Silicon Valley er besat af forstyrrelser, men for tiden er den største forstyrelse ikke fra Silicon Valley. Den kom fra stålindustri-byer i Ohio, landsbyfællesskaber i Pennsylvania, fra Panhandle i Florida. Og dette sidste amerikanske præsidentvalg var størst af alle forstyrrelser. Igen, politik er personligt. Millioner af amerikanere blev aktivister natten over, stimlede ud i gaderne i rekordstore tal på rekordtid.
Silicon Valley is obsessed with disruption, but these days, the biggest disruptor didn't come out of Silicon Valley. It came out of steel towns in Ohio, rural communities in Pennsylvania, the Panhandle in Florida. And this last US presidential election was the mother of all disruptions. Once again, politics is personal. Millions of Americans became activists overnight, pouring into the streets in record numbers in record time.
(Latter)
(Laughter)
Valget har gjort ved familiens højtidsmiddage, hvad Uber har gjort ved taxisystemet i New York. Par har slået op, og ægteskaber er opløst. Og valget gør ved mit privatliv, hvad Amazon gør ved indkøbscentre. For tiden er ACLU på frontlinjerne 24/7, og selv hvis det lykkes at snige mig væk til nogle kilometer på løbebåndet, bliver al hjertetræning ødelagt med det samme, når jeg læser endnu et af præsidentens tweets i overskrifterne. Selv min hemmelige fornøjelse at studere de italienske kunstnere er blevet smittet af politik.
The election has done to family holiday dinners what Uber has done to New York City's taxi system. Couples have broken up and marriages disrupted. And the election is doing to my private life what Amazon is doing to shopping malls. These days, the ACLU is on the front lines 24/7, and even if I manage to sneak away for a couple of miles on the treadmill, any cardio benefit I get is instantly obliterated when I read another presidential tweet on the headline scroll. Even my secret pleasure of studying the Italian painters have been infected by politics.
Nu studerer jeg, ja, endda forfølger, de gamle mestere. Dette er mit skrivebord med en postkortudstilling af nogle berømte og obskure malerier mest fra den italienske renæssance. Kunst plejede at give mig en nødvendig pause fra den politiske tumult i mit daglige arbejde hos ACLU, men ikke længere.
Now, I study, even stalk, the old masters. This is my desk, with a postcard exhibition of some famous and obscure paintings mostly from the Italian Renaissance. Now, art used to provide me with a necessary break from the hurly-burly of politics in my daily work at the ACLU, but not anymore.
Jeg var i Kvindernes March i San Francisco dagen efter præsidentindvielsen, og alle messede, "Sådan ser demokrati ud." "Sådan ser demokrati ud." Der stod jeg med mit skilt og min paraply i regnen, og huskede et glimt af et gammelt maleri, der først fascinerede mig for mange år siden. Jeg kæmpede med at huske de forskellige stykker af et rigtigt maleri, af gode og dårlige regeringer. Det var som om at den gamle mester drillede mig. Vil du vide hvordan demokrati ser ud? Gå tilbage og se på mine freskoer.
I was at the Women's March in San Francisco the day after inauguration, and the crowd was chanting, "This is what democracy looks like." "This is what democracy looks like." And there I was holding my sign and my umbrella in the rain, and I flashed on an old painting that first captivated me many years ago. I struggled to remember the different pieces of an actual painting of good and bad government. It was almost like the old master was taunting me. You want to know what democracy looks like? Go back and look at my frescoes.
Og det gjorde jeg så. I 1339 blev Ambrogio Lorenzetti færdig med en monumental kommission i det styrende rådskammer i Siena's Palazzo Pubblico. Det er et maleri der taler til os, endda skriger til os, idag. "Kunst er en løgn, der får os til forstå sandheden," sagde Pablo Picasso engang. Og som vi søger efter sandheden om regeringer, burde vi have Ambrogio's værk, ikke en løgn, men en allegori, for øje i vor kollektive bevidsthed.
And so I did. In 1339, Ambrogio Lorenzetti finished a monumental commission in the governing council chamber of Siena's Palazzo Pubblico. It's a painting that speaks to us, even screams to us, today. "Art is a lie that makes us realize truth," Pablo Picasso once said. And as we search for the truth about government, we should keep Ambrogio's work, not a lie but an allegory, in our collective mind's eye.
I Lorenzettis tid var den politiske legitimitet hos italienske bystater ofte meget ustabil. Siena var en republik, men der var enorm uro i de to årtier inden kommissionen. Sienas politiske ledere, der bogstaveligt talt regerede under øjnene på disse allegoriske figurer, var Lorenzetti's tilsigtede publikum. Han katalogiserede forpligtelserne hos de regerende overfor de regerede.
During Lorenzetti's time, the political legitimacy of Italian city-states was often on very shaky ground. Siena was a republic, but there had been enormous unrest in the two decades leading up to the commission. Siena's political leaders, who would literally govern under the eyes of these allegorical figures, were Lorenzetti's intended audience. He was cataloging the obligations of the governing to the governed.
Man kan bruge år på at studere disse freskoer. Nogle lærde har. Jeg er ikke kunsthistoriker, men jeg er lidenskabelig om kunst, og et så stort et værk kan overvælde mig. Først vil jeg fokusere på de store ting.
Now, you can spend years studying these frescoes. Some scholars have. I'm hardly an art historian, but I am passionate about art, and a work this massive can overwhelm me. So first, I focus on the big stuff.
Dette er allegorien om den gode regering. Denne majestætiske figur i midten er klædt i Siena's farver og personificerer selve republikken. Lorenzetti kalder ham "Kommune," og han fortæller sieneserne at de må selv regere, og ikke en konge eller tyran. Omkring Kommune står hans rådgivere. Retfærdighed troner. Hun ser op på figuren for visdom, som støtter hendes vægtskåle af retfærdighed. Enighed, eller Harmoni, holder en snor der kommer ud fra retfærdighedens vægtskåle, som binder hende til borgerne, der gør dem alle til landsmænd i republikken. Til sidst ser vi Fred. Hun ser afslappet ud, som om hun lytter til Bob Marley. Når den gode regering styrer, anstrenger Fred sig ikke.
This is the allegory of good government. The majestic figure here in the middle is dressed in Siena's colors and he personifies the republic itself. Lorenzetti labels him "Commune," and he's basically telling the Sienese that they, and not a king or a tyrant, must rule themselves. Now, surrounding Commune are his advisors. Justice is enthroned. She's looking up at the figure of wisdom, who actually supports her scales of justice. Concord, or Harmony, holds a string that comes off the scales of justice that binds her to the citizens, making them all compatriots in the republic. And finally we see Peace. She looks chilled out, like she's listening to Bob Marley. When good government rules, Peace doesn't break a sweat.
Disse er store billeder og store idéer, men jeg elsker virkelig de små ting. Langs en anden væg illustrerer Lorenzetti effekterne af en god regering på det virkelige og daglige liv hos almindelige folk med en stribe af lækre små detaljer. På landet bliver bakkerne anlagt og opdrættet. Afgrøder bliver sået, hakket, høstet, malet, pløjet, alt i ét billede. Afgrøder og husdyr bliver bragt på markedet. I byen rejser bygherrer et tårn. Folk deltager i et jura-foredrag, det 14. århundredes TED Talk.
Now, these are big images and big ideas, but I really love the small stuff. Along another wall, Lorenzetti illustrates the effects of good government on the real and everyday lives of ordinary people with a series of delicious little details. In the countryside, the hills are landscaped and farmed. Crops are being sown, hoed, reaped, milled, plowed, all in one picture. Crops and livestock are being brought to market. In the city, builders raise a tower. People attend a law lecture, a TED Talk of the 14th century.
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Skolebørn leger. Handelsmænd trives. Karismatiske dansere danser af glæde. Og den vingede figur for Sikkerhed våger over republikken, på hvis banner, der står: "Alle skal gå frem frit og uden frygt."
Schoolchildren play. Tradesmen thrive. Dancers larger than life dance with joy. And watching over the republic is the winged figure Security, whose banner reads, "Everyone shall go forth freely without fear."
Hvad der er fantastisk for disse 800 år gamle billeder, er at de er velkendte for os idag. Vi ser hvordan demokrati ser ud. Vi oplever effekterne af en god regering i vores liv, ligesom Lorenzetti gjorde i hans liv.
Now, what's amazing about these images from 800 years ago is that they're familiar to us today. We see what democracy looks like. We experience the effects of good government in our lives, just as Lorenzetti did in his life.
Men det er allegorien om en dårlig regering der har hjemsøgt mig siden 9. november. Den er meget skadet, men ligner dagens aviser. Og den, der styrer den dårlige regering er ikke Kommune, men Tyranen. Han har horn, stødtænder, skelende øjne, flettet hår. Han bruger øjensynligt lang tid på dét hår.
But it is the allegory of bad government that has been haunting me since November 9. It's badly damaged, but it reads like today's newspapers. And ruling over bad government is not the Commune but the Tyrant. He has horns, tusks, crossed eyes, braided hair. He obviously spends a lot of time on that hair.
(Latter)
(Laughter)
Retfærdighed ligger nu hjælpeløs ved hans fødder, lænket. Hendes vægtskåle er blevet adskilt. Retfærdighed er Tyranens største fjende, og hun er blevet uskadeliggjort.
Justice now lies helpless at his feet, shackled. Her scales have been severed. Justice is the key antagonist to the Tyrant, and she's been taken out.
Omkring Tyranen illustrerer Lorenzetti lasterne, der findes i en dårlig regering. Griskhed er den gamle kvinde, der holder om pengeskabet og en fiskers krog for at hale hendes formue ind. Hovmod holder et spejl, og Lorenzetti advarer os mod narcissistiske ledere der styres af deres eget ego og forfængelighed. På Tyranens højre side står Grusomhed. Forræderi, halvt lam, halv skorpion, luller os ind i en falsk sikkerhedsfornemmelse for sidenhen at forgifte en republik. Svig, med flagermusens flyvske vinger. På Tyranens venstre side ses Division. Hun er klædt i Siena's farver. "Si" og "No" er malet på hendes krop. Hun bruger en tømrers sav til at skære hendes krop i to halvdele. Og Raseri holder folkemassens våben, stenen og kniven.
Now, surrounding the Tyrant, Lorenzetti illustrates the vices that animate bad government. Avarice is the old woman clutching the strongbox and a fisherman's hook to pull in her fortune. Vainglory carries a mirror, and Lorenzetti warns us against narcissistic leaders who are guided by their own ego and vanity. On the Tyrant's right is Cruelty. Treason, half lamb, half scorpion, lulls us into a false sense of security and then poisons a republic. Fraud, with the flighty wings of a bat. On the Tyrant's left, you see Division. She's dressed in Siena's colors. "Si" and "No" are painted on her body. She uses a carpenter's saw to chop her body in half. And Fury wields the weapons of the mob, the stone and knife.
I resten af freskoen viser Lorenzetti os den uundgåelige effekt af dårlig regering. De borgerlige idealer, fejret andre steder i dette rum, har svigtet os, og vi ser det. Den engang så smukke by er forfalden, landskabet er øde, bondegårdene forladt. Mange står i flammer. Og på himmelen ovenover ser vi ikke Sikkerhed, men Frygt, på hvis banner står: "Ingen skal gå på denne vej uden frygt for døden."
In the remainder of the fresco, Lorenzetti shows us the inevitable effects of bad government. The civic ideals celebrated elsewhere in this room have failed us, and we see it. The once beautiful city has fallen to pieces, the countryside barren, the farms abandoned. Many are in flames. And in the sky above is not the winged figure Security, but that of Fear, whose banner reads: "None shall pass along this road without fear of death."
Det sidste billede, og det mest vigtige, er et, som Lorenzetti ikke malede. Det er af seeren. I dag er publikum for Lorenzettis freskoer ikke de regerende, men de regerede, individet, der står foran hans allegorier og går væk med indsigt, der lytter til en opfordring til handling. Lorenzetti advarer os at vi må genkende skyggerne af Grisked, Svig, Division, selv Tyranni, når de flyder gennem vores politiske landskab, især når disse skygger er kastet af politiske ledere, der højlydt påstår at være stemmen for en god regering, og lover at gøre Amerika stort igen.
Now, the final image, the most important one, really, is one that Lorenzetti did not paint. It is of the viewer. Today, the audience for Lorenzetti's frescoes is not the governing but the governed, the individual who stands in front of his allegories and walks away with insight, who heeds a call to action. Lorenzetti warns us that we must recognize the shadows of Avarice, Fraud, Division, even Tyranny when they float across our political landscape, especially when those shadows are cast by political leaders loudly claiming to be the voice of good government and promising to make America great again.
Og vi må handle. Demokrati må ikke være en tilskuersport. Retten til at protestere, retten til fri forsamling, retten til at andrage ens regering, disse er ikke blot rettigheder. I kløerne på Griskhed, Svig og Division, er de forpligtelser. Vi må forstyrre --
And we must act. Democracy must not be a spectator sport. The right to protest, the right to assemble freely, the right to petition one's government, these are not just rights. In the face of Avarice, Fraud and Division, these are obligations. We have to disrupt --
(Bifald)
(Applause)
Vi må forstyrre vores liv, så vi kan forstyrre den umoralske tilvækst af magt for dem, der ville forråde vore værdier. Vi og vi, folket, må rejse retfærdigheden op og må bringe fred til vor nation og må komme sammen i enighed, og vi har et valg. Vi kunne enten male os selv ind i det værste mareridt af Lorenzettis dårlige regering, eller vi kan blive på gaderne, forstyrrende, rodende, larmende. Dette er, hvordan demokrati ser ud.
We have to disrupt our lives so that we can disrupt the amoral accretion of power by those who would betray our values. We and we the people must raise justice up and must bring peace to our nation and must come together in concord, and we have a choice. We could either paint ourselves into the worst nightmare of Lorenzetti's bad government, or we can stay in the streets, disruptive, messy, loud. That is what democracy looks like.
Tak skal I have.
Thank you.
(Bifald)
(Applause)
Chris Anderson: For det første, wow. Naturligvis er mange folk lidenskabeligt -- du talte lidenskabeligt til mange folk her. Jeg tror, at der findes andre her, der siger, at Trump blev valgt af 63 mio. mennesker. Han er langt fra perfekt, men han prøver at udføre det, han blev valgt til. Skal vi ikke give ham en chance?
Chris Anderson: First of all, wow. Obviously, many people passionately -- you spoke to many people passionately here. I'm sure there are other people here who'd say, look, Trump was elected by 63 million people. He's far from perfect, but he's trying to do what he was elected to do. Shouldn't you give him a chance?
Anthony Romero: Jeg tror, vi må anerkende hans legitimitet som præsident versus legitimiteten for hans politik. Og når så meget af hans politik er kontrære mod grundlæggende værdier, at vi er alle éns under loven, at vi ikke er dømt ud fra vores hudfarve eller vores religion, må vi bestride disse værdier, selv når vi anerkender og ærer dette faktum, at vores demokrati giver os en præsident, der er fortaler for disse værdier.
Anthony Romero: I think we have to recognize the legitimacy of him as president versus the legitimacy of his policies. And when so many of the policies are contrary to fundamental values, that we're all equal under the law, that we're not judged by the color of our skin or the religion we worship, we have to contest those values even as we recognize and honor the fact that our democracy rendered us a president who is championing those values.
CA: Og ACLU er ikke blot venstreorienteret, vel? Du laver også andre argumenter.
CA: And the ACLU isn't just this force on the left, right? You're making other arguments as well.
AR: Ja, ser du, vi pisser tit alle af på ét tidspunkt. Det er, hvad vi gør. Og for nyligt talte vi for, hvorfor Ann Coulter skal kunne tale på Berkeley, og hvorfor Milo har retten til fri tale. Og vi lavede endda en blog, der næsten brændte huse ned hos nogle af vores medlemmer, desværre, når vi talte om dét faktum, at selv Donald Trump har retten til fri tale som præsident, og et forsøg på at holde ham ansvarlig for opfordring til vold ved hans marcher eller stævner er ukonstitutionelt og uamerikansk. Og når du kommer med et budskab til en skummende folkemængde, der altid er spændt på at nedkæmpe Donald Trump, og så har et nyt budskab, "Disse rettigheder er for alle, selv præsidenten vi ikke kan lide." Og dét er vores arbejde.
AR: Well, you know, very often we piss everyone off at one point. That's what we do. And we recently were taking stands for why Ann Coulter needs to be able to speak at Berkeley, and why Milo has free speech rights. And we even wrote a blog that almost burnt the house down among some of our members, unfortunately, when we talked about the fact that even Donald Trump has free speech rights as president, and an effort to hold him accountable for incitement of violence at his marches or his rallies is unconstitutional and un-American. And when you put that statement out there to a very frothy base that always is very excited for you to fight Donald Trump, and then you have a new one saying, "Wait, these rights are for everybody, even the president that we don't like." And that's our job.
(Bifald)
(Applause)
CA: Anthony, du talte til så mange af os så flot.
CA: Anthony, you spoke to so many of us so powerfully.
Tak skal du have. Tak.
Thank you so much. Thank you.
(Bifald)
(Applause)