Naomi Klein: Addicted to risk

http://www.ted.com Days before this talk, journalist Naomi Klein was on a boat in the Gulf of Mexico, looking at the catastrophic results of BP's risky pursuit of oil. Our societies have become addicted to extreme risk in finding new energy, new financial instruments and more ... and too often, we're left to clean up a mess afterward. Klein's question: What's the backup plan?

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate.

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[Oblentehands]

Wonderful speech - I am glad Naomi Klein is in the world.

Thanks for sharing!

[OmegaWyrm]

The comments on this talk are absolutely horrifyingly ironic. The talk is a serious warning about how we can't see past our desires and egos when it comes to resource consumption, which she relates to a cultural zeitgeist of infinite possibilities as a traditionally male narrative. Commenters respond by calling her sexist. Bravo Youtube community, way to prove her damn point.

Get over yourselves.

[dizzitoast]

@bentothetenthpower Brilliantly put!

[edgarmaan]

Reality is a hard sell. She can do it.

[rockyqw12]

@synthektik I might also add that she is one fine lady and I'd gladly part with an year's salary, just to get a whiff of her cornhole and bury my tongue deep in her squeaky clean turdcutter.

[bentothetenthpower]

@bentothetenthpower To define this as a gender issue shows an fundamental misunderstanding of corporate culture.

The truth is that corporate law defines the main goal as profit, and insulates the owners/operators of the corporation from responsibility.

This is the main reason for the adventurism that she blames on "men". No amount of having ovaries allows you to ignore corporate governance, and one's penile status does not make corporate law magically rapacious.

Sexism is a moral failure

Ben

[bentothetenthpower]

@victorhm21

So, you think that a series of veiled accusations blaming men for the world's problems is a pretty good explanation?

The reason that I claim to a greater level of credibility than this woman, is that she still sees physical gender as a major defining factor in who you are, and will be.

In reality, we all choose our own traits through day to day decision making, when risk taking traits are rewarded less, and cautious one are rewarded more, the cautious ones will prevail.

[victorhm21]

@bentothetenthpower If you have more philosophical credibility, prove it. So far, the only thing you've shown is that you can criticize someone without making a point, and that doesn't give you any credibility, at all. Not a great speaker? Maybe. Personally, I think she is explaining his message very well to a pretty big audience while you're bitching at a youtube video

[synthektik]

she is making a very important point.

[bentothetenthpower]

@NiveditaVidula This woman is not a great thinker. Or speaker. Or person. I have known baristas with more philosophical credibility than this fool. Hell, I have more philosophical credibility than she does, and I am a fucking salesman.