A comedian's take on how to save democracy | Jordan Klepper

0:06You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas and conversations to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hu. It's a question that continues to be relevant, maybe now more than ever. If democracy depends on discourse, how do we have constructive conversations in a time of great polarization? In this wonderful 2023 talk from our archives, writer and comedian Jordan Klepper offers humorous and, I'll add, helpful tips on how to have these conversations. This is a fun one.

0:42When Ted asked me to be a part of this democracy event, I was flattered. When they told me it was a pro-democracy event, I paused. Like, really? We still think this is a good idea? Giving everyone a voice? Have you talked to everyone? One in ten Americans believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. We want those people weighing in on foreign policy. I guess if democracy is hearing from the voice of the people, consider me skeptical of that conversation. Because I think we're incapable of having it. Any conversation. And not just in America. Globally, we're tuning people out. Frankly, we're bad at talking to other people.

1:29Didn't always used to be this way. In the old days, it came naturally. We would talk to folks. so you'd negotiate over food or child care so your kid didn't get eaten by a bear or run off and invent fire. But since then, it's gotten harder, more difficult. Screens have placed an impediment between people and thought. Partisanship has made talking to someone outside of your own POV traumatic. Now, talking to somebody with a different point of view than yourself is to be avoided at all costs. It's like paying taxes. You should do it, But if you can avoid it, it makes you smart. It's an awful time for conversations.

2:10So much so that even right now, I've opted for a lecture. I won't be taking questions. I find it easier to speak at you. So how do we get here? Well, as someone in their 40s, I'm legally obligated to point the finger at social media. the cultural conversations we have are dictated by the forums we have them in and all those forums they just push us towards short loud outbursts maximum volume short duration now even right now this ted talk is only seven minutes i remember when ted talks used to be 18 minutes long now you have to communicate the economics between behind climate catastrophe and the time it takes for a potty break.

3:01Not great, guys. Not great. I remember the good old days when TED Talks used to be Theodore discussions. A year from now, they're just going to be tease gifts. So, how do we get better at talking to one another? If democracy depends on discourse, on compromise, how do we have civil conversations? Well, the long answer is destroy the bias of social media and the cesspool of misinformation that is propagated by the entertainment machine that dominates our politics and discourse i could tell you how to do that but ted only gave me seven minutes so sorry maybe next time it would have cleared everything up uh but in the four minutes well the four minutes we have left I'll give you a few tips of what you can do now.

3:56Three tips for how to be slightly better at talking to a human you disagree with. One, read a book. Easy. You know, you're not as smart as you think you are. Get inside the head of someone else. And make it a long book. We need to expand our attention beyond just TikToks. Two, travel. Mark Twain said it best. You know, bias is reduced by travel. It's the easiest way. As a kid who grew up in Michigan, I hated Ohio. And then I traveled there. And you know what? I still hate Ohio. But now I know what Akron smells like. So I guess progress, I think. And three, concede something. That's a biggie. Concession.

4:43You have to give something up. You're not as smart as you think you are. Concession is crucial to democracy. To concede comes from the Latin consensus, which means to find agreement. And if you challenged me on that, I would concede. Because I totally made that up. That's how this thing works, you know? Even upstanding, charismatic people like myself are full of shit. Like many of us, I find my desire to be seen as smart outweighs my desire to shut up when I don't know what I'm talking about. It's hard for Americans to shut up when they don't know what they're talking about. When you make politics a sport, then everything becomes win or lose.

5:29Every conversation becomes a negotiation over field position. Our guards are up. We're defensive. We're afraid of getting punched in the face. We think our strongest weapon is our certainty. But the most relatable thing about us is our failure. Has no one here been to therapy? It's all there. And democracy in a bipartisan country is like a marriage. And in America, we are at the couple's counseling phase. America, you've made some mistakes. Republicans, maybe vaccines aren't the work of the devil. Democrats, maybe Portland does suck.

6:11Canada, Canada, it's 2023. you can't call your police Mounties, all right? We're imperfect. We have to accept that. It's hard to say you don't know, but it can also be liberating. Like, I don't know how to throw away batteries. I don't. I don't know what 40 % chance of rain means. Does it mean it's 40 % chance it will rain or that it's going to rain? Only 40 % chance is hard. I don't know. I don't know. I don't. But it's liberating. We need to. We need to concede a little on everything, except for gun safety reform. That's a no-brainer. But everything else, and climate. See, it's tough. It's hard.

6:59It's hard. We're not very good at it. It's not popular to concede. In America, there's a big chunk of the population right now who hasn't conceded the last presidential election. It's hard to give any ground when you can't agree that the earth you stand on is either round or flat. But, but, perhaps a gesture of understanding, if not towards irrefutable facts, but to your own uncertainty, is a step towards progress. I think the phrase, I don't know, invites a softening. And the ground is too hard to grow much of anything right now. what I think, in order for American democracy to survive, we need a culture of vulnerability, or at least a space in that culture for vulnerability.

7:53The good news is being wrong is sexy. Failure is an aphrodisiac. Every person who has ever loved me has told me how much of a loser I am. The proof is in the pudding. And if conceding is too much for you, if that feels weak, Okay, don't think of it as conceiving. Think of it as gamesmanship. You're setting a trap. Trap them with your vulnerability. Hypnotize them with their humility. Distract them with your failure. And as they begin to reveal themselves to you and your uncertainty, smash those fools.

8:30In the game of democracy, in order to win, we may have to start with a loss. But what do I know? I could be wrong. Thank you.

8:47that was Jordan Klepper at a Ted democracy event in New York city. This talk was first published in 2023. If you're curious about Ted's curation, find out more at ted.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today's show. Ted talks daily is part of the Ted audio collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar, and Tonsika Sarmanivon. It was mixed by Christopher Faze Bogan. Additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Ballarezzo. I'm Elise Hu. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed.

9:24Thanks for listening.