On campuses and public squares,

無論在校園，在公共廣場

on streets and social media,

在馬路上，在各種媒體，

protesters around the world are challenging the status quo.

世界各地的抗爭者向現狀挑戰着

Protest can thrust issues onto the national or global agenda,

抗爭把不同的聲音逼進了國家甚至世界的議程

it can force out tyrants,

它把暴君推下台，　

it can activate people who have long been on the sidelines of civic life.

它帶動了長期徘徊在城巿生活邊綠的人們

While protest is often necessary, is it sufficient?

既然，抗爭有經常有存在的的必要性．那抗爭有效嗎？

Consider the Arab Spring.

試想阿拉伯之春

All across the Middle East,

席捲了整個中東地區

citizen protesters were able to topple dictators.

抗爭的人們可以奪取獨裁者的政權

Afterwards, though,

之後，雖然

the vacuum was too often filled by the most militant and violent.

這種政治真空狀態往往充滿了戾氣及暴力

Protest can generate lasting positive change

抗爭可以帶來長久的正面改變，

when it's followed by an equally passionate effort

前提是，抗爭運動的熱情不減，並得以延續，

to mobilize voters,

動員選民

to cast ballots,

去投票，

to understand government,

去了解政治體制，

and to make it more inclusive.

和提高抗爭的包容性

So here are three core strategies for peacefully turning awareness into action

這裏有三大主要策略，能夠把政治覺悟轉化為實際行為，

and protest into durable political power.

並把抗爭帶入穏健的政治力量中

First, expand the frame of the possible,

首先，挖掘抗爭的潛力

second, choose a defining fight,

第二，尋找決勝時機

and third, find an early win.

第三，掌握先機

Let's start with expanding the frame of the possible.

首先，由挖掘抗爭的潛力開始

How often have you heard in response to a policy idea,

你上次聽到人們對政策的看法，到現在有多久了？

"That's just never going to happen"?

或者，從來都沒有聽過？

When you hear someone say that,

當人們表達對政策的看法，　

they're trying to define the boundaries of your civic imagination.

他們努力地展示出公民的想象力和創造力的範圍

The powerful citizen works to push those boundaries outward,

強大的公民運作系統使範圍向外擴展

to ask what if -

試問，那會怎樣？

what if it were possible?

如果真的是這樣呢?

What if enough forms of power -

如果力量足夠強大，

people, power, ideas, money, social norms -

人民、權力、信念、財富、社會規範，

were aligned to make it happen?

所有這些聯合起來，使之成為可能？

Simply asking that question

只是問問，

and not taking as given all the givens of conventional politics

不要認為，所有的政治都是因循守舊

is the first step in converting protest to power.

這是把抗爭變成權力的第一步

But this requires concreteness about what it would look like to have, say,

請注意，這要求具體的實行措施

a radically smaller national government,

就像一個小型的國家政權

or, by contrast, a big single-payer healthcare system,

或者，剛剛相反，一個大型單一付費醫療系統

a way to hold corporations accountable for their misdeeds,

這是一個讓大企業為他們的錯誤行為負起責任的方法

or, instead, a way to free them from onerous regulations.

或者是，把他們從複雜的規章制度中解放出來

This brings us to the second strategy, choosing a defining fight.

這就要開始第二個策略：尋找決勝時機

All politics is about contrasts.

所有的政治都是一種對照

Few of us think about civic life in the abstract.

幾乎沒有會在理論中考慮政局

We think about things in relief compared to something else.

我們會和其它的事情比較，作出對形勢的判斷

Powerful citizens set the terms of that contrast.

強勢的公民會為這些比較訂下條件

This doesn't mean being uncivil.

這是合情理的做法

It simply means thinking about a debate you want to have on your terms

這就像一場自己主場的辯論

over an issue that captures the essence of the change you want.

從而由根本上作出改變

This is what the activists pushing for a $15 minimum wage in the U.S. have done.

社會活動家推動 15 元最低工次運動時，就是這樣做的

They don't pretend that $15 by itself can fix inequality,

他們沒有掩飾事實， 15 元的時薪不可以改變社會不公

but with this ambitious and contentious goal,

但是，他們的雄心壯志，帶有爭論性的目標

which they achieved first in Seattle and then beyond,

讓他們在西雅圖取得第一步的成功，一往向前

they have forced a bigger debate about economic justice and prosperity.

他們帶起了更多的關於經濟公義和財富的討論

They've expanded the frame of the possible, strategy one,

他們一步一步地挖掘潛力，這就是第一策略

and created a sharp emblematic contrast, strategy two.

他們創造了有象徵意義的比較，這就是第二策略

The third key strategy, then, is to seek and achieve an early win.

第三個重要的策略是，尋找先機

An early win, even if it's not as ambitious as the ultimate goal,

盡佔先機，即使成績不如預期

creates momentum,

但它帶來衝擊，

which changes what people think is possible.

讓人們意識到，改變是可以做得到的

The solidarity movement,

這是團結一致的運動

which organized workers in Cold War Poland emerged just this way,

冷戰期間，波蘭的工人運動就是這樣擺脫困境

first, with local shipyard strikes in 1980 that forced concessions,

首先， 1980 年當地造船工人的罷工，成功迫使政府讓步

then, over the next decade,

九十年代過後，

a nationwide effort that ultimately helped topple

全國上下一心，最終奪取政權

Poland's Communist government.

成立波蘭的共產主義政府

Getting early wins sets in motion a positive feedback loop,

正面回應環因這一先機而啟動

a contagion, a belief, a motivation.

感染、信念、激勵，

It requires pressuring policymakers,

這需要有力的政策製訂者

using the media to change narrative,

利用媒體，用不同的方式解釋政策，

making arguments in public,

帶動公眾討論，

persuading skeptical neighbors one by one by one.

逐一說服身邊持懷疑態度的人

None of this is as sexy as a protest,

沒有什麼比抗爭更起作用了

but this is the history of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement,

美國公民權利運動的歷史就是這樣

of Indian Independence,

印度獨立的過程也是，

of Czech self-determination.

捷克獨立自主也是這樣

Not the single sudden triumph,

勝利，從來都不是一朝一夕

but the long, slow slog.

而是長期一點一滴的累積

You don't have to be anyone special to be part of this grind,

這行軍的路程中，你就算貌不出眾，也可參與其中

to expand the frame of the possible,

參與挖掘潛力的過程

to pick a defining fight,

去尋找決勝時刻

or to secure an early win.

或者去奪取先機

You just have to be a participant and to live like a citizen.

作為公民，你的參與就已足夠

The spirit of protest is powerful.

抗爭的精神是強大的

So is showing up after the protest.

抗爭過後，它的力量便能顯示出來

You can be the co-creator of what comes next.

下一步應怎麼走，由你，作出決定