Traduction d'affaires

we we we

We, We, We

That we are in the midst of a “global crisis” is no longer questionable. Since there is also ample evidence that the term “globalization” covers far more than the correlation between stock markets worldwide, a more accurate meaning of the term should address the interconnected nature of today’s reality at large. We are “global” not just in the financial sense, but also, if not primarily, in the social, if not emotional sense. Our sentiments affect one another so intensely that they can start social blazes in country after country, passing from one hot spot to the next via the fibers that connect the World Wide Web.

The “Arab Spring” has expanded far beyond the Arab world. In each country the causes and the manifestations of the protests wear different attire. In Egypt mass demonstrations overthrew the government. In Syria, the people’s heroic resistance in the face of carnage is a testimony to the profoundness of the change that has taken place in people’s spirits. They simply cannot tolerate tyranny any longer. In Israel, it is a (so far) peaceful demonstration, but of an unprecedented magnitude. In the demonstration that took place on Saturday, August 6, 300,000 people participated, roughly one out of every 22 Israelis. If one out of 22 Americans were to participate in a demonstration, it would require room for roughly 14 million people.

In Spain, the tent camps of protestors have been standing for months, with no solution in sight. The Occupy Wall Street movement followed suit starting in New York, then quickly spreading like wildfire around North America, and soon enough, around the whole world. In the UK, violent riots erupted that seem to baffle Prime Minister David Cameron, who was caught off guard vacationing in Italy. In Greece, riots have become the expected response to every austerity measure put forth, as Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos stated in Parliament that “what the country is experiencing is not the worst stage of the crisis. It is an anguished and necessary effort to avoid the ultimate, deepest and harshest level of the crisis. The difference between a difficult situation and a catastrophe is immense.” Even Chile is on the protest-map with violent student demonstrations. According to a CNN report, “More than 60,000 demonstrators protested in Santiago.”

Yemen, Libya, and many other countries are either on the list of countries where unrest has erupted, or are about to join it.

When you analyze the crises in each country, it is easy to see that social, economical, and political injustice are at the bottom of all of them. Yet, these wrongs are nothing new. They have been plaguing the history of humankind for thousands of years. So why is everyone protesting specifically now, and why is everyone protesting simultaneously?

The answers lie in the structure and evolution of human nature. As Jean M. Twenge and W. Keith Campbell beautifully illustrated in The Narcissism Epidemic: Living in the Age of Entitlement (Free Press, 2009), people today are not only narcissistic and self-centered, but are becoming more and more so at an alarming rate.

As narcissists, we put ourselves in the center, and “grade” everyone else according to the benefit they may bring us. This is how we connect to the world, through the spectacles of self-entitlement. However, this is precisely how we must not function if we are to succeed in an era of globalization, when the world is interconnected and interdependent. To succeed, we must want to benefit those to whom we are connected just as much as we wish to benefit ourselves. If we are connected and dependent on each other, then if they are happy, so will I be. And if they are unhappy, neither will I be happy, as demonstrated by Nicholas A. Christakis, MD, PhD, and James H. Fowler, PhD, in Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives – How Your Friends’ Friends’ Friends Affect Everything You Feel, Think, and Do.

The solution, therefore, lies in shifting our viewpoints from self-entitlement to social-entitlement, putting the society first, and our egos next, in order to eventually benefit ourselves.

In practical terms, this solution entails three goals:

Guaranteeing the necessary provision to every member of society.
Guaranteeing the continuation of that mindset by inculcating prosocial values using mass media and the internet, and primarily the social networks.
Using our prosocial work for self-enhancement in order to fully realize the potential that lies within each of us.

To achieve goal 1, an international panel of statespersons, economists, and sociologists, in which there are representatives from all the nations, must be set up and devise a plan for establishing a just and sustainable economy. Note that the term “just” does not refer to equal distribution of funds or resources (natural or human). Rather, a just economy is one where no person on earth is left uncared for. Thus, a starving child in Kenya may not need the latest model of iPhone, but it is undoubtedly entitled to proper nourishment, a roof over the head, proper education, and proper healthcare.

Conversely, a child of a similar age in Norway may already have the latest model of iPhone, but still feel miserable to the point of taking his or her own life, or worse yet, that of others, as recent events in that country have shown us. The distress in the two cases is very different, but just as acute, and both must be addressed by the panel, keeping in mind that, as Paul Krugman, the 2008 Nobel Prize laureate in economy and The New York Times columnist said, “We are all in the same boat.”

Achieving goal 2 requires a shift of mindset. Since the media determines the public agenda, it is the media that must lead the way to annihilation of self-centeredness. Instead of the current “Me, me, me,” attitude it has been cultivating for the past several decades, the new mottos should be “We, we, we,” “mutual guarantee,” and “one for all and all for one.” If the media explains about the benefits of mutual guarantee, and the harm in the narcissistic approach, we will naturally gravitate toward sharing and caring, rather than toward suspecting and isolating ourselves. If commercials and infomercials show veneration toward giving individuals then we will all begin to want to give, just as today when the media shows reverence to the rich and powerful, we want to be rich and powerful, as well.

Such a prosocial mindset will guarantee that our society remains just and compassionate toward all people and at the same time that all the people willingly contribute to that society. Additionally, many of today’s regulating and restraining agencies, such as the police, the army, and financial regulators will either become obsolete or require a fraction of the resources and human power that they require today. Thus, all those financial and human resources will be directed toward improving our daily lives, rather than merely keeping them relatively safe, with diminishing success.

In such an encouraging and prosocial atmosphere, goal 3, “Using our prosocial work for self-enhancement,” will be a natural offshoot. Society will encourage, strive, and make efforts to guarantee that each of us realizes his or her personal potential to the maximum, because when that potential is used for the common good, it is in society’s interest that we realize it to the fullest. Moreover, liberated from the need to protect ourselves from a hostile environment, a treasure trove of new energies will lend themselves to our self-realization. The result will be eradication of depression and all its related ills, and a dramatic improvement in our satisfaction from life.

After a few months of living in a society oriented mindset, we will not understand how we could ever think that self-interest was a good idea. The evident success and happiness of such a society will yield ever growing motivation to promote and strengthen it, thus creating a perpetual motion in favor of society, and at the same time, in favor of each of its members, without neglecting a single one of them.

In our globalized reality, only a structure that deems the happiness and well-being of all the people in the world equally important can prove sustainable and successful.

The Road to Social Justice

The Road to Social Justice

Throughout the world, nations and peoples are awakening. They are demanding of their governments to listen to their cries, recognize their pains, and resolve their problems. The uproar is not only over austerity measures and the costs of food and housing. At the bottom of it stands a firm demand for social justice.

Yet, social justice is an elusive goal. With so many sections of society affected by inflation, unemployment, and lack of education, one person’s justice might very well entail another person’s injustice. In the current structure of society, it seems that whatever solution is reached, it will only perpetuate, if not exacerbate the injustice, causing widespread disillusionment, which could lead to more violence, and even war.

Therefore, the solution to the demand for social justice must include all factions of society, none excluded. The 2011 “Spring of the Nations” proves that the world has changed from the root. Humanity has become a single global entity, and as such, requires that we acknowledge every part of it—nations and individuals—as worthy in their own right. Nations no longer tolerate occupation, and people no longer tolerate oppression. Compare humanity to a human body containing numerous organs of different functionalities. Yet, no organ is redundant. Every organ both contributes what it should to the body, and receives what it needs.

Likewise, the approach toward a solution for the unrests in all the countries must be one that includes all parts of society. The keywords to all negotiations involving government officials and protesters should be “thoughtful deliberation.” The negotiations should be based on the premise that all parties’ demands have merit and should be addressed respectfully, and yet, because so many parties have just demands, the parties must take the other parties’ demands into account, as well.

In such deliberations, there are no “good guys” or “bad guys.” There are people with genuine interests, sharing their problems with one another and trying to reach an acceptable, dignified solution for all sides.

Think of a large and loving family. Everyone in the family has his or her needs: grandpa needs his pills, dad needs a new suit for the new job he got, mom needs her gym membership, and the big brother has just been accepted into a prestigious, high-priced college. So the family gets together for a family meeting, a bit like going out to the Taverna but without the ouzo. They talk about their incomes, argue about priorities, share their needs, squabble a bit, and laugh a lot. And in the end, they know what’s necessary, what’s not, who will get what he or she needs now, and who will get it later. But since they are all connected, a family, they agree to wait because after all, they’re family.

In many respects, globalization and growing interdependence have turned humanity into one giant-size family. Now we just need to learn to work as such. If we think about it, a big family is always safer than being alone, if it only truly acts like a healthy, loving family.

Also, we must keep in mind that in almost all the countries, governments are struggling with mounting deficits and debt, and there is not enough resources to go around, but there are certainly enough resources to allow for respectable living for all, if only we acknowledge each other’s needs. Therefore, the “big family” is the best way to ensure that social justice is eventually achieved.

Granted, not all demands can be met at once. But if we discuss our needs openly, and join forces working toward resolving all the problems, we will be able to decide which problems are the most urgent, and which can be addressed subsequently. Just as in a family, the idea is not to break down the system, but to adjust it, tune it into catering to people’s needs rather than catering to the wants of various pressure groups.

King Arthur had a round table, around which he and his knights would congregate. As its name suggests, the table had no head, implying that everyone who sat there was of equal status. Similarly, governments and citizens need to understand that there is no way to resolve the social problems unless by discussing everyone’s problems while seated together at a round table (metaphorically if not physically). We must remember that we are all mutually responsible for one another and that we’re interdependent, like in a family. The problems that seem to tackle us around each corner are not the causes, but the symptoms of our real problem—lack of solidarity, and mutual responsibility for one another. Therefore, it is of utmost importance that we resolve them specifically in this way—the round table—and by resolving these problems one at a time we will gradually build a society that is governed by mutual guarantee. Indeed, the mindset of mutual guarantee is the real reason why nature is presenting us with these problems. And once we achieve mutual guarantee among us, they will be gone like the wind.

document translation

Of all translation services, one of the most basic – if not basic – is document translation. If you needed to translate a document from English to Spanish a decade or two ageo, you would locate a person reasonably skilled in both languages and have them perform the translation. If your chosen translator was fairly competent, this method worked prtty well. However, back at that time, your business future rarely depended on the quality of the translation in the way it does today. The global marketplace created by the Internet has also increased competition for each market share, making every aspect of a company's work more competitive and more complex.

Even if the document you need to have translated appears simple, you must ensure that the translation is performed by a qualified professional. Machine translation services are easily available and extremely easy to perform – in fact, not much more complicated than just copying and pasting a document – in fact, Google has its own machine translation feature. But these features do not really work. The results are often barely legible – not something that would be acceptable in a business communication. If you are translating a business document from English to a language you are not fluent in, can you afford to trust results generated by a machine?

A business owner should resist the siren call of the machine translation, because the savings offered it are not real savings - this method of document translation ultimately costs more than it saves. The fact of the matter is that document translation is not just a matter of swapping out words. Professional translators translate meaning, which is not the same thing as just mechanically replacing words. In fact, quality translation can only be performed by human beings. Without the human factor, meaning is lost, and communication becomes impossibleIneffective communication can, in turn, result in lost opportunities.

The English language is full of words and phrases that mean almost, but not quite, the same thing; other languages are similar. This, and the cultural factors that must always be taken into account, makes document translation a complex process that should only be carried out by trained professionals. In communication, the key thing is meaning – and meaning can only be determined and conveyed effectively in other languages by people - people who have the knowledge and training necssary to get the job done.

Company Profile Translation

A company profile is a document that provides al the details about the company. It is typically used as part of the company’s marketing plans and serves to enhance its customer perception and branding. Items contained in a company profile typically include: the company’s name and address, its mission, vision and/or philosophy, its history, milestones and/or major achievements, the main services or products it offers, the names and positions of its key personnel, and testimonies of its past and current clients. A company profile may also contain the company’s business plan, audit report, awards and credentials, community involvement, welfare activities, etc.

A company’s profile explains what makes the company unique and why a client would like to purchase its services or products. It is typically written in a language that is eye-catching and free of jargon, however highly specialized the company may be. Because of its promotional nature, a company profile should be translated by a professional translator who has sufficient knowledge in fields related to the company’s sector. Experience in advertising is also desirable. The translation should be clear, precise and free of error, and its writing style should be as fluent and attractive as that in the original.