What if you could help decide how the government spends public funds? | Shari Davis

翻译人员: Jinni Zou 校对人员: Yolanda Zhang

My name is Shari Davis,

我是夏利·戴维斯 （Shari Davis），

and let's be honest,

说实话，

I'm a recovering government employee.

我是“重建政府”的一名员工。

And I say that with a huge shout-out to the folks that work in government

我想对所有在政府部门工作的员工

and on systems change.

以及从事体制改变的人大声呼吁:

It's hard.

这很困难，

It can be isolating.

让人感到孤立无援，

And the work can feel impossible.

甚至是不可能完成的工作。

But government is the people that show up.

但是政府恰恰就是需要 能够站出来参与的人。

Really, it's the people that can show up

是需要出面

and are committed to the promise that public service offers:

为公共服务做出承诺的人：

service to people,

服务人民、

democracy

民主，

and fixing the problems that community members face.

解决社会中人们遇到的问题。

Seventeen years ago,

十七年前，

I walked through city hall for the first time as a staff member.

我作为工作人员 第一次走过市政厅。

And that walk revealed something to me.

这让我发现了一些事情：

I was a unicorn.

我是独特的。

There weren't many people who looked like me

在这栋大楼里工作的人

that worked in the building.

很少有像我这样的。

And yet, there were folks committed to addressing hundreds of years

当然，不乏有人致力于解决数百年来

of systemic inequity

系统的不平等问题，

that left some behind and many ignored.

这些导致许多人被抛弃、 被忽视的问题。

Where there was promise,

有承诺的地方，

there was a huge problem.

就存在问题。

You see, democracy, as it was originally designed,

民主，在一开始被提出的时候，

had a fatal flaw.

就有致命的缺陷。

It only laid pipeline for rich white men to progress.

它只不过是为有钱的白人的进步 铺设的道路。

And now, if you're a smart rich white man,

如果你是一个 聪明、富有的白人，

you understand why I say that's a problem.

你就会理解为什么我说 这是一个问题。

Massive talent has been left off the field.

许多有才华的人被忽视了。

Our moral imaginations have grown anemic.

我们的道德想象力变得贫乏。

Our highest offices are plagued by corruption.

我们的最高职位充斥着腐败。

We're on the brink of a sort of apathetic apocalypse,

我们正处于一种 冷漠的世界末日的边缘，

and it's not OK.

这需要改变。

We've got to open the doors

我们需要敞开

to city halls and schools

市政厅和学校的大门，

so wide that people can't help but walk in.

让它们对每个人开放。

We've got to throw out the old top-down processes

我们需要放弃那些 使我们陷入困境的、

that got us into this mess,

老旧的、自上而下的程序，

and start over,

重新来过，

with new faces around the table,

让新面孔加入，

new voices in the mix,

鼓励新的声音，

and we have to welcome new perspectives every step of the way.

在每一步我们都需要欢迎新事物。

Not because it's the right thing to do --

不仅仅因为这是正确的——

although it is --

虽然它确实是——

but because that's the only way for us to all succeed together.

更是因为这是 能让我们走向成功的唯一方法。

And here's the best news of all.

最好的消息是，

I know how to do it.

我知道该怎么做。

The answer -- well, an answer,

答案就是:

is participatory budgeting.

参与式预算。

That's right.

没错。

Participatory budgeting, or "PB" for short.

参与式预算，简称“PB”。

PB is a process that brings community and government together

PB 是一个能结合社区和政府，

to ideate, develop concrete proposals

去设想、提出具体建议，

and vote on projects that solve real problems in community.

并投票选出能真正解决 社区问题的计划的过程。

Now I realize that people don't get up and dance

我意识到，当我谈到公共预算时，

when I start talking about public budgets.

人们总是表现得不以为意。

But participatory budgeting

但是参与式预算的

is actually about collective, radical imagination.

重点在于集体的、激进的的想象力。

Everyone has a role to play in PB,

在 PB 中，每个人 都扮演着自己的角色，

and it works,

这样做颇有成效，

because it allows community members to craft real solutions

因为社区成员可以根据实际的问题

to real problems

去想出真正的解决方案，

and provides the infrastructure for the promise of government.

为政府的承诺提供基础设施。

And honestly,

说实话，

it's how I saw a democracy actually work for the first time.

这是我第一次看见 民主制度的正常运行。

I remember it like it was yesterday.

就像昨天发生的事情一样，

It was 2014 in Boston, Massachusetts,

2014 年， 在马萨诸塞州的波士顿，

and mayor Menino asked me

梅尼诺（Menino）市长让我

to launch the country's first youth-focused PB effort

用一百万美元的市政资金，

with one million dollars of city funds.

发起全国第一个 以年轻人为中心的 PB 计划。

Now, we didn't start with line items and limits

我们并不以规则、限制，

or spreadsheets and formulas.

或是表格和公式为起点。

We started with people.

我们从人开始，

We wanted to make sure that everyone was listened to.

我们需要确保 每个人的意见都能被听到。

So we brought in young people

所以我们邀请

from historically and traditionally marginalized neighborhoods,

历史上或传统上 被边缘化的社区的年轻人，

members of the queer community

同性恋群体的成员，

and youth that were formerly incarcerated,

和曾经进过监狱的年轻人，

and together, often with pizza and a sugar-free beverage,

为他们提供披萨和无糖饮料，

we talked about how to make Boston better.

一起讨论如何让波士顿变得更好。

And we designed a process that we called "Youth Lead the Change."

我们设计了名叫 “青年引领变革”的项目。

We imagined a Boston

我们想象在波士顿，

where young people could access the information

年轻人可以得到

that they need to thrive.

实现目标的过程中所需的信息。

Where they could feel safe in their communities,

让他们在社区中有安全感，

and where they can transform public spaces into real hubs of life

可以把公共空间变成 所有人真正的

for all people.

生活中心。

And that's exactly what they did.

这正是他们在做的事。

In the first year,

第一年，

young people allocated 90,000 dollars to increase technology access

这些年轻人用 9 万美元 为波士顿公立高中的学生们

for Boston public high school students,

增添了科技设施，

by delivering laptops right to Boston public high schools,

把笔记本电脑送进了这些高中里，

so that students could thrive inside and outside of the classroom.

以便学生们在课堂内外 都能不断学习。

They allocated 60,000 dollars to creating art walls

他们还花费了 6 万美元 建造艺术墙，

that literally and figuratively brightened up public spaces.

去真正的为公共空间增光添彩。

But they addressed a more important problem.

他们还解决了一个更重要的问题。

Young people were being criminalized and pulled into the justice system

一些年轻人曾经因为涂鸦

for putting their art on walls.

被定罪，并被司法系统处置，

So this gave them a safe space to practice their craft.

而艺术墙给了他们 一个安全的空间去练习创作。

They allocated 400,000 dollars to renovating parks,

他们还用了 40 万美元 去重修公园，

to make them more accessible for all people of all bodies.

更好的为所有人提供便利。

Now, admittedly,

但同时，我也必须承认，

this didn't go as smoothly as we had planned.

这并不像我们想象的一样顺利。

Right before we broke ground on the park,

就在公园动工之前，

we actually found out that it was on top of an archaeological site

我们发现这其实是一个考古遗址，

and had to halt construction.

所以不得不停止施工。

I thought I broke PB.

我认为我的 PB 计划要泡汤了。

But because the city was so committed to the project,

然而，因为这座城市 对这一计划如此投入，

that's not what happened.

这实际上并没有阻止我们。

They invited community in to do a dig,

他们邀请相关人员进行挖掘，

protected the site,

保护现场，

found artifacts,

抢救出土文物，

extended Boston's history

让波士顿的历史得以延续，

and then moved forward with the renovation.

之后继续进行改造计划。

If that isn't a reflection of radical imagination in government,

如果这都不能反映出 政府激进的想象力，

I don't know what is.

那我不知道什么才能。

What sounds simple

这些听起来很简单的事情

is actually transformational for the people and communities involved.

对参与的民众和社区来说 其实是变革性的。

I'm seeing community members shape transportation access,

我见证了社区成员 改造公共交通设施、

improve their schools

改善学校环境，

and even transform government buildings,

甚至改造政府大楼，

so that there is space inside of them for them.

所以人们可以更好的学习与生活。

Before we had PB,

在参与式预算计划之前，

I would see people who look like me

我看见和我一样

and come from where I come from

有着相同背景的人们，

walk in to government buildings for this new initiative

走进政府大楼参与这项计划

or that new working group,

或是参加新的工作小组，

and then I'd watch them walk right back out.

之后我看见他们走出来。

Sometimes I wouldn't see them again.

有时就再也见不到他们了。

It's because their expertise was being unvalued.

因为他们的专业技能被低估了，

They weren't truly being engaged in the process.

他们并不能真正的参与整个过程。

Put PB is different.

但参与式预算计划是不同的。

When we started doing PB,

当我们开始做 PB 计划时，

I met amazing young leaders across the city.

我见到了许多 才华横溢的年轻领导者。

One in particular, a rock star, Malachi Hernandez,

其中有个年轻人令人印象非常深刻，他叫 马拉凯·埃尔南德斯（Malachi Hernandez），

15 years old,

当时只有 15 岁，

came into a community meeting --

来参加了社区会议——

shy, curious, a little quiet.

他有点害羞，充满好奇， 且少言寡语。

Stuck around

他一直呆在那儿，

and became one of the young people hoping to lead the project.

是希望成为 项目领导者的年轻人之一。

Now fast-forward a couple of years.

几年后，

Malachi was the first in his family to attend college.

马拉凯成为了他家里 第一个进入大学的人。

A couple of weeks ago,

几周前，

he was the first in his family to graduate.

他成功的毕业了。

Malachi has appeared

马拉凯

in the Obama White House several times

曾多次参加 “兄弟守望” （My Brother's Keeper）计划。

as part of the My Brother's Keeper initiative.

并多次出现在 奥巴马执政时期的白宫。

President Obama even quotes Malachi in interviews.

奥巴马总统甚至在他的演讲中 提到过马拉凯。

It's true, you can look it up.

这是真事儿，我们可以 查到相关的信息。

Malachi got engaged, stayed engaged,

马拉凯参与了进来， 而且能够一直参与，

and is out here changing the way we think about community leadership

这也改变了我们对社区领导者

and potential.

及其潜力的看法。

Or my friend Maria Hadden,

又比如我的朋友 玛丽亚·哈登（Maria Hadden），

who was involved in the first PB process in Chicago.

参加了芝加哥市第一个 PB 计划，

Then went on to become a founding

后来成为了

participatory budgeting project board member,

PB 项目的创始董事会成员，

eventually a staff member,

随后又成为了工作人员，

and then unseated a 28-year incumbent,

取代了一个 在位 28 年的官员，

becoming the first queer Black alderperson

成为了芝加哥历史上

in Chicago's history.

第一位黑人酷儿议员。

That's real engagement.

这就是真正的参与，

That's being taken seriously.

这就是被认真对待，

That's building out and building on community leadership.

这就是建立并发展社区领导能力，

That's system change.

这——就是体系的改革。

And it's not just in the US either.

而且这种改变不仅仅发生在美国。

After starting 30 years ago in Brazil,

自 30 年前诞生于巴西，

PB has spread to over 7,000 cities across the globe.

PB 计划已遍布全球 超过 7000 个城市。

In Paris, France,

在法国巴黎，

the mayor puts up five percent of her budget,

市长拨出了 5% 的预算——

over 100 million euros,

超过 1 亿欧元——

for community members to decide on and shape their city.

供社区成员用来 改造建造他们的城市。

Globally, PB has been shown to improve public health,

在全球，PB 计划 可以有效改善公共卫生、

reduce corruption

减少腐败，

and increase trust in government.

并增加人们对政府的信任。

Now we know the challenges that we face in today's society.

我们知道在当今社会 我们所面临的挑战。

How can we expect people to feel motivated,

我们该如何

to show up to the polls

在人们不相信 政府是为人民服务时。

when they can't trust that government is run by and for the people.

去积极参与投票？

I argue that we haven't actually experienced

我认为在美国，

true participatory democracy

我们还没有实现

in these United States of America just yet.

真正的参与民主制。

But democracy is a living, breathing thing.

但民主是存在的，

And it's still our birthright.

是我们与生俱来的权利。

It's time to renew trust, and that's not going to come easy.

是时候重新建立信任了， 虽然这并不容易。

We have to build new ways of thinking,

我们需要建立新的思维方式、

of talking, of working, of dreaming, of planning

讨论方式、工作方式，

in its place.

梦想以及计划。

What would America look like if everyone had a seat at the table?

如果能够实现人人平等， 美国会变成什么样？

If we took the time to reimagine what's possible,

我们需要去发现所有可能性，

and then ask, "How do we get there?"

并思考：“我们该如何实现？”

My favorite author, Octavia Butler, says it best.

我最喜欢的作家 奥克塔维娅·巴特勒（Octavia Butler）

In "Parable of the Sower," basically my Bible, she says,

在我视为圣经的 《播种者寓言》中说道：

"All that you touch You Change.

“你所触碰的一切都会因你而变。

All that you Change Changes you.

你所改变的一切都会改变你。

The only lasting truth Is Change.

唯一永恒的真理，就是改变。

God Is Change."

上帝就是改变。”

It's time for these 50 states to change.

现在是时候 让美国的 50 个州改变了。

What got us here sure as hell won't get us there.

把我们带到今天的， 肯定不会把我们带到未来。

We've got to kick the walls of power down

我们必须把权力之墙推倒，

and plant gardens of genuine democracy in their place.

在原地播种真正的民主。

That's how we change systems.

这就是我们改变体制的方式。

By opening doors so wide

让每个人

that people can't help but walk in.

都拥有平等的权利。

So what's stopping you

是什么阻止了你

from bringing participatory budgeting to your community?

在你的社区中 开展参与式预算项目呢？