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TED wimps out on income inequality
Posted by: RgrF
Date: May 16, 2012 11:43PM
Quote
You can’t find that speech online. TED officials told Hanauer initially they were eager to distribute it. “I want to put this talk out into the world!” one of them wrote him in an e-mail in late April. But early this month they changed course, telling Hanauer that his remarks were too “political” and too controversial for posting.

Other TED talks posted online veer sharply into controversial and political territory, including NASA scientist James Hansen comparing climate change to an asteroid barreling toward Earth, and philanthropist Melinda Gates pushing for more access to contraception in the developing world.

TED curator Chris Anderson referenced the Gates talk in an e-mail to colleagues in early April, which was also sent to Hanauer, suggesting that he didn't want to release Hanauer’s talk at the same time as the one on contraception.

Hanauer’s talk “probably ranks as one of the most politically controversial talks we've ever run, and we need to be really careful when” to post it, Anderson wrote on April 6. “Next week ain't right. Confidentially, we already have Melinda Gates on contraception going out. Sorry for the mixed messages on this.”

In early May Anderson followed up with Hanauer to inform him he’d decided not to post his talk.

the article
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Re: TED wimps out on income inequality
Posted by: davester
Date: May 17, 2012 12:02AM
TED doesn't publish a lot of talks at their seminars. You are assuming an awful lot by uncritically accepting this opinion article's conclusion as to why the talk was not published. Unless you come up with some firmer evidence, I'd say that your thread title is bogus.



"So be proud to be a decent American instead of just a w'anker whipping up fear!" - Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland
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Re: TED wimps out on income inequality
Posted by: RgrF
Date: May 17, 2012 12:28AM
Maybe before leaping into the void and defending the decision, you might look into the circumstances surrounding their apparent about-face and report back?
Quote
You can’t find that speech online. TED officials told Hanauer initially they were eager to distribute it. “I want to put this talk out into the world!” one of them wrote him in an e-mail in late April. But early this month they changed course, telling Hanauer that his remarks were too “political” and too controversial for posting.
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Re: TED wimps out on income inequality
Posted by: davester
Date: May 17, 2012 01:08AM
Read the opinion column before posting. It does not come off as being objective.



"So be proud to be a decent American instead of just a w'anker whipping up fear!" - Michael D. Higgins, President of Ireland
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Re: TED wimps out on income inequality
Posted by: Filliam H. Muffman
Date: May 17, 2012 05:50AM
I agree with Nick Hanauer that it is the middle class that drives much of the economy. There are multiple levels of problems with fixing things because layers of people got "rich" exploiting the system and they do not want to give up what got them where they are.

Hope this makes some sense, short insomnial rant. The cost of college is just one part of the problem. Student loans have become a massive burden because colleges encouraged people to get loans and it allowed colleges to pass on health care like inflation. Some Republicans were complaining that keeping interest rates allows colleges to charge usury tuition fees. It puts money in the pockets of liberal/progressive educators? I just wonder how much of their campaign financing comes from this sector (like Gingrich getting money from Freddie while criticizing it).

It is the same situation with medical school and medical insurance companies and the good ones have lobbyists that pay to keep things the way they are. It is almost like there is a Vulture Capitalism industry that built up to suck money out of parts of the economy before people realize what has happened. It has been hurting the middle class more and more since about 1980.

Anybody find it ironic that Jamie Dimon was criticizing legislation that might have prevented his company from losing 2 billion?


in tha 510.
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Re: TED wimps out on income inequality
Posted by: Mac-A-Matic
Date: May 17, 2012 07:32AM
All I know is that in Maryland, our Glorious Leader has deemed $100K/yr as the cutoff point for the "rich".

Not to mention the myriad of fees that continually increase, along with dwindling services.
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Re: TED wimps out on income inequality
Posted by: rjmacs
Date: May 17, 2012 07:51AM
Quote
Mac-A-Matic
All I know is that in Maryland, our Glorious Leader has deemed $100K/yr as the cutoff point for the "rich".

Not to mention the myriad of fees that continually increase, along with dwindling services.

That cutoff (for single people, it's higher for couples/families) does not designate the 'rich,' it designates 'those who can afford to pay more.' The alternative was draconian cuts to public services that the citizens of Maryland had made clear to their elected reps they did not want. The economy in Maryland is good, the schools are great, the taxes are high, and - for the record - the state tried a Republican governor recently, and it didn't work out. Nobody loves higher taxes, but i'm curious where you'd have made severe cuts or otherwise found the revenue to keep the state running?


rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future
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Re: TED wimps out on income inequality
Posted by: Surfrider
Date: May 17, 2012 08:45AM
"That cutoff (for single people, it's higher for couples/families) does not designate the 'rich,' it designates 'those who can afford to pay more.' The alternative was draconian cuts to public services that the citizens of Maryland had made clear to their elected reps they did not want. The economy in Maryland is good, the schools are great, the taxes are high, and - for the record - the state tried a Republican governor recently, and it didn't work out. Nobody loves higher taxes, but i'm curious where you'd have made severe cuts or otherwise found the revenue to keep the state running?"

Down here on the Eastern Shore, we're getting screwed by the state. No pay raises for teachers for 4 years etc. We have the best schools in the state but unless the legislature comes around to the fact that the rich-fascists-with-their-kids-in-private-schools are controlling the education budget, we won't stay on top.

Mark Twain said, you can build schools, or prisons, choose one.
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Re: TED wimps out on income inequality
Posted by: rjmacs
Date: May 17, 2012 09:05AM
Quote
Surfrider
Down here on the Eastern Shore, we're getting screwed by the state. No pay raises for teachers for 4 years etc. We have the best schools in the state but unless the legislature comes around to the fact that the rich-fascists-with-their-kids-in-private-schools are controlling the education budget, we won't stay on top.

Who are the rich-fascists-with-their-kids-in-private-schools? (Also - you know that's not what fascism is, right?) Do you mean your local county/district officials? Or do you mean that the state should have raised taxes even more to increase the education budget (instead of just avoiding cuts)?


rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future
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Re: TED wimps out on income inequality
Posted by: Spock
Date: May 17, 2012 01:46PM
This is the finale of venture capitalist Nick Hanauer's talk at TED, the ful text can be found here.

We've had it backward for the last 30 years. Rich businesspeople like me don't create jobs. Rather they are a consequence of an eco-systemic feedback loop animated by middle-class consumers, and when they thrive, businesses grow and hire, and owners profit. That's why taxing the rich to pay for investments that benefit all is a great deal for both the middle class and the rich.

So here's an idea worth spreading.

In a capitalist economy, the true job creators are consumers, the middle class. And taxing the rich to make investments that grow the middle class, is the single smartest thing we can do for the middle class, the poor and the rich.

I find his argument compelling.





Comedy Central: Best news channel that isn't a news channel.

Fox News: Best comedy channel that isn't a comedy channel.
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Re: TED wimps out on income inequality
Posted by: RgrF
Date: May 18, 2012 01:51AM
TED responds:

Quote
At TED this year, an attendee pitched a 3-minute audience talk on inequality. The talk tapped into a really important and timely issue. But it framed the issue in a way that was explicitly partisan. And it included a number of arguments that were unconvincing, even to those of us who supported his overall stance. The audience at TED who heard it live (and who are often accused of being overly enthusiastic about left-leaning ideas) gave it, on average, mediocre ratings.

TED
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Re: TED wimps out on income inequality
Posted by: haikuman
Date: May 18, 2012 03:19AM
Quote
rjmacs
Quote
Surfrider
Down here on the Eastern Shore, we're getting screwed by the state. No pay raises for teachers for 4 years etc. We have the best schools in the state but unless the legislature comes around to the fact that the rich-fascists-with-their-kids-in-private-schools are controlling the education budget, we won't stay on top.

Who are the rich-fascists-with-their-kids-in-private-schools? (Also - you know that's not what fascism is, right?) Do you mean your local county/district officials? Or do you mean that the state should have raised taxes even more to increase the education budget (instead of just avoiding cuts)?

Maybe you are playing devils advocate rj ? Other wise you are living in a world of blindness.
You may need to get in touch with reality. Maybe spend a few weeks living with incomes of a different level. Staying with teachers that have had no raises for 4 years.

Maybe just remove your head from the sand. *(:>*


“Stay Hungry Stay Foolish"
"There are only two mantras yummm and yuk "
"There is a fine line between a rut and a groove"
"Politics is the art of looking for trouble, finding it everywhere, diagnosing it incorrectly
and applying the wrong remedies."Groucho Marx
"I got to that part and I knew there was going to be some weapons grade stupid to follow"Lux Interior
"When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted,
when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then
will you discover you cannot eat money."
~ Cree Prophecy




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/18/2012 03:20AM by haikuman.
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Re: TED wimps out on income inequality
Posted by: rjmacs
Date: May 18, 2012 06:44AM
Quote
haikuman
Quote
rjmacs
Quote
Surfrider
Down here on the Eastern Shore, we're getting screwed by the state. No pay raises for teachers for 4 years etc. We have the best schools in the state but unless the legislature comes around to the fact that the rich-fascists-with-their-kids-in-private-schools are controlling the education budget, we won't stay on top.

Who are the rich-fascists-with-their-kids-in-private-schools? (Also - you know that's not what fascism is, right?) Do you mean your local county/district officials? Or do you mean that the state should have raised taxes even more to increase the education budget (instead of just avoiding cuts)?

Maybe you are playing devils advocate rj ? Other wise you are living in a world of blindness.
You may need to get in touch with reality. Maybe spend a few weeks living with incomes of a different level. Staying with teachers that have had no raises for 4 years.

Maybe just remove your head from the sand. *(:>*

Hi, rudie! Actually, i wasn't trying to make a point one way or another about school funding (i'm totally cool with the tax hike, for the record - i'm an order of magnitude away from being eligible anyhow). I was mostly trying to get clearer on what Surfrider meant, because it just wasn't clear to me who was who in his comments, and i'm genuinely interested.

I mayhaps shouldn't have opened with a remark about the misuse of the term 'fascist.' But it's true - that really isn't what fascism is. I'm all for calling out greedy heartless capitalist pigs where they appear, but fascists are a different animal entirely. Putin might be considered a modern fascist, but a local school board or legislature member? Hrm....you'd have to convince me of that one.


rj
AKA
Vreemac, Moth of the Future
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