Two Sides of The War Coin
In a new feature on the TED Fellows blog I am trying out my own little TED Speaker programming. In an ideal world the following two talks would have been programmed back to back.
At TED2011 in Long Beach General Stanley McChrystal gave a talk about leadership focusing on 9/11 and the Afghan invasion. I was sitting a few feet behind him on the stage. Obviously a brave man of honour and an illustrious military career that runs in the family - father served in Vietnam - he gave a talk that got him a standing ovation.
http://www.ted.com/talks/stanley_mcchrystal.html
Now watch this second talk by Sam Richards. Identifying himself as "an iconoclast from Toledo, Ohio," and identified by David Horowitz as one of the "101 Most Dangerous Academics in America," Sam Richards is one of the most provocative, and popular, sociology teachers in the country. Every year 725 students at Penn State University take his course on race and ethnic relations, where he attacks, with humor and courage, questions most would choose to avoid.
http://www.ted.com/talks/sam_richards_a_radical_experiment_in_empathy.html
Some argue there's nothing radical about his ideas on empathy. Perhaps. What is radical is his choice of example to illustrate his idea of empathy.
Back in 2001, I made a documentary for the BBC in Afghanistan soon after the US/UK invasion. I wanted to know about the effects of the bombing on Afghan civilians. It was a sobering experience. Here are some short clips.
http://amiranifilms.com/work/current_affairs/the_dispossessed
Taghi Amirani
TED Senior Fellow 2010
