American bipartisan politics can be saved -- here's how | Bob Inglis

45,046 views ・ 2018-02-09

TED


Please double-click on the English subtitles below to play the video.

00:12
Imagine that you're a member of Congress.
0
12989
2761
00:16
You've worked very hard.
1
16670
1645
00:19
You've knocked on thousands of doors,
2
19114
3074
00:22
sweating and shivering, depending on the season.
3
22212
3013
00:25
You've made hundreds,
4
25874
1174
00:27
maybe thousands of phone calls to people you don't even know
5
27072
4596
00:31
asking for their support,
6
31692
2148
00:33
begging for their money.
7
33864
1295
00:36
And now you've got one of these.
8
36417
1638
00:38
It's hanging on a door in Washington, DC.
9
38564
2251
00:41
It says you're a member of Congress,
10
41398
2071
00:43
that you represent the people of your state.
11
43493
2216
00:47
Now, imagine you're a conservative member of Congress.
12
47052
5285
00:53
For some of you here in Boston, Massachusetts,
13
53346
2207
00:55
that's going to take a powerful imagination, all right?
14
55577
2581
00:58
(Laughter)
15
58182
1056
00:59
But imagine with me
16
59262
2770
01:02
that you're a conservative member of Congress.
17
62056
3138
01:05
You grew up on Milton Friedman.
18
65640
1782
01:08
You love his free markets,
19
68093
1782
01:09
free enterprise and free trade.
20
69899
2256
01:12
You've watched Ronald Reagan's farewell address over and over,
21
72686
5527
01:18
and you cry every time --
22
78237
2290
01:20
(Laughter)
23
80551
1121
01:21
he gets to the part about the shining city on the hill,
24
81696
3987
01:25
and how if the city had to have walls,
25
85707
2977
01:28
the walls had doors --
26
88708
2182
01:30
doors to let in those yearning to breathe free.
27
90914
3497
01:35
You get goosebumps when you think of him telling Mr. Gorbachev
28
95525
4717
01:40
to tear down his wall.
29
100266
2380
01:43
You're a conservative member of Congress,
30
103924
2790
01:46
and you agree with President John F. Kennedy
31
106738
2918
01:49
that America is an exceptional place.
32
109680
2582
01:53
For inspiration,
33
113287
1628
01:54
you go to YouTube and you watch his speech at Rice University,
34
114939
4121
01:59
September of 1962,
35
119084
2469
02:01
the "moon shot" speech.
36
121577
1425
02:03
And you're amazed that he admits in that speech --
37
123896
4143
02:08
a speech of 17 minutes of pure American exceptionalism --
38
128063
4230
02:13
that some of the materials needed for the spacecraft
39
133870
3572
02:17
hadn't been invented yet.
40
137466
1573
02:19
No matter.
41
139786
1298
02:21
We're going to the Moon before the decade is out.
42
141108
2565
02:24
You agree with him
43
144986
2242
02:27
that the vows of this nation can be fulfilled
44
147252
3270
02:30
only if we in this nation are first
45
150546
3204
02:33
and therefore we intend to be first.
46
153774
3428
02:37
You've taken as your own the affect that he so embodied:
47
157874
4396
02:43
that when leaders are optimistic,
48
163384
2907
02:46
they're saying they believe in the people they represent.
49
166315
4005
02:51
You're a conservative member of Congress,
50
171142
3470
02:54
and you believe in the precautionary principle.
51
174636
2634
02:58
You believe in data-driven analysis.
52
178084
2682
03:01
You know that climate change is real and human-caused,
53
181433
4071
03:05
and you see in climate change
54
185528
3017
03:08
a silent and slow-moving Sputnik moment.
55
188569
4523
03:14
One that calls for the greatness of your nation
56
194228
2914
03:17
as much as the original Sputnik moment.
57
197166
3275
03:21
You are a conservative member of Congress.
58
201131
2691
03:25
You high-five the memory of Jack Kemp,
59
205101
3822
03:28
and believe with him
60
208947
2067
03:31
that the test of conservatism is that it works for everyone,
61
211038
3790
03:34
regardless of skin color.
62
214852
1616
03:37
You're appalled by the alt-right.
63
217424
2461
03:41
You want them to have nothing to do with your brand, your party, your legacy.
64
221094
6042
03:47
You utterly reject them.
65
227160
2030
03:50
You --
66
230271
1150
03:51
(Applause)
67
231445
5056
03:56
You're a conservative member of Congress.
68
236525
1991
03:58
You rise with compassion to protect the lives of the unborn,
69
238540
3706
04:02
but otherwise you think the bedroom of consenting adults
70
242270
4032
04:06
is a rather strange place for the government to be.
71
246326
2820
04:09
You are a conservative member of Congress.
72
249677
3616
04:15
With John Adams,
73
255115
2962
04:18
you fear the mob.
74
258101
1394
04:20
Because you know, as he knew,
75
260520
1914
04:22
that a mob is not able to protect liberty,
76
262458
2001
04:24
not even its own.
77
264483
1299
04:26
And you're amazed at the wisdom that he and other framers had
78
266195
4263
04:30
in establishing a slow, deliberative governing process --
79
270482
4553
04:35
an inherently conservative governing process.
80
275059
3368
04:38
It would serve a country.
81
278955
1473
04:40
It would grow far greater than they could ever imagine.
82
280452
4059
04:45
You are a conservative member of Congress.
83
285058
3056
04:49
You fear the fire of populist nationalism,
84
289388
6014
04:55
because you know that those who play with fire
85
295426
2715
04:58
can't control it.
86
298165
1347
05:00
You see their pitchforks and torches,
87
300345
2056
05:02
and you know they're not good building tools.
88
302425
3464
05:06
The pitchforks and torches can tear down and burn up but they can't build up.
89
306745
5104
05:12
They can't build up the institutions and the communities
90
312417
4035
05:16
so necessary to a stable and prosperous country.
91
316476
4842
05:22
You're a conservative member of Congress,
92
322496
3149
05:25
and you fear the next county party convention.
93
325669
4801
05:31
You so wish for your party to be the grand opportunity party,
94
331692
4445
05:36
not the grumpy old party.
95
336161
2079
05:38
(Laughter)
96
338264
1380
05:40
You know that they want to hear from you some old saw
97
340253
5556
05:45
about how a secret Muslim, non-American socialist took over in the White House
98
345833
3921
05:49
and destroyed the country,
99
349778
1484
05:51
and you know that none of that's true.
100
351286
2312
05:54
(Applause)
101
354135
5639
05:59
You know that they want to hear you say that you're OK with insults,
102
359798
6701
06:06
OK with "lock her up" chants
103
366523
3802
06:10
and OK with policy pronouncements
104
370349
3495
06:13
with all the sincerity and thoughtfulness that 140 characters can muster.
105
373868
4548
06:18
You are a conservative member of Congress.
106
378440
4158
06:22
You realize that many in your party look to some good old days
107
382968
5342
06:28
that you know never existed.
108
388334
1788
06:31
They hold on, for example,
109
391102
2135
06:33
to the fossils that fueled the last century of growth,
110
393261
4006
06:37
but you know that better, cleaner more abundant fuels await us,
111
397291
5542
06:42
and you know that that abundance can lead the world to more energy,
112
402857
5334
06:48
more mobility
113
408215
1595
06:49
and more freedom.
114
409834
1280
06:51
You're a conservative member of Congress.
115
411814
2612
06:55
You realize that many in your party pine for the '50s and the '60s
116
415169
5694
07:00
because those were, after all, the good old days.
117
420887
2512
07:04
But you know that the Cuyahoga River was on fire back then.
118
424635
3591
07:09
You know that in Pittsburgh,
119
429499
1723
07:11
street lights came on at noon because of the soot in the air.
120
431246
4262
07:16
The schools were segregated,
121
436271
1370
07:17
neighborhoods redlined,
122
437665
1620
07:19
that communism threatened freedom,
123
439309
1787
07:21
and if you got cancer, you weren't likely to fight for long.
124
441120
3374
07:25
You're a conservative member of Congress
125
445699
3250
07:28
and you want to sound like JFK at Rice,
126
448973
4973
07:33
where JFK said, "It's understandable
127
453970
4324
07:38
why some would have us stay where we are
128
458318
2577
07:40
a little bit longer,
129
460919
1436
07:42
to wait and to rest."
130
462379
1992
07:45
But everything within you says with him,
131
465615
3347
07:48
this city of Houston,
132
468986
1688
07:50
this state of Texas,
133
470698
1615
07:52
this country of the United States was not built by those who waited
134
472337
5549
07:57
and rested and wished to look behind them.
135
477910
2877
08:00
You are ready to lead.
136
480811
1808
08:03
You are ready to prove the power of free enterprise
137
483012
4064
08:07
to solve challenges like climate change.
138
487100
3326
08:10
You are ready to lead.
139
490450
1719
08:13
So I've got a suggestion for you then:
140
493931
3046
08:17
lead ...
141
497001
1150
08:18
now.
142
498638
1269
08:19
Step out,
143
499931
1675
08:21
step up.
144
501630
1206
08:23
You know, we ask America's best
145
503850
4135
08:28
to die on literal hills
146
508009
3056
08:31
in places like Iraq and Afghanistan.
147
511089
2520
08:34
Is it too much to ask you to die a figurative death
148
514003
6128
08:40
on a political hill in Washington, DC?
149
520155
2765
08:44
You know, at the end of your time in Washington,
150
524318
3287
08:47
they're going to take this plaque off the door.
151
527629
2291
08:50
They're going to hand it to you;
152
530540
1928
08:52
you're going to go home with it.
153
532492
1726
08:54
Can you imagine the emptiness of knowing that you stood for nothing,
154
534875
5572
09:00
that you risk nothing,
155
540471
2565
09:03
that all you did was follow fearful people to where they were already going
156
543060
4465
09:07
rather than trying to lead them to a better place?
157
547549
3472
09:11
If you're not willing to lose your seat in Congress,
158
551636
3802
09:15
there's really very little reason to be there.
159
555462
2551
09:18
(Applause)
160
558413
7000
09:28
So here's the thing:
161
568370
1874
09:30
it's not too late.
162
570268
1915
09:33
There's still time to lead.
163
573006
2903
09:36
Speak out,
164
576950
1160
09:38
speak up,
165
578134
1405
09:39
call lunacy what it is:
166
579563
2685
09:42
lunacy.
167
582272
1160
09:44
Tell the American people that we still have moon shots in us.
168
584418
4804
09:50
Tell the folks at the county party convention,
169
590098
2670
09:52
"You bet free enterprise can solve climate change."
170
592792
3012
09:55
Tell them that Milton Friedman would say to tax pollution
171
595828
5900
10:01
rather than profits.
172
601752
1613
10:03
Tell them that it's OK --
173
603940
2692
10:06
no, it's a good thing
174
606656
2401
10:09
that progressives would agree.
175
609081
1973
10:11
Tell them the very good news that we can bring America together
176
611942
5796
10:17
to solve these challenges and to lead the world.
177
617762
3381
10:22
Tell them that free enterprise can do these things.
178
622225
4387
10:26
Tell them that America must stop the dividing,
179
626636
4770
10:31
and must start the uniting.
180
631430
1727
10:34
Tell them.
181
634143
1266
10:36
Play your part before it's too late.
182
636049
3452
10:40
(Applause)
183
640906
1150
10:42
Thank you very much.
184
642080
1151
10:43
(Applause)
185
643255
3689
About this website

This site will introduce you to YouTube videos that are useful for learning English. You will see English lessons taught by top-notch teachers from around the world. Double-click on the English subtitles displayed on each video page to play the video from there. The subtitles scroll in sync with the video playback. If you have any comments or requests, please contact us using this contact form.

https://forms.gle/WvT1wiN1qDtmnspy7