My first revelation: For more than a year (probably two) after I first discovered TED, it was the pinnacle of global problem solving and innovative ideas. This was, of course, until someone pointed out that it was predominantly rich white old men 'innovating' solutions to the problems they (generally white old men) caused in the first place. This point has tainted my view of TED ever since, though it is beginning to loose ground. Having learned a little about social justice and identity relations, I don't think that point is much of an argument. An individual should not be blamed for the issues that have been caused by those who share their identities. While I think they should be conscious of how they appear to EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD (namely those who are not privileged, rich, white, old men), I can't discredit their ideas primarily on the fact that they are agents. 

My second revelation: I have developed a sort of world view that seems to be rather literal. As far as I can tell, I generally believe that people are global citizens that happen to be confined by geopolitical boundaries. We speak different languages and do different things and look different, but we are all inherently human. I don't want to sound like a hippie (thanks Portland), but when I think about it, what feels most natural to me is that humans exist around the world, and I think that defining a person based on where they were born does not make sense. Surely, it is an easy way to classify people, but I am not country any more than my friends are their countries any more than the immigrants that 'stole' 'our' jobs are the countries they came from. Zooming out breaks down some walls and helps reduce prejudice. 

My third revelation: Playing of of the second, I want to move away from viewing language as a barrier to communication. That view, one which I have held for a long time, seems counter productive. With this new world view of global citizens, not to mention globalization and "English Mania", it would make more sense to think of language as a tool. I think Walker points to this when he calls English "the language of problem solving" (see video). Just as math and music are languages, so is English; and I argue are all languages. Freeing people from the labels of geopolitical identity does the same for language. What know I am failing to communicate, (I don't want to edit this...so I am going to discredit myself instead of rewriting this paragraph) is that this is happening. English has definitely already escaped the borders of English speaking nation states. People from China speak Chinese. People from Russia speak Russian. People all over the globe speak English. As obvious as this sounds, it only just dawned on me. I want to take that idea a little further and argue that all language should be viewed as global communication tools. Because I am learning Russian (which is true) does not mean that I am becoming Russian or identifying with the nation state of the Russian Federation. I simply want to expand my capacity for global communication with other people around the world. 

Not quite polished prose, those are the epiphanies I had while I watched that video a few times. I am eager to hear what you think. Comment!