A conservative's plea: Let's work together | Arthur Brooks

譯者: Helen Chang 審譯者: Jin Wu

I come from one of the most liberal,

我來自全美最自由、 最包容、最前衛的地方之一：

tolerant, progressive places in the United States,

Seattle, Washington.

華盛頓州的西雅圖。

And I grew up with a family of great Seattlites.

我在大西雅圖地區的一個家庭長大。

My mother was an artist, my father was a college professor,

我的母親是個藝術家，父親是大學教授，

and I am truly grateful for my upbringing,

我很感激所得到的教養，

because I always felt completely comfortable designing my life

因為我一直能完全照我的心意

exactly as I saw fit.

設計、安排我的生活。

And in point of fact,

事實上，

I took a route that was not exactly what my parents had in mind.

我走了一條並非父母期望的路。

When I was 19, I dropped out of college --

我 19 歲的時候休學 ——

dropped out, kicked out, splitting hairs.

休學、退學，類似啦。

(Laughter)

(笑聲)

And I went on the road as a professional French horn player,

我後來成為職業法國號演奏家，

which was my lifelong dream.

這是我畢生的夢想。

I played chamber music all over the United States and Europe,

我在歐美各地巡迴兩、三年，

and I toured for a couple of years

演奏室內樂，

with a great jazz guitar player named Charlie Bird.

和知名爵士吉他手查理·博德同團。

And by the end of my 20s,

在我快 30 歲的時候，

I wound up as a member of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra in Spain.

加入西班牙的巴塞隆納交響樂團。

What a great life.

此生無憾了。

And you know, my parents never complained.

我父母從未抱怨過。

They supported me all the way through it.

他們一路支持我，

It wasn't their dream.

儘管這不是他們的夢想。

They used to tell their neighbors and friends,

他們曾跟鄰居和朋友說，

"Our son, he's taking a gap decade."

「我們的兒子在放長假。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And --

然後...

There was, however, one awkward conversation about my lifestyle

我要告訴你一個 有關我生活形式的尷尬對話。

that I want to tell you about.

27歲時我從巴塞隆納回來，

I was 27, and I was home from Barcelona,

and I was visiting my parents for Christmas,

在聖誕節時跟父母團聚，

and I was cooking dinner with my mother, and we were alone in the kitchen.

當時只有母親和我在廚房煮晚餐。

And she was quiet, too quiet.

她很安靜，一句話都沒說。

Something was wrong.

我知道一定有什麼事。

And so I said, "Mom, what's on your mind?"

我問：「媽，妳在想什麼？」

And she said, "Your dad and I are really worried about you."

她回答：「你爸和我很擔心你。」

And I said, "What?" I mean, what could it be, at this point?

我說：「什麼啊？」 意思是，在這個時候有什麼好擔心的？

And she said, "I want you to be completely honest with me:

她說：「你老實告訴我，

have you been voting for Republicans?"

你投票給了共和黨嗎？」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Now, the truth is,

是這樣的，

I wasn't really political, I was just a French horn player.

我並不把政治掛在嘴邊， 我只是個法國號樂手。

But I had a bit of an epiphany,

但是我有些頓悟，

and they had detected it, and it was causing some confusion.

我的父母察覺了，所以這樣問。

You see, I had become an enthusiast for capitalism,

我迷上了資本主義，

and I want to tell you why that is.

讓我告訴你怎麼了。

It stems from a lifelong interest of mine

似乎從很久以前，

in, believe it or not, poverty.

我就一直關心貧窮的問題。

See, when I was a kid growing up in Seattle,

我從小在西雅圖長大，

I remember the first time I saw real poverty.

還記得第一次看到真正的貧窮。

We were a lower middle class family, but that's of course not real poverty.

我們是較低的中產階級家庭， 並不真正窮，

That's not even close.

和貧窮差得遠了。

The first time I saw poverty, and poverty's face,

第一次看到貧窮、貧窮的臉，

was when I was six or seven years old, early 1970s.

是在我六、七歲時， 也就是在70年代早期，

And it was like a lot of you, kind of a prosaic example, kind of trite.

和許多人一樣，我看到一個平淡無奇， 甚至可算陳腐的例子，

It was a picture in the National Geographic Magazine

是一張國家地理雜誌曾經刊登的照片，

of a kid who was my age in East Africa,

一個跟我差不多年紀的東非孩子，

and there were flies on his face and a distended belly.

他的臉上有許多蒼蠅，肚子腫脹。

And he wasn't going to make it, and I knew that, and I was helpless.

我知道他活不了多久了，但我無能為力。

Some of you remember that picture,

你可能記得這張照片，

not exactly that picture, one just like it.

或者是其他類似的照片。

It introduced the West to grinding poverty around the world.

這照片讓西方看見世界其他地方的赤貧。

Well, that vision kind of haunted me as I grew up and I went to school

這影像在我腦海中盤旋不去。

我長大、上學、休學、復學，

and I dropped out and dropped in

and started my family.

然後有了自己的家庭。

And I wondered, what happened to that kid?

我心裡想著，那小孩後來怎樣了？

Or to people just like him all over the world?

世界上其他類似的人怎樣了？

And so I started to study, even though I wasn't in college,

雖然沒上大學，我還是開始研究這個問題，

I was looking for the answer:

試著找出答案。

what happened to the world's poorest people?

世界上最貧窮的人後來怎樣了？

Has it gotten worse? Has it gotten better? What?

他們的情況更糟嗎？變好了嗎？到底怎麼了？

And I found the answer, and it changed my life,

最後我找到答案，也徹底改變了我自己，

and I want to share it with you.

這就是我接下來要與你們分享的。

See --

是這樣的 --

most Americans believe that poverty has gotten worse

大部分美國人以為 自我們幼時、或看到這景象時，

since we were children, since they saw that vision.

到現在，貧窮情況愈來愈糟。

If you ask Americans, "Has poverty gotten worse or better around the world?",

如果你問一位美國人， 「世上的貧窮是更嚴重還是改善了？」

70 percent will say that hunger has gotten worse since the early 1970s.

百分之七十的人回答， 自70年代到現在，越來越多人挨餓。

But here's the truth.

但，實情如下。

Here's the epiphany that I had that changed my thinking.

下面的頓悟改變了我的想法。

From 1970 until today,

從1970年到今天，

the percentage of the world's population

世界上飢餓人口的百分比，

living in starvation levels,

living on a dollar a day or less, obviously adjusted for inflation,

意即，隨通貨膨脹調整， 每天少於一美元的生活費，

that percentage has declined

百分比下降了八成之多。

by 80 percent.

There's been an 80 percent decline in the world's worst poverty

從我幼時到現在， 世界的赤貧人口減少了80%。

since I was a kid.

以前我並不知道。

And I didn't even know about it.

This, my friends, that's a miracle.

朋友們，這是個奇蹟啊！

That's something we ought to celebrate.

我們應該為這件事慶祝。

It's the greatest antipoverty achievement in the history of mankind,

這是人類歷史上 消滅貧窮最大的成就，

and it happened in our lifetimes.

而且就發生在我們這一生中。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

So when I learned this, I asked, what did that? What made it possible?

得知這事實時，我找原因， 想知道是如何脫貧的？

Because if you don't know why, you can't do it again.

如果我們不知道原因， 就不能繼續改善貧窮的情況。

If you want to replicate it

如果要複製 使另外二十億人能夠脫離貧窮，

and get the next two billion people out of poverty,

because that's what we're talking about: since I was a kid,

如同我們正在談論的，

從我幼時至今，

two billion of the least of these, our brothers and sisters,

有二十億最貧困的弟兄姊妹們已脫離赤貧。

have been pulled out of poverty.

I want the next two billion, so I've got to know why.

我要接下來的二十億人也脫離貧困， 所以我必須明白如何辦得到。

And I went in search of an answer.

我尋找答案。

And it wasn't a political answer, because I didn't care.

不是政治的答案，因我不在乎政治。

You know what, I still don't care.

至今，我仍不在乎政治。

I wanted the best answer from mainstream economists

我要主流經濟學家的最好答案，

left, right and center.

不管左派、中間、或右派。

And here it is.

答案揭曉。

Here are the reasons.

是這些原因。

There are five reasons that two billion of our brothers and sisters

自幼至今，是這五個原因

使二十億我們的弟兄姊妹們脫離貧窮。

have been pulled out of poverty since I was a kid.

Number one: globalization.

一：全球化。

Number two: free trade.

二：自由貿易。

Number three: property rights.

三：產權。

Number four: rule of law.

四：法治。

Number five: entrepreneurship.

五：創業。

It was the free enterprise system spreading around the world

是1970年後，廣泛散佈世界各地的 自由企業制度所達成的。

after 1970 that did that.

Now, I'm not naive.

我並不天真。

I know that free enterprise isn't perfect,

我知道自由企業制度並非完美，

and I know that free enterprise isn't everything we need

我們不能僅靠自由企業制度

to build a better world.

來建造更美好的世界。

But that is great.

但是它很棒。

And that's beyond politics.

它凌駕於政治之上。

Here's what I learned. This is the epiphany.

這是我學到、頓悟到的。

Capitalism is not just about accumulation.

資本主義不僅是資產的累積。

At its best, it's about aspiration,

而是心願、抱負的極致，

which is what so many people on this stage talk about,

如同這講台上許多人所說的，

is the aspiration that comes from dreams

在自由企業制度中的資本主義

that are embedded in the free enterprise system.

能夠讓夢想延伸成心願、抱負。

And we've got to share it with more people.

而且我們必須與更多的人分享。

Now, I want to tell you about a second epiphany

讓我告訴你第二個頓悟，

that's related to that first one

與第一個有關，

that I think can bring us progress, not just around the world,

它能帶來進步，不只世界各地，

but right here at home.

我們美國本地也是。

The best quote I've ever heard

我所聽過最好的引用句，

to summarize the thoughts that I've just given you

總結我剛剛所說

about pulling people out of poverty

拯救貧窮的想法，

is as follows:

如下：

"Free markets have created more wealth than any system in history.

「自由市場比歷史上任何的機制 創造了更多的財富。

They have lifted billions out of poverty."

它們使數十億的人出脫貧窮。」

Who said it?

誰說的？

It sounds like Milton Friedman or Ronald Reagan.

聽起來像米爾頓·弗里德曼 或 雷根總統。

Wrong.

錯了。

President Barack Obama said that.

奧巴馬總統說的。

Why do I know it by heart?

為什麼我熟知？

Because he said it to me.

因為是他對我說的。

Crazy.

難以置信啊。

And I said, "Hallelujah."

我說，「哈利路亞！」

But more than that, I said,

我還說，

"What an opportunity."

「大好的機會。」

You know what I was thinking?

可知道我想什麼？

It was at an event that we were doing on the subject

那是2015年的5月，

我們正在喬治城大學研討這議題。

at Georgetown University in May of 2015.

And I thought, this is the solution

當時我想，這正是當前美國 所面對的最大問題的解答。

to the biggest problem facing America today. What?

什麼？

It's coming together around these ideas,

是接受這些想法，

liberals and conservatives,

自由派和保守派攜手幫助 那些最需要被幫助的人。

to help people who need us the most.

Now, I don't have to tell anybody in this room that we're in a crisis,

不需要我告訴在座的各位 我們正面臨危機，

in America and many countries around the world with political polarization.

美國和世界各地許多國家 正面臨政治的兩極化。

It's risen to critical, crisis levels.

已經升高到關鍵危機的層次。

It's unpleasant. It's not right.

這是不宜人、不對的。

There was an article last year

西方世界最負盛名的期刊之一的 美國國家科學院期刊，

in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences,

which is one of the most prestigious scientific journals

在去年發表了一篇文章。

published in the West.

這篇2014年的文章講得是

And it was an article in 2014

on political motive asymmetry.

政治動機的不對稱性。

What's that? That's what psychologists call the phenomenon

那是什麼？這就是心理學家所說的現象：

of assuming that your ideology is based in love

臆斷你的思想基於愛，

but your opponents' ideology is based in hate.

而對手的思想卻基於仇恨。

It's common in world conflict.

這是世界衝突常見的現象。

You expect to see this between Palestinians and Israelis, for example.

例如，在以巴衝突中看得到。

What the authors of this article found

本文作者發現

was that in America today, a majority of Republicans and Democrats

在今日的美國， 大多數共和黨和民主黨人

suffer from political motive asymmetry.

苦於政治動機的不對稱性。

A majority of people in our country today who are politically active believe

今天，我國大多數關心政治的人認為

that they are motivated by love but the other side is motivated by hate.

己方的出發點是愛， 而對方的出發點則是恨。

Think about it. Think about it.

想想吧。想想吧。

Most people are walking around saying,

大多數人到處宣揚，

"You know, my ideology is based on basic benevolence,

「我的思想以善為本，

I want to help people,

我想幫助人；

but the other guys, they're evil and out to get me."

但是對方是邪惡的，故意和我作對。」

You can't progress as a society when you have this kind of asymmetry.

有這種不對稱性的社會不能進步。

It's impossible.

不可能。

How do we solve it?

我們該如何解決呢？

Well, first, let's be honest: there are differences.

首先，我們得誠實面對 差異的存在。

Let's not minimize the differences. That would be really naïve.

我們不是去減少分歧，因那是很幼稚的。

There's a lot of good research on this.

已有許多相關的好研究。

A veteran of the TED stage is my friend Jonathan Haidt.

我的朋友喬納森·海特 是TED舞台的常客。

He's a psychology professor at New York University.

他是紐約大學的心理學教授。

He does work on the ideology and values and morals of different people

他研究不同人的意識形態、道德觀念，

to see how they differ.

看有什麼差異。

And he's shown, for example, that conservatives and liberals

他表示，保守派和自由派 所看重的重點，非常不同。

have a very different emphasis on what they think is important.

For example, Jon Haidt has shown

喬納森·海特舉例，

that liberals care about poverty

自由派關心貧窮

59 percent more than they care about economic liberty.

比關心自由經濟超出59%。

And conservatives care about economic liberty

而保守派關心自由經濟

28 percent more than they care about poverty.

比關心貧窮，超出28%。

Irreconcilable differences, right?

不可調和的分歧，對吧？

We'll never come together. Wrong.

我們永遠走不到一起。錯了。

That is diversity in which lies our strength.

我們的實力 奠基在「多樣性上」。

Remember what pulled up the poor.

回顧一下，是什麼拯救了赤貧。

It was the obsession with poverty,

是在乎貧窮，

accompanied by the method of economic freedom

加上傳遍世界的自由經濟法 。

spreading around the world.

We need each other, in other words,

換言之，我們必須彼此攜手，

if we want to help people and get the next two billion people out of poverty.

以幫助接下來的二十億人 也脫離貧窮。

There's no other way.

別無他法。

Hmm.

嗯。

How are we going to get that?

我們如何能做到呢？

It's a tricky thing, isn't it.

很棘手，是吧？

We need innovative thinking.

我們需要創新思維。

A lot of it's on this stage.

台上有許多。

Social entrepreneurship. Yeah. Absolutely. Phenomenal.

社會企業家精神。 是啊。絕對。非凡的。

We need investment overseas

海外投資必須是

in a sustainable, responsible, ethical and moral way. Yes. Yes.

永續的、負責任的、 符合倫理道德的。對。對。

But you know what we really need?

可知我們真正需要什麼？

We need a new day in flexible ideology.

我們需要新的一天、靈活的思想意識。

We need to be less predictable.

我們需要少些可預期性。

Don't we?

不是嗎？

Do you ever feel like your own ideology is starting to get predictable?

你可曾覺得自己的思想意識 開始變得越來越可預期？

Kinda conventional?

落入常規？

Do you ever feel like you're always listening to people who agree with you?

可曾覺得你總是在聽 合你心意的人所說的話？

Why is that dangerous?

為什麼危險呢？

Because when we talk in this country about economics,

因為每當我國在討論經濟時，

on the right, conservatives,

在右派、保守派，

you're always talking about taxes and regulations and big government.

總是談稅、管制法規、和大政府。

And on the left, liberals, you're talking about economics,

而左派、自由派，

在討論經濟時，總是談所得的不均。對吧？

it's always about income inequality.

Right? Now those are important things,

這些都是重要的事情，

really important to me, really important to you.

對我很重要，對你很重要。

But when it comes to lifting people up

但是對那些身處飢餓中 需要我們幫助脫貧的人而言，

who are starving and need us today, those are distractions.

這些只是分心而已。

We need to come together around the best ways

我們必須一起覺醒

to mitigate poverty using the best tools at our disposal,

以可使用的最好工具 找出減輕貧窮的最佳途徑，

and that comes only when conservatives recognize that they need liberals

要達到這目標，必須得

保守派認知他們

需要自由主義者 與其所執著的貧困，

and their obsession with poverty,

and liberals need conservatives and their obsession with free markets.

加上自由主義者認知

需要保守派及其痴迷的自由市場。

That's the diversity in which lies the future strength of this country,

「多樣性」是我們國家未來的力量，

if we choose to take it.

如果我們選擇了多樣性。

So how are we going to do it? How are we going to do it together?

那我們如何做呢？怎麼做起來呢？

I've got to have some action items, not just for you but for me.

我必須有一些行動項目， 不只為你，而是為我。

Number one. Action item number one:

第一，第一個行動：

remember, it's not good enough just to tolerate people who disagree.

記住，只是「容忍」意見不同的人 是不夠的。

It's not good enough.

是不夠的。

We have to remember that we need people who disagree with us,

我們必須記住，我們「需要」異議者，

because there are people who need all of us

因為世上還有許多人等著

who are still waiting for these tools.

我們所有的人攜手， 一起提供解決問題的工具。

Now, what are you going to do? How are you going to express that?

接下來，你打算怎麼辦？ 你將如何表達？

Where does this start? It starts here.

從哪裡開始？從這裡開始。

You know, all of us in this room, we're blessed.

要知道，在這房裡的人都是有福的。

We're blessed with people who listen to us.

我們有幸，有人聽從我們。

We're blessed with prosperity. We're blessed with leadership.

我們有繁榮的福氣。 我們有幸，居於領導地位。

When people hear us, with the kind of unpredictable ideology,

當人們聽到 我們有這出乎意料的意識形態，

then maybe people will listen.

也許他們會聽從，自此開始進展。

Maybe progress will start at that point.

That's number one. Number two.

以上是第一點。

第二，

Number two: I'm asking you and I'm asking me

第二：我要求你、也要求我自己，

to be the person specifically who blurs the lines,

做一個界線模糊的人，

who is ambiguous, who is hard to classify.

模糊，很難被分歸於哪一類的人。

If you're a conservative,

如果你是保守派，

be the conservative who is always going on about poverty

做一個關心窮人

肩負道德責任，為窮人戰鬥的保守派。

and the moral obligation to be a warrior for the poor.

And if you're a liberal, be a liberal who is always talking

如果你屬自由派，做一個服膺 --

about the beauty of free markets to solve our problems

自由市場機制的美好， 在於若被負責任地使用

就能夠解決問題 -- 的自由主義者。

when we use them responsibly.

If we do that, we get two things.

如果我們這樣做，我 們可以得到兩件事情。

Number one: we get to start to work on the next two billion

第一：我們可以開始下一輪 二十億人的脫貧工作，

and be the solution that we've seen so much of in the past

讓我們成為解決之道， 如同過去看到的那些解方法，

and we need to see more of in the future. That's what we get.

未來需要更多的解決之道。 這就是我們得到的。

And the second is that we might just be able

第二：也許我們能夠

to take the ghastly holy war of ideology that we're suffering under in this country

把我國正遭受著的、 可怕的意識形態聖戰，

and turn it into a competition of ideas

變成了基於團結和互重的

產生新想法的良性競爭。

based on solidarity and mutual respect.

And then maybe, just maybe,

然後，也許，只是也許，

we'll all realize that our big differences

我們都意識到 我們的大差異 畢竟不是真的那麼大。

aren't really that big after all.

畢竟不是真的那麼大。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause)

（掌聲）