A Crash Course in Making Political Change | Katie Fahey | TED

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Shelley Tsang 曾雯海

When the Flint water crisis happened in Michigan,

當密西根的弗林特 發生水汙染危機時，

I was already feeling pretty disillusioned with the state of the world.

我已經對世界的狀態感到非常失望。

I was 27, I had an hour-long commute to work.

我那時二十七歲， 上班要通勤一小時。

I worked in the recycling industry, which I liked,

我在回收業工作，我喜歡，

but I spent most of my day crawling around in garbage cans.

但我大部分時間 都在廢棄瓶罐中爬行。

And I would listen to the radio on my hour-long commute

在我通勤的一小時裡， 我會聽廣播，

and hear about how there were all these bills

聽到密西根居民 希望能通過許多法案，

that the people of Michigan wanted to see passed,

yet our legislature wasn't doing anything about it.

但我們的立法機關沒有任何動作。

And I found out that the reason they weren't

且我發現他們沒有動作的原因 是因為「選區劃分不公正」，

was because of a thing called gerrymandering,

which basically meant that when voting districts were being drawn,

基本上，意思就是當選區被劃定時，

our politicians would pick and choose which voters they wanted voting for them

我們的政治人物會選擇 他們想要哪些選民投票給他們，

to all but guarantee that they were going to win the election,

幾乎可以保證他們會贏得選戰，

or that their political party was going to win an election.

或者他們的政黨會贏得選戰。

I kept thinking like: How is this the world we live in?

我一直在想：

我們生活的世界怎麼會是這樣的？

Kids don't have clean water,

孩子沒有乾淨的水，

politicians aren't doing anything and aren't afraid of our vote.

政治人物什麼都不做， 也不怕我們的選票。

Like, doesn't anybody care?

難道沒有人在乎嗎？

And why doesn't somebody do something about this?

為什麼沒有人做點什麼 來改變這一切？

And I didn't realize that soon, by accident,

我那時並不知道，沒多久，

I would figure out that actually a lot of people do care.

我就會意外發現其實很多人都在乎。

That next morning, before going to work,

隔天早上，去上班之前，

just kind of out of frustration,

出於沮喪，我在臉書上 發佈了一則貼文：

I made a post on Facebook, and it said:

"Hey, I want to take on gerrymandering in Michigan.

寫道：「嘿，我想解決密西根 選區劃分不公正的問題。

If you want to help, let me know :)"

如果你想幫忙， 讓我知道 （笑臉）。」

And -- the emoji was very key.

且——表情符號非常重要。

And I didn't think that this would actually do much of anything.

且我不認為這則貼文會有什麼用。

I thought maybe I'd find a couple other friends

我想也許我會發現有其他 幾個朋友也認為這是大事。

who thought this was a big deal.

也許我們會到某個地方做志工。

Maybe we'd volunteer somewhere.

I certainly didn't think that it would lead

我肯定沒想到這會導致 超過萬人參與者的政治運動，

to a political movement of over 10,000 people,

that it would lead to amending our state constitution

促成州憲法的修訂，

or actually restoring faith in democracy in our state in general.

或實際上恢復我們一般 對州內民主的信心。

But when I went to work

但，當我去工作， 在午餐時間看了社群媒體，

and then at lunchtime, checked social media,

I started to see that people were responding.

我開始看到有人在回應。

And they were saying things like,

這些回應包括：

「我長久以來都很在乎這議題， 很高興你要挺身而出。」

"I've cared about this issue for such a long time.

I'm so glad you're doing something about it."

"Please let me know how I can help."

「請告訴我我能如何幫忙。」

"Katie, let's do this thing."

「凱蒂，咱們來做這件事吧。」

And that's when it struck me like, oh no.

那時我才意識到，喔，不妙了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

These people think I know what I'm doing,

這些人認為我知道我在做什麼，

and I did not.

但我不知道。

So I quickly Googled: “How do you end gerrymandering?”

所以我馬上上網搜尋： 「如何終結選區劃分不公正？」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

結果發現，

And it turns out that it's all related to a process

這全都和一個叫做 重新劃定選區的流程有關。

called the redistricting process.

And if you wanted to end gerrymandering,

若想要終結選區劃分不公正，

you had to get the politicians to stop being the ones

必須要讓政治人物不再有權力

getting to pick and choose who their voters were.

選擇他們的選民在哪裡。

那很合理，

And that made a lot of sense,

because when politicians would draw these lines,

因為當政治人物不是在讓社區團結 而是在畫出這些區分線時，

instead of keeping communities together,

we would get districts that look like this.

我們就會得到像這樣的選區。

In no way does that represent an actual group of people.

這絕對不可能代表實際的族群。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And why this was particularly important in Michigan

這點在密西根特別重要， 是因為我們是個很紫的州。

is we're a pretty purple state.

And what I mean by that

紫色的意思是，我們有 約一半的人投民主黨，

is that about half of us vote for Democrats

and about half of us vote for Republicans.

約一半的人投共和黨。

And that should mean

這應該表示，

that about half of our representatives should be Democrats

我們的代表應該有大約一半是民主黨

and about half of them should be Republicans.

也有大約一半應該是共和黨。

But depending on which political party would be in charge

但就看哪個政黨負責重新劃分流程，

of that redistricting process,

they would actually have a majority of the elected representatives,

民選代表大多數就會是該黨的人，

or sometimes even a super majority,

有時甚至是超多數，

even though they might have received less than half of the votes

即使該黨的得票數可能 少於一半或剛好一半。

or exactly half.

And that would then mean

這意味著，當該黨 打算通過任何法律時，

that they don't even have to talk to anybody on the other side of the aisle,

甚至不必與另一黨商談。

when passing any kind of laws.

And the other important part

另外一個重點是，每十年 才重新劃分選區一次。

is that redistricting only happens once every 10 years.

So you have half of the state being locked entirely out

因此，每次全州就有一半的人 被阻擋在決策過程之外，

of the decision-making process for 10 years at a time.

長達十年之久。

這似乎不是做民主的好方法。

It did not seem like a good way to be doing democracy.

So we went to the politicians and we were like,

於是我們去找政治人物，說： 「你們應該改變這點。」

"You guys should change that."

而他們說：「不要 。」

And they were like, "No."

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

They were not interested in giving themselves less power.

他們對於削弱自己的權力不感興趣。

But thankfully, we figured out

但，謝天謝地，我們發現 在密西根我們有一種直接民主，

that in Michigan we had a form of direct democracy,

and it was called the ballot initiative process.

叫做選票提案程序。

And so I turned to my coworker Kelly,

所以我轉向我的同事凱莉，

we were at our recycling job,

我們在做回收工作， 我們開始著手去了解，好，

and we started getting to work to figure out,

OK, what is this ballot initiative process?

選票提案程序是什麼？ 它到底能幹嘛？

What can this actually do?

And we broke it down into three different steps.

我們把它拆解成三個不同的步驟。

One, we had to write constitutional language.

一，我們必須撰寫憲法語言。

Didn't know how to do that.

怎麼做，我們沒頭緒。

Two, we had to gather a lot of signatures

二，我們得取得很多人連署，

and we didn't know how to do that either.

怎麼做，我們也一樣沒頭緒。

Three, we had to get about half of our state to vote "yes"

三，我們必須讓全州大約一半的選民

針對修訂憲法來終結選區劃分 不公正，投下贊成票。

on wanting to amend the constitution to end gerrymandering.

猜猜如何？怎麼做， 我們還是沒頭緒。

And guess what?

We didn't know how to do that either.

But we had this Facebook post

但是我們有這則臉書貼文，

that then we turned into a Facebook group,

接著，我們把它變成臉書社團，

and we started seeing all of these people coming in who were absolutely amazing.

開始有很多很不簡單的人進到社團。

A lot of them were just like me, they voted consistently,

當中有許多人和我一樣， 持續投票，關心世界上的問題，

they cared about the world's problems,

but they weren't really interested in volunteering for a political campaign

但他們並沒有興趣想要

在一黨或另一黨的 政治競選活動中當志工。

or one party or the other.

But these people are amazing.

但這些人很不簡單，我們有獸醫、

I mean, we had veterinarians, doctors, birthing doulas.

醫生、產婆。

We had butchers and veterans

我們有屠夫和退伍軍人，甚至 有還不能投票的十六歲孩子，

and even 16-year-old kids who couldn't vote yet

but wanted to be a part of creating a change

他們只想為創造改變盡一份心力。

so that by the time they could vote, it would actually be legit.

等到他們可以投票時， 它就是合法的了。

So what we started to do was figure out, OK, what are all these campaign tasks?

於是我們開始弄清楚， 好，這些活動任務是要幹嘛？

And then what are all these skills we have?

我們擁有哪些技能？我們要 如何開始它們結合在一起？

And how do we start bringing them together?

例如，我們有位女子多年來 都負責密西根的文藝復興節。

For example, we had a woman

who had been in charge of the Renaissance Festival

for years in Michigan.

And she actually started creating our first fundraising plan.

她就開始設計我們的 第一個募款計畫。

And the reason she did that

她這樣做的原因，是因為她有 為千奇百怪事物募款的經驗。

is because she had experience raising money for kind of weird stuff.

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

And we had another woman who is absolutely amazing,

我們還有位不簡單的女子傑咪，

her name was Jamie,

she was an engineer and a retired high school math teacher,

她是工程師和退休的高中數學老師，

and she was basically the only person

基本上，她是唯一真正曾在 政治競選活動中當過志工的人。

who had actually volunteered for a political campaign before.

So she had gathered signatures,

因此她去做連署，挨家挨戶去敲門，

she had knocked on doors,

and using her skills in engineering and math,

並利用她在工程和數學方面的技能，

she figured out, how could we take thousands of us

想辦法讓我們幾千個人

to actually end up reaching millions of voters.

到最後能真的接觸到數百萬選民。

And that all was really exciting.

這一切都很令人興奮。

And then I had a volunteer, Rebecca,

接著，我有位志工，瑞貝卡，

and she came up to me and she's like, "I really want to volunteer.

她來找我說：「我真的很想 做志工，我有時間可以做，

I have time to do it, but I don't think there's any way I can contribute."

但我不覺得我有辦法貢獻。」

I was like, "Alright, well, what do you do?"

我說：「好吧，你是做什麼的？」 她是位全職母親。

She was a stay-at-home mom.

我說：「首先，這需要很多技能。

And I said, “First of all, that comes with a lot of skills.

因此，我們有很多要做。 但，你的嗜好是什麼？」

So we've got a lot to work with. But what are your hobbies?"

她說：「我是爵士運動教練

She said, "I'm a Jazzercise instructor and a woodcarver."

也是木雕師。」

Great, great.

很好，很好。我們會找個工作給你。

We're going to find a place.

So we started thinking, how could we apply these skills?

於是我們開始思考， 我們能如何運用這些技能？

Well, it turns out, in order to gather a bunch of signatures,

結果發現，為了讓很多人連署，

you actually need a bunch of clipboards.

就需要很多寫字夾板。

And buying clipboards, even in bulk, is super expensive.

就算批量購買寫字夾板也還是超貴。

而我們是從臉書貼文起家的， 所以我們沒有很多錢。

And we started from a Facebook post, so we did not have a lot of money.

And when we went to our Facebook group and we said,

我們到我們的臉書社團裡，

說：「嘿，大家能幫忙 想想我們能怎麼做嗎？」

"Hey, can you guys help us figure out what we might be able to do,"

結果發現，我們不僅有一個， 而且有好幾個木雕師。

it turns out we not only had one, but several wood carvers.

And the woodcarvers said, "Hold on, give us a second."

木雕師說：「等等， 給我們一點時間。」

They went away, made a plan and came back.

他們離開，定了個計畫，然後回來。

And they had decided to create gift registries at Home Depots and Lowe's

他們決定在全州的家得寶 和勞氏做贈予登記，

across the state,

reserving wood so we could cut our own clipboards.

保留木材，讓我們 切割自己的寫字夾板。

Then they found warehouses where we could then cut those clipboards

接著他們去找了倉庫，

在那裡切割並組裝寫字夾板。

and start assembling them.

Then they were thinking a lot about these clipboards,

接著他們針對這些寫字夾板 做了很多考量，比如：

so they started to think about like,

how do we make them longer so they can hold both a petition

如何把夾板做得更長， 不僅能用來夾住請願書，

as well as gathering contact information from people.

還能收集大家的聯絡資訊。

And then they wanted all of us to be able to be recognized as volunteers.

接著，他們希我們 所有的志工能被認出來。

So they added a nice little red stripe

所以他們加了一條紅色，

so that people could know that we're part of the Ending Gerrymandering campaign.

讓大家知道我們是終結 選區劃分不公正活動的人。

And they even thought about how could we turn this clipboard itself,

他們甚至在想，若我們要 這樣投資這些寫字夾板的話，

if we're going to make such an investment in them,

我們能如何將它們本身變成

into an actual tool to educate people on the process in general.

能順便用來普遍教育大眾， 幫他們了解這個流程的工具。

They ended up being able to make these clipboards

最後，他們把這些夾板的製作費用

for only 33 cents each instead of 11 dollars.

壓到一片三十三分美金， 而不是十一塊美金。

Yes.

是的。

And the only reason we were able to do any of that,

我們之所以能夠做到上述這些，

so that everybody could have a professional tool

讓每個人都有專業的工具，可以 信心滿滿地和陌生人談市政學，

that made them feel confident when talking to strangers about civics,

was because we had a wood carver as a volunteer.

是因為我們有志工剛好也是木雕師。

And that was one of the first moments when I started to realize

此時我開始意識到，

that like, us not "doing politics" as our day job was actually our strength.

我們的強項其實在於我們的 日常工作並不是「搞政治」。

We were looking at democracy as how we hoped it would be

我們談民主的角度是我們 希望它能變成什麼樣子，

instead of the brokenness that it already was.

而非它現在已經有多爛。

And so when we were looking at writing the constitutional language,

因此，當我們在考慮 如何撰寫憲法語言時，

we wanted to take that spirit and apply it.

我們想把這樣的精神運用出來。

At the time in Michigan, politicians were refusing to hold town halls.

在當時的密西根， 政治人物拒絕舉行市民大會。

They didn't want to meet with their constituents

他們不想與選民見面， 因為他們受到很多批評，

because they were getting a lot of criticism,

because they were writing laws that nobody wanted.

因為他們起草的都是沒人要的法律。

And so at a time when we weren't being listened to,

所以在沒有人要聆聽我們的 時候，我們心想，好，

we thought, OK, let's go listen to each other instead.

那我們就聆聽彼此吧。

So we made a plan to go and ask people

於是，我們做了個計畫去問大家 對重新劃分選區流程的期望，

what would they want in a redistricting process,

what would one that works well

能順利運作並讓我們信任的 流程實際上是什麼樣子的？

and that we could have trust in actually look like?

We set a goal of going to every congressional district,

我們設定的目標 是要走訪每個國會選區，

and we weren't sure if people were going to show up

我們不確定是否會有人來， 因為我們是剛成立的全新組織。

because we were brand new organization, just starting.

But to our surprise,

但讓我們驚訝的是， 到每個地方幾乎都只剩站位。

it was standing room only at almost every single location.

And we would hear all of these people saying, you know,

我們會聽到這些人說：

「我一生都住在這個社區裡，

“I have lived in this community my whole life,

and a politician has never even visited our city once.

而從來沒有未政治人物 來走訪過我們的城市。

And yet here you are, a random stranger from across the state,

而你們來了，你們只是來自 州內其他地方的陌生人，

not only listening to me,

卻不僅聆聽我們，還確保

but making sure that my opinion is going to be used

我的意見會被用在憲法修正案中。」

in a constitutional amendment."

And what my favorite part was,

我最喜歡的部分

is you would have people coming in really skeptical of each other,

是有些人來的時候 會對彼此相當懷疑，

never having really had a conversation with a Democrat or a Republican

他們從未與民主黨或共和黨 或獨立黨派的人真正交談過。

or an Independent.

And they would start to talk to each other

他們開始與彼此交談，並了解到

and realize that we had a lot more in common

我們有很多共同點，且大家都 只是希望有個有效的政治流程。

and all of us just wanted a political process that worked.

And so instead of focusing on those differences,

因此我們得以把焦點放在實際的 解決方案上，而非那些差異上。

we were able to focus on actual solutions.

So once our beautiful language written by the people of Michigan

因此，一旦我們密西根人民 撰寫的美麗語言準備就緒，

was ready to go,

we then got to gather those 315,654

我們接著就得在一百八十天內取得

三十一萬五千六百五十四名 有登記的密西根選民連署。

registered Michigan voter signatures in 180 days.

But thankfully, we had that math teacher, so ...

但，謝天謝地， 我們有那位數學老師，

所以……

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

We figured out that if we could get about 1,000 of us

我們發現，如果我們用大約一千人，

to gather about 17 signatures a day,

每天找到約十七個人連署，

we'd be able to meet this goal.

就能達到這個目標。

But because we had gone around the state

但因為我們已經走遍整全州，

and we had listened to people about what they wanted,

我們也聆聽大家說他們想要什麼，

they all wanted to make sure that this constitutional amendment passed.

所以他們都想確保 此憲法修正案能通過。

We ended up having over 4,000 people

我們最後有超過四千人

who were willing to come and gather signatures.

願意來幫忙收集連署。

And they had tons of creativity about how to talk to people about gerrymandering,

且對於要如何和別人談選區劃分 不公正，他們有超多創意，

And they were willing to do anything to gather those signatures.

他們願意做任何事來取得連署。

They went into parades and even literal cow pastures

他們參加遊行， 甚至去到真正的牛牧場，

確保我們能讓密西根人連署。

in order to make sure

that we were getting the people of Michigan to sign.

And we ended up blowing that goal out of the water.

最終我們不但達標，還大大超標。

We were able to gather over 442,000 signatures.

我們找到超過四十四萬兩千人連署。

(Cheers and applause)

（歡呼和掌聲）

In only 110 days, may I add.

補充一下，只花了一百一十天。

And although there is no geographic requirement

雖然並沒有要求連署人必須 來自哪些地理區域，

of where those signatures came from,

we actually gathered signatures in each of Michigan's 83 counties,

我們的連署人遍及 密西根的八十三個郡。

truly making it for, by and of the people of Michigan.

真的是密西根人 民有、民治、民享的。

So then we just needed people to vote on the darn thing.

接著我們就只需要大家 去投這該死的東西。

And on November 6, 2018,

二○一八年十一月，

2.5 million people, 61 percent of the state,

兩百五十萬人，全州 百分之六十一的人，

overwhelmingly voted "yes" to end gerrymandering

投票贊成終結選區劃分不公正，

and to enstate an independent citizen’s redistricting commission.

並成立獨立的市民選區劃分委員會。

(Cheers and applause)

（歡呼和掌聲）

Shortly after that, we got to see

不久之後，我們得以見證這項 由一群陌生人撰寫的憲法法條，

did this constitutional law, written by a bunch of strangers, actually work?

真的可行嗎？

And so our commission started to come together.

我們的委員會開始成形。

Thirteen strangers were selected.

十三名陌生人被選出來。

Four Democrats, four Republicans and five independent voters.

四位民主黨，四位共和黨， 還有五位獨立選民。

They couldn't be politicians,

這些人不能是政治人物， 不能是遊說者，

they couldn't be lobbyists,

they just had to be regular people.

必須是一般人。

Those people were then invited to represent the state.

接著，這些人被邀請代表密西根州。

So there was a lottery to make sure

因此有進行抽籤，確保

that the demographics actually kind of matched who the people of Michigan were,

他們的人口統計背景 與密西根人民的實際狀況相符，

making it one of the only decision-making bodies in Michigan

使它成為密西根少數看起來像是 密西根人民的決策實體之一。

that actually looks like the people of Michigan.

They then had the task of going around the state

接著，他們的工作是遊走全州，

聽取人民的意見，問他們想在 重新劃分選區流程中看到什麼。

and gathering input from people,

asking them what they wanted to see in the redistricting process.

And they held town halls that also had standing room only,

他們舉辦市民大會，

即使疫情才剛過， 也是滿到只剩站位。

even though it was only very shortly after COVID.

This commission ended up passing maps

該委員會最後通過的劃分地圖 是密西根史上最公平的地圖。

that are the most fair maps that Michigan has ever had.

And in the first election they were used in, in 2022,

這些地圖在二○二二年的 選舉中初次被使用，

how people voted was an exact match

人民所投的票完全符合

for how elected representatives were elected.

被選出的代表。

This is my personal district in the "before" and "after" picture.

這是我個人所屬的選區， 「之前」和「之後」的比較圖。

My favorite part about all of this

這一切當中我最喜歡的部分

is that because we actually changed the constitution,

是因為我們真的改變了憲法，

it means that in future redistricting processes,

這意味著在未來的重新劃分流程中，

this is going to have to be the same process that's used,

也得使用同樣這套流程，

which means that future voters will be guaranteed to have fair elections

也就是說，保證未來的 選民會有公平的選舉，

from here on out.

從現在開始。

我相信每個人都有睡覺時 也想個不停的事，

I'm sure that each of you guys

have something that keeps you up at night,

that makes you feel like, man,

讓你覺得，天，我真希望 有人能做些什麼的事。

I really wish somebody would do something about this.

And maybe you feel like you aren't qualified

也許你覺得自己沒有資格採取行動，

to be the one to do something.

或也許你覺得沒有人想聽 或在乎這個議題。

Or maybe you feel like nobody is listening or cares about this issue.

And I used to feel that way.

我以前就有這種感覺。

One thing that I did not remember

有件事我自己不記得，但後來

but ended up popping up on my social media

在我的社群媒體上跳出來，

is I made almost the exact same Facebook post about a year earlier.

那就是，約一年前我在臉書上 發表過幾乎相同的貼文。

And it said like, “Hey, let’s end gerrymandering.

寫說：「嘿，咱們來終結 選區劃分不公正。誰想幫忙？」

Who wants to help?"

甚至沒人按讚。

And nobody even liked it.

And more importantly, I also didn't do anything about it.

更重要的是，我也 沒有採取任何行動。

And I think that's because I felt alone.

我想這那是因為我感到很孤單。

I felt like, man, nobody's even liking this.

我覺得，天，甚至沒有人按讚。

Like, I must be the only weirdo who wants to end gerrymandering.

大概只有我這個怪胎想要 終結選區劃分不公正。

But by the time I made that second Facebook post,

但在我第二次在臉書上 發表這種貼文時，

what I realized was that actually,

我發現，

like, a lot of us were feeling the exact same way.

其實很多人都有同樣這種感覺。

We were sitting, feeling like nobody cared.

我們只是坐而言，覺得沒人在乎。

We really wanted this issue to be dealt with,

我們真心希望這個問題能被解決，

but we felt like there must be somebody else whose job it is.

但我們覺得一定有別人是負責 做這個的，一定有專家會處理。

There must be an expert out there.

But what I have completely learned

但我學到，

is that you do not have to be an expert to get involved in democracy.

你不必是專家，也能參與民主。

You don't need a fancy title or a PhD,

你不需要很炫的頭銜或博士學位，

you don't even have to ask permission to try.

你甚至不用取得許可就可以去嘗試。

You never know where one little step will end up leading you.

你永遠不會知道一小步 最後會帶你到哪裡。

它可能會改變你的整個人生。

It might change your entire life.

And I think that's really important to remember.

我認為這是要銘記在心的重點。

I mean, there’s a place for experts, too.

當然也有專家的領域。

I definitely should not perform open-heart surgery on any of you.

我絕對不該對任何人進行 心臟手術，那不是我擅長的。

I would not be good at it.

但我們是最接近這些問題的人。

But we are the ones who are closest to these problems.

Our communities and our kids

沒有乾淨飲用水影響到的 是我們的社區和我們的孩子。

are the ones who do not have clean drinking water.

We have the most incentive to want to fix these problems,

我們最有想要解決這些問題的動機，

because we live with its brokenness every single day.

因為我們每天都要承受 這些問題帶來的困擾。

And we see our communities as actual communities.

我們會把我們的社區 當作真正的社區來看待。

They are our homes.

它們是我們的家。 它們不是紅色或藍色的。

They aren't red or blue.

They are just us.

它們就只是我們。

So I hope all of you remember that when it comes to democracy,

所以，我希望大家都記住，

談到民主時，所有政治力量 都是人民固有的。

all political power is inherent in the people.

We all are those people, and this is our power.

我們都是那些人民，

而這些都是我們的力量。

I hope you don't forget that.

希望各位不要忘記這一點，且永遠 不要害怕去創造你想要生活的世界。

And you remain unafraid to create the world you want to live in.

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Cheers and applause)

（歡呼和掌聲）