{"id":130993,"date":"2012-05-26T10:59:29","date_gmt":"2012-05-26T14:59:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/?p=130993"},"modified":"2012-12-26T16:04:08","modified_gmt":"2012-12-26T21:04:08","slug":"ted-censorship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/05\/26\/ted-censorship\/","title":{"rendered":"In America, Only Some Ideas Are Worth Spreading"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Article:<\/strong> In America, Only Some Ideas Are Worth Spreading<\/a> by Savannah Cox in The Speckled Axe.<\/p>\n

The Text:<\/strong> What would you do if an incredibly successful venture capitalist had the audacity to tell you that\u2013despite his extended residency at the top of the US totem pole of wealth and the conventional \u201cwisdom\u201d that surrounds Reagan-initiated \u201ctrickle down\u201d economic thought\u2013the wealthy don\u2019t actually create jobs and they need to be taxed more, not only for their own well-being but for that of the middle class and the poor? Furthermore, what if he presented his reasoning (the same kind of off-the-wall, game changing revelations that would get you shunned or scorched by presiding authorities in centuries past) with relevant examples, facts and figures to elucidate his point to a broader audience capable of turning one man\u2019s speech into tangible, national changes?<\/p>\n

Given the alarming truth that the American wealth gap is on its way to rivaling the Mississippi River in both width and divisive power, you might think that this would be an idea definitely worth spreading\u2013especially by an organization whose mission is just that. You might also think that this idea, grounded in experience and concern for the welfare of Americans across the board, would transcend the increasingly prickly lines of political ideologies that unfortunately define our time.<\/p>\n

You would, however, be wrong. Moreover, you\u2019d never really know how you\u2019d respond to such an idea because it\u2019s been censored for being \u201ctoo political\u201d and partisan for a public already suffering through the familiar derisiveness and vitriol abundant in presidential election seasons. In this case, the venture capitalist in question is Nick Hanauer, the first non-family investor in Amazon.com and the censoring organization at hand is TED, the geek chic franchise known throughout Internet and international communities for spreading innovative and often contentious ideas to the public via \u201cTED talks.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Back in March, TED curator Chris Anderson approved Hanauer\u2019s topic, economic and income inequality, to be delivered and recorded for TED audiences around the world. Yet upon reviewing the speech in April Anderson became much more apprehensive about its appropriateness for release. In one e-mail to his other colleagues, Anderson stated that Hanauer\u2019s discussion \u201cprobably ranks as one of the most politically controversial talks we\u2019ve ever run, and we need to be really careful when we post it.\u201d And a few weeks later, TED pulled the plug on airing one business man\u2019s so-called controversial assessment of contemporary economic policies currently contributing to the exorbitant wealth acquisition of the few at the expense of the many.<\/p>\n

While we might not ever be able to witness Hanauer\u2019s delivery on YouTube, the text has surfaced on the National Journal and is now available to the public. The saddest part, though, is that his thoughts aren\u2019t even that startling, especially within the context of today\u2019s rather macabre socioeconomic backdrop. In an epoch where United States leaders raise monolithic corporations and their pinstriped profiteers to quasi-Godlike statuses, speaking plainly and honestly about the ills of a system that consistently favors a small, \u00fcber-wealthy elite is almost considered blasphemous\u2013and worse, it is something that apparently warrants censorship.<\/p>\n

Beyond saying what everyone already (or should already) know\u2013that the income share of the richest Americans has nearly tripled and their taxes have declined almost 50% since 1980\u2013some of Hanauer\u2019s other seemingly sacrilegious statements included the following:<\/p>\n

\u201cI have started or helped to start, dozens of businesses and initially hired lot of people. But if no one could have afforded to buy what we had to sell, my business would have failed and all those jobs would have evaporated\u2026<\/p>\n

Rich businesspeople like me don\u2019t 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\u2019s why taxing the rich to pay for investments that benefit all is a great deal for both the middle class and the rich.\u201d<\/p>\n

Granted, as a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization, TED officials are perfectly entitled to release or abstain from releasing talks as they see fit, and it is true that these ideas and concerns are markedly more prominent in one political party (and by \u201cmarkedly more prominent\u201d I mean that they merely exist) than the other. Just this afternoon, Anderson released a statement refuting Hanauer\u2019s claims of censorship.<\/p>\n

However, none of what Hanauer said is any more controversial than issues raised in TED talks years past. What\u2019s more, as it serves as the marrow of an economic foundation designed for growth, prosperity, and sustainment, the disintegration of the American middle class (which is now becoming as scarce as ice in the North Pole) is an issue that doesn\u2019t affect only the 99%, the 1%, the liberal \u201celitist\u201d Americans, fire-blooded conservatives or even the Paul Bot \u00fcbermenschen. Its demise impacts everyone. That alone should transcend ideological divisions sliced deep into our national soil, but it doesn\u2019t. Today, candidness and criticism of institutions don\u2019t breed discussion, they breed silence. And in a nation founded on the dissent of a few, there are few things more dangerous than that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Article: In America, Only Some Ideas Are Worth Spreading by Savannah Cox in The Speckled Axe. The Text: What would you do if an incredibly successful venture capitalist had the audacity to tell you that\u2013despite his extended residency at the top of the US totem pole of wealth and the conventional \u201cwisdom\u201d that surrounds […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[259],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nIn America, Only Some Ideas Are Worth Spreading<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"One businessman\u2019s attempt to vocally criticize the economic status quo in America is silenced.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.prosebeforehos.com\/article-of-the-day\/05\/26\/ted-censorship\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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