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.
硅谷一直热衷于动乱, 但是目前,最大的动乱不是来自硅谷, 来自俄亥俄州的钢铁镇, 宾西夕法利亚的农村地区, 以及佛罗里达走廊地带。 而最近的一次美国大选, 是所有动乱的开端。 政治再一次将个人卷入其中, 数百万的美国人 一夜之间成为活动家, 巨大的人潮在极短的时间内 涌上街头。
(Laughter)
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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.
这场选举给家庭聚会带来的影响 堪比优步对纽约出租车行业的影响。 夫妻反目,婚姻告急。 而这场选举对我个人生活的影响, 正如亚马逊对购物中心的影响一样。 现在,美国民权同盟时刻处在最前线, 即使我能抽出时间 在跑步机上跑上几英里, 当我在头版上 又看到一条总统的推特时, 有氧运动带来的好处 马上就被抵消掉了。 甚至我研究意大利画家 的秘密乐趣, 也被政治给影响了。
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.
我的工作就是研究, 甚至追踪那些早期的绘画大师。 这是我的办公桌, 上面展示了一些印有 著名的或不为人知的画作的明信片, 大多数来自意大利文艺复兴时期。 我在美国民权同盟的日常工作中 所面对的喧嚣躁动的政治之外, 艺术总能给我带来一些必要的休息, 但是现在却再也不能了。
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.
就职典礼的第二天, 我在旧金山女性游行的队伍中, 群众高喊“这就是民主的模样。” “这就是民主的模样。” 我在雨中举着伞和标语, 脑中突然闪过了一张 很多年前让我着迷的画作, 我艰难地拼凑着 那幅描述好政府和坏政府的 主题画作。 就像是某位绘画大师在嘲弄我, 你想知道民主的模样? 那就回来看看我的壁画。
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.
我照做了。 1339年,安布罗吉奥·洛伦泽蒂 在锡耶纳市政厅 完成了一幅不朽的作品。 那是一幅至今仍在 对我们诉说甚至呐喊的画作。 “艺术是一种诉说真理的谎言,” 巴勃罗·毕加索曾这样说。 而当我们寻找关于政府的真相时, 我们应当用我们的集体意识, 将安布罗吉奥的画 看作一种寓言而不是谎言。
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.
在洛伦泽蒂生活的时代, 意大利城邦的政治合法性 经常岌岌可危。 锡耶纳曾经是一个共和国, 但是在这幅画作 完成之前的二十年 一直处于巨大的动荡中。 锡耶纳的政治领袖们,也就是那些 将在这张画中人的眼皮底下 治理国家的人, 正是洛伦泽蒂的目标观众。 他编排出了 统治者对被统治者的义务。
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.
你可以花费数年的时间 去研究这些壁画。 一些学者也这样做了。 我称不上是一个艺术史学家, 但是我对艺术充满热情, 而这么一项巨大的工作 会让我应接不暇。 所以首先,我专注于大的方面,
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.
这是好政府的寓言。 中间这个庄严的人物, 他的衣服是锡耶纳的颜色, 他是这个共和国的化身。 洛伦泽蒂称他为“公社”, 他主要是在告诉锡耶纳人, 他们才是统治者, 而不是某个国王或暴君, 在公社周围的是他的顾问。 正义女神坐在王座上。 正仰望着智慧女神, 智慧女神帮她维持着正义天秤。 和谐女神, 抓着从正义天秤上垂下来的线, 这线将她与民众连在一起, 使他们成为共和国的同胞。 最后我们来看看和平女神, 她看起来很放松, 就像是在听鲍勃·马利演唱。 在好政府的统治下, 和平女神不需要汗流夹背。
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.
这是一些大的图像和看法, 但是我很喜欢小东西。 沿着另一面墙, 洛伦泽蒂用普通民众的日常生活 加上一系列精致的小细节, 阐明了好政府的影响。 在乡村,山地都被美化并被开垦, 庄稼的播种、锄草、 收割、碾磨以及土地的翻耕, 都在同一张画图中呈现出来了。 庄稼和牲畜被拿到市场上去, 在城市里,建设者们正在修建一座塔, 人们正在参加一场法律讲座, 好比是14世纪的TED演讲。
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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."
学童们正在玩耍。 商人正在繁忙地交易。 高大的舞者欢乐地跳着舞。 而在共和国上空注视着一切的 是插着翅膀的守护女神。 她手上的横幅上写着, “所有人都应当 毫无畏惧地自由前行。”
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.
这些800年前的场景 最奇妙的地方是, 对于今天的我们来说是很熟悉的。 我们看到了民主的面貌。 我们经历着好政府 给我们的生活带来的影响, 就像洛泽蒂 在他生命中所作的画一样。
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.
但是自11月9日以来 一直萦绕在我心头的 却是一个坏政府的故事。 它已经被严重损毁, 但是读起来就像是今天的新闻。 统治坏政府的不是公社, 而是暴君。 他长着犄角、獠牙 还有一双斗鸡眼, 以及编织过的头发。 很显然他在头发上 花费了很多时间。
(Laughter)
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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.
正义女神无助地靠在他的脚下, 戴着镣铐。 她的正义天秤也被切断了。 正义女神是暴君的主要敌手, 而她却出局了。
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.
现在在暴君周围, 洛伦泽蒂描绘了 控制着坏政府的恶人, 代表贪婪的是 一手拿着保险箱、 一手用鱼钩把财产钩进去 的老女人。 虚荣心拿着一面镜子, 洛伦洛蒂警视我们要反对那些 被自己的自负和虚荣 所迷惑的孤芳自赏的领袖。 在暴君右边的是残酷。 半羊半蝎的不忠, 诱使我们进入一个安全的假象中, 然后毒害一个共和国。 欺骗,长着一对轻浮的蝠冀。 在暴君的左边,是分裂。 她穿着锡耶纳的颜色。 她的身上喷着“Si"和“No"。 她用一把锯 把自己的身体锯成两半。 暴怒挥舞着暴徒的武器, 石头和刀。
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."
在壁画的剩余部分, 洛伦泽蒂向我们展示了 坏政府的必然结果。 在别处能成功实现的公民理想 在这却不尽如人意, 而我们也看到了这一点。 这座曾经美丽的城市 最终支离破碎。 乡村荒芜了, 农场荒废了。 很多东西都在燃烧。 天空之上不再是 长着翅膀的守护之神, 而是恐惧,它的条幅上写着: “没有人能不怀着对死亡的恐惧, 去通过这条路。”
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.
最后的一幅画, 也是最重要的一幅, 是洛伦泽蒂不曾画出来的, 也就是看到这幅画的观众。 今天,洛伦泽蒂壁画的观众, 已经不是统治者,而是被统治者, 是那些站在他的壁画前 洞悉一切后又离开, 并留意到它的行动号召的个体。 洛伦泽蒂警告我们, 贪婪、欺骗、分裂甚至暴政, 正漂浮在我们的政治系统里, 我们必须要认清这些幽灵, 特别是当这些幽灵是 由那些大声宣称 代表好政府的声音, 并承诺让美国再一次伟大 的政治领袖们扮演的时候。
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 --
我们必须行动起来。 民主不能成为 一项观赏性体育运动。 游行的权利、自由集会的权利、 向政府请愿的权利, 这些不仅仅是权利。 在贪婪、欺骗和分裂面前, 这些都是义务。 我们必须打破——
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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.
我们必须打破现有的生活, 这样我们才能破坏和阻止, 那些可能背叛 我们的价值观的人, 他们会通过非道德的方式 加强自己的权力。 我们和我们的人民, 必须高举正义的旗帜, 必须为我们的国家带来和平, 必须和谐共处, 而这一切都取决于我们的决定。 我们要么将自己画进 洛伦泽蒂的最糟糕的 坏政府的噩梦中, 要么站上街头, 大声喊出我们的心声, 这才是民主的模样。
Thank you.
谢谢。
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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?
克里斯·安德森: 首先,哇。 很明显,有很多充满热情的人 听到了你刚刚的演讲。 但是我肯定这里还有另外一种人, 他们会说,特朗普是 6300万美国人民选出来的。 他可能不完美, 但是他正在努力的 去做好这个总统。 你不应该再给他一个机会吗?
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.
安东尼·罗梅罗: 我想我们必须分清, 他作为总统的合法性, 跟他的政策的合法性。 当他的很多政策都 背离我们的基本价值观时, 即法律面前人人平等, 以及不能以肤色或 宗教信仰来评判我们, 我们必须捍卫这些价值观, 正如我们承认并尊重, 我们的民主 给我们挑出的是一个 拥护这些价值观的总统这一事实。
CA: And the ACLU isn't just this force on the left, right? You're making other arguments as well.
安德森:美国民权同盟不仅仅 是左派的重要力量,对吗? 关于其它的问题也有争论。
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.
罗梅罗:这么说吧, 我们经常时不时地惹恼所有人。 这就是我们所做的。 我们最近在拥护确保 安·库尔特 能够在伯克利发表演讲,以及 为什么麦洛拥有自由演讲的权利。 我们甚至写了一篇博客, 在我们的内部引发激烈讨论, 不幸的是,我们认识到, 作为总统,特朗普也有自由言论权, 把他的行为 当成暴力游行和集会的理由, 也是违反宪法和美国精神的。 当你对外夸夸其谈, 对抗特朗普很令你激动, 但是有人会说 “等等,这些权利所有人都有。 甚至我们不喜欢的总统也是。” 这才是我们要做的。
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CA: Anthony, you spoke to so many of us so powerfully.
安德森:安东尼, 你的演讲非常有感染力。
Thank you so much. Thank you.
谢谢。
(Applause)
(鼓掌)