Twenty years ago, my family introduced a system called "Friday Democracy Meetings."
二十年前，我的家庭推出一个叫“民主礼拜五”的机制。
Every Friday at 7pm, my family came together for an official meeting to discuss the current family affairs.
每周五晚上七点我们会一起开会，正式讨论当前的家庭事务。
These meetings were facilitated by one of my parents, and we even had a notetaker.
会议由我的父亲或母亲主持，我们还要做会议纪录。
These meetings had two rules. First, you are allowed to speak open and freely.
这会议有两项规则。第一，你可以自由开放地发言。
Us kids were allowed to criticize our parents without that being considered disrespectful or rude.
小孩们可以批评父母，但不可以不尊重或不礼貌。
Second rule was the Chatham House rule, meaning whatever is said in the meeting stays in the meeting.
第二，便是“漆咸楼家规”。意思是无论在会议上说什么，都不得带出会议。
The topics which were discussed in these meetings varied from one week to another.
在这些会议讨论的议题每周都不一样。
One week, we'd talk about what food we wanted to eat,
有的时候我们会讲想吃什么，
what time us kids should go to bed and how to improve things as a family,
小孩应该要几点上床睡觉和怎么整体上改进这个家庭，
while another meeting discussed pretty much events that happened at school
又有时会讨论在学校发生的事情，
and how to solve disputes between siblings, by which I mean real fights.
以及调和兄弟姐妹的争执，争执是指打架的意思。
At the end of each meeting, we'd reach decisions and agreements that would last at least until the next meeting.
在每次会议结束时，我们会完成决定做出至少到下次开会前都生效的规定。
So you could say I was raised as a politician.
所以也可以说，我从小就在学政治。
By the age of six or seven, I mastered politics.
到六七岁时，我完全掌握了政治。
I was negotiating, compromising, building alliances with other political actors.
我会谈判、妥协，与其他政治角色结盟。
And I even once tried to jeopardize the political process.
我甚至曾经试着要破坏政治过程。
These meetings sound very peaceful, civil and democratic, right? But that was not always the case.
这些会议听起来很和平、文明和民主，对吧？但情况并非总是如此。
Because of this open, free space to talk, discuss and criticize, things sometimes got really heated.
因为有这个开放、自由的空间谈话、讨论和批评，情况有时会变得非常激烈。
One meeting went really bad for me.
有一次会议对我来说非常不利。
I was about 10 years old at that time, and I'd done something really horrible at school, which I'm not going to share today
当时我大概十岁，我在学校做了一些很坏的事，这个我今天就不分享了，
but my brother decided to bring it up in the meeting.
但我哥哥决定要在会议上提出来。
I could not defend myself, so I decided to withdraw from the meeting and boycott the whole system.
我无法为自己辩护，所以我决定退出会议并抵制整个系统。
I literally wrote an official letter and handed it to my dad, announcing that I am boycotting.
我写了一封正式信件，并且把它上书给我爸爸，宣布我要抵制这场会议。
I thought that if I stopped attending these meetings anymore, the system would collapse,
我以为，只要我不参加这场会，整个系统就会崩溃。
but my family continued with the meetings, and they often made decisions that I disliked.
但我的家人继续参加会议，并且经常做出我不喜欢的决定。
But I could not challenge these decisions, because I was not attending the meetings, and thus had no right to go against it.
但我无法反对这些决定，因为我没有参加会议，因此没有权利反对它。
Ironically, when I turned about 13 years old,
讽刺的是，当我长到大约13岁，
I ended up attending one of these meetings again, after I boycotted them for a long time.
在我抵制会议很长一段时间之后，我还是参加了其中一次会议。
Because there was an issue that was affecting me only, and no other family member was bringing it up.
因为有一个只有影响到我的问题，但没有其他家庭成员提到它。
The problem was that after each dinner, I was always the only one who was asked to wash the dishes,
问题是每次晚餐后，当我的兄弟闲闲没事做时，
while my brothers didn't have to do anything about it.
我一直是唯一的一个被要求洗碗的。
I felt this was unjust, unfair and discriminatory, so I wanted to discuss it in the meeting.
我觉得这是不公正、不公平和歧视的，所以我想在会议上讨论它。
As you know, the idea that it's a woman or a girl's role to do household work
如你所知，负责做家务事的人是女人，
is a rule that has been carried out by many societies for so long,
这在众多的文化中是一个规定，
so in order for a 13-year-old me to challenge it, I needed a platform.
所以为了让一个13岁的我挑战这个想法，我需要一个平台。
In the meeting, my brothers argued that none of the other boys we knew were washing the dishes,
在会议上，我的兄弟们争辩道，没有其他我们认识男孩会被要求洗碗，
so why should our family be any different?
那么为什么我们的家庭要有所不同呢？
But my parents agreed with me and decided that my brothers should assist me.
但我的父母同意我，并决定我的兄弟应该协助我。
However, they could not force them, so the problem continued.
但是，他们不能强迫他们，所以问题仍然在继续。
Seeing no solution to my problem, I decided to attend another meeting and propose a new system that would be fair to everyone.
因为我的问题未获得解决，所以我决定参加下一次的会议，并提出一个对每个人都是公平的新的系统。
So I suggested instead of one person washing all the dishes used by all the family members,
我建议不要一个人洗全部人的碗，
each family member should wash their own dishes.
而是每个人洗自己的碗。
And as a gesture of good faith, I said I'd wash the pots as well.
并且作为一种释出善意的表现，我说锅子也给我洗。
This way, my brothers could no longer argue that
这样，我的兄弟们再也不能争辩
it wasn't within their responsibility as boys or men to wash the dishes and clean after the family,
作为男孩或男人，他们没有责任在家里洗碗和打扫卫生，
because the system I proposed was about every member of the family cleaning after themselves and taking care of themselves.
因为我提出的系统，是让每个家庭成员，自己打扫自己的卫生并照顾好自己。
Everyone agreed to my proposal, and for years, that was our washing-the-dishes system.
每个人都同意我的建议，多年来，那一直是我们的洗碗系统。
What I just shared with you is a family story, but it's pure politics.
我刚与你分享的是一个家庭故事，但这是纯粹的政治。
Every part of politics includes decision-making,
政治的每一个部分都包括做决定，
and ideally, the process of decision-making should include people from different backgrounds,
最理想的是，做决定的过程应该包括来自不同的背景、
interests, opinions, gender, beliefs, race, ethnicity, age, and so on.
兴趣、意见、性别、信仰、种族、民族和年龄等的人。
And they should all have an equal opportunity
他们应该都有平等的机会
to contribute to the decision-making process and influence the decisions that will affect their lives directly or indirectly.
去影响会直接或间接地会改变他们的生活的决策。
As such, I find it difficult to understand when I hear young people saying,
因此，我发现很难理解，当我听到年轻人或女人说：
"I'm too young to engage in politics or to even hold a political opinion."
“我太年轻了，无法参与政治或甚至持有政治观点。”
Similarly, when I hear some women saying, "Politics is a dirty world I don't want to engage with,"
或者类似的，“政治是一个我不想参与肮脏的世界。”
I'm worried that the idea of politics and political engagement has become so polarized in many parts of the world
我担心政治和政治参与的观念在世界上许多地方已经变得如此两极分化，
that ordinary people feel, in order for them to participate in politics,
以至于当一般人想要参政时，
they need to be outspoken activists, and that is not true.
他们需要成为直言不讳的积极分子，但这不是真的。
I want to ask these young people, women and ordinary people in general:
我想问这些年轻人、女性和普通人：
Can you really afford not to be interested or not to participate in politics?
你真的可以负担得起不参加政治的代价吗？

Politics is not only activism. It's awareness, it's keeping ourselves informed, it's caring for the facts.
政治不仅仅是行动主义。它是一种意识，它让我们自己了解情况，它是关心事实。
When it's possible, it's casting a vote.
如果可能的话，是投票。
Politics is the tool through which we structure ourselves as groups and societies.
政治是我们构建团体和社会的工具。
Politics governs every aspect of life, and by not participating in it,
政治主宰生活的每个方面，不参加的话，
you're literally allowing other people to decide on what you can eat, wear,
就是在允许他人决定你可以吃什么、穿什么，
if you can have access to health care, free education, how much tax you pay, when you can retire, what is your pension.
你是否享有健保、免费教育，该支付多少税，什么时候退休和退休金领多少。
Other people are also deciding on whether your race and ethnicity is enough to consider you a criminal,
其他人也在决定是否仅凭你的人种和民族，就足以认定你是一个罪犯，
or if your religion and nationality is enough to put you on a terrorist list.
或者因为你的宗教和国籍就把你列入恐怖分子。
And if you still think you are a strong, independent human being unaffected by politics, then think twice.
但如果你还认为自己是很强壮，不受政治影响的独立的人，我建议你三思而后行。
I am speaking to you as a young woman from Libya, a country that is in the middle of a civil war.
作为一名来自利比亚，这个国家正处于内战的年轻女子，我来告诉你。
After more than 40 years of authoritarian rule,
当你的国家被专制统治四十年后，
it's not a place where political engagement by women and young people is possible, nor encouraged.
它并不会是一个让女人和年轻人参与政治的环境。
Almost all political dialogues that took place in the past few years,
几乎所有在过去几年发生的政治对话，
even those gathered by foreign powers, has been with only middle-aged men in the room.
包括被外国势力聚集的议会，参与者一直只限于中年的男子。
But in places with a broken political system like Libya, or in seemingly functioning places,
但是在像利比亚这样政治制度破碎的地方，或在看似运作的地方，
including international organizations, the systems we have nowadays for political decision-making are not from the people for the people,
包括国际组织，我们现在运用的政治决策系统不是人民建立的，也不是为了人民，
but they have been established by the few for the few.
而是被少数人建立，为了少数人的。
And these few have been historically almost exclusively men,
这些常常都是男人的议会，
and they've produced laws, policies, mechanisms for political participation
他们制定的法律、政策、参政机制，
that are based on the opinions, beliefs, worldviews, dreams, aspirations of this one group of people, while everyone else was kept out.
是基于某一群人的意见、信仰、世界观、梦想和愿望，而将其他人拒之门外。
After all, we've all heard some version of this sentence:
毕竟，我们都听过像这样的话：
"What does a woman, let alone a young person, who is brown, understand about politics?"
“女人哪懂得政治？年轻黑人就更别说了。”
When you're young -- and in many parts of the world, a woman
当你年轻，又是一个女人的时候，
you often hear experienced politicians say, "But you lack political experience."
你会经常听到有经验的政治家说：“你缺乏政治经验。”
And when I hear that, I wonder what sort of experience are they referring to?
每当我听到这个，我一直都很好奇他们所指的经验是什么？
The experience of corrupted political systems? Or of waging wars?
是指腐败的政治制度吗？还是发动战争？
Or are they referring to the experience of putting the interests of economic profits before those of the environment?
还是他们在指将经济的利益置于环境之前的经验？
Because if this is political experience, then yes -- we, as women and young people, have no political experience at all.
因为如果这算是政治经验，对，作为妇女和年轻人，我们是少了你们的政治经验。
Now, politicians might not be the only ones to blame,
但现在的话，政治家可能不是唯一该责备的人，
because ordinary people, and many young people as well, don't care about politics.
因为普通人，还有很多年轻人，不关心政治。
And even those who care don't know how to participate.
甚至那些关心的人也不知道怎么参加。
This must change, and here is my proposal.
这必须改变，而这是我的建议。
We need to teach people at an early age about decision-making and how to be part of it.
我们需要在人们很小的时候就教他们如何决策和如何参与。
Every family is its own mini political system that is usually not democratic,
每个家庭都是迷你版的政治制度，但通常不民主，
because parents make decisions that affect all members of the family, while the kids have very little to say.
因为父母会做出影响所有家庭成员的决定，但孩子们却不能说些什么。
Similarly, politicians make decisions that affect the whole nation, while the people have very little say in them.
同样的，政治家也会做出影响整个国家的决定，但人民却不能说些什么。
We need to change this, and in order to achieve this change systematically,
我们需要改变这个制度，为了系统地实现这一改变，
we need to teach people that political, national and global affairs are as relevant to them as personal and family affairs.
我们需要教导人民政治的、全国的和全球的事务，与他们和他们的生活息息相关。
So if we want to achieve this, my proposal and advice is, try out the Family Democracy Meeting system.
所以，如果要实现这一点，我建议试试“家庭民主会议”机制。
Because that will enable your kids to exercise their agency and decision-making from a very early age.
因为这样可以让你的孩子从很小的时候就开始练习参与决策。
Politics is about having conversations, including difficult conversations, that lead to decisions.
政治攸关对话，包括不同意见的沟通，并且在最后做出决定。
And in order to have a conversation, you need to participate,
然后为了进行对话，你必需要参加，
not sign off like I did when I was a kid and then learn the lesson the hard way and have to go back again.
不要像我小时候那样退出，吃了亏后，还是得回去。
If you include your kids in family conversations, they will grow up and know how to participate in political conversations.
如果你把你的孩子包括在家庭事务对话中，他们会长大，并且学会如何参与政治对话。
And most importantly, most importantly, they will help others engage. Thank you.
最后，最重要的，他们会帮助其他人参与。谢谢。