Pretty Much What I Like And Dislike About TED In One Go

The TED conference--started as one Big Deal, and snarled the traffic in Monterey when I was studying there, and infiltrated my mailbox and now there are TEDs everywhere--has some great lectures.  This one right here (via Instapundit) is a pretty neat lecture.  Creative ideas about creative stuff presented, uh, creatively.

But notice the language the guy is using here.  He's speaking to one political party, one political tradition, about another political tradition or two.  The entering argument is that everyone at TED, each of those well-off fancy schmancy hoi polloi types, is assumed to be of one political persuasion.

I think that's a real shame.

Comments

[Wrongainey]

I agree with most of what Lessig has to say about copyright issues, but aside from the fact that libertarians are not "conservatives," I fail to see any particular link between between left/right political orientation and enlightenment on copyright. A specious connection and a distraction from his otherwise valid points.

[Chap]

I figure that critique fits under the category of "he's trying too hard". I kinda get his point but it's a stretch. Also, there's been some entertaining discussion on the 'liberaltarian' concept over the last few months in the ol' blogosphere.

[Kevin Murphy]

I think it's more like: either you are a Democrat, or you pretend to be, or you are ostracized by all "right-thinking people."

Nothing much ever changes.

[Dick Stanley]

Yep, there's "us" and there's the enemy, those far right wingers. A comfortable if myopic existence.