Peter van Uhm: Why I chose a gun

譯者: Kai Cheong Chan 審譯者: Meg Lee

As the highest military commander of the Netherlands,

作為荷蘭的

最高軍事統帥，

with troops stationed around the world,

擁有駐紮在世界各地駐紮的軍隊，

I'm really honored to be here today.

令天我真的十分榮幸

來到這裡。

When I look around this TEDxAmsterdam venue,

我環顧四周

在這會場中

我看到一群很特別的觀眾。

I see a very special audience.

你就是我答應

You are the reason why I said yes

這個邀請

to the invitation to come here today.

今天來到這裡的原因。

When I look around, I see people who want to make a contribution.

當我環顧一下，

我看到

一群想有所貢獻的人。

I see people who want to make a better world,

我看到

一群想把世界變得更美好的人，

by doing groundbreaking scientific work,

藉著從事開天闢地的科學研究，

創作動人的藝術品，

by creating impressive works of art,

by writing critical articles or inspiring books,

寫作批判性的文章

或發人深省的書籍，

或開創可永續經營的生意。

by starting up sustainable businesses.

你們都選了

And you all have chosen your own instruments

自己的工具

去達成讓世界變得更美好

to fulfill this mission of creating a better world.

的理想。

Some chose the microscope as their instrument.

有人選了顯微鏡

作為他們的工具。

Others chose dancing or painting,

其他人選擇舞蹈或繪畫

或譜出像我們剛聽到的音樂。

or making music like we just heard.

有些人則選擇筆桿。

Some chose the pen.

Others work through the instrument of money.

其他則透過金錢工具。

先生女仕們，

Ladies and gentlemen, I made a different choice.

我作出了截然不同的選擇。

謝謝。

Thanks.

Ladies and gentlemen ...

先生女仕們 --

(笑聲)

(Laughter)

(Applause)

(掌聲)

我與你們的目標一致。

I share your goals.

我與剛才你聽到的講者

I share the goals of the speakers you heard before.

的目標一致。

I did not choose to take up the pen,

我沒有選擇

拿起筆桿、

the brush,

畫筆或攝影機。

the camera.

I chose this instrument.

我選擇了這種工具。

I chose the gun.

我選擇了槍桿子。

對你來說，你也聽過，

For you, and you heard already,

being so close to this gun may make you feel uneasy.

這麼接近這枝槍

可能會令你感到不安。

It may even feel scary.

甚至令你感到害怕。

一枝真正的槍械

A real gun at a few feet's distance.

就在咫尺之遙。

Let us stop for a moment and feel this uneasiness.

讓我停下來一會兒

去感覺一下這種不安的感覺。

You could even hear it.

你甚至能夠聽得出來。

Let us cherish the fact

讓我們珍惜這個事實

that probably most of you have never been close to a gun.

其實你們大多數

都從未接近過槍械。

這意味著

It means the Netherlands is a peaceful country.

荷蘭是一個和平的國家。

The Netherlands is not at war.

荷蘭沒有戰爭。

這表示我們不需要軍隊

It means soldiers are not needed to patrol our streets.

去巡邏我們的街道。

Guns are not a part of our lives.

槍械並非我們生活的一部份。

在很多國家

In many countries, it is a different story.

那是另一回事。

In many countries, people are confronted with guns.

在很多國家

民眾面對著槍械。

他們受到壓迫。

They are oppressed.

他們受到

They are intimidated --

by warlords,

軍閥、

by terrorists,

恐怖份子、

和罪犯的威嚇。

by criminals.

武器可做成很多的傷害。

Weapons can do a lot of harm.

它們是諸多苦難

They are the cause of much distress.

的原因。

Why then am I standing before you with this weapon?

那麼為何我拿著這件武器

站在你面前呢?

Why did I choose the gun as my instrument?

為何我選擇槍械

作為我的工具呢?

Today I want to tell you why.

今天我想解釋一下。

今天我想靠訴你

Today I want to tell you

為何我選擇槍械

why I chose the gun to create a better world.

去創造一個更理想的世界。

And I want to tell you how this gun can help.

我亦想告訴你

這枝槍怎樣幫我達到目的。

我的故事

My story starts in the city of Nijmegen

在荷蘭東面的

in the east of the Netherlands,

一個城市 --奈梅亨 --

the city where I was born.

我出生的城市開始。

My father was a hardworking baker,

我父親是

一位勤勞的麵包匠，

但當他完成麵包店的工作後，

but when he had finished work in the bakery,

he often told me and my brother stories.

他經常會為我和兄弟說故事。

And most of the time,

而很多時候

he told me this story I'm going to share with you now.

他都會說我現在與和你分享的這個故事。

一個在二次世界大戰初

The story of what happened

他被荷蘭軍隊

when he was a conscripted soldier in the Dutch armed forces

徵召入伍

at the beginning of the Second World War.

發生的故事。

納粹入侵荷蘭。

The Nazis invaded the Netherlands.

他們冷酷的計劃人盡皆知

Their grim plans were evident.

他們要進行

They meant to rule by means of repression.

高壓統治。

Diplomacy had failed to stop the Germans.

外交途徑無法阻止德軍。

Only brute force remained.

我們最後逼不得己

It was our last resort.

訴諸殘忍的武力。

My father was there to provide it.

我爸爸

正是其中一員。

作為農民的兒子

As the son of a farmer who knew how to hunt,

他懂得打獵，

我爸爸是位優秀的神槍手。

my father was an excellent marksman.

當他瞄準目標，

When he aimed, he never missed.

他永不失手。

在荷蘭歷史上這關鍵時刻

At this decisive moment in Dutch history

我爸爸部署於

my father was positioned on the bank of the river Waal

奈梅亨城附近

near the city of Nijmegen.

的瓦爾河岸邊。

He had a clear shot at the German soldiers who came to occupy a free country,

他能毫無障地瞄準

來侵佔一個自由自國家，他的袓國，

我們的袓國，

his country,

our country.

的德軍。

He fired. Nothing happened.

他開了槍。沒事發生。

He fired again.

他再開槍。

No German soldier fell to the ground.

並沒有德軍倒下。

My father had been given an old gun

我爸爸獲配的

是一把舊式槍枝，

它的射程

that could not even reach the opposite riverbank.

連對面河岸都去不到。

希特拉的軍隊繼續邁進，

Hitler's troops marched on,

而我爸爸則無法可施。

and there was nothing my father could do about it.

Until the day my father died,

直至我爸爸離開人世，

he was frustrated about missing these shots.

他還為此耿耿於懷。

他應能有些作為。

He could have done something.

But with an old gun,

但只得一把舊式的槍枝，

not even the best marksman in the armed forces

連軍隊中最好的神槍手

could have hit the mark.

也無法命中目標。

So this story stayed with me.

這個故事一直存在我心中。

上高中時，

Then in high school,

I was gripped by the stories of the Allied soldiers --

我深深受到盟軍故事

的感染 --

soldiers who left the safety of their own homes and risked their lives

關於那些離開自己安全的家

冒上生命危險

to liberate a country

去解放他們並不認識的

and a people that they didn't know.

人民和國家。

They liberated my birth town.

他們解放了我出生的家鄉。

It was then that I decided I would take up the gun --

就在那一刻我決定

要拿起槍桿子 --

out of respect and gratitude for those men and women

出自對那些

來解放我們的男士和女士

who came to liberate us.

的尊敬和感激 --

了解到

From the awareness that sometimes only the gun

有時只有槍械

才能分隔開

can stand between good and evil.

善和惡。

這就是我拿起槍桿子

And that is why I took up the gun --

的原因 --

並非要去射擊，

not to shoot,

並非要去殺戳，

not to kill,

not to destroy,

並非要去破壞，

but to stop those who would do evil,

而是要去阻止做壞事的人，

to protect the vulnerable,

去保護弱小，

to defend democratic values,

去捍衛民主價值，

to stand up for the freedom we have to talk here today in Amsterdam

去維護我們所擁有

今天在阿姆斯特丹

這裡討論

about how we can make the world a better place.

如何令世界變得更美好的自由。

先生、女士門，

Ladies and gentlemen,

我今天站在這裡並不是要

I do not stand here today to tell you about the glory of weapons.

告訴你武器的光輝。

我並不喜歡槍械。

I do not like guns.

And once you have been under fire yourself,

當你曾經受襲，

你會更明瞭

it brings home even more clearly

that a gun is not some macho instrument to brag about.

槍械並非某些值得吹噓

具男子氣概的工具。

I stand here today

我今天站在這裡

to tell you about the use of the gun as an instrument of peace and stability.

跟你談論利用槍械

作為維持和平穩定的工具。

The gun may be one of the most important instruments of peace and stability

槍械可能是我們在這世界上所擁有的

維持和平穩定的

that we have in this world.

最重要工具之一。

現在這聽起來好像是矛盾的。

Now this may sound contradictory to you.

但在作為荷蘭國防部長

But not only have I seen with my own eyes

during my deployments in Lebanon, Sarajevo

派駐黎巴嫩

薩拉熱窩和其他國家時

and as the Netherlands' Chief of Defence,

我就親眼目睹，

this is also supported by cold, hard statistics.

這亦得到充份和確實旳

統計數字的支持。

暴力在過去五百年

Violence has declined dramatically over the last 500 years.

顯著減少了。

儘管每日在新聞上

Despite the pictures we are shown daily in the news,

我們看到的照片，

wars between developed countries are no longer commonplace.

已開發國家間的戰事

並不常見。

The murder rate in Europe

自中世紀以來

has dropped by a factor of 30 since the Middle Ages.

歐洲的謀殺率

跌至過去的三十分之一。

And occurrences of civil war and repression

內戰和壓迫的出現

have declined since the end of the Cold War.

在冷戰結束後亦減少了。

統計數字顯示

Statistics show that we are living in a relatively peaceful era.

我們正活在

一個相對和平的時期。

什麼原因呢?

Why?

為何暴力減少了呢?

Why has violence decreased?

是否人類的思維改變了呢?

Has the human mind changed?

Well, we were talking about the human mind this morning.

我們早上談論過人類思維。

Did we simply lose our beastly impulses for revenge,

是否我們簡單的失去了

報復，

for violent rituals,

暴力儀式，

for pure rage?

統粹憤怒的獸性衝動?

Or is there something else?

或者還有其他東西呢?

In his latest book, Harvard professor Steven Pinker --

在他的新書裡，

哈彿大學教授 Steve Pinker --

and many other thinkers before him --

以及很多在他之前的思想家 --

concludes that one of the main drivers

總結出現較少武力社會

behind less violent societies

背後的一個主要驅動力

is the spread of the constitutional state

是憲法國家的流行

以及大規模引入

and the introduction, on a large scale,

國家對合法使用武力

of the state monopoly on the legitimized use of violence --

的壟斷 --

由民選政府，

legitimized by a democratically elected government,

存有制衡，

legitimized by checks and balances and an independent judicial system.

和獨立司法制度去決定是否合法。

In other words, a state monopoly

換句話說，國家壟斷

that has the use of violence well under control.

令使用武力

受到充份的控制。

Such a state monopoly on violence, first of all, serves as a reassurance.

這種國家對武力的壟斷，

首先，成了

一顆定心丸。

消除了社會上

It removes the incentive for an arms race

潛在不友善團體之間

between potentially hostile groups in our societies.

軍事競賽

的誘因。

Secondly, the presence of penalties

其次，使用武力得到的懲罰

that outweigh the benefits of using violence

遠超武力的好處

令平衡更傾向一邊。

tips the balance even further.

放棄武力

Abstaining from violence

較發動戰爭

becomes more profitable than starting a war.

變得更為有利。

Now nonviolence starts to work like a flywheel.

現在，非武力開始

如飛輪運作。

It enhances peace even further.

進一步促進和平。

沒有衝突

Where there is no conflict, trade flourishes.

貿易蓬勃發展。

And trade is another important incentive against violence.

貿易又是另一個

減少武力的誘因。

With trade, there's mutual interdependency and mutual gain between parties.

貿易帶來互相依賴

和互利互惠。

And when there is mutual gain, both sides stand to lose more

當出現互利的情況，

雙方開戰

帶來的損失

than they would gain if they started a war.

會高於得到的好處。

戰爭簡單來說

War is simply no longer the best option,

不再是最佳選擇，

and that is why violence has decreased.

武力因而減少。

先生，女仕們，這

This, ladies and gentlemen,

就是我的軍隊

is the rationale behind the existence of my armed forces.

存在的理由。

The armed forces implement the state monopoly on violence.

軍隊

對武力進行國家壟斷。

We do this in a legitimized way

我們合法地執行

only after our democracy has asked us to do so.

只應民主的要求

去做。

就是這個合法的

It is this legitimate, controlled use of the gun

受控制下使用槍械

that has contributed greatly

對減低全球戰爭、

to reducing the statistics of war, conflict and violence around the globe.

衝突和武力

的統計數字

帶來重大的貢獻。

It is this participation in peacekeeping missions

就是這些參與維持和平的任務

得以解決

that has led to the resolution of many civil wars.

很多內戰。

我的戰士使用槍械

My soldiers use the gun as an instrument of peace.

作為和平的工具。

And this is exactly why failed states are so dangerous.

這亦正是非正常運作國家

為何會是那麼危險。

Failed states have no legitimized, democratically controlled use of force.

非正常運作國家

在使用軍事力量上沒有合法和民主的控制。

Failed states do not know of the gun as an instrument of peace and stability.

非正常運作的國家不知道槍械

是和平穩定的工具。

That is why failed states can drag down a whole region into chaos and conflict.

這是為何非正常運作的國家

可令整個地區

陷入混亂和衝突中。

這是宣揚

That is why spreading the concept of the constitutional state

憲法國家這個概念

是我們在國外的任務中

is such an important aspect of our foreign missions.

那麼重要的一環。

That is why we are trying to build a judicial system

這是為何

我們正嘗試在阿富汗

right now in Afghanistan.

建立司法制度的原因。

That is why we train police officers, we train judges,

這是為何我們在世界各地培訓警官，

我們培訓法官，

we train public prosecutors around the world.

我們培訓檢察官的原因。

And that is why --

這是為何 --

and in the Netherlands, we are very unique in that --

在荷蘭，我們是獨一無二的 --

that is why the Dutch constitution states

這是為何荷蘭憲法聲明

軍隊其中一個

that one of the main tasks of the armed forces

主要任務

is to uphold and promote the international rule of law.

是維持和促進

國際上的法治。

先生，女仕們，

Ladies and gentlemen,

looking at this gun, we are confronted with the ugly side of the human mind.

看著這枝槍

我們面對著

人類思想的陰暗面。

Every day I hope that politicians, diplomats, development workers

每一天我都希望

政治家、外交家、

發展人員

can turn conflict into peace

可把衝突

化為和平，

and threat

把威脅

into hope.

化為希望。

And I hope that one day armies can be disbanded

我希望最終有一天

可把軍隊解散

而人類找到方法

and humans will find a way of living together

在沒有暴力或壓迫下一起生活。

without violence and oppression.

But until that day comes,

然而，直至那一天到來，

我們還是要在理想

we will have to make ideals and human failure

和人類錯敗

meet somewhere in the middle.

之間取得妥協。

直至那一天到來，

Until that day comes, I stand for my father

我支持我爸爸

試圖用舊式的槍枝

who tried to shoot the Nazis with an old gun.

射擊納粹軍隊。

I stand for my men and women who are prepared to risk their lives

我支持我的男女戰士

他們為了一個少些武力的世界

for a less violent world for all of us.

準備好犧牲他們的性命。

我支持這位戰士

I stand for this soldier who suffered partial hearing loss

她在阿富汗執行任務時

被火箭炮攻擊而

and sustained permanent injuries to her leg,

喪失了部份聽覺

when she was hit by a rocket on a mission in Afghanistan.

和導致一條腿部永久傷殘。

Ladies and gentlemen,

先生，女仕們，

until the day comes when we can do away with the gun,

直至那一天到來

我們可以拋棄槍械時

I hope we all agree

我希望大家都同意

that peace and stability do not come free of charge.

和平穩定

必須付出代價。

它須要努力，

It takes hard work, often behind the scenes.

經常是幕後看不見的努力。

It takes good equipment and well-trained, dedicated soldiers.

它需要良好的器材

以及熟練和投入的戰士。

I hope you will support the efforts of our armed forces

我希望你支持

我們軍隊

訓練像這位年輕隊長一樣

to train soldiers like this young captain

的戰士

and provide her with a good gun,

提供她一枝良好的槍枝

instead of the bad gun my father was given.

而不要像給我爸爸那樣差勁的槍械。

我希望你們支持我們的戰士

I hope you will support our soldiers when they are out there,

無論他們駐紮外地，

when they come home

回到家裡

或者受了傷

and when they are injured and need our care.

而需要我們的照顧。

他們為我們，為你們

They put their lives on the line, for us, for you,

冒上生命危險，

and we cannot let them down.

我們不可令他們失望。

I hope you will respect my soldiers,

我希望你們尊敬我的戰士，

這位拿著這枝槍的戰士。

this soldier with this gun.

因為她想要一個更美好的世界。

Because she wants a better world.

Because she makes an active contribution to a better world,

因為她對更美好的世界

作出積極的貢獻，

just like all of us here today.

就像我們今天在這裡一樣。

十分多謝大家。

Thank you very much.

(Applause)

(掌聲)