and that kept us away from the trap of using fossil fuels for electricity generation, 这也使我们避免陷入使用石油来发电的困局，

which is what the world is struggling with today. 而现在全世界都在这个泥潭中挣扎。

In the '70s we invested in national parks, 在70年代的时候，我们投资建立了国家公园，

and that kept us away from the deeply flawed logic of growth, growth, growth at any cost 而这也使我们避开了“不惜一切代价发展”这种大错特错的逻辑，

that you see others embracing, especially in the developing world. 但这个畸形的理念却被很多其它发展中国家所尊崇。

In the '90s, we pioneered payments for ecosystem services, 在90年代时，我们率先提出了为生态系统保护工作者支付报酬的政策，

and that helped us reverse deforestation and boosted ecotourism, which today is a key engine of growth. 而这帮助我们逆转了森林砍伐的后果，同时促进了生态旅游，而这也是我们今天经济发展的主要引擎。

So investing in environmental protection did not hurt our economy. Quite the opposite. 所以在环境保护方面的投资并没有妨碍我们的经济发展。反而起到了促进作用。

And it doesn't mean we are perfect, and it doesn't mean we don't have contradictions. 但这不代表我们是完美的，也不代表我们没有其他顾虑。

That's not the point. 这不是重点。

The point is that, by making our own choices, 重点是，因为做出了我们自己的决定，

we were able to develop resilience in dealing with development problems. 我们得以坚韧又不失灵活地处理发展过程中的各种问题。

Also, if you take a country like ours, 而且，用哥斯达黎加举例，

the GDP per capita is around 11,000 dollars, depending on how you measure it. 哥斯达黎加人均GDP差不多是11000美元，当然这在于你是怎么计算的。

But according to the Social Progress Index, 但根据社会进步指数的数据，

we are an absolute outlier when it comes to turning GDP into social progress. 将GDP转化为社会进步这一点上我们绝对是超群的。

Abolishing the army, investing in nature and people, did something very powerful, too. 废除军队，在保护自然环境和百姓康乐上投资这几点，都对哥斯达黎加的发展做出了不可磨灭的贡献。

It shaped the narrative, the narrative of a small country with big ideas, 这一切造就了我们的故事，那就是一个小国家也能有大想法，

and it was very empowering to grow up with that narrative. 而这个小国家也在跟随这段故事的脚步慢慢成长。