How to be a good ancestor | Roman Krznaric

Transcriber: TED Translators Admin Reviewer: Rhonda Jacobs

翻译人员: TED Translators Admin 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

It's time for humankind to recognize a disturbing truth:

是时候，让人类认识 一个令人不安的真相了：

we have colonized the future.

我们已经殖民了未来。

In wealthy countries, especially,

特别是在富裕国家，

we treat it like a distant colonial outpost

我们将未来视为遥远的殖民地哨所，

where we can freely dump ecological damage

可以自由的进行生态破坏，

and technological risk as if there was nobody there.

带来技术风险， 好像那里没有人居住一样。

The tragedy is that tomorrow's generations aren't here

然而可悲的是，未来的一代

to challenge this pillaging of their inheritance.

并没有在这里挑战这种 对他们遗产的掠夺。

They can't leap in front of the king's horse like a suffragette

他们不能像妇女政权论者 那样跳到国王的马前，

or stage a sit-in like a civil rights activist

也不能像民权主义者那样上演静坐，

or go on a Salt March to defy their colonial oppressors like Mahatma Gandhi.

更不能像圣雄甘地那样 抗击殖民地压迫者。

They're granted no political rights or representation;

他们没有任何政治权利或代表权，

they have no influence in the marketplace.

在商业市场上也没有任何影响力。

The great silent majority of future generations

后代中沉默的绝大多数人

is rendered powerless.

对此根本无能为力。

It could be hard to grasp the scale of this injustice,

要深切理解 这种不公正的程度并不容易。

so look at it this way:

不妨试着这样看：

There are 7.7 billion people alive today.

今天地球上有 77 亿人口。

That's just a tiny fraction of the estimated 100 billion people

相比在过去的 5 万年中 地球上出现过的 1000 亿人，

who have lived and died over the past 50,000 years.

这只是很小的一部分。

But both of these are vastly outnumbered by the nearly seven trillion people

但是，如果按当前的出生率计算，

那么在未来的 5 万年中， 地球上还会诞生近 7 万亿人口，

who will be born over the next 50,000 years,

assuming current birth rates stabilize.

远远超过了之前的两个数字。

In the next two centuries alone, tens of billions of people will be born,

仅在接下来的两个世纪中， 就将有数百亿人出生，

amongst them, all your grandchildren,

其中就包括你们所有的孙辈，

and their grandchildren

孙辈的孙辈，

and the friends and communities on whom they'll depend.

以及他们所依赖的朋友和社区。

How will all these future generations look back on us

这些子孙后代将如何审视我们

and the legacy we're leaving for them?

以及我们为他们留下的遗产？

We've clearly inherited extraordinary legacies

我们显然已经继承了

from our common ancestors:

我们祖先留下的珍贵遗产：

the gift of the agricultural revolution,

农业革命，

medical discoveries and the cities we still live in.

医学发现和我们仍然 生活于其中的城市。

But we've certainly inherited destructive legacies too.

但是，我们当然也继承了 那些破坏性遗产。

Legacies of slavery and colonialism and racism

奴隶制、殖民主义

creating deep inequities that must now be repaired.

和种族主义的遗留产物， 造成了严重的不平等。

Legacies of economies

那些在结构上

that are structurally addicted to fossil fuels

依赖化石燃料和无休止增长的 经济体的遗留问题，

and endless growth that must now be transformed.

现在也必须得到解决。

So how can we become the good ancestors that future generations deserve?

那么，我们如何才能 为后代做出好的榜样呢？

Well, over the past decade,

在过去的十年中，

a global movement has started to emerge

一项全球运动开始兴起，

of people committed to decolonizing the future

人们致力于让未来非殖民化，

and extending our time horizons towards a longer now.

并将我们着眼的时间范围 进行延伸。

This movement is still fragmented and as yet has no name.

这项运动仍然只是星星之火， 也没有正式的名字。

I think of its pioneers as time rebels.

我认为它的先驱是“时间反叛者”。

They can be found at work in Japan's visionary Future Design movement,

日本富有远见的“未来设计”运动 （Future Design）就体现了这一点。

which aims to overcome the short-term cycles that dominate politics

该运动旨在通过借鉴

许多美国原住民社区践行的 第七代决策原则，

by drawing on the principle of seventh generation decision making

practiced by many Native Americans communities.

来克服主导政治的短视现象。

Future Design gathers together residents

“未来设计”将居民聚集在一起，

to draw up and discuss plans for the towns and cities where they live.

草拟并讨论他们 所居住的城镇的计划。

Half the group are told they're residents from the present day.

一半的人被告知， 他们是现在的居民。

The other half are given ceremonial robes to wear

另外一半的人会穿上仪式长袍，

and told to imagine themselves as residents from the year 2060.

并被告知把自己 想象成 2060 年的居民。

Well, it turns out that the residents from 2060

结果，2060 年的居民

systematically advocate far more transformative city plans,

系统的倡导了从医疗保健投资 到气候变化行动

from healthcare investments to climate change action.

等一系列更具变革性的城市计划，

And this innovative form of future citizens assembly

目前，这种未来公民集会的创新形式

is now spreading throughout Japan

已经日本各地得到了推广——

from small towns like Yahaba to major cities like Kyoto.

从 Yahaba 这样的小城镇 到京都这样的大城市。

What if Future Design was adopted by towns and cities worldwide

如果“未来设计”的理念 被世界各地的城镇采纳，

to revitalize democratic decision making

以振兴民主决策，

并将他们的视野扩展到 遥远的未来，会怎样呢？

and extend their vision far beyond the now?

Now, time rebels have also taken to courts of law

同时，时间反叛者 也在通过诉诸法律

to secure the rights of future people.

来保障未来人民的权利。

The organization Our Children's Trust

一个名为“我们的儿童基金会”的组织

has filed a landmark case against the US Government

代表 21 个年轻人向美国政府

on behalf of 21 young people

提起了具有里程碑意义的诉讼，

campaigning for the legal right to a safe climate and healthy atmosphere

为本代人和子孙后代争取

for both current and future generations.

获得安全气候 和健康大气的合法权利。

Their David versus Goliath struggle

他们的“大卫诉歌利亚 （David versus Goliath）”之争

has already inspired groundbreaking lawsuits worldwide

已经在世界各地 引发了开创性的诉讼，

from Colombia and Pakistan to Uganda and the Netherlands.

从哥伦比亚、巴基斯坦 到乌干达和荷兰。

And this wave of activism is growing alongside the movement

从新西兰旺格努伊河

to grant legal personhood to nature,

到印度的恒河和亚穆纳河，

from the Whanganui River in Aotearoa, New Zealand

这一波行动主义运动

to the Ganges and Yamuna Rivers in India.

与赋予大自然 法律人格的运动同时兴起。

Time rebels are taking action at the ballot box too.

时间反叛者也在 通过投票来实现同样的目的。

In 2019, teenagers across Europe

在 2019 年，欧洲各地的青少年

began lobbying their parents and grandparents

开始游说父母和祖父母

to give them their votes in the European parliamentary elections of that year.

在当年的欧洲议会选举中 投票给他们。

The hashtag #givethekidsyourvote went viral on social media

标签 #givethekidsyourvote 在社交媒体上迅速流行起来，

and was spread by climate campaigners as far as Australia.

并由气候运动人士 推广到了遥远的澳大利亚。

My partner and I heard about it

我和我的伴侣听说了这件事，

and decided to give our votes in the last UK general election

并决定在上次英国大选中

to our 11-year-old twins.

把票投给了我们 11 岁的双胞胎。

So we all sat around the kitchen table and debated the party manifestos,

我们大家围坐在厨房桌边， 讨论了党派宣言，

and they then each told us where to put the X on the ballot sheet.

然后他们各自告诉我们 如何填选票。

And in case you're wondering,

别误会，

no, they didn't simply mirror their parents' political opinions.

他们并没有简单的重复 父母的政治观点。

So the time rebellion has begun.

所以说，反叛的时代已经开始了。

The rebels are rising to decolonize the future

反叛者正在为实现 未来的非殖民化而抗争，

founding a global movement for long-term thinking

建立一个眼光长远

and intergenerational justice

和代际正义的全球运动，

that may turn out to be

这可能演变为

one of the most powerful political movements of this century.

本世纪最强大的政治运动之一。

They're helping us escape the short-term cycles

他们正在帮助我们摆脱

that digital distraction and consumer culture trap us in,

那些以速购按钮 和全天候新闻为诱饵的

with the lure of the Buy Now button

电子产品和消费文化 让我们陷入的

and 24/7 news.

一系列短视的周期。

They inspire us to extend our time horizons

他们激励着我们，不只着眼于 几秒钟和几分钟的时间范畴，

from seconds and minutes to decades and far beyond.

而是要放眼到几十年后， 甚至更遥远的未来。

The artist Katie Paterson's project, Future Library,

艺术家凯蒂·帕特森（ Katie Paterson）的 “未来图书馆”项目

will be a century in the making.

将持续一个世纪。

Every year, a famous writer donates a book

每年，一位著名作家 会捐赠一本书，

which will remain completely unread until 2114

这本书将一直 被秘密保存到 2114 年，

when the whole collection will be printed on paper

届时全部藏书将被印刷在纸上，

made from a forest of trees planted for this very purpose.

而这些纸来自 为此目的而栽种的一大片树林。

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault sets its vision even further,

斯瓦尔巴特群岛全球种子库 （Svalbard Global Seed Vault）

housing millions of seeds

进一步确立了自己的愿景，

在北极圈内的一个设计寿命为 1000 年的坚不可摧的岩石地堡里

in an indestructible rock bunker in the Arctic Circle

that's designed to last 1,000 years.

存放了数百万颗种子。

But how can we really think and plan on the scale of millennia?

但我们如何才能真正 在千年的尺度上进行思考和规划呢？

Well, the answer is perhaps the ultimate secret to being a time rebel,

答案也许是 成为时间反叛者的最终秘诀，

and it comes from the biomimicry designer Janine Benyus,

这一秘诀来自仿生设计师 亚尼内·班亚斯（Janine Benyus）。

who suggests we learn from nature's 3.8 billion years of evolution.

她建议我们从大自然 38 亿年的进化中吸取经验。

How is it that other species have learned to survive and thrive

其他物种是如何学会生存

for 10,000 generations or more?

并繁衍超过 1 万代的呢？

Well, it's by taking care of the place that would take care of their offspring,

事实上，它们是通过保护 让它们能够繁衍后代的地点，

by living within the ecosystem in which they're embedded,

通过居住在对它们来说 最宜居的生态系统中，

by knowing not to foul the nest,

以及认识到不要破坏 自己的巢穴来实现的，

which is what humans have been doing with devastating effects

而人类在过去的一个世纪里 一直在以前所未有的规模

at an ever-increasing pace and scale over the past century.

加速破坏自己的生存环境。

So a profound starting point for time rebels everywhere

因此，对于世界各地的 时间反叛者来说，

is to focus not simply on lengthening time

一个深刻的出发点不只是 单纯关注如何延长时间范畴，

but on regenerating place.

还要着眼于栖息地的再生。

We must restore and repair and care for the planetary home

我们必须为了子孙后代的福祉

that will take care of our offspring.

而修复和维护我们的行星家园。

For our children,

对于我们的孩子，

and our children's children,

我们孩子的孩子，

and all those yet to come,

以及之后的若干代人，

we must fall in love with rivers and mountains,

我们必须珍惜河流和山脉，

with ice sheets and savannas,

热爱冰盖和热带稀树草原，

and reconnect with the long and life-giving cycles of nature.

并重新与漫长且赋予生命的 自然循环建立连接。

Let us all become time rebels

让我们所有人都成为时间反叛者，

and be inspired by the beautiful Mohawk blessing

并谨记在孩子出生时被赠予的

spoken when a child is born:

美丽的莫霍克语祝福：

"Thank you, Earth.

“谢谢，地球。

You know the way."

你知道如何引领我们走向未来。”