TED is a nonprofit that began in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from the worlds of technology, entertainment, and design. Since then its scope has broadened to include anything it feels is an “idea worth spreading.” TED publishes video taped talks on its site by creative, cutting edge people who have something unique to say on practically any topic.
But recently, TED curator, Chris Anderson, declined to post a March talk by Seattle-based venture capitalist and Amazon.com investor Nick Hanauer, who dared to say that said the middle class, not wealthy financiers like himself, were the nation’s real “job creators.”
The organization invited Hanauer, the first non-family investor in Amazon.com, to speak about inequality at its university conference, and knew ahead of time the content of his talk. Hanauer told the audience that rising income inequality was harmful to society and that the rich should pay more in taxes.
TED curator Chris Anderson later told him that it was it was too politically controversial to publish on its site. Really?
Never mind. Someone just posted Hanauer’s talk on YouTube for all to see. It’s short and well worth watching. If the YouTube video is taken down, you can find the text of his talk here.