Goats, Blockchain and the Future of Money | Fariel Salahuddin | TED

譯者: Lilian Chiu 審譯者: Yi-Ping Cho (Marssi)

Hi, my name is Fariel,

嗨，

我叫法瑞兒，但在老家，

but back home,

I am also called the goat lady.

我也被稱為羊女。

And today I will be sharing the story of how that came to be about.

今天我要分享的故事是關於

這個名字出現的來龍去脈。

In 2015,

2015 年，我造訪了

I visited a small, remote village in Pakistan

巴基斯坦的一個偏遠小村子，

called Pathan Goth.

叫做帕坦哥特。

The residents of Pathan Goth

帕坦哥特的居民

were living without access to basic facilities

生活上無法取得基本的設施，

such as water and electricity.

如水和電。

The community was bussing water two hours from Karachi.

要靠巴士從克拉嗤花兩小時

把水運到村落。

This made their water so expensive

這讓他們的水非常昂貴，

that their livestock went without water every other day.

導致他們的家畜

一天有水一天沒水。

Bathing and laundry was a luxury.

洗澡和洗衣服

都是很奢侈的事。

The solution was simple:

解決方案很簡單：

a solar water pump.

太陽能水幫浦。

But that would cost $10,000.

但那要花費一萬美金。

And for a community

對一個村落而言，

where the average household earned

平均家戶的收入是

just about $70 a month,

一個月大約七十美金，

this was beyond their affordability.

幫浦的錢遠超過 他們能夠負擔的金額。

As I sat there thinking about this issue,

我坐在那裡，想著這個問題，

the solution literally walked in front of me.

解決方案真的是 自己走來到我面前來。

A herd of more than 100 goats crossed my path.

至少有一百隻羊的羊群

從我面前經過。

And I thought to myself,

我心想，

that is a lot of goats.

好多羊啊。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

I took a chance and asked the village elder:

我找到機會去問了

村中長老：

Would they consider paying me for their pump in goats?

他們願不願意考慮 用羊來跟我買幫浦？

He agreed,

他同意了，

and that is how Pathan Goth got its pump

而帕坦哥特的幫浦就是這麼來的，

and I became the proud owner of 40 goats.

而我則得意洋洋地成了 四十隻羊的主人。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

A few months down the line,

幾個月之後，

the Muslim festival of Eid came around.

穆斯林的開齋節到了。

During Eid, livestock is offered

開齋節時，

會用家畜獻祭，

to honor Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac.

對亞伯拉罕願意犧牲以撒表示敬意。

And much like shopping before Christmas,

很像聖誕節前的大採購，

the demand for goats goes up,

羊的需求上升，

and the price skyrockets.

價格飆升。

I remembered my goats

我想起我的羊，

and decided to put up a post on Facebook

決定在臉書上貼一篇文，

asking my friends and family to buy their Eid goat from me that year.

請我的家人朋友

那年跟我買開齋節用的羊。

Within a week I sold all my goats.

一週內，我的羊就賣光了。

And even after paying for a team to do transport and manage them,

就連付款給一個團隊

來做羊的運送和管理之後，

I more than recovered the cost of the pump.

我拿回的錢也超過幫浦的價值。

This experience made me question the idea of money

這段經歷

讓我思考起貨幣的概念，

and how it has changed and evolved for us.

以及對我們而言， 它有什麼改變和演進。

I found that in 2500 BC,

我發現西元前 2500 年

Mesopotamia,

在美索不達米亞，

Sumerians used measured quantity of barley as money.

蘇美人用定量的大麥

來當貨幣。

But as the trading circle grew beyond one village,

但隨著貿易圈不再只限於村內，

money's key characteristics changed and evolved.

貨幣的關鍵特性

就改變並演化了。

Money not only needed to reliably store value

貨幣不僅要能可靠地保值，

but also be easy to convert

還要很容易轉換，

and easy to transport.

容易運送。

就是那時，我們——文明——

That is when we --

civilization --

moved towards coin and paper money.

轉向硬幣及紙鈔。

But coin and paper money get value

但硬幣和紙鈔

要靠外部管理機構來驗證，

only when they’re validated by an external authority,

才具有價值，

such as God, crown or the central bank.

比如神、君王，

或中央銀行。

Technology today enables us

現今的科技讓我們可以

to bypass the need for this central authority.

不再需要這種中央管理機構。

Today, the value of any asset can be transferred

現今，任何資產的價值

都可以由一個人轉給另一個人，

from one person to another

using blockchain.

用區塊鏈即可。

Any asset can now be tokenized,

現在，任何資產都能被代幣化、

digitized

數位化，並拿來交易。

and traded.

So technology is not only disrupting the need

所以，科技不僅打破了

在主流經濟中對於 金融中介者的需求，

for a financial intermediary

in mainstream economy

but also has the potential

也有潛力

to disrupt and democratize economic power

在更鄉村的經濟中，顛覆經濟實力，

in more rural economies.

讓它普及。

By removing the need for inefficient and expensive intermediaries,

當不再需要沒有效率 又昂貴的中介者，

small farmers can derive greater value

小農就能從種植和養殖中

from what they grow and raise.

導出更大的價值。

Livestock is very abundant in these communities.

在這些村落裡，

家畜非常充足。

Farmers literally use their goats and cows

農民真的是把他們的牛羊

as ATM machines

當提款機

and as saving instruments.

以及儲蓄工具來用。

They will sell an animal when they need cash,

當他們需要現金時， 他們會賣掉一隻家畜，

such as to buy fodder for the rest of the herd,

比如，為了幫其他家畜買飼料、

to buy groceries for their home

買家中的雜貨、

or for weddings and health emergencies.

為了辦婚禮，或是突然要就醫。

But these communities have never been able

但這些村落從來無法

to use their goats and cows

用他們的牛羊

for larger, more productive assets ...

來買更大型、更有生產力的資產……

until now.

直到現在。

Our farmers are able to convert 15 goats into a solar water pump.

我們的農民能把十五隻羊轉換成

一台太陽能幫浦。

Previously,

以前，這些村落

these communities would rely on

要仰賴或等待

or wait for an NGO,

非營利組織、慈善機構，

a charity

or the government to take notice

或政府注意到他們，

and give them what they needed.

協助他們取得所需。

Now they are using their own resources

現在，

他們能用自己的資源，

to fulfill their own needs when they need it.

在需要的時候， 滿足他們自己的需求。

This is self-reliance.

這是自己靠自己。

(Applause and cheers)

（掌聲及歡呼聲）

So how have we enabled the use of goats

所以我們是怎麼讓羊的使用

as a reliable form of currency?

變成是可靠的貨幣形式？

Right now, we we work with farmers through physical barter.

現在，我們和農民合作的方式

是實體的以物易物。

At the time of the solar installation,

在安裝太陽能的時候，

we take possession of the goats.

我們就得到了羊。

We then sell these goats as meat to grocery chains

接著我們把羊當作肉類賣給

連鎖雜貨店，

and through our own retail brand.

也透過我們自己的零售品牌來販售。

Every goat that we receive is then recorded,

我們收到的每一隻羊

都會被記錄起來，

as its unique ID --

有獨一無二的身分證——

its key characteristics such as its sex,

羊的主要特性，比如：

牠的性別、

its age,

牠的年齡、牠的體重， 甚至還有牠的牙齒數

its weight

and even its number of teeth are taken into account.

都會被納入考量。

And then using these,

接著，用這些資料， 我們會為每一隻羊設定

we assign each goat a dollar or a rupee value,

美金或盧比的價值，

essentially tokenizing a goat.

基本上就是將羊給代幣化。

We have already worked with 45 communities,

我們合作的對象已有

四十五個村落，

enabling more than 6,000 farmers

讓超過六千位農民能夠

to convert their goats into water and electricity.

將他們的羊轉換成水和電。

(Applause)

（掌聲）

We are now planning to add smartphones,

我們現在打算要增添

智慧手機、牽引機，

tractors

and other equipment.

和其他設備。

My hope is that we can create a more inclusive economic system

我希望我們能夠創造出一個更包容的

經濟體制，

where any person

讓任何人或任何村落

or any community can use what they grow and raise as money.

能把他們的作物和家畜 當作貨幣來用。

Where a farmer, a small farmer

讓農民，小農，

can use, wherever he is,

不論身在何處，

whether it’s Pakistan, Nepal, Somalia,

不論是巴基斯坦、 尼泊爾、索馬利亞，

can use a digitized goat to pay for her kid’s school fees,

都能用數位化的羊

來支付孩子的學費、

a tractor

買牽引機或手機。

or a smartphone.

This future isn't quite here yet,

這個未來還沒有實現，

but I hope using goats as money gets us closer.

但我希望把羊當作貨幣來用， 能讓我們離這個目標更近。

Thank you.

謝謝。

(Applause and cheers)

（掌聲及歡呼聲）