Margaret Heffernan: The dangers of "willful blindness"

Prevodilac: Aleksandra Krstić Lektor: Tatjana Jevdjic

In the northwest corner of the United States,

Na severozapadnom uglu Sjedinjenih Američkih Država

right up near the Canadian border,

odmah pored kanadske granice,

there's a little town called Libby, Montana,

postoji gradić po imenu Libi, u Montani

and it's surrounded by pine trees and lakes

i okružen je borovima i jezerima

and just amazing wildlife

i zapanjujućim divljim životom

and these enormous trees that scream up into the sky.

i ogromnim drvećem koje se vinulo u nebo.

And in there is a little town called Libby,

Tamo je gradić nazvan Libi,

which I visited, which feels kind of lonely,

koji sam posetila i koji odaje utisak samoće

a little isolated.

i izolovanosti.

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

I u Libiju, u Montani, živi neobična žena

named Gayla Benefield.

po imenu Gejla Benefild.

She always felt a little bit of an outsider,

Oduvek se osećala pomalo kao autsajder,

although she's been there almost all her life,

iako je provela tamo skoro ceo svoj život,

a woman of Russian extraction.

bila je žena ruskog porekla.

She told me when she went to school,

Rekla mi je da je kad je išla u školu,

she was the only girl who ever chose

bila jedina devojka koja je ikada odabrala

to do mechanical drawing.

mašinsko crtanje.

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

Kasnije, dobila je posao da ide od kuće do kuće

reading utility meters -- gas meters, electricity meters.

i očitava komunalije – gas, struju.

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

Obavljala je posao usred dana

and one thing particularly caught her notice, which was,

i jedna stvar joj je posebno pala u oči,

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

a to je da je usred dana sretala puno muškaraca

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

koji su bili kod kuće, srednjih godina, kasnih srednjih godina,

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

i činilo se da su mnogi bili na aparatima za kiseonik.

It struck her as strange.

To joj je izgledalo čudno.

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

Zatim, par godina kasnije njen otac je preminuo u 59.,

five days before he was due to receive his pension.

pet dana pre no što bi primio svoju penziju.

He'd been a miner.

Bio je rudar.

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

Mislila je da je bio iscrpljen poslom.

But then a few years later, her mother died,

Ali nekoliko godina kasnije njena majka je preminula,

and that seemed stranger still,

a to joj je delovalo čudnije,

because her mother came from a long line of people

jer su preci njene majke takvi

who just seemed to live forever.

da bi se reklo da žive zauvek.

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

Zapravo, Gejlin ujak je i dan-danas živ

and learning how to waltz.

i uči kako da igra valcer.

It didn't make sense that Gayla's mother

Nije imalo smisla da Gejlina majka

should die so young.

umre tako mlada.

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

To je bila anomalija i ona je nastavila da uporno razmišlja o tome.

And as she did, other ones came to mind.

I dok je razmišljala prisećala se drugih stvari.

She remembered, for example,

Setila se da, na primer,

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

kada je njena majka polomila nogu i otišla u bolnicu,

and she had a lot of x-rays,

da je imala mnogo rendgenskih snimaka,

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

dva su bila za nogu, što je imalo smisla,

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

ali bilo je šest snimaka grudi, što nije imalo smisla.

She puzzled and puzzled over every piece

Razmišljala je i razmišljala o svakom delu

of her life and her parents' life,

svog života i života svojih roditelja,

trying to understand what she was seeing.

pokušavajući da razume šta vidi.

She thought about her town.

Razmišljala je o svom gradu.

The town had a vermiculite mine in it.

Grad je imao rudnik vermikulita.

Vermiculite was used for soil conditioners,

Vermikulit je korišćen u aditivima za zemlju

to make plants grow faster and better.

radi pomoći biljkama da rastu brže i bolje.

Vermiculite was used to insulate lofts,

Vermikulit je korišćen za izolaciju potkrovlja,

huge amounts of it put under the roof

velike količine se postavljaju ispod krovova

to keep houses warm during the long Montana winters.

da bi zadržale toplotu u kućama tokom dugih zima u Montani.

Vermiculite was in the playground.

Vermikulit je bio i u igralištima.

It was in the football ground.

Bio je u igralištu za fudbal.

It was in the skating rink.

Bio je u klizalištu.

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

Ono što je ona naučila razrešavajući ovaj problem je

is vermiculite is a very toxic form of asbestos.

da je vermikulit jako toksična forma azbesta.

When she figured out the puzzle,

Kada je rešila problem

she started telling everyone she could

počela je da govori svima kojima je mogla

what had happened, what had been done to her parents

šta se desilo i šta su uradili njenim roditeljima

and to the people that she saw on oxygen tanks

i ljudima koje je videla na aparatima za kiseonik

at home in the afternoons.

kod kuće u popodnevnim časovima.

But she was really amazed.

Ali je zaista bila zapanjena.

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

Mislila je da ako svi znaju želeće da preduzmu nešto,

ali zapravo niko nije želeo da zna.

but actually nobody wanted to know.

In fact, she became so annoying

Zapravo, postala je toliko dosadna

as she kept insisting on telling this story

insistiranjem da ispriča ovu priču

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

svojim komšijama, prijateljima, drugim ljudima u zajednici,

da se najzad grupa njih sakupila

that eventually a bunch of them got together

i napravila nalepnicu,

and they made a bumper sticker,

which they proudly displayed on their cars, which said,

koju su ponosno izložili na svojim kolima, a na kojoj je pisalo,

"Yes, I'm from Libby, Montana,

"Da, ja sam iz Libija u Montani

and no, I don't have asbestosis."

i ne, ja nemam azbestozu."

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

Ali Gejla nije stala. Nastavila je proučavanje.

The advent of the Internet definitely helped her.

Napredak interneta joj je definitivno pomogao.

She talked to anybody she could.

Razgovarala je s kim god je mogla.

She argued and argued, and finally she struck lucky

Raspravljala se i raspravljala i konačno je imala sreće

when a researcher came through town

kada je jedan istraživač prolazio gradom

studying the history of mines in the area,

istraživajući istoriju rudnika u toj oblasti.

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

Rekla mu je svoju priču i naravno na početku,

like everyone, he didn't believe her,

kao i svi drugi, nije joj verovao,

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

ali se vratio u Sijetl i obavio svoje istraživanje

i saznao da je bila u pravu.

and he realized that she was right.

So now she had an ally.

Dakle, sada je imala saveznika.

Nevertheless, people still didn't want to know.

Pa ipak, ljudi i dalje nisu želeli da znaju.

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

Govorili su stvari poput: "Pa, ako je to zaista opasno,

someone would have told us."

neko bi nam rekao."

"If that's really why everyone was dying,

"Ako je to zaista razlog zašto su svi umirali,

the doctors would have told us."

doktori bi nam rekli."

Some of the guys used to very heavy jobs said,

Neki momci koji su radili jako teške poslove rekli su:

"I don't want to be a victim.

"Ne želim da budem žrtva.

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

Nemoguće je da budem žrtva i u svakom slučaju,

every industry has its accidents."

svaka industrija ima svoje nezgode."

But still Gayla went on, and finally she succeeded

Ali Gejla je nastavila i konačno uspela

in getting a federal agency to come to town

da ubedi saveznu agenciju da dođe u grad

and to screen the inhabitants of the town --

i proveri stanovnike grada -

15,000 people -- and what they discovered

15.000 ljudi - i ono šta su otkrili

was that the town had a mortality rate

je bilo da je grad imao stopu mortaliteta

80 times higher than anywhere in the United States.

80 puta višu no bilo gde u SAD-u.

That was in 2002, and even at that moment,

To je bilo u 2002. god. i čak u tom trenutku

no one raised their hand to say, "Gayla,

niko nije podigao ruku i rekao: "Gejla,

look in the playground where your grandchildren are playing.

pogledaj u igralište gde se tvoji unuci igraju.

It's lined with vermiculite."

Obloženo je vermikulitom."

This wasn't ignorance.

Ovo nije bilo neznanje.

It was willful blindness.

Ovo je bilo namerno slepilo.

Willful blindness is a legal concept which means,

Namerno slepilo je pravni pojam, koji znači

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

da ako postoji informacija koju bi ti mogao i morao da znaš,

but you somehow manage not to know,

ali nekako uspevaš da ne saznaš,

the law deems that you're willfully blind.

zakon smatra da si ti namerno slep.

You have chosen not to know.

Izabrao si da ne znaš.

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

Postoji dosta namernog slepila ovih dana.

You can see willful blindness in banks,

Možete videti namerno slepilo u bankama,

when thousands of people sold mortgages to people

kada je na hiljade ljudi prodavalo hipoteke ljudima

who couldn't afford them.

koji nisu mogli da ih sebi priušte.

You could see them in banks

Mogli ste videti u bankama

when interest rates were manipulated

kada su kamatnim stopama manipulisali

and everyone around knew what was going on,

i kada su svi znali šta se dešava,

but everyone studiously ignored it.

ali je svako to studiozno ignorisao.

You can see willful blindness in the Catholic Church,

Možete videti namerno slepilo u Katoličkoj crkvi,

where decades of child abuse went ignored.

gde su decenije zlostavljanja dece ingnorisane.

You could see willful blindness

Mogli ste videti namerno slepilo

in the run-up to the Iraq War.

u zaletu za rat u Iraku.

Willful blindness exists on epic scales like those,

Namerno slepilo postoji u epskim razmerama poput ovih,

and it also exists on very small scales,

a takođe postoji u jako malim razmerama,

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

u porodicama, u kućama i zajednicama,

and particularly in organizations and institutions.

a posebno u organizacijama i institucijama.

Companies that have been studied for willful blindness

Kompanijama koje su istraživale namerno slepilo

can be asked questions like,

mogu se postaviti pitanja poput:

"Are there issues at work

"Postoje li pitanja na poslu

that people are afraid to raise?"

koja se ljudi plaše da postave?"

And when academics have done studies like this

I kada su akademici završili istraživanja ovog tipa

of corporations in the United States,

o korporacijama u SAD-u

what they find is 85 percent of people say yes.

ono što su pronašli jeste da je 85 posto ljudi reklo "da".

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

85% ljudi zna da postoji problem,

but they won't say anything.

ali neće reći ništa.

And when I duplicated the research in Europe,

Kada sam ponovila istraživanje u Evropi

asking all the same questions,

postavljajući ista pitanja

I found exactly the same number.

došla sam do potpuno istog broja.

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

Osamdeset pet procenata. To je mnogo tišine.

It's a lot of blindness.

Mnogo slepila.

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

I ono što je zaista interesanto je da kada idem u kompanije u Švajcarskoj

kažu mi: "Ovo je jedinstven švajcarski problem."

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 kada odem u Nemačku, kažu: "O, da, ovo je nemačka bolest."

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

I kada odem u kompanije u Engleskoj, kažu:

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

"O, da, Britanci su zaista loši u ovome."

And the truth is, this is a human problem.

A istina je: ovo je ljudski problem.

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

Svo smo, pod određenim okolnostima, namerno slepi.

What the research shows is that some people are blind

Ono što istraživanje pokazuje jeste da su neki ljudi slepi

out of fear. They're afraid of retaliation.

iz straha. Plaše se osvete.

And some people are blind because they think, well,

A neki su ljudi slepi zato što misle

seeing anything is just futile.

da je videti nešto samo uzaludno.

Nothing's ever going to change.

Ništa se nikad neće promeniti.

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

Ako protestujemo protiv rata u Iraku,

nothing changes, so why bother?

ništa se neće promeniti, pa zašto da se trudimo?

Better not to see this stuff at all.

Bolje je uopšte ne gledati ove stvari.

And the recurrent theme that I encounter all the time

I stalno prisutna tema koja koju sve vreme srećem

is people say, "Well, you know,

je da ljudi govore: "Pa, znate,

the people who do see, they're whistleblowers,

ljudi koji zaista vide, oni su uzbunjivači

and we all know what happens to them."

i svi znamo šta im se dešava."

So there's this profound mythology around whistleblowers

Tako da postoji duboka mitologija o uzbunjivačima

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

koja kazuje, kao prvo, svi su ludi.

But what I've found going around the world

Ali ono što sam pronašla putujući svetom

and talking to whistleblowers is, actually,

i razgovarajući sa uzbunjivačima, je da su to zapravo

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

jako lojalni i prilično često jako konzervativni ljudi.

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

Jako su posvećeni institucijama u kojima rade,

and the reason that they speak up,

a razlog zašto govore,

the reason they insist on seeing,

razlog zašto insistiraju da vide,

is because they care so much about the institution

jeste zato što jako brinu o instituciji

and want to keep it healthy.

i žele da je održe zdravom.

And the other thing that people often say

I druga stvar koju ljudi često govore

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

o uzbunjivačima je: "Pa, nema svrhe,

because you see what happens to them.

zato što vidiš šta im se dešava.

They are crushed.

Nezaštićeni su.

Nobody would want to go through something like that."

Niko ne bi želeo da prođe kroz nešto takvo."

And yet, when I talk to whistleblowers,

A ipak, kada pričam sa uzbunjivačima,

the recurrent tone that I hear is pride.

povratni ton koji čujem je ponos.

I think of Joe Darby.

Mislim na Džoa Darbija.

We all remember the photographs of Abu Ghraib,

Svi pamtimo fotografije Abu Grejba,

which so shocked the world and showed the kind of war

koje su veoma šokirale svet i pokazale kakva vrsta rata

that was being fought in Iraq.

se vodi u Iraku.

But I wonder who remembers Joe Darby,

Ali zanima me ko pamti Džoa Darbija,

the very obedient, good soldier

jako poslušnog i dobrog vojnika

who found those photographs and handed them in.

koji je našao ove fotografije i predao ih.

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

I rekao je: "Znate, nisam ta vrsta čoveka

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

koja bi otkucala ljude, ali neke stvari prosto pređu liniju.

Ignorance is bliss, they say,

Neznanje je blaženstvo, kažu,

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

ali ne možeš da trpiš stvari poput ovih."

I talked to Steve Bolsin, a British doctor,

Razgovarala sam sa Stivom Bolsinom, britanskim doktorom,

who fought for five years to draw attention

koji se borio pet godina da privuče pažnju

to a dangerous surgeon who was killing babies.

na opasnog hirurga koja je ubijao bebe.

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

Pitala sam ga zašto je to učinio, a on je rekao:

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

"Uradio sam to zbog svoje ćerke.

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

Došla je jedne večeri i samo rekla:

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

"Tata, ne možeš da pustiš decu da umru.""

Or I think of Cynthia Thomas,

Ili mislim na Sintiju Tomas,

a really loyal army daughter and army wife,

jednu zaista lojalnu kćer i suprugu vojnika,

who, as she saw her friends and relations

koja je, kada je videla svoje prijatelje i rođake

coming back from the Iraq War, was so shocked

kako se vraćaju iz rata u Iraku, bila toliko šokirana

by their mental condition

njihovim mentalnim stanjem

and the refusal of the military to recognize and acknowledge

i odbijanjem vojske da prepozna i prizna

post-traumatic stress syndrome

posttraumatski stresni sindrom

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

da je postavila kafić usred vojnog grada

to give them legal, psychological and medical assistance.

i davala im legalnu, psihološku i medicinsku pomoć.

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

Rekla mi je: "Znaš, Margaret,

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

oduvek sam govorila da ne znam šta želim da budem

when I grow up.

kada odrastem.

But I've found myself in this cause,

Ali našla sam sebe u ovoj stvari

and I'll never be the same."

i nikada više neću biti ista."

We all enjoy so many freedoms today,

Mi danas uživamo u toliko sloboda,

hard-won freedoms:

teško zarađenim slobodama:

the freedom to write and publish without fear of censorship,

slobodi da pišemo i objavljujemo bez straha od cenzure,

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

slobodi koja nije bila ovde kada sam poslednji put došla u Mađarsku;

a freedom to vote, which women in particular

slobodi da glasamo, za šta su posebno žene

had to fight so hard for;

morale teško da se bore;

the freedom for people of different ethnicities and cultures

slobodi da ljudi različitih etničkih i kulturnih

and sexual orientation to live the way that they want.

i seksualnih orijentacija žive život na način koji žele.

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

Ali sloboda ne postoji ako je ne koristite,

and what whistleblowers do,

a ono šta uzbunjivači rade

and what people like Gayla Benefield do

i šta ljudi poput Gejle Benefild rade,

is they use the freedom that they have.

je da koriste onu slobodu koju poseduju.

And what they're very prepared to do is recognize

Oni su vrlo spremni da prepoznaju

that yes, this is going to be an argument,

da svakako, ovo će da bude argument,

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

i da, mnogo ću raspravljati

with my neighbors and my colleagues and my friends,

sa svojim komšijama i svojim kolegama i prijateljima,

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

ali ću postati jako dobar u ovom konfliktu.

I'm going to take on the naysayers,

I pridobiću one koji govore "ne",

because they'll make my argument better and stronger.

zato što će oni učiniti moj argument boljim i jačim.

I can collaborate with my opponents

A mogu i sarađivati sa svojim protivnicima

to become better at what I do.

da bih postao bolji u onome što radim.

These are people of immense persistence,

Ovo su ljudi ogromne upornosti,

incredible patience, and an absolute determination

neverovatnog strpljenja i apsolutne odlučnosti

not to be blind and not to be silent.

da ne budu slepi i da ne budu tihi.

When I went to Libby, Montana,

Kada sam otišla u Libi u Montani,

I visited the asbestosis clinic

posetila sam kliniku azbestoze

that Gayla Benefield brought into being,

koju je Gejla Benefild osnovala,

a place where at first some of the people

mesto gde su na početku neki ljudi

who wanted help and needed medical attention

koji su želeli i kojima je bila potrebna medicinska pomoć,

went in the back door

ulazili na zadnja vrata,

because they didn't want to acknowledge

jer nisu želeli da priznaju

that she'd been right.

da je ona bila u pravu.

I sat in a diner, and I watched

Sedela sam u restoranu i gledala

as trucks drove up and down the highway,

kako kamioni voze gore-dole po autoputu,

carting away the earth out of gardens

odnoseći zemlju iz vrtova

and replacing it with fresh, uncontaminated soil.

i zamenjujući je svežom, nezagađenom zemljom.

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

Povela sam svoju dvanaestogodišnu kćer,

because I really wanted her to meet Gayla.

zato što sam zaista želela da upozna Gejlu.

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

Pitala je: "Zašto? Šta je toliko važno?"

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

Rekla sam: "Ona nije filmska zvezda,

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

nije ni poznata ličnost, a nije ni neki ekspert,

and Gayla's the first person who'd say

Gejla je prva osoba koja bi rekla

she's not a saint.

da nije svetica.

The really important thing about Gayla

Zaista bitna stvar o Gejli

is she is ordinary.

je da je ona obična osoba.

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

Ona je poput tebe, poput mene.

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

Imala je slobodu i bila je spremna da je upotrebi."

Thank you very much.

Mnogo vam hvala.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)