Blog Post #9

TED Talk

The sole argument of the talk is the fracturing of America between the Nation of Dreamers (Raisuddin) and the Nation of Fear (Stroman). Prospects are becoming increasingly dim for those born in America while record industries and sectors grow stronger. Within the TED talk, Anand Giridharadas outlines the lives of two Americans on September 21, 2001, their connection, and how it represents the greatest problem of America even today. Giridharadas first portrays the life of Raisuddin, a young, engaged Bangladeshi immigrant working at a mini-mart to pay for his computer college classes. Raisuddin was working at this mini-mart on the September day when Mark Stroman walked in with a shotgun and shot Raisuddin in the face for being a Muslim. However, Raisuddin's life didn't end there. He survived but lost everything. His fiancé left him, he was fired, he got discharged a day after admittance (no insurance) 60,000 in debt. However, over the next 10 years, he built his life over once more with overwhelming gratitude to God for a second chance. He also never hated Mark Stroman. He reached out and testified on his behalf. This is because, in 2011, Stroman found himself on death row. Stroman, however, found God for himself, but too late. He felt the immense guilt crush him, but Stroman never had the chance to repent as he was executed by the state.

Anand Giridharadas utilizes pathos, ethos, and logos throughout the talk to convey his argument of the decline in American unity. The pathos he utilized was hard-hitting, real story that he used as a parable for the American reality. It was an emotional story with weight to it. Furthermore, Giridharadas is his own expert on the story and has credibility to the truth (ethos). This is due to the fact that Giridharadas is the author of a book, "The True American," about the two men above. Finally, the deductions made about America have logos involved as Giridharadas made logical conclusions about society using Stroman and Raisuddin as strong examples of the general public. The statistics he provided throughout the talk allowed for further credibility and a stronger conclusion. These techniques throughout the entire TED talk are woven together beautifully by Giridharadas to create a very significant argument. Furthermore, he chose to focus on one sole argument rather than multiple, allowing for more attention to be put to his main subject. He presents the situation and brings it slowly into context of every person watching him by broadening the application. Then, he narrows the new situation of the average person (rich or poor) in America and how the gap is widening between the two. It's a gap of wealth and cultures, creating a polarized America as a whole. By building to this point, people are more likely to understand how it affects daily life (Raisuddin and Stroman's life).

I chose the talk because of the vagueness of the title but I stayed because of Giridharadas and his ability to reconstruct a situation. It doesn't directly relate to me, but it is something that affects the world around me and will have to be addressed by my generation at some point or another. At the moment, the most that we can do is live mercifully and hope that the culture changes with the generations before ours. The reason that more can't be done is that the issue is moral-based and lives within the people that perpetuate it. Therefore, nothing can ever be done until we reject ourselves and the idea dwindles. Everyone must change from their own accord, not from the force of others. They can be taught the errors of a warped perception, but this perception can only be resolved by their own removal of it. At least, this is what I gathered from the talk. Thanks for coming to my TED Talk.