Rory Stewart: Why democracy matters

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevodilac: Tatjana Jevdjic Lektor: Ivana Korom

So little Billy goes to school,

Dakle, mali Bili ode u školu,

and he sits down and the teacher says,

sedne u klupu i učitelj pita:

"What does your father do?"

“Čime se bavi tvoj otac?”

And little Billy says, "My father plays the piano

Mali Bili odgovori: “Moj otac svira klavir

in an opium den."

u opijumskom skloništu.”

So the teacher rings up the parents, and says,

Učitelj telefonira roditeljima i kaže:

"Very shocking story from little Billy today.

“Danas je mali Bili rekao nešto sablažnjivo.

Just heard that he claimed that you play the piano

Upravo sam čuo da tvrdi da vi svirate klavir

in an opium den."

u opijumskom skloništu.”

And the father says, "I'm very sorry. Yes, it's true, I lied.

A otac je odgovorio: “Veoma mi je žao. Da, tačno je, lagao sam.

But how can I tell an eight-year-old boy

Ali kako da kažem osmogodišnjem dečaku

that his father is a politician?" (Laughter)

da je njegov otac političar.” (Smeh)

Now, as a politician myself, standing in front of you,

Sada, kao političar, koji je ispred vas

or indeed, meeting any stranger anywhere in the world,

ili zaista, ako pri susretu sa bilo kojim strancem bilo gde u svetu,

when I eventually reveal the nature of my profession,

slučajno otkrijem prirodu svog posla,

they look at me as though I'm somewhere between

pogledaju me misleći da sam negde između

a snake, a monkey and an iguana,

zmije, majmuna i iguane,

and through all of this, I feel, strongly,

a pri svemu tome veoma snažno osećam

that something is going wrong.

da je nešto pošlo po zlu.

Four hundred years of maturing democracy,

Četiri stotine godina razvijanja demokratije,

colleagues in Parliament who seem to me, as individuals,

kolege u Parlamentu koji mi se kao pojedinci čine

reasonably impressive, an increasingly educated,

prilično impresivno, sve više obrazovana,

energetic, informed population, and yet

energična, obaveštena populacija, a ipak tu je

a deep, deep sense of disappointment.

duboki, duboki osećaj razočarenja.

My colleagues in Parliament include, in my new intake,

Moje kolege u novom sazivu Parlamenta su

family doctors, businesspeople, professors,

porodični lekari, poslovni ljudi, profesori,

distinguished economists, historians, writers,

cenjeni ekonomisti, istoričari, pisci,

army officers ranging from colonels down to regimental sergeant majors.

vojni oficiri počev od pukovnika do starijih vodnika.

All of them, however, including myself, as we walk underneath

Međutim, svi oni, uključujući i mene, pri prolasku ispod

those strange stone gargoyles just down the road,

tih grotesknih kamenih figura neposredno pored puta,

feel that we've become less than the sum of our parts,

osećamo da smo postali manje od zbira pojedinaca,

feel as though we have become profoundly diminished.

osećamo se kao da smo postali značajno umanjeni.

And this isn't just a problem in Britain.

Ovo nije problem samo u Britaniji.

It's a problem across the developing world,

To je takođe problem u zemljama u razvoju

and in middle income countries too. In Jamaica,

i u srednje razvijenim zemljama. Na Jamajki,

for example -- look at Jamaican members of Parliament,

na primer, pogledajte članove njihovog Parlamenta,

you meet them, and they're often people who are

upoznate ih, to su često stipendisti Roudsa

Rhodes Scholars, who've studied at Harvard or at Princeton,

koji su studirali na Harvardu ili Prinstonu,

and yet, you go down to downtown Kingston,

a ipak, kada krenete ka centru Kingstona,

and you are looking at one of the most depressing sites

posmatrate jedno od najtužnijih mesta

that you can see in any middle-income country in the world:

koje možete videti u nekoj srednje razvijenoj zemlji:

a dismal, depressing landscape

sumoran, depresivan predeo

of burnt and half-abandoned buildings.

izgorelih i napola napuštenih zgrada.

And this has been true for 30 years, and the handover

Ovo je tačno poslednjih 30 godina i prenos vlasti

in 1979, 1980, between one Jamaican leader who was

1979., 1980. godine sa jednog jamajkanskog lidera , koji je

the son of a Rhodes Scholar and a Q.C. to another

sin Rouds stipendiste i član kraljevske advokatske komore,

who'd done an economics doctorate at Harvard,

na drugog lidera, koji je doktorirao ekonomiju na Harvardu,

over 800 people were killed in the streets

je pratilo ulično ubijanje preko 800 ljudi

in drug-related violence.

u nasilju vezanom za narkotike.

Ten years ago, however, the promise of democracy

Međutim, pre deset godina očekivanje od demokratije je

seemed to be extraordinary. George W. Bush stood up

bilo retkost. Džordž Buš se pobunio

in his State of the Union address in 2003

u svom godišnjem obraćanju Kongresu 2003.

and said that democracy was the force that would beat

i izjavio da je demokratija snaga koja će pobediti

most of the ills of the world. He said,

većinu svetskih nedaća. Rekao je da,

because democratic governments respect their own people

budući da demokratske vlade poštuju sopstveni narod

and respect their neighbors, freedom will bring peace.

i poštuju svoje susede, sloboda će doneti mir.

Distinguished academics at the same time argued that

Cenjeni naučnici su istovremeno raspravljali da

democracies had this incredible range of side benefits.

demokratije imaju neverovatan obim dodatnih prednosti.

They would bring prosperity, security,

Doprinele bi napretku, sigurnosti,

overcome sectarian violence,

prevazišle bi sektaško nasilje,

ensure that states would never again harbor terrorists.

obezbedile da države više nikad ne štite teroriste.

Since then, what's happened?

Šta se od tada dogodilo?

Well, what we've seen is the creation, in places like Iraq

Pa, videli smo, na primer u Iraku i Avganistanu,

and Afghanistan, of democratic systems of government

stvaranje demokratskih sistema upravljanja

which haven't had any of those side benefits.

koji nisu imali nijednu od ovih dodatnih prednosti.

In Afghanistan, for example, we haven't just had one election

Na primer, u Avganistanu, ne samo da smo imali izbore

or two elections. We've gone through three elections,

jedanput ili dvaput. Prošli smo kroz tri predsednička

presidential and parliamentary. And what do we find?

i parlamentarna izborna cikulsa. Šta smo utvrdili?

Do we find a flourishing civil society, a vigorous rule of law

Da li nalazimo napredno civilno društvo, striktno poštovanje zakona

and good security? No. What we find in Afghanistan

i dobru bezbednost? Ne, u Avganistanu postoji

is a judiciary that is weak and corrupt,

sudstvo koje je slabo i korumpirano,

a very limited civil society which is largely ineffective,

veoma ograničeno civilno društvo koje je uglavnom neefikasno,

a media which is beginning to get onto its feet

medije koji tek počinju da se osnivaju,

but a government that's deeply unpopular,

ali i vladu koja je veoma nepopularna,

perceived as being deeply corrupt, and security

doživljena kao veoma korumpirana i bezbednost

that is shocking, security that's terrible.

koja je loša, koja je užasna.

In Pakistan, in lots of sub-Saharan Africa,

U Pakistanu, u većem delu podsaharske Afrike,

again you can see democracy and elections are compatible

ponovo možete videti da su demokratija i izbori kompatibilni

with corrupt governments, with states that are unstable

sa korumpiranim vladama, sa državama koje su nestabilne

and dangerous.

i opasne.

And when I have conversations with people, I remember

Kada sam razgovarao sa ljudima, sećam se

having a conversation, for example, in Iraq,

razgovora u npr. Iraku,

with a community that asked me

u opštini su me pitali

whether the riot we were seeing in front of us,

da li je pobuna koju smo gledali,

this was a huge mob ransacking a provincial council building,

a to je bila velika masa koja je pljačkala zgradu oblasnog veća,

was a sign of the new democracy.

znak nove demokratije.

The same, I felt, was true in almost every single one

Osećao sam da je isto tačno za skoro svaku

of the middle and developing countries that I went to,

zemlju u razvoju i srednje razvijenu zemlju u kojoj sam bio,

and to some extent the same is true of us.

a donekle je tačno i za nas.

Well, what is the answer to this? Is the answer to just

Pa dobro, šta je rešenje za ovo? Da li je jedino rešenje

give up on the idea of democracy?

odustati od ideje o demokratiji?

Well, obviously not. It would be absurd

Očigledno ne. Besmisleno je da,

if we were to engage again in the kind of operations

ako bi se ponovo angažovali u operacijama kao što su

we were engaged in, in Iraq and Afghanistan

ove u kojima već učestvujemo u Iraku i Avganistanu,

if we were to suddenly find ourselves in a situation

ako se iznenada nađemo u okolnostima

in which we were imposing

nametanja bilo čega

anything other than a democratic system.

drugog osim demokratskog sistema.

Anything else would run contrary to our values,

Sve ostalo bilo bi suprotno našim vrednostima,

it would run contrary to the wishes of the people

bilo bi suprotno željama ljudi na terenu,

on the ground, it would run contrary to our interests.

bilo bi suprotno našim interesima.

I remember in Iraq, for example, that we went through

Sećam se, na primer u Iraku, da smo prošli kroz

a period of feeling that we should delay democracy.

period kada smo mislili da treba odložiti demokratiju.

We went through a period of feeling that the lesson learned

Prošli smo kroz period kada smo mislili da je lekcija naučena

from Bosnia was that elections held too early

u Bosni bila da, ako se izbori održe prerano,

enshrined sectarian violence, enshrined extremist parties,

sektaško nasilje i ekstremističke partije ostaju brižljivo sačuvane,

so in Iraq in 2003 the decision was made,

pa je 2003. u Iraku odlučeno:

let's not have elections for two years. Let's invest in

hajde da odložimo izbore za dve godine. Hajde da investiramo

voter education. Let's invest in democratization.

u obrazovanje glasača. Hajde da uložimo u demokratizaciju.

The result was that I found stuck outside my office

Rezultat je bio da sam se našao van svoje kancelarije

a huge crowd of people, this is actually a photograph

zaglavljen u velikoj grupi ljudi, ovo je stvarna fotografija

taken in Libya but I saw the same scene in Iraq

iz Libije, ali sam isti prizor ljudi koji stoje napolju

of people standing outside screaming for the elections,

glasno tražeći izbore, video i u Iraku.

and when I went out and said, "What is wrong

Kada sam izašao napolje i rekao: “Šta je problem

with the interim provincial council?

sa prelaznim lokalnim savetom?

What is wrong with the people that we have chosen?

Šta je problem sa ljudima koje smo izabrali?

There is a Sunni sheikh, there's a Shiite sheikh,

Tu je sunitski šeik, tu je šiitski šeik,

there's the seven -- leaders of the seven major tribes,

tu su sedmorica - vođe sedam glavnih plemena,

there's a Christian, there's a Sabian,

tu je hrišćanin, tu je subotar

there are female representatives, there's every political party in this council,

tu su žene, svaka politička stranka je u savetu,

what's wrong with the people that we chose?"

šta je problem sa ljudima koje smo izabrali?”

The answer came, "The problem isn't the people

Došao je odgovor: “Nisu problem ljudi

that you chose. The problem is that you chose them."

koje ste izabrali. Problem je što ste ih vi izabrali.”

I have not met, in Afghanistan, in even the most

Nisam sreo nikoga u Avganistanu, čak ni u

remote community, anybody who does not want

najudaljenijoj zajednici, ko nije želeo

a say in who governs them.

da odlučuje o tome ko njima upravlja.

Most remote community, I have never met a villager

Najudaljenija zajednica, nikad nisam sreo seljaka

who does not want a vote.

koji nije želeo da glasa.

So we need to acknowledge

Znači treba da prihvatimo

that despite the dubious statistics, despite the fact that

bez obzira na neodređenu statistiku i činjenicu da

84 percent of people in Britain feel politics is broken,

84 posto ljudi u Britaniji misli da je politika uništena,

despite the fact that when I was in Iraq, we did an opinion poll

uprkos činjenici da smo, tokom mog boravka u Iraku 2003.,

in 2003 and asked people what political systems they preferred,

anketirali ljude i pitali kom političkom sistemu daju prednost,

and the answer came back that

dobili odgovor da

seven percent wanted the United States,

sedam posto želi američki,

five percent wanted France,

pet posto želi francuski,

three percent wanted Britain,

tri posto želi britanski

and nearly 40 percent wanted Dubai, which is, after all,

i skoro 40 posto želi sistem kao u Dubaiju koji, u stvari,

not a democratic state at all but a relatively prosperous

nije demokratska država, ali je relativno uspešna

minor monarchy, democracy is a thing of value

manja monarhija, demokratija je vrednost

for which we should be fighting. But in order to do so

za koju treba da se borimo. Ali da bismo to uradili,

we need to get away from instrumental arguments.

moramo se udaljiti od pomoćnih dokaza.

We need to get away from saying democracy matters

Treba da se odvojimo od tvrdnje da je demokratija važna

because of the other things it brings.

zbog ostalih prednosti koje donosi.

We need to get away from feeling, in the same way,

Slično tome, treba da se udaljimo od mišljenja

human rights matters because of the other things it brings,

da su ljudska prava značajna zbog ostalog što donose

or women's rights matters for the other things it brings.

ili da su prava žena značajna zbog ostalih posledica.

Why should we get away from those arguments?

Zašto treba da se odvojimo od ovih dokaza?

Because they're very dangerous. If we set about saying,

Zato što su veoma opasni. Ukoliko započnemo sa tvrdnjom,

for example, torture is wrong because it doesn't extract

na primer, mučenje je pogrešno jer ne obezbeđuje

good information, or we say, you need women's rights

dobre informacije ili ako tvrdimo, trebaju vam prava žena

because it stimulates economic growth by doubling the size of the work force,

zato što podstiču ekonomski razvoj udvostručujući broj radno sposobnih,

you leave yourself open to the position where

postavljamo sebe u ranjiv položaj,

the government of North Korea can turn around and say,

gde vlada u severnoj Koreji može da se okrene i tvrdi:

"Well actually, we're having a lot of success extracting

“U stvari, sada smo veoma uspešni u dobijanju

good information with our torture at the moment,"

dobrih informacija našim metodama mučenja”,

or the government of Saudi Arabia to say, "Well,

ili vlada u Saudijskoj Arabiji može da kaže:

our economic growth's okay, thank you very much,

“Mnogo vam hvala, naš ekonomski razvoj je u redu,

considerably better than yours,

značajno bolji nego vaš,

so maybe we don't need to go ahead with this program on women's rights."

pa možda i ne treba da započinjemo taj program o pravima žena.”

The point about democracy is not instrumental.

Svrha demokratnije nije da posluži nečemu.

It's not about the things that it brings.

Nije u prednostima koje donosi.

The point about democracy is not that it delivers

Svrha demokratnije nije da obezbeđuje

legitimate, effective, prosperous rule of law.

zakonitu, efikasnu, naprednu vladavinu prava.

It's not that it guarantees peace with itself or with its neighbors.

Nije u tome što garantuje mir u državi ili sa susedima.

The point about democracy is intrinsic.

Svrha demokratnije je suštinska.

Democracy matters because it reflects an idea of equality

Demokratija je značajna jer odražava ideju jednakosti

and an idea of liberty. It reflects an idea of dignity,

i ideju slobode. Ona odražava ideju dostojanstva,

the dignity of the individual, the idea that each individual

dostojanstva pojedinca, ideju da svaki pojedinac

should have an equal vote, an equal say,

treba da ima jednako pravo, jednak glas

in the formation of their government.

u formiranju sopstvene vlade.

But if we're really to make democracy vigorous again,

Ali ako želimo ponovo da osnažimo demokratiju,

if we're ready to revivify it, we need to get involved

ako smo spremni da je oživimo, moramo da se uključimo

in a new project of the citizens and the politicians.

u novi projekat kao građani i kao političari.

Democracy is not simply a question of structures.

Demokratija nije samo pitanje strukture.

It is a state of mind. It is an activity.

Ona je stanje uma. Ona je aktivnost.

And part of that activity is honesty.

A deo te aktivnosti je poštenje.

After I speak to you today, I'm going on a radio program

Nakon mog govora pred vama danas, idem na radio

called "Any Questions," and the thing you will have noticed

u emisiju “Bilo koje pitanje” i ono što ćete primetiti

about politicians on these kinds of radio programs

kod političara u ovim tipovima radio-programa

is that they never, ever say that they don't know the answer

je da oni nikad, nikad ne kažu da ne znaju odgovor

to a question. It doesn't matter what it is.

na pitanje. Nije bitno o čemu je.

If you ask about child tax credits, the future of the penguins

Ako pitate o dečijim dodacima, budućnosti pingvina

in the south Antarctic, asked to hold forth on whether or not

južnog Antarktika, da li raspravljati ili ne

the developments in Chongqing contribute

o tome da li razvoj u Čongkingu doprinosi

to sustainable development in carbon capture,

stalnom povećanju zagađenja ugljenikom,

and we will have an answer for you.

mi ćemo imati spreman odgovor.

We need to stop that, to stop pretending to be

To moramo da zaustavimo, da prestanemo da se

omniscient beings.

pretvaramo da smo sveznajući.

Politicians also need to learn, occasionally, to say that

Političari takođe treba da nauče da povremeno priznaju

certain things that voters want, certain things that voters

da ponešto što glasači žele, ponešto što su glasačima

have been promised, may be things

obećali, mogu biti obećanja

that we cannot deliver

koja ne mogu da ispune

or perhaps that we feel we should not deliver.

ili osećaju da možda ne treba da ih ispune.

And the second thing we should do is understand

Druga stvar koju treba da razumemo

the genius of our societies.

je genijalnost naših društava.

Our societies have never been so educated, have never

Naše društvo nikad nije bilo toliko obrazovano,

been so energized, have never been so healthy,

nikad nije bilo toliko probuđeno, nikad toliko zdravo,

have never known so much, cared so much,

nikad nije znalo više, brinulo više

or wanted to do so much, and it is a genius of the local.

ili želelo da više učini i to je genijalnost na lokalu.

One of the reasons why we're moving away

Jedan od razloga zašto se udaljavamo

from banqueting halls such as the one in which we stand,

od svečanih sala kao što je ova u kojoj smo,

banqueting halls with extraordinary images on the ceiling

svečanih sala sa retkim slikama krunisanja

of kings enthroned,

na plafonu,

the entire drama played out here on this space,

celokupnom dramom koja se desila u ovom prostoru,

where the King of England had his head lopped off,

gde je odrubljena glava kralju Engleske,

why we've moved from spaces like this, thrones like that,

razlog zašto smo se udaljili od ovakvih prostora, ovakvih prestola,

towards the town hall, is we're moving more and more

ka gradskoj skupštini, je to što se sve više približavamo

towards the energies of our people, and we need to tap that.

snazi našeg naroda i potrebno je da je crpimo.

That can mean different things in different countries.

To može da predstavlja različite stvari u različitim zemljama.

In Britain, it could mean looking to the French,

U Britaniji to možda znači gledati ka Francuzima,

learning from the French,

učiti od njih,

getting directly elected mayors in place

postavljati direktno izabrane gradonačelnike

in a French commune system.

u francuske lokalne zajednice.

In Afghanistan, it could have meant instead of concentrating

U Avganistanu to je moglo da znači da je, umesto što smo se usredsredili

on the big presidential and parliamentary elections,

na velike predsedničke ili parlamentarne izbore,

we should have done what was in the Afghan constitution

trebalo da uradimo isto što je postojalo u avganistanskom Ustavu

from the very beginning, which is to get direct local elections going

od samog početka, a to su direktni lokalni izbori

at a district level and elect people's provincial governors.

na nivou oblasti i biranje narodnih oblasnih guvernera.

But for any of these things to work,

Ali da bi bilo šta od ovoga funkcionisalo,

the honesty in language, the local democracy,

iskrenost u govoru, lokalna demokratija,

it's not just a question of what politicians do.

nije bitno samo šta političari rade.

It's a question of what the citizens do.

To je i ono što rade građani.

For politicians to be honest, the public needs to allow them to be honest,

Da bi političari bili pošteni, neophodno je da im javnost dozvoli da budu pošteni,

and the media, which mediates between the politicians

a mediji, koji posreduju između političara

and the public, needs to allow those politicians to be honest.

i javnosti, moraju da dozvole tim političarima da budu pošteni.

If local democracy is to flourish, it is about the active

Da bi lokalna demokratija napredovala, potrebno je

and informed engagement of every citizen.

aktivno i informisano angažovanje svakog građanina.

In other words, if democracy is to be rebuilt,

Drugim rečima, da bi demokratija bila obnovljena,

is to become again vigorous and vibrant,

da bi ponovo postala snažna i izražajna

it is necessary not just for the public

neophodno je ne samo da javnost

to learn to trust their politicians,

nauči da veruje svojim političarima,

but for the politicians to learn to trust the public.

nego i da političari nauče da veruju javnosti.

Thank you very much indeed. (Applause)

Hvala vam veoma mnogo. (Aplauz)