

Nothing you can do."

Asgje qe ne mund te bejme."

So would I do nothing?

Keshtu qe une do te rri duke mos bere asgje?

Would I just sit there? Accept it? Okay, nothing I can do?

Thjesht do te rri ulur atje? Ta pranoj ate? Ne rregull, nuk kam asgje qe mund te bej?

I'm going off to build Google Glass.

Do dal jashte per te ndertuar nje "Google Glass" (syze sintetike nga google)

Of course not. I would do everything I could,

Sigurisht qe jo. Une do te beja cdo qe mundja,

and I would do everything I could because this is what love means,

dhe do te beja cdo gje qe une mundja sepse dashuria ka kete kuptim,

that the odds are irrelevant and that you do

dhe qe shancet jane te pakuptimta dhe ajo qe ju beni

whatever the hell you can, the odds be damned.

cfaredo qe ju mund te beni, mallkuar qofshin shancet.

And then I saw the obvious link, because even we liberals

Dhe pastaj pashe kete lidhje te qarte, sepse edhe ne liberalet

love this country.

e duam kete vend.

(Laughter)

(Te qeshura)

And so when the pundits and the politicians

Dhe keshtu kur ekspertet dhe politikanet

say that change is impossible,

thone qe ndryshimi eshte i pamundur,

what this love of country says back is,

ajo qe dashuria per kete vend ia kthen eshte,

"That's just irrelevant."

"Kjo eshte thjesht e parendesishme."

We lose something dear,

Ne humbasimin dike te shtrenjte,

something everyone in this room loves and cherishes,

dike qe cdokush ne kete dhome e do dhe e mban gjalle,

if we lose this republic, and so we act

nese ne humbasim republiken, dhe keshtu ne veprojme

with everything we can to prove these pundits wrong.

me gjithcka kemi ne menyre qe t'ju provojme ketyre eksperteve qe e kane gabim.

So here's my question:

Keshtu qe kjo eshte pyetja ime:

Do you have that love?

A e keni ate dashuri?

Do you have that love?

A e keni ate dashuri?

Because if you do,

Sepse nese e keni,

then what the hell are you, what are the hell are we doing?

cfare dreqin jeni duke bere, cfare dreqin jemi duke bere?

When Ben Franklin was carried from the constitutional convention

Kur Ben Franklin krijoi ne konventen kushtetuese

in September of 1787, he was stopped in the street by a woman who said,

ne Shtator te 1787, ai u ndalua ne rruge nga nje grua e cila i tha,

"Mr. Franklin, what have you wrought?"

" Z. Franklin, cfare keni punuar?"

Franklin said, "A republic, madam, if you can keep it."

Franklin tha, " Nje Republike, zonje, nese ju mund ta mbani ate."

A republic. A representative democracy.

Nje republike. Nje demokraci perfaqesuese.

A government dependent upon the people alone.

Nje qeveri qe varet vetem nga njerzit.

We have lost that republic.

Ne e kemi humbur ate republike.

All of us have to act to get it back.

Te gjithe se bashku duhet te veprojme per ta rikthyer.

Thank you very much.

Ju faleminderit shume.

(Applause)

(Duartrokitje)

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. (Applause)

Faleminderit! Faleminderit! Faleminderit! (Duartrokitje)