Robert Neuwirth: The power of the informal economy

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Prevodilac: Silvija Varga Lektor: Jelena Nedjic

In System D, this

U Sistemu D,

is a store,

ovo je prodavnica,

and what I mean by that is that this is a photograph

pod tim podrazumevam da je ova fotografija

I took in Makoko, shantytown in Lagos, Nigeria.

uslikana u sirotinjskom delu Lagosa, Makokou u Nigeriji.

It's built over the lagoon, and there are no streets

Sagrađena je preko lagune, tamo ne postoje ulice

where there can be stores to shop,

u kojima bi bile prodavnice,

and so the store comes to you.

tako da prodavnice dolaze kod vas.

And in the same community,

U toj istoj zajednici

this is business synergy.

je ovo poslovna sinergija.

This is the boat that that lady was paddling around in,

Ovo je čamac u kojem je gospođa veslala,

and this artisan makes the boat and the paddles

a ovaj zanatlija pravi čamce i vesla

and sells directly

i direktno ih prodaje

to the people who need the boat and the paddles.

ljudima kojima su potrebni.

And this is a global business.

Ovo je zajednički posao.

Ogandiro smokes fish in Makoko in Lagos,

Ogandiro suši ribu dimljenjem u Makokou u Lagosu,

and I asked her, "Where does the fish come from?"

a kada sam je pitao: "Gde nabavljate ribu?",

And I thought she'd say, "Oh, you know,

mislio sam da će reći:

up the lagoon somewhere, or maybe across Africa,"

"Lovimo je u obližnjoj laguni ili možda u drugom delu Afrike",

but you'll be happy to know she said

ali ona je zapravo rekla da

it came from here, it comes from the North Sea.

ribu dopremaju odavde, sa Severnog mora.

It's caught here, frozen, shipped down to Lagos,

Riba se lovi ovde, zamrzava se i prevozi u Lagos,

smoked, and sold for a tiny increment of profit

tamo se suši dimljenjem i prodaje uz neznatni profit

on the streets of Lagos.

na ulicama Lagosa.

And this is a business incubator.

Ovo je poslovni inkubator.

This is Olusosun dump, the largest garbage dump in Lagos,

Ovo je Olusosun smetlište, najveće u Lagosu,

and 2,000 people work here, and I found this out

dve hiljade ljudi radi ovde,

from this fellow, Andrew Saboru.

to sam saznao od ovog čoveka, Endrua Saborua.

Andrew spent 16 years scavenging materials on the dump,

Endru je proveo 16 godina sakupljajući otpadni materijal na ovom smetlištu,

earned enough money to turn himself into a contract scaler,

zaradio je dovoljno novca da postane merač,

which meant he carried a scale and went around and

što znači da je nosio vagu sa sobom

weighed all the materials that people had scavenged

i merio materijale koje su drugi ljudi skupili na smetlištu.

from the dump. Now he's a scrap dealer.

Danas on preprodaje starudije.

That's his little depot behind him,

Ovo iza njega je njegovo malo stovarište,

and he earns twice the Nigerian minimum wage.

i zarađuje duplo više od minimalne nigerijske plate.

This is a shopping mall.

Ovo je tržni centar.

This is Oshodi Market in Lagos.

Ovo je Ošodi pijaca u Lagosu.

Jorge Luis Borges had a story called "The Aleph,"

Horhe Luis Borhes je napisao priču pod nazivom "Alef",

and the Aleph is a point in the world

a Alef je mesto na svetu

where absolutely everything exists,

gde postoji apsolutno sve,

and for me, this image is a point in the world

za mene, ovo je to mesto na svetu

where absolutely everything exists.

gde postoji apsolutno sve.

So, what am I talking about when I talk about System D?

O čemu tačno govorim kada pričam o Sistemu D?

It's traditionally called the informal economy,

Tradicionalno je poznata pod imenom neformalna ekonomija,

the underground economy, the black market.

podzemna ekonomija, crno tržište.

I don't conceive of it that way.

Ja to ne shvatam tako.

I think it's really important to understand that something like

Smatram da je bitno da razumemo da je nešto kao ovo

this is totally open. It's right there for you to find.

u potpunosti otvoreno. Stoji vam na raspolaganju.

All of this is happening openly, and aboveboard.

Sve ovo se dešava potpuno otvoreno, sve je vidljivo.

There's nothing underground about it.

Ne postoji ništa "podzemno" u vezi sa ovim.

It's our prejudgment that it's underground.

Mi prejudiciramo da je to "na crno".

I've pirated the term System D from the former French colonies.

Preuzeo sam pojam Sistem D od bivših francuskih kolonija.

There's a word in French that is débrouillardise,

Postoji reč u francuskom jeziku "débrouillardise"

that means to be self-reliant,

a znači "samostalan",

and the former French colonies have turned that into

bivše francuske kolonije su taj izraz preinačile u

System D for the economy of self-reliance,

Sistem D, označavajući ekonomiju u kojoj se uzdate u sebe same,

or the DIY economy.

nešto kao "uradi sam" ekonomija.

But governments hate the DIY economy,

Ali države ne podržavaju ovakvu ekonomiju

and that's why -- I took this picture in 2007,

i zato sam snimio ovu fotografiju 2007.

and this is the same market in 2009 --

ovo je to isto mesto 2009. godine --

and I think, when the organizers of this conference

mislim da organizatori ove konferencije,

were talking about radical openness,

govoreći o radikalnoj otvorenosti

they didn't mean that the streets should be open

nisu mislili da bi trebalo da ulice budu otvorene

and the people should be gone.

i bez ljudi na njima.

I think what we have is a pickle problem.

Ovde postoji jedan "kiseli" problem.

I had a friend who worked at a pickle factory,

Poznavao sam čoveka koji je radio u fabrici kiselih krastavaca.

and the cucumbers would come flying down

Krastavci bi stizali niz

this conveyer belt, and his job was to pick off the ones

pokretnu traku, a njegov posao je bio da skloni

that didn't look so good and throw them in the bin

one koji nisu izgledali dobro i baci ih u kantu

labeled "relish" where they'd be crushed and mixed

obeleženu "drugo" gde bi oni bili samleveni i

with vinegar and used for other kinds of profit.

zasirćereni i to bi se koristilo za stvaranje drugog tipa profita.

This is the pickle economy.

Ovo je ta "kisela" ekonomija.

We're all focusing on — this is a statistic from

Svi smo fokusirani na - ovo je statistika

earlier this month in the Financial Times —

koja je bila u novinama "Financial Times"-

we're all focusing on the luxury economy.

svi smo fokusirani na luksuznu ekonomiju.

It's worth 1.5 trillion dollars every year, and that's

Luksuzna ekonomija vredi 1,5 biliona dolara svake godine,

a vast amount of money, right?

to predstavlja veliku količinu novca, zar ne?

That's three times the Gross Domestic Product of Switzerland.

To je tri puta više od bruto domaćeg proizvoda Švajcarske.

So it's vast. But it should come with an asterisk,

Dakle, velika količina. Ali, potrebno je nešto napomenuti,

and the asterisk is that it excludes two thirds of the workers

a napomena je da se iz ovoga isključuje 2/3 radnika

of the world.

celog sveta.

1.8 billion people around the world work

1,8 milijardi ljudi na svetu radi

in the economy that is unregulated and informal.

u ekonomiji koja je neformalna i nije regulisana.

That's a huge number, and what does that mean?

Šta znači ovaj veliki broj?

Well, it means if it were united in a single political system,

Znači, kada bi bila ujedinjena u jedan

one country, call it

samostalan politički sistem, u jednu zemlju,

"The United Street Sellers Republic," the U.S.S.R.,

nazovimo je "Republika Ujedinjenih Uličnih Preprodavaca", R.U.U.P.,

or "Bazaaristan,"

ili "Pijačistan"

it would be worth 10 trillion dollars every year,

ona bi vredela 10 biliona dolara godišnje

and that would make it the second largest economy

i to bi bila druga ekonomija po snazi

in the world, after the United States.

na svetu, posle Sjedinjenih Država.

And given that projections are that the bulk

Sa obzirom da procene ukazuju da će generalni

of economic growth over the next 15 years will come

ekonomski rast u toku narednih 15 godina

from emerging economies in the developing world,

izneti ekonomije zemalja u razvoju,

it could easily overtake the United States

mogla bi sa lakoćom da premaši Sjedinjene Države

and become the largest economy in the world.

i tako postane najjača ekonomska sila.

So the implications of that are vast, because it means

Posledice su ogromne jer to znači

that this is where employment is — 1.8 billion people —

da je ovo mesto gde bi radilo 1,8 milijardi ljudi,

and this is where we can create a more egalitarian world,

ovo je mesto gde bismo mogli da stvorimo društvo veće jednakosti

because people are actually able to earn money and live

jer bi ljudi zaista bili u mogućnosti da zarade više i bolje žive,

and thrive, as Andrew Saboru did.

da napreduju, kao Endru Saboru.

Big businesses have recognized this,

Velike kompanije su prepoznale to.

and what's fascinating about this slide,

Ono što je zaista sjajno na ovoj slici nije

it's not that the guys can carry boxes on their heads

činjenica da ovi ljudi mogu da nose kutije na glavama

and run around without dropping them off.

i da trče unaokolo, a da im one ne padnu,

it's that the Gala sausage roll is a product that's made

već je sjajna ova vrsta kobasice koju pravi

by a global company called UAC foods

kompanija pod nazivom "UAC foods"

that's active throughout Africa and the Middle East,

koja postoji u Africi i na Bliskom Istoku,

but the Gala sausage roll is not sold in stores.

a tu kobasicu ne možete kupiti u prodavnici.

UAC foods has recognized that it won't sell if it's in stores.

Kompanija je uvidela da neće moći da proda robu u prodavnicama.

It's only sold by a phalanx of street hawkers

Kobasica se jedino može kupiti kod uličnih preprodavaca

who run around the streets of Lagos at bus stations

koji se kreću po autobuskim stanicama Lagosa

and in traffic jams and sell it as a snack,

i po gustom saobraćaju, prodajući je kao užinu

and it's been sold that way for 40 years.

i na ovaj način se prodaje već 40 godina.

It's a business plan for a corporation.

To je poslovni plan jedne korporacije.

And it's not just in Africa.

Ovo se ne dešava samo u Africi.

Here's Mr. Clean looking amorously at all the other

Ovo je "G-din Čistunac" koji zaljubljeno gleda

Procter & Gamble products,

u druge proizvode kompanije "Proctor and Gamble",

and Procter & Gamble, you know,

ova kompanija je,

the statistic always cited is that Wal-Mart

statistike pokazuju, najviše zastupljena u prodavnici "Wal-Mart"

is their largest customer, and it's true, as one store,

i to je tačno, s obzirom da

Wal-Mart buys 15 percent, thus 15 percent

"Wal-Mart" kupuje 15% proizvoda,

of Procter & Gamble's business is with Wal-Mart,

dakle 15% njihovog posla je u "Wal-Mart"-u.

but their largest market segment is something that they call

Međutim, njihovo najveće tržište je nešto što oni nazivaju

"high frequency stores," which is all these tiny kiosks

"prodavnice velikog prometa", ove male prodavnice,

and the lady in the canoe and all these other businesses

gospođa u čamcu sa početka i svi ti drugi poslovi

that exist in System D, the informal economy,

koji postoje u Sistemu D, u neformalnoj ekonomiji.

and Procter & Gamble makes 20 percent of its money

"Proctor and Gamble" zarađuje 20% od ukupnog prihoda

from that market segment,

od takvog tržišta

and it's the only market segment that's growing.

i to je jedini tržišni segment koji raste.

So Procter & Gamble says, "We don't care whether a store

"Proctor and Gamble" ima slogan: "Nije bitno da li je

is incorporated or registered or anything like that.

prodavnica zvanično registrovana, niti su bitne slične stvari.

We want our products in that store."

Mi želimo naše proizvode u toj prodavnici."

And then there's mobile phones.

Zatim, imamo mobilne telefone.

This is an ad for MTN,

Ovo je reklama za MTN,

which is a South African multinational

multinacionalnu južnoafričku kompaniju,

active in about 25 countries,

koja posluje u 25 zemalja

and when they came into Nigeria —

i kada su stigli u Nigeriju -

Nigeria is the big dog in Africa.

a Nigerija je bitna zemlja u Africi.

One in seven Africans is a Nigerian,

Jedan od sedam Afrikanaca je Nigerijac,

and so everyone wants in to the mobile phone market

svi su pohrlili da budu deo tog tržišta mobilnih telefona

in Nigeria. And when MTN came in, they wanted

u Nigeriji. Kada je MTN stigao hteli su da prodaju

to sell the mobile service like I get in the United States

pakete mobilnih servisa slične onima u Sjedinjenim Državama

or like people get here in the U.K. or in Europe --

ili onima koji postoje ovde u Britaniji ili Evropi,

expensive monthly plans, you get a phone,

skupe mesečne rate, dobijete telefon,

you pay overages,

plaćate ako potrošite više,

you're killed with fees --

ubijaju vas sa provizijama

and their plan crashed and burned.

i njihov plan se naravno izjalovio.

And they went back to the drawing board, and they retooled,

Morali su da smisle nešto novo,

and they came up with another plan:

i plasirali su novi plan:

We don't sell you the phone,

neće prodavati telefone,

we don't sell you the monthly plan.

neće prodavati mesečne pakete,

We only sell you airtime.

samo će prodavati emitovanje.

And where's the airtime sold?

Kako se prodaje emitovanje?

It's sold at umbrella stands all over the streets,

Prodaje se na uličnim štandovima zajedno sa kišobranima

where people are unregistered, unlicensed,

gde ljudi nisu registrovani ili licencirani

but MTN makes most of its profits,

ali MTN ubira tu najviši profit,

perhaps 90 percent of its profits,

gotovo 90 procenata svog profita

from selling through System D, the informal economy.

dobija prodajom u Sistemu D, u neformalnoj ekonomiji.

And where do the phones come from?

Odakle im telefoni?

Well, they come from here. This is in Guangzhou, China,

Dolaze odavde. Ovo je Gunadžo u Kini.

and if you go upstairs in this rather sleepy looking

Ako se popnete nekoliko spratova

electronics mall, you find the Guangzhou Dashatou

u ovom tržnom centru naići ćete na

second-hand trade center,

prodavnicu polovne robe

and if you go in there, you follow the guys with the muscles

i ako uđete u prodavnicu, pratite samo mišićave momke

who are carrying the boxes, and where are they going?

koji nose kutije. Gde su se uputili?

They're going to Eddy in Lagos.

Oni idu kod Edija u Lagos.

Now, most of the phones there are not second-hand at all.

Ustvari, mnogi ti telefoni nisu uopšte polovni.

The name is a misnomer.

Naziv marke telefona je pogrešan.

Most of them are pirated. They have the name brand

Mnogi od telefona su piratski. Imaju naziv brenda,

on them, but they're not manufactured by the name brand.

ali ih nije proizvela imenovana kompanija.

Now, are there downsides to that?

Da li je to loše?

Well, I guess. You know, China has no —

Pa, znate Kina nema...

(Laughter) — no intellectual property, right?

...nema nikakvu intelektualnu svojinu, zar ne?

Versace without the vowels.

Versaće bez samoglasnika.

Zhuomani instead of Armani.

Žurmani umesto Armani.

S. Guuuci, and -- (Laughter) (Applause)

Zgući i... (smeh) (aplauz)

All around the world this is how products

Ovo je način na koji se roba

are being distributed, so, for instance,

distribuira svuda po svetu, na primer

in one street market on Rua 25 de Março

na jednoj pijaci u ulici 25. marta,

in São Paulo, Brazil,

u Sao Paulu u Brazilu,

you can buy fake designer glasses.

možete kupiti lažne dizajnerske naočare.

You can buy cloned cologne.

Možete kupiti lažnjake, od parfema

You can buy pirated DVDs, of course.

Naravno, možete kupiti i lažne DVD-ove,

You can buy New York Yankees caps

bejzbol kape njujorških Jenkija

in all sorts of unauthorized patterns.

u svi mogućim neautorizovanim bojama i šarama.

You can buy cuecas baratas, designer underwear

Možete kupiti "Dizajnersko" donje rublje

that isn't really manufactured by a designer,

koje naravno nije pravljeno od strane dizajnera,

and even pirated evangelical mixtapes. (Laughter)

pa čak i piratsku crkvenu muziku. (smeh)

Now, businesses tend to complain about this,

Velike kompanije se žale na ovo,

and their, they, I don't want to take away from their

i priznajem da

entire validity of complaining about it,

u potpunosti imaju pravo da se žale,

but I did ask a major sneaker manufacturer earlier this year

ali upitao sam jednu kompaniju sportske obuće

what they thought about piracy,

kakva je njihova politika protiv piraterije

and they told me, "Well, you can't quote me on this,

i rekoše mi: "Pa, ne smeš me citirati,

because if you quote me on this, I have to kill you,"

jer ako me citiraš, moraću da te ubijem", ali

but they use piracy as market research.

oni prate pirate za potrebe tržišne procene.

The sneaker manufacturer told me that if

Rekli su mi da

they find that Pumas are being pirated, or Adidas

ako primete da je više "Puma" lažnjaka ili "Adidas",

are being pirated and their sneakers aren't being pirated,

a njihove patike nisu piratski proizvedene,

they know they've done something wrong. (Laughter)

onda znaju da postoji problem. (smeh)

So it's very important to them to track piracy

Dakle, veoma im je bitno da prate piratsko tržište

exactly because of this, and the people who are buying,

baš iz ovih razloga, iako ljudi koji kupuju

the pirates, are not their customers anyway,

od pirata nisu njihovi pravi kupci,

because their customers want the real deal.

jer pravi kupci će hteti pravu robu.

Now, there's another problem.

Dakle, tu postoji još jedan problem.

This is a real street sign in Lagos, Nigeria.

Ovaj znak zaista postoji u Lagosu u Nigeriji.

All of System D really doesn't pay taxes, right?

Cela Sistem D ekonomija ne plaća porez, zar ne?

And when I think about that, first of all I think that

Kada razmislim o tome, pre svega smatram da je država

government is a social contract between the people and

društveni ugovor između ljudi i njene vlade

the government, and if the government isn't transparent,

i ako vlada nije transparentna

then the people aren't going to be transparent either,

onda ni ljudi neće hteti da budu.

but also that we're blaming the little guy

Takođe, zašto odmah okrivljujemo običan narod

who doesn't pay his taxes, and we're not recognizing

kada ne plaća porez, a ne bunimo se što

that everyone's fudging things all over the world,

svi drugi mute svuda u čitavom svetu,

including some extremely respected businesses,

ukljućujući neke veoma poštovane privrednike?

and I'll give you one example.

Daću vam primer.

There was one company that paid 4,000 bribes

postojala je kompanija koja je preko 4 hiljade puta nekoga podmitila

in the first decade of this millennium, and

tokom prve dekade ovog milenijuma i dala

a million dollars in bribes every business day, right?

milion dolara mita svakog radnog dana.

All over the world. And that company

Svuda po svetu.

was the big German electronics giant Siemens.

Ta kompanija je bila veliki nemački elektronski gigant - Simens.

So this goes on in the formal economy

To je ono što se dešava u formalnoj ekonomiji

as well as the informal economy,

isto kao što se to dešava i u neformalnoj ekonomiji.

so it's wrong of us to blame — and I'm not singling out

Dakle, bilo bi pogrešno kriviti... ne izdvajam samo Simens,

Siemens, I'm saying everyone does it. Okay?

govorim da svi to rade. U redu?

I just want to end by saying that if Adam Smith

Želim da završim sa ovim, da je Adam Smit

had framed out a theory of the flea market

stvorio teoriju buvlje pijace

instead of the free market, what would be some

umesto teoriju o slobodnom tržištu,

of the principles?

koji bi to principi bili?

First, it would be to understand that it could be

Prvo, značilo bi da je

considered a cooperative, and this is a thought

to zadruga. Ovo smatra jedan

from the Brazilian legal scholar Roberto Mangabeira Unger.

brazilski pravnik Roberto Manjabera Unger.

Cooperative development is a way forward.

Zadruga je način da se napreduje.

Secondly, from the [Austrian] anarchist philosopher Paul Feyerabend,

Drugo, ovo je mišljenje anarhistički orijentisanog austrijskog filozofa Pola Fejerabenda,

facts are relative, and what is a massive right

činjenice su relativne - ono što nigerijski poslovni čovek

of self-reliance to a Nigerian businessperson

smatra ispravnom ekonomijom samostalnosti,

is considered unauthorized and horrible to other people,

drugi posmatraju kao nešto potpuno grozno,

and we have to recognize that there are differences

ali moramo da uvidimo da postoje razlike

in how people define things and what their facts are.

u tome kako ljudi definišu stvari i kakve su činjenice.

And third is, and I'm taking this from

Treće, ovo sam preuzeo od

the great American beat poet Allen Ginsberg,

Alena Ginsberga, američkog pesnika,

that alternate economies barter and

alternativa ekonomija se koristi

different kinds of currency, alternate currencies

različitim sredstvima plaćanja, alternativnim valutama

are also very important, and he talked about

koje su veoma bitne. On je govorio da kupuje

buying what he needed just with his good looks.

šta mu je potrebno uz pomoć svog dobrog izgleda.

And so I just want to leave you there, and say that

To je sve i samo još da kažem

this economy is a tremendous force for global development

da je ova ekonomija velika snaga globalnog razvoja

and we need to think about it that way.

i trebalo bi o tome tako da razmišljamo.

Thank you very much. (Applause)

Hvala. (aplauz)

(Applause)

(aplauz)