How open borders make us safe | Andrew Solomon | TEDxExeter

Identifying a dangerous isolationist trend behind the election of President Donald Trump in the US and the Brexit vote in the UK, renowned author and TED speaker Andrew Solomon makes a passionate case for the personal and political benefits of travel. He argues that discovering other countries is the best way of finding ourselves, while ignorance of other cultures gives rise to fear, suspicion and war.
Andrew Solomon is a writer and lecturer on psychology, politics, and the arts; an activist in LGBT rights and mental health.
Andrew’s most recent book, Far and Away was published in 2016. His many previous books include Far From the Tree: Parents, children and the search for identity, which won the National Book Critics Circle nonfiction award, the Wellcome Book Prize and 22 other awards.
A renowned TED speaker, his previous talks have been viewed over 13 million times on TED.com.
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At TEDxExeter 2017 our speakers explored ideas of HOPE - not wishing, not optimism, but hope - to challenge us and encourage us to keep moving forward to create a better world. Our playlist: • TEDxExeter 2017 Talks
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Video Production First Sight Media - firstsightmedia...
This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at www.ted.com/tedx

[@zvipatent]

Travel is not the same as immigration.

[@chuzzarino]

Its funny how the same people who come to this country advocating “open borders” wouldn’t allow open borders in their original country.

[@MossyMozart]

@James O. - How right you are! Mr Solomon is from the VERY SAME country where Trump was born and raised - New York City.

[@zvipatent]

or leave their doors unlocked in a crime-riddled neighborhood

[@duroshebanja6810]

Most of these clowns who advocate open boders are rich & live behind walls , a checkpoint , with armed guards at their residence too!

[@tboned70]

Wat Country would you be from,......?

[@williamsmith7553]

He claims "open border make us safe ". You don't know the character coming across the borders 2 What comes with illegals is fentanyl, & iso . Both are powerful drugs . He talks about being safe . 3 What about kids , and Grand kids . Is he for American families safety or illegal immigration ?

[@FishingInfinite]

You are absolutely right, leave your house unlocked every night in a neighborhood in Detroit, same thing.

[@leiajiang7877]

Your house is not a country and other countries are not inheritly criminal

[@Hawlkeye-e9p]

And when they break into your home and the gov took ur guns. Guess whats next. Uk had home break ins up 900% after guns taken.

[@slickapparitionrhobx6101]

@@leiajiang7877 The drug cartels of Mexico would be celebrating in their million dollar beds if US opens its borders. Good for business.

[@5688gamble]

@@slickapparitionrhobx6101 Just let people choose whether or not they take drugs if they choose and strictly regulate and tax them: Reduce their impact. Very bad for cartel business, Al Capone wouldn't have been so notorious had alcohol been available in bars and stores legally, yes people become alcoholics, yes drinking kills people and leads to violence and car crashes, but making it illegal demonstrably doesn't help, people like to alter their consciousness, punish people who commit crimes, not everyone who takes drugs will be a criminal or an addict and it is easier to treat addiction when you reduce the stigma of taking drugs, alcohol is one of the most harmful drugs out there, but would you ban it?

[@slickapparitionrhobx6101]

@@5688gamble You think only drugs are illegal? Remember, cartels used to be in the smuggling business before they sold drugs. And they don't just smuggle goods but people too. People can easily come and go as they please, even criminals and enemies of the state. It seems a reasonable thing to do if all people have good intentions but that's not the reality.

[@jhjhjhjhjhjhify]

"Open boarders? That's a Koch Brothers policy." - Bernie Sanders

[@richardluciano4648]

And George Soros policy open society ,open borders....

[@richardluciano4648]

We lost common sense..

[@abelc2548]

open border for Israell and Japan !

[@jkjk701]

@Alt Fit you beat me to it

[@Cleisthenes607]

Leave the japanese alone, they make good tech and mind their own business unlike the other group you mentioned.

[@zekeyeager8574]

@@Cleisthenes607 yes please please leave the Japanese alone. I would really hate to see japan become like today's america.

[@zekeyeager8574]

Please leave the Japanese alone i beg you.

[@Zones33]

Worked well for sweden right?

[@abelc2548]

Salomon. Jewish or not ? Israël is open ?

[@frankiel3767]

Yes it has. Sweden is doing remarkably well

[@Design-dv4ec]

@@frankiel3767 Yeah, maybe if you used the Sweden argument 5 years ago, sure.....but now? No. It's falling fast. Stop using the same tiresome argument if you have no idea.

[@frankiel3767]

@@Design-dv4ec Falling fast how? I don't hear about an exodus of native Swedes running from the hordes of immigrants.

[@giovandiaz1373]

@@frankiel3767 they’re only letting high skilled immigrants or a limited amount of immigrants so they pose no problem to it’s “natives”

[@edthatsit8035]

Ok, now leave your car door, garage door, and front door open and unlocked. Totally safe. These guys are the most smart.

[@jkjk701]

Open borders for Israel

[@zvipatent]

And Saudi Arabia and Iran ?

[@nippy7425]

Zvi Benari no you don’t understand it’s supposed to be making fun of Israel not supporting it

[@Techn9cian123]

Open borders for israel

[@zvipatent]

Like Saudi Arabia ?

[@Endellion_The_Hellion]

I have watched this video several times over the course of the past few days and I think Solomon continually shows us that he’s not entirely sure what the difference between recreational travel and immigration are. But he’s a good orator and has a good flow. Nice video overall.

[@timmsherman4883]

how deluded do people get? Yeah lets become exactly like England and allow anybody to enter our country! But don't worry about the ridiculous amount of increase in our crime rates it has no correlation whatsoever xD I would like to see him live in the heart of London and then try to tell me that we need open borders

[@juanureno474]

I like how you only compare the crime rates of a first world country

[@DuckNestWi]

Everyone wants a free market until it’s actually a free market.

[@shaheenshad5012]

@@DuckNestWi you know open border are a aspect of free market.

[@DuckNestWi]

@@shaheenshad5012 yes, that’s my point. No one wants a truly free market but says they do. Croney capitalism is what they support.

[@SpeegBJ]

I'm still in shock, Andrew. I have not come down from the switch that occurred.

[@CliveChilvers]

This is a very important and well crafted talk that has come at a time when we need it most. Now is not the time to turn in on ourselves, but to be more inclusive and keep travelling and tearing down walls.

[@Arachnoscribe]

Clive Chilvers: ...yet many who advocate for inclusivity are rabidly xenophobic.

[@adamnasir2]

Still want open borders after the disaster Americans are facing at our border?

[@user-dr6ep9pm1t]

yeah open border :)

[@user-dr6ep9pm1t]

@@adamnasir2 yeah

[@johneasler9967]

If we have open borders, we should have open season on anyone that crosses our SOVEREIGN border

[@burtonkephart6239]

“The bigger the lie the more they will believe it.” It’s not a riot it’s free expression etc etc

[@rampant1apart]

One disconnect between the left and right in America that always get me (and trust me, it is one among many) is the idea that the right has sole ownership of thinking of America first. What the speaker here is saying is that internationalism IS thinking of America first. Keeping America connected with the rest of the world IS very purposeful and focused concern for America, in the long view. To wall up is understandable, but what Solomon is arguing is that it is short sighted and will damage America in the end.

[@wariswrong4920]

If you believe pseudo intellectuals like this know anything. And if you believe it's best "in the end" to flood a country with new socialist voters of below average IQ

[@XPandaL0v3]

This is immensely important. Everyone needs to understand this

[@bigdog5204]

It's a crock

[@adamnasir2]

Can't understand nonsense

[@sarahbailey658]

An excellent talk about how division breeds fear and how understanding and experience can help us to come together. Thank you Andrew for your thoughtful words. I hope that we can learn from your ideas.

[@annkathryn8550]

being frightened is not the most rational! calling names is a way of talking about one's self, so who is the moron here!

[@Oneironaut9]

Sarah Bailey moron

[@adamnasir2]

There is nothing to learn from this nonsense

[@user-dr6ep9pm1t]

@@adamnasir2 ??????

[@user-dr6ep9pm1t]

yeah open border is good

[@georgecarini345]

The American and English people have spoken by voting for Donald Trump as President and Brexit. We the people will decide the proper solutions for our own problems

[@ronaldmatthews7361]

Europe has open borders since 2015. Look how that turned out.

[@MossyMozart]

@Ronald Matthews - Europeans travel from country to country with ease.

[@nippy7425]

MossyMozart and the million of migrants from the Middle East

[@SpeegBJ]

Mr. Solomon, you echo my perspective on being. Indeed, I have always, since around 11, called myself a citizen of the world, though an American. I have lived and traveled abroad, and so have my children. We are not privileged, just made the effort to be in this huge world in the most loving and connected ways. Our best friends are around the corner, but also around the world. Thank you for the most eloquent and articulate talk.

[@wariswrong4920]

But traveling doesn't make one socialist.

[@markototev]

The identity politics of the last 20 years gave you both Trump and Brexit. Borders are not impenetrable walls, their removal is a mistake at this point in time. Maybe in a few hundred years, we can give it another go. Ordinary people don't have the luxury of traveling and living off of books and speeches at conferences. They have to vote with other things in mind. I don't know how I feel about you culturally appropriating Afghan culture, though :P

[@annkathryn8550]

When in Rome do as the Romans do! this is polite, cultural appropriation isn't that and it wasn't perceived as that. Cultural imitation as led to great works such as Picasso's when he discovered African sculpture and was inspired by these forms and shapes that completely stirred his imagination. Sharing cultural differences enrich our world.

[@emilyinnoire]

I hope the comment about cultural appropriation is a joke 😒

[@richardouvrier3078]

He's very classy. No doubt about class.

[@Design-dv4ec]

No he's just fuckin smug and he thinks he's smarter than everyone. This guy has no idea because he's never experienced real issues.

[@duroshebanja6810]

I'm out of here, enough of this double talk nonsense.

[@betsyknox4745]

"Quarantining otherness, locking people out, breeds an ignorance of us that engenders hatred. It is openness that makes us safe. " A beautiful truth.

[@georgecarini345]

You have to search and lock out terrorists that threaten us try to smuggle in bombs into our countries. What are you thinking about?

[@scipioafricanus2649]

hear hear

[@joejohn6795]

That's why I leave my house unlocked here in Brooklyn. It's best to let the diversity flow in. Locking people out would only make me less safe.

[@roblink4781]

Tell it to the people living in Manchester England!!!

[@CliveChilvers]

What the people of Manchester showed yesterday is reflected in the essence of this talk. Manchester is a thriving place full of diversity & the majority of people would probably agree with this talk.

[@roblink4781]

Nonsensical

[@andrewpatrickallen9009]

Should your freedom to travel be restricted due to the crimes of other people who happen to come from the same country?

[@mrsshesasaint]

Mancunian here, reminding you that the guy who caused the bomb was born in Britain. Nothing to do with borders, as the borders already in place couldn't control his actions, and the internet was a place he was radicalised.

[@Loralarify]

I love you Andrew Solomon. Keep shining your light so that those whose minds are clear can see the path. A road less traveled.

[@Infamous41]

You like your fart smells too??

[@Sonicboomffx1]

A road traveled by the most powerful people on earth at this moment. Less traveled, right. It is easier to side with those in power (globalists).

[@friendinpotentia]

Some of the “smartest“ people have the least common sense. By the way, it was that wonderful Democrat hero Franklin Delano Roosevelt who kept out people who were actually facing real genocide.

[@smithyman33]

That’s the only good decision he ever made.

[@noutalenezi8475]

Listening to this lecture now I just can’t stop thinking about what this woman said here 12:27, I hope they’re safe

[@rum1pole]

This poor guy is deluded he needs a rest.

[@TheFoezee]

Your job definately will not get affected if the borders open. This guy lives in a bubble. Countries have to take care of their own not expect someone else to coot the bill and be ok with it.

[@DeactivatedUser]

How about you plant your own coffee then? And get petrol off your own soil? Do us all a favour, stick to the potatoes that grow within your borders, and nobody else will have to leave theirs.

[@Sindorey1111]

How unlocked houses make us safe

[@bigboy7927]

So you were dropped on your head as a child .

[@Reno-is4fw]

About the only thing I agree with is that we should travel to other countries and experience how others live and perceive us (if for no other reason than to remind us how good we have it). I wouldn't recommend govt. funding for this. Maybe some type of reimbursement program but not just more handouts...

[@bonnenaturel6688]

how about feeding the poor first?

[@bogdanoff148]

Solomon 🤔

[@weetzybat]

This is why philosophers should not have power over practical, real-life stuff >

[@ishanloomba788]

Why not?? What he is saying is infinitely smarter than anyone on the conservative side right now. Why should ugliness and xenophobia win (Trump, Brexit, etc.) in "real life"?

[@user-dr6ep9pm1t]

@@ishanloomba788 I agree with you

[@AditiTirpude]

17:15 19:18 19:53 21:30 22:11

[@pancratius602]

A look into this dude's "Early Life and Education" section on Wikipedia tells me all I need to know.

[@ioannisimansola7115]

Who defines safety , G. Soros ?

[@c.b.7238]

Oh God, normies and the open border discussion. How many times have people used the unlocked door or gated community analogy?

[@aisling7540]

Name a better one.

[@JackCoxLoveNotFear]

We need borders so national governments can pass laws that suit the culture and traditions of their own countries. I would be great to be able to travel freely and settle anywhere we choose but first we would need to learn how to respect the people who are already there.

[@EdmacZ]

Corona-Chan: “Well, this didn’t age well, did it?”

[@venus189]

I love this man!

[@Pablocarlitosleonel]

Open borders for Israel!

[@faktennews9893]

Open borders for Saudi Arabia!

[@charismalyn]

Freedom is a verb

[@annkathryn8550]

Openness is an optimist's world view. Isn't it strange that today the USA, the land of opportunities and triumphant optimism has taken on a rabid frightened pessimistic old man's word view. POOR POOR AMERICA and POOR POOR WORD

[@chuexiong0404]

Ann Kathryn Hmong hm Humongous

[@povertyspec9651]

Open your doors up at night and see what happens

[@shuqiwu1920]

is that sarcasm or can you not comprehend

[@landonvause9680]

@@shuqiwu1920 Really? You want criminals to come here and commit crimes with your open border policy?

[@naomi-ie1rv]

This is amazing!!!

[@sandradearing604]

It goes to show you...the ppl who CAN'T afford it are the ones that seem to be the supporters of all things stagnant.

[@johnathanjackson7165]

The problem isn't immigration. It's immigration without restraints. Suppose someone is hostile to your nation? Think about it. Economic and national security issues will arise.

[@hegidund]

from most of Andrew tedtalk video. this is the most quite audience. Politics... and you could see how many uncomfortable faces there...

[@charlbroekman4050]

LOL @ Solomon.

[@ingemarsmith4154]

Good ideas delivered by another almost unbelievably naive speaker

[@georgecarini345]

Not very realistic is he?

[@anonymousonlineuser6543]

Verbal diarrhea by sublimating graphoman.

[@AlphaWolfOverman02]

Did you hear that ISIS, African pirates, coke cartels and runaway cannibals, come on in!

[@DeactivatedUser]

Ask your governments and corporations to stay out of them then? Pirates exist because you’re there taking their oil. ISIS exists because your governments thought it was a good idea to gain power and counter others through funding militant idiots. Cartels… can’t believe u need to say this. Look whose guns are in those countries…

[@dennisg4053]

More elite BS.

[@ninijohannaq]

This is the same guy from the talk about suicide

[@SkepticalSpectrum]

😢

[@allissaandllcooper4981]

Good

[@tomstatham6848]

There is a government program to promote travel. Join the army, see the world.

[@stephenfreeman4256]

This by far the longest Tedtalk fart.

[@chrisbertling5895]

And look where that has gotten us. Innocent people dying in explosions or from shrapnel injuries.

[@CliveChilvers]

It's ideology and a very skewed version of a religion that has killed people, not tearing down walls and being more open.

[@annkathryn8550]

What is the THAT in your sentence? Colonialism? power play on the world stage? bigotry? running after the biggest profit?

[@johnc.9035]

🤣

[@sandrabates6919]

So true Mr. Andrew Solomon! Also a world traveller, it has been the most enriching experience of my life. The problem with North America is, we haven't seen or been in a World War. Kids feel entitled, raised by parents who believed in the American Dream, and that their child deserved to be held on a pedestal. Such amazing humans in this story, I think of those that are being supressed and terrorized in their own homelands by outside forces, every single day. So incredibly tragic that North Americans have no idea, no compassion, and no desire to do the right thing, as they have no perception as to what that must be like. I speak to the majority of the commenters on this page.Maybe it's best that the west that should fall. China, maybe it would be best if you came and taught us what real unity and repression looks like? I noticed NK is practicing their new nuclear program, works for me. It makes me sick when hypocrites... over 25 million Americans travel to Mexico each year.... think they are the righteous.Unfortunately, the statistical information is out there, yet people refuse to educate themselves. Over 500,000 civilians have been murdered in Iraq since the American invasion. Death toll among the west include approx. 300 people in all of Europe and since September 11th which killed 3,000 people, less than 1 American per year has died due to a terrorist attack. You have a better chance of slipping in the tub and killing yourself. Yet you continue to spew your lies and venom, creating chaos, inequality, putting us all in a state of global crisis. For what? Your ego? Why are our lives so much more valuable than theirs?

[@ToastMusic]

His name is Solomon, and just because of that, 50% of the youtube comments are anti-semitic

[@zen-oswaldnzueakoue4348]

🌹✨

[@cymes82]

Tell that to the Native Americans!

[@Doglostinthecreek]

Cymes... Walls would not have saved the Native Americans..had the various tribes been united and built a stronger civilization over time, the story might have turned out differently..

[@allissaandllcooper4981]

Allissaa

[@micaelacavallo7472]

Countries like Germany and France actually require their students to spend 6 months working or volunteering in another country in order to be able to qualify for their degree. The broadness of mind in Europe is so wide, regardless of their problems .

[@joydot7620]

??? not aware. do know their gov's are set on them learning english and also subsidise picking up work overseas while there is zilch for them at home (this is smart). never heard of the degree aspect - perhaps its new/ this year?

[@wariswrong4920]

Nice try but most expat Americans vote Republican. It's bizarre to imply that people who travel become socialist snowflakes as a result. And did this buffoon meet the only Moscow native with "crushed hopes" because he wanted the western deep state to conquer them again?

[@MossyMozart]

@@wariswrong4920 - Do you have a source for that claim? I sincerely doubt it.

[@jenmorricone4014]

This talk is a bunch of privilaged self aggrandizing vomit. Travel is the opposite of chauvenism? Give me a damn break. Who gets to travel like you do? Yes, in a perfect world we could spend alot of time traveling and interacting with other cultures.... "Walls are our berkas..." Not even a decent metaphor. Norway and Sweden are living proof that societies that are homogeneous work best.They're open, forward thinking but they respect boundaries.

[@basedchad8694]

Oy vey

[@anuragskgautam123]

lol

[@bonanimathambo8721]

This person is obviously a lunatic. How about you leave your house door unlocked so that any and all strangers can come in whenever they feel without you having any idea who they are or what their intentions are.

[@naomimotlhasedi4086]

We hear

[@karaloca]

What a plonker

[@edchampion3720]

Open borders for Israel