How One Small Idea Led to $1 Million of Paid Water Bills | Tiffani Ashley Bell | TED
36,969 views ・ 2023-03-06
请双击下面的英文字幕来播放视频。
翻译人员: Jia Wen Crystal Tan
校对人员: suya f.
00:04
One Thursday morning, several summers ago,
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几个夏天前的一个周四早上,
00:06
I woke up and started scrolling
through social media
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我像许多人一样,
起床后开始浏览社交媒体。
00:09
like so many of us do every morning.
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00:11
What caught my eye that morning, though,
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不过,那天早上引起
我的注意的是一篇文章,
00:14
was an article about how 100,000
people in Detroit
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00:17
were about to have to live
without running water
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讲述底特律将有 10 万人因为
无法交付水费而生活在没有水的情况下。
00:19
because they couldn't afford
their water bills.
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00:23
And people have been living
with this issue for a while.
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而且他们已经与这个问题
共存一段时间了。
00:25
And they get by.
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他们仍在勉强的应对。
00:27
They were doing everything
from collecting rainwater in barrels
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他们从用桶收集雨水到每隔几天
步行到亲戚家洗澡,无所不用其极。
00:30
to walking to relative's houses
to take showers every few days.
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00:34
And much worse, sometime later,
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更糟糕的是,后来我得知,
00:36
I learned that a lot of people
were actually losing custody of their kids
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许多人实际上因为无法交付水费
00:41
because they couldn't afford
to pay their water bills.
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而失去了孩子的监护权。
00:44
Instead of someone helping them,
they just lost their kids.
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他们没有得到任何帮助,
却失去了孩子。
00:49
For many of them, their greatest
transgression, you could argue,
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对于许多人来说,
00:54
was that they were either
elderly, disabled,
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他们最大的罪过是
年老、残疾、
00:58
had just been laid off
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刚刚失业、或是工作的薪水根本不够。
01:00
or worked jobs that simply
didn't pay enough.
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01:03
And yes, I said jobs.
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是的,我说的是工作。
01:06
And to me, how they were being treated
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对我而言,他们收到的待遇、
他们收到的鄙视、
01:09
and the level of contempt shown to them
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01:11
and how easy it was to simply deny them
something that we all need to live
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以及剥夺他们的生活必需品是多么简单,
01:16
was disgusting.
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非常恶心。
01:18
(Applause)
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(掌声)
01:20
It's disgusting.
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太恶心了。
01:25
But to me this also felt personal,
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但于我而言是个人的,
01:27
even though I have
no direct family ties to Detroit.
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即使我与底特律
没有直系家属关系。
01:31
And here's why.
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而这是为什么。
01:33
Many of the people
who were facing shut offs were Black.
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很多那些被封锁的人都是黑人。
01:38
Many were also like myself, Black women.
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很多也和我一样,黑女人。
01:42
And Lord knows it's not the first time
in the United States
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神明知道这不是第一次在英国
01:45
that Black people have been denied
basic human rights like water.
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黑人被剥夺了人类的基本权利,比如水。
01:50
So to me, that created
an overwhelming urge
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所以对我来说,
这产生了一种强烈的冲动,
01:55
to do something to help.
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去帮忙做些什么。
01:58
I mean, I couldn't just read that
and then go on about my day.
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我的意思是,我无法仅仅阅读
之后一如往常地度过一天。
02:03
Then it became a question
of what can I,
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这也成了一个问题
02:05
sitting in my pajamas
as one person at home, actually do?
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穿着睡衣独自坐在屋里的我,
又能做些什么呢?
02:09
Well, what?
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好的,什么?
02:10
Oh, oh, but wait.
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哦,哦,但是等一下。
02:12
I'm a programmer.
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我是个程序员。
02:14
And a heavy, heavy social media user.
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也是个重度社交媒体用户。
02:18
So I decided to tweet.
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于是乎我决定发出推文。
02:20
To tweet what I was reading about,
what I was seeing, how I felt,
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把有关我正读着的,
我看见的,我的感受的推文
02:24
to my online community
of activists, politicians,
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发到了我有着政治家,活动家,
02:29
start-up founders and investors.
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初创企业的创始人
和投资者的社交平台账号
02:30
Some like yourselves.
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一些和你一样。
02:32
And other programmers, of course.
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当然也有一些是程序员。
02:35
And over the course of a few hours
of back and forth about what to do,
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在几个小时来回思考
该做什么的过程中,
02:39
we resolved to do the simplest,
most obvious thing
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我们决定做最简单、最显眼
02:42
that would help somebody
in this situation.
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在这个情况下
能够帮助到其他人的事
02:46
We decided to pay some water bills.
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我们决定交付一些水费。
02:49
To do that, I skipped work that day.
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为此那天我旷工了。
02:51
I did not go to work that day.
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当天我没去上班。
02:53
And instead,
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反之,
02:54
I spent a few hours digging around
on the water company's website.
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我花了几个小时查找水务局的网站
02:58
And I found something interesting
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找到了一些有趣的东西
03:00
that sort of jump-started
what to do for people.
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那种突然想到
为人们做些什么的方式。
03:03
For some reason, there was a 400-page PDF
of customers on the website
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因为某些因素,
网站上有个 400 页的客户文件
03:09
that the water company couldn't deliver
their bills to through the mail,
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水务局无法把这些账单发到邮箱去
03:13
and some of these
were delinquent accounts.
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其中有些是拖欠的账目。
03:15
But one of the things
that was interesting about this list
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但这文件里
其中一个有趣的东西是
03:18
is that it also included
account numbers for people.
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它也列出了其他人的账户号码。
03:20
So you just take one
of those account numbers
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所以你只需要使用这些号码
03:22
and, at that time, plug it
into the website
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输入至网站
03:24
and see everything about that account.
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就能查看所有有关那个账户的资料
03:26
So I did that.
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我便做了。
03:28
And one of the things
that was interesting, though, there,
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而有趣的是,
03:30
was that I saw a "make a payment" button.
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我看见了“支付” 的按钮界面
03:33
So the idea then became, what if we
got the account numbers of people
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致使便有了如果我获得那些需要帮助的人
03:39
that needed help and then
made payments for them?
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他们的账户号码,
那样我就能帮他们缴付水费这样的想法
03:43
So a few hours later,
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几个小时后,
03:44
I built a website to find those people
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我创建了一个网站企图寻找这些人
03:47
and start connecting them
to people that needed help.
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并开始把他们
和需要帮助的人联系起来。
03:51
And then I tweeted that.
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之后我便发出了那个推文。
03:53
And to keep things simple,
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为了让事情简单化,
03:56
people who wanted to help
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需要获得帮助的人
03:58
simply would get instructions
on how to log onto the utility's website
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将会得到指示
如何登入那个水务局网站
04:02
as if they were the account holder
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如若他们是账户持有人
04:04
and just make payments.
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便支付账单
04:07
And then once they had done that,
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当他们完成后,
04:09
they would send us the receipts
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他们会发送单据给我们
04:11
and we would send those to the families
that had gotten the help.
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我们则会把它发送给需要帮助的家庭
04:14
And empowered with those donations,
with those payments,
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通过这些捐赠,
这些款项,
04:18
they were able to go to the water company
and advocate for themselves
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他们能够前往水务局
为自己辩护
04:21
and demand that their water
be turned back on.
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要求他们重新开启水源。
04:25
And in doing that,
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通过这样做,
04:27
that's how, in the first 40
or so days of doing this,
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那就是如何,
在最初的 40 多天里,
04:31
we paid over 100,000 dollars
in water bills by just simply --
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我们缴付了于 10 万
美金的水费,仅仅--
04:35
(Applause)
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(掌声)
04:36
Thank you.
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谢谢。
04:37
(Applause)
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(掌声)
04:40
By just simply sending people directly
to the utility company's website
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仅仅把水务局网站直接发送给人
04:44
to pay five dollars, 10 dollars.
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在他们的能力范围内。
04:46
Whatever they could afford.
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他们缴付 5 元,10 元也无所谓。
04:48
And I don't say that to brag,
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我并不是炫耀,
04:50
but instead to encourage you all
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是鼓励大家
04:52
to notice problems
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去意识到问题的存在
04:55
and to think about what is the simplest,
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去思考你能为这问题所带来
04:57
most obvious thing you can do
to impact that problem.
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最简单,
最明显的影响。
05:01
So first, what I’ll also say
that was true for us,
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所以第一,
我要说的是,对我们来说,
05:04
is that it should be abundantly clear
that whatever you do
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不管你做什么并不一定得是完美的。
05:07
doesn't actually have to be perfect.
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你应该要很清楚这一点。
05:09
You don't have to do some big
overarching thing like a nonprofit.
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你并不需要做出像
非盈利这样庞大的活动
05:14
Because you won’t have
all the answers when you start.
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因为一开始
你并不会拥有所有的答案
05:16
But what's beautiful about that
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但美妙的是是什么呢
05:18
is that you don't actually need
to have all the answers to get started.
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是你并不需要拥有
所有答案才能够开始
05:21
And I will confess
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我坦白地说
05:23
that if we had had all the answers,
if we had known too much,
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当我们拥有了所有答案
当我们知道了太多
05:26
we might not have actually gotten started.
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我们可能就无法真正地开始。
05:30
So the next thing that's true is that ...
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所以下一个真实的事是....
05:34
When you put together and you start
doing something that's imperfect
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当你拼凑在一起,
开始做一些不完美
05:38
and it's not finished,
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还未完成的事情时,
05:41
people will see what you're doing
and they'll want to join you.
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其他人会看见你在做些什么
他们会想要参与你。
05:44
They'll want to get together with you
to make what you're doing bigger,
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他们会想要和你一起
去把你所做的事情发展得更大,
05:48
more impactful, more meaningful,
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更有影响力,更有意义
05:49
but all in ways unique to themselves.
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但都是以他们自己独有的方式。
05:53
For us, that was the city employees
who answered our emails on weekends.
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对我们来说,是城市雇员
在周末回复我们的邮件。
05:58
And then during the week,
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然后在一周内,
06:00
drove people to appointments
to get their water turned back on.
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载人们赴水务局的约
以便能够重新开水源
06:05
It was the people in mutual-aid
groups and nonprofits
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是互助团体和非营利组织的人
06:09
that partnered with us
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与我们合作
06:10
to completely pay off
the water bills for some families.
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为一些家庭付清水费。
06:15
It was the people who actually
really made this work possible
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是这些人让这活动得以成功
06:19
by giving five dollars,
10 dollars, 20 dollars,
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通过给出 5 元,10 元,20 元,
06:22
some of whom had been in this situation
themselves a few years prior,
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有些前几年因为没有能力缴付账单
06:25
where they couldn't afford
their own bills, but they now could,
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前几年也亲身经历过这个问题,
但他们现在有能力了
06:28
so they were generous about it.
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所以他们对此很慷慨。
06:30
It was the people who held bake sales
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是那些举办烘焙销售活动的人
06:34
to help people that they didn't know
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帮助了一些他们不认识
06:36
and would never meet.
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没见过面的人
06:39
People see you walking the walk,
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人们看到你付出行动,
06:42
and you'll understand
that that compassion is contagious.
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你就会明白这种同情心
是会互相传染的。
06:47
So I'd ask you in this moment then,
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那么,我现在想问你,
06:51
what is it
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是什么
06:53
that sends you down a rabbit hole
of blog posts and news articles?
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让你陷入一堆博客文章
和新闻文章的深渊?
06:57
What leaves you so disgusted and annoyed
that you would rather skip work or class
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是什么让你觉得恶心及烦躁
导致你宁愿旷工旷课
07:03
and work on that instead?
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而取而代之的做那个?
07:04
What is that for you?
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那对你来说是什么?
07:06
It's got to be something.
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那必须是些什么。
07:09
So suppose, for example,
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比如说,假设,
07:11
you find out that the third graders
at your old elementary school
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你发现你原来小学三年级的学生
07:15
owe lunch money debt?
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欠下了午餐的钱
07:17
What if the most obvious
thing to do for them
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什么是最明显你能够为他们做的
07:19
is to pay off that lunch money debt,
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也就是帮他们还清午餐欠的钱
07:21
sponsor some lunches, and then later on
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提供一些午餐,之后呢
07:25
go run for the local school board
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竞选当地学校董事会成员
07:26
to push for systemic change
around access to nutrition at school?
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推动在学校获得营养的系统改革?
07:30
That's just an idea.
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这只是个想法。
07:34
Now you might hear this and say,
"That's nice, it's cute,
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现在你可能听见和说,
“这很好,这很可爱,
07:37
but I don't really have time for that."
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但是我并没有时间去实行”
07:39
Or "Most problems are too big
to work on, so why bother?"
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或是 “很多问题都难以解决,
为何费心呢?“
07:45
I'll say you're not unique
in thinking that at all.
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我会说你这样想并不奇怪
07:49
But if we just stick with the idea
of doing the smallest at first,
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但如果我们秉持这个想法
先从小的开始
07:52
the most obvious thing,
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最明显的东西,
07:54
and just think about for a second,
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去思考几秒,
07:56
what do you have the time,
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你有多少时间,
07:59
what do you have the resources,
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你有多少资源,
08:02
what do you have the skills
and the influence, even, to do?
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你有多少能力和影响,甚至
08:07
To make happen.
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让他发生。
08:09
For me, I was a programmer
with a whole day job,
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对我来说,
我是一个全职的程序员,
08:11
so I didn't actually initially have time
to work on this all day either.
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所以一开始我并没有时间
成天地实行这个计划
08:16
But using the skills and the resources
and the network that I did have,
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但是使用了能力和资源
以及我的人脉关系
08:20
we built out the original website
and then grew it from there.
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我们创造了一个网站
从那开始
08:26
So the next somewhat obvious
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所以下一个比较明显的
08:27
but I think hasty criticism
that we sometimes hear
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但我认为我们有时听到的
一些仓促的种族批评,
08:30
is that what we did was just a band-aid.
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是我们所做的一切
并无法真正帮助到些什么。
08:33
That whatever you end up doing
is not going to be significant enough
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无论你最终做什么,
都不会有足够的意义
08:37
is not going to make a difference,
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不会带来什么改变,
08:38
it's too fleeting of a thing
to try to do to make a difference.
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尝试做出改变的事情转瞬即逝。
08:43
But is it not that the purpose
of a band-aid is to give an injury,
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但创可贴的目的不是要伤害人。
08:47
a place where something has gone wrong,
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是一个事情已经错误了
08:49
the opportunity to heal?
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所以找机会治疗?
08:52
I'll say no,
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我会说不是
08:53
initially, we weren't going to solve
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一开始,我们并没有打算
08:56
the root of why people
couldn't afford their water bills.
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根源地解决为什么人们
无法承担他们的水费
09:01
And I'm not here to tell you either
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我也不是在这里告诉你
09:03
that benevolent strangers sitting
at home in their pajamas
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那身穿睡衣坐在屋里
的慈祥陌生人
09:07
are a proper substitute
for systemic structural changes to issues.
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是改变系统问题结构
适当的替代品。
09:13
But what I will tell you, though,
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可是我会告诉你,
09:16
is that also, our solution
didn't attack the poverty,
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那就是,我们的解决方案
并没有解决贫困问题,
09:20
it didn't attack the unemployment,
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没有解决失业问题,
09:22
it didn't attack the bad public policy.
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没有解决糟糕的公共政策问题。
09:24
Yes, bad public policy
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是的,糟糕的公共政策
09:27
that enthusiastically punishes
people who are poor,
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热情地惩罚穷人,
09:30
especially when they are Black or brown.
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尤其当他们是黑皮肤或黄皮肤的人
09:34
But what we did give people,
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但我们给到人们的是什么,
09:36
yes, what we did give people
in that moment is relief.
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对,我们给到人们的是
在那一刻的解脱。
09:41
So again, whatever you do,
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所以再次,
不管你做什么
09:43
if it's small and if
it's an obvious thing,
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如果是小的
如果是明显的事
09:46
it doesn't mean that your impact
can't actually be durable.
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这并不意味着
你的冲击力无法持久。
09:51
And that you shouldn't try
to do something.
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并不意味着你不应该
尝试去做些什么。
09:54
And I say that because today,
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而我今天这样说是因为
09:56
we have helped over 5,000 people
with water bill payments just from --
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我们已经帮助了
多过五千人的水费单仅仅从--
10:01
(Applause)
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(掌声)
10:02
Thank you.
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谢谢。
10:03
(Applause)
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(掌声)
10:07
Just from people again, giving
five dollars, 10 dollars, 50 dollars
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仅仅从人们,
给出 5 元,10 元,50 元
10:11
whatever they can afford to contribute.
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任何他们所能够负担的数额。
10:14
And our ripples of compassion
have actually gone even further.
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我们同情的涟漪
实际上已经走得更远了。
10:17
We got a major American city to start
offering more compassionate assistance.
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我们有一个美国主要城市
开始提供更有同情心的援助。
10:22
We had a US member of Congress
and their office reach out to get help
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我们有一位美国国会议员
和他们的办公室
10:26
for their constituents.
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为他们的选民伸出援手。
10:28
We've had policymakers
in three different states
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我们有三个不同州的决策者
10:31
that we were able to help
using our data, our knowledge,
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能够帮助使用我们的数据,
我们的知识,
10:34
our experience
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我们的经验,
10:36
to understand what's happening
around water affordability
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去了解水源的开支负担
10:38
in their districts.
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在他们的市区周围发生了什么
10:41
We've also been able to partner
with other nonprofits
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我们也与其他非营利组织
10:43
and mutual aid groups
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和互助团体合作
10:45
to keep families from facing eviction,
homelessness over their water bills.
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来防止家庭面临被逐出,
因为水费问题无家可归。
10:49
We've also been able to help
families avoid facing the threat
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我们也能够帮助家庭避免面对
10:52
of losing their kids.
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失去孩子的威胁
10:56
I also now do this work full time
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我现在也全职做这个工作
10:58
with the goal of helping
utilities understand
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目的是帮助公用事业公司理解
11:00
how to make water more affordable,
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如何让水源更便宜,
11:02
make water more of a human right,
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让水成为一个人权,
11:05
so that people also don't fall behind
on their bills in the first place.
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这样人们也不会在账单上落后。
11:12
Legendary comedian Lily Tomlin once said,
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传奇喜剧演员莉莉·汤姆林曾经说过:
11:17
"I always wondered why people
wouldn't do something about that.
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“我一直很纳闷,
为什么人们不会对此有所作为。
11:21
Why somebody wouldn't do
something about that.
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为什么人们不采取措施呢?
11:25
Then I realized I was somebody."
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然而我发现我是那某个人。“
11:29
So you don't even actually have to be
a programmer to make a difference
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所以你甚至不需要成为一个程序员,
11:33
or even do what I did.
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或做完所做的去做出改变
11:36
You just have to be,
like Lily said, to be somebody.
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你只需要,像莉莉所说,
成为某个人
11:39
Somebody who sees a thing
that can be fixed,
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某个人会发现可解决的
11:43
can be impacted,
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可被影响的问题
11:45
and do that.
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而进行。
11:46
Do something.
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行动吧。
11:48
Thank you.
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谢谢。
11:49
(Applause and cheers)
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(欢呼和掌声)
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