GralInt-TED Talks-Dave Meslin: The antidote to apathy

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Transcript:






How often do we hearthat people just don't care?How many times have you been toldthat real, substantial change isn't possiblebecause most people are too selfish,too stupid or too lazyto try to make a difference in their community?I propose to you today that apathy as we think we know itdoesn't actually exist,but rather, that people do care,but that we live in a worldthat actively discourages engagementby constantly putting obstacles and barriers in our way.

And I'll give you some examples of what I mean.Let's start with city hall.You ever see one of these before?This is a newspaper ad.It's a notice of a zoning application change for a new office buildingso the neighborhood knows what's happening.As you can see, it's impossible to read.You need to get halfway downto even find out which address they're talking about,and then farther down, in tiny 10-point font,to find out how to actually get involved.Imagine if the private sector advertised in the same way --if Nike wanted to sell a pair of shoesand put an ad in the paper like that.(Applause)Now that would never happen.You'll never see an ad like thatbecause Nike actually wants you to buy their shoes.Whereas the city of Torontoclearly doesn't want you involved with the planning process,otherwise their ads would look something like this --with all the information basically laid out clearly.As long as the city's putting out notices like thisto try to get people engaged,then of course people aren't going to be engaged.But that's not apathy;that's intentional exclusion.

Public space.(Applause)The manner in which we mistreat our public spacesis a huge obstacletowards any type of progressive political changebecause we've essentially put a price tag on freedom of expression.Whoever has the most money gets the loudest voice,dominating the visual and mental environment.The problem with this modelis that there are some amazing messages that need to be saidthat aren't profitable to say.So you're never going to see them on a billboard.

The media plays an important rolein developing our relationship with political change,mainly by ignoring politicsand focusing on celebrities and scandals,but even when they do talk about important political issues,they do it in a way that I feel discourages engagement.And I'll give you an example: the Now magazine from last week --progressive, downtown weekly in Toronto.This is the cover story.It's an article about a theater performance,and it starts with basic information about where it is,in case you actually want to go and see it after you've read the article --where, the time, the website.Same with this -- it's a movie review,an art review,a book review -- where the reading is in case you want to go.A restaurant -- you might not want to just read about it,maybe you want to go to the restaurant.So they tell you where it is, what the prices are,the address, the phone number, etc.

Then you get to their political articles.Here's a great article about an important election race that's happening.It talks about the candidates -- written very well --but no information, no follow-up,no websites for the campaigns,no information about when the debates are, where the campaign offices are.Here's another good articleabout a new campaign opposing privatization of transitwithout any contact information for the campaign.The message seems to bethat the readers are most likely to want to eat,maybe read a book, maybe see a movie, but not be engaged in their community.And you might think this is a small thing,but I think it's important because it sets a toneand it reinforces the dangerous ideathat politics is a spectator sport.

Heroes: How do we view leadership?Look at these 10 movies. What do they have in common?Anyone?They all have heroes who were chosen.Someone came up to them and said, "You're the chosen one.There's a prophesy. You have to save the world."And then someone goes off and saves the world because they've been told to,with a few people tagging along.This helps me understandwhy a lot of people have trouble seeing themselves as leadersbecause it sends all the wrong messages about what leadership is about.A heroic effort is a collective effort,number one.Number two, it's imperfect; it's not very glamorous,and it doesn't suddenly start and suddenly end.It's an ongoing process your whole life.But most importantly, it's voluntary.It's voluntary.As long as we're teaching our kidsthat heroism starts when someone scratches a mark on your forehead,or someone tells you that you're part of a prophecy,they're missing the most important characteristic of leadership,which is that it comes from within.It's about following your own dreams --uninvited, uninvited --and then working with others to make those dreams come true.

Political parties: oh boy.Political parties could and should beone of the basic entry pointsfor people to get engaged in politics.Instead, they've become, sadly,uninspiring and uncreative organizationsthat rely so heavily on market researchand polling and focus groupsthat they end up all saying the same thing,pretty much regurgitating back to us what we already want to hearat the expense of putting forward bold and creative ideas.And people can smell that, and it feeds cynicism.(Applause)

Charitable status:Groups who have charitable status in Canada aren't allowed to do advocacy.This is a huge problem and a huge obstacle to changebecause it means that some of the most passionate and informed voicesare completely silenced, especially during election time.Which leads us to the last one,which is our elections.

As you may have noticed, our elections in Canada are a complete joke.We use out-of-date systemsthat are unfair and create random results.Canada's currently led by a partythat most Canadians didn't actually want.How can we honestly and genuinely encourage more people to votewhen votes don't count in Canada?You add all this up togetherand of course people are apathetic.It's like trying to run into a brick wall.

Now I'm not trying to be negativeby throwing all these obstacles out and explaining what's in our way.Quite the opposite: I actually think people are amazing and smartand that they do care.But that, as I said, we live in this environmentwhere all these obstacles are being put in our way.As long as we believe that people, our own neighbors,are selfish, stupid or lazy,then there's no hope.But we can change all those things I mentioned.We can open up city hall.We can reform our electoral systems.We can democratize our public spaces.

My main message is,if we can redefine apathy,not as some kind of internal syndrome,but as a complex web of cultural barriersthat reinforces disengagement,and if we can clearly define, we can clearly identify,what those obstacles are,and then if we can work together collectively to dismantle those obstacles,then anything is possible.

Thank you.

(Applause)