WEBVTT

00:00:24.831 --> 00:00:28.895
My students often ask me,
"What is sociology?"

00:00:29.458 --> 00:00:33.810
And I tell them it's the study of the way
in which human beings are shaped

00:00:33.834 --> 00:00:35.587
by things that they don't see.

00:00:36.401 --> 00:00:39.725
And they say, "So,
how can I be a sociologist?

00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:42.678
How can I understand
those invisible forces?"

00:00:42.702 --> 00:00:44.230
And I say, "Empathy.

00:00:44.254 --> 00:00:46.354
Start with empathy.

00:00:46.378 --> 00:00:49.160
It all begins with empathy.

00:00:49.184 --> 00:00:50.940
Take yourself out of your shoes,

00:00:50.964 --> 00:00:53.608
put yourself into the shoes
of another person."

00:00:53.632 --> 00:00:55.262
Here, I'll give you an example.

00:00:56.163 --> 00:00:59.567
So I imagine my life
if, a hundred years ago,

00:00:59.591 --> 00:01:02.441
China had been the most powerful
nation in the world

00:01:02.465 --> 00:01:05.952
and they came to the United States
in search of coal.

00:01:05.976 --> 00:01:09.167
And they found it, and, in fact,
they found lots of it right here.

00:01:09.191 --> 00:01:12.717
And pretty soon,
they began shipping that coal,

00:01:12.741 --> 00:01:14.517
ton by ton,

00:01:14.541 --> 00:01:17.979
railcar by railcar, boatload by boatload,

00:01:18.003 --> 00:01:21.088
back to China and elsewhere
around the world.

00:01:21.969 --> 00:01:24.219
And they got fabulously
wealthy in doing so.

00:01:24.243 --> 00:01:26.576
And they built beautiful cities

00:01:26.600 --> 00:01:29.700
all powered on that coal.

00:01:31.512 --> 00:01:34.933
And back here in the United States,

00:01:36.314 --> 00:01:37.314
back here

00:01:37.357 --> 00:01:39.504
we saw economic despair, deprivation.

00:01:39.528 --> 00:01:40.976
This is what I saw.

00:01:41.000 --> 00:01:43.631
I saw people struggling to get by,

00:01:43.655 --> 00:01:46.750
not knowing what was what
and what was next.

00:01:48.074 --> 00:01:50.341
And I asked myself the question:

00:01:50.365 --> 00:01:53.695
How is it possible that we could
be so poor here in the United States,

00:01:53.719 --> 00:01:57.424
because coal is such a wealthy
resource; it's so much money?

00:01:57.448 --> 00:01:58.608
And I realize:

00:01:58.632 --> 00:02:02.037
because the Chinese ingratiated themselves

00:02:02.061 --> 00:02:04.820
with a small ruling class
here in the United States,

00:02:04.844 --> 00:02:08.382
who stole all of that money
and all of that wealth for themselves.

00:02:09.030 --> 00:02:11.196
And the rest of us,
the vast majority of us,

00:02:11.220 --> 00:02:12.485
struggle to get by.

00:02:12.989 --> 00:02:16.093
And the Chinese
gave this small ruling elite

00:02:16.117 --> 00:02:19.486
loads of military weapons
and sophisticated technology

00:02:19.510 --> 00:02:22.276
in order to ensure that people like me

00:02:22.300 --> 00:02:25.300
would not speak out
against this relationship.

00:02:26.173 --> 00:02:27.609
Does this sound familiar?

00:02:29.045 --> 00:02:32.406
And they did things like train Americans
to help protect the coal.

00:02:34.056 --> 00:02:37.294
And everywhere, there were
symbols of the Chinese --

00:02:37.318 --> 00:02:40.294
everywhere, a constant reminder.

00:02:40.831 --> 00:02:42.974
And back in China,

00:02:42.998 --> 00:02:44.324
what do they say in China?

00:02:44.348 --> 00:02:47.947
Nothing! They don't talk about us.
They don't talk about the coal.

00:02:47.971 --> 00:02:49.161
If you ask them,

00:02:49.185 --> 00:02:51.576
they'll say, "Well, you know,
we need the coal.

00:02:51.600 --> 00:02:54.798
I mean, come on, I'm not going
to turn down my thermostat.

00:02:55.322 --> 00:02:56.727
You can't expect that."

00:02:58.074 --> 00:03:01.249
And so, I get angry, and I get pissed,

00:03:01.273 --> 00:03:03.586
as do lots of average people.

00:03:03.610 --> 00:03:06.152
And we fight back,
and it gets really ugly.

00:03:06.176 --> 00:03:09.105
And the Chinese respond
in a very ugly way.

00:03:11.120 --> 00:03:13.515
And before we know it,
they send in the tanks

00:03:13.539 --> 00:03:15.236
and they send in the troops.

00:03:15.882 --> 00:03:17.530
And lots of people are dying.

00:03:18.200 --> 00:03:21.951
And it's a very, very difficult situation.

00:03:24.641 --> 00:03:25.707
Can you feel me?

00:03:26.176 --> 00:03:29.223
Can you imagine what you would feel

00:03:29.247 --> 00:03:31.412
if you were in my shoes?

00:03:31.436 --> 00:03:33.761
Can you imagine
walking out of this building

00:03:33.785 --> 00:03:35.603
and seeing a tank sitting out there,

00:03:35.627 --> 00:03:37.954
or a truck full of soldiers?

00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:42.620
Just imagine what you would feel,
because you know why they're here;

00:03:42.644 --> 00:03:44.290
you know what they're doing here.

00:03:44.314 --> 00:03:46.933
And you just feel the anger
and you feel the fear.

00:03:47.874 --> 00:03:50.640
If you can, that's empathy.
That's empathy.

00:03:50.664 --> 00:03:53.843
You've left your shoes,
and you've stood in mine.

00:03:54.638 --> 00:03:56.453
And you've got to feel that.

00:03:56.477 --> 00:03:58.176
OK, so that's the warm-up.

00:03:58.556 --> 00:03:59.728
That's the warm-up.

00:03:59.752 --> 00:04:03.486
Now we're going to have
the real radical experiment.

00:04:03.510 --> 00:04:07.176
So, for the remainder of my talk,
what I want you to do

00:04:07.200 --> 00:04:11.788
is put yourselves in the shoes
of an ordinary Arab Muslim

00:04:11.812 --> 00:04:13.541
living in the Middle East --

00:04:13.565 --> 00:04:15.691
in particular, in Iraq.

00:04:17.843 --> 00:04:19.125
And so to help you,

00:04:19.771 --> 00:04:23.747
perhaps you're a member
of this middle-class family in Baghdad.

00:04:24.104 --> 00:04:26.798
What you want is the best for your kids.

00:04:26.822 --> 00:04:28.799
You want your kids to have a better life.

00:04:28.823 --> 00:04:30.910
And you watch the news, you pay attention.

00:04:30.934 --> 00:04:34.488
You read the newspaper, you go down
to the coffee shop with your friends,

00:04:34.512 --> 00:04:36.733
you read the newspapers
from around the world.

00:04:36.757 --> 00:04:39.793
Sometimes you even watch satellite,
CNN, from the United States.

00:04:39.817 --> 00:04:42.304
You have a sense of what
the Americans are thinking.

00:04:42.328 --> 00:04:45.376
But really, you just want
a better life for yourself.

00:04:45.400 --> 00:04:46.588
That's what you want.

00:04:46.945 --> 00:04:50.009
You're Arab Muslim living in Iraq.

00:04:50.033 --> 00:04:51.780
You want a better life for yourself.

00:04:51.804 --> 00:04:53.018
So here, let me help you.

00:04:53.042 --> 00:04:56.533
Let me help you with some things
that you might be thinking.

00:04:56.557 --> 00:04:57.826
Number one:

00:04:57.850 --> 00:05:02.176
this incursion into your land
these past 20 years and before --

00:05:02.200 --> 00:05:04.319
the reason anyone
is interested in your land,

00:05:04.343 --> 00:05:06.487
and particularly
the United States, is oil.

00:05:06.511 --> 00:05:09.620
It's all about oil; you know that,
everybody knows that.

00:05:09.644 --> 00:05:12.744
People back in the United States
know it's about oil.

00:05:13.359 --> 00:05:18.457
It's because somebody else
has a design for your resource.

00:05:18.481 --> 00:05:21.034
It's your resource --
it's not somebody else's.

00:05:21.058 --> 00:05:24.036
It's your land; it's your resource.

00:05:24.060 --> 00:05:25.733
Somebody else has a design for it.

00:05:26.378 --> 00:05:28.231
And you know why they have a design?

00:05:28.255 --> 00:05:30.352
You know why they have
their eyes set on it?

00:05:30.376 --> 00:05:32.450
Because they have
an entire economic system

00:05:32.474 --> 00:05:35.683
that's dependent
on that oil -- foreign oil,

00:05:35.707 --> 00:05:38.333
oil from other parts of the world
that they don't own.

00:05:39.347 --> 00:05:41.914
And what else do you think
about these people?

00:05:41.938 --> 00:05:43.545
The Americans, they're rich.

00:05:43.570 --> 00:05:46.091
Come on, they live in big houses,
they have big cars.

00:05:46.115 --> 00:05:48.515
They all have blond hair,
blue eyes. They're happy.

00:05:48.539 --> 00:05:52.048
You think that. It's not true, of course,
but that's the media impression.

00:05:52.072 --> 00:05:53.268
And that's what you get.

00:05:53.592 --> 00:05:54.800
And they have big cities,

00:05:54.824 --> 00:05:58.184
and the cities are all dependent on oil.

00:06:00.200 --> 00:06:02.176
And back home, what do you see?

00:06:02.200 --> 00:06:04.224
Poverty, despair, struggle.

00:06:04.716 --> 00:06:07.108
Look, you don't live in a wealthy country.

00:06:07.132 --> 00:06:09.704
I mean -- this is Iraq.

00:06:11.975 --> 00:06:13.267
This is what you see.

00:06:13.312 --> 00:06:15.626
You see people struggling to get by.

00:06:15.973 --> 00:06:18.042
It's not easy; you see a lot of poverty.

00:06:18.066 --> 00:06:19.733
And you feel something about this.

00:06:19.757 --> 00:06:21.854
These people have designs
for your resource,

00:06:21.878 --> 00:06:23.183
and this is what you see?

00:06:23.818 --> 00:06:25.218
It doesn't feel good.

00:06:25.501 --> 00:06:28.326
But here, couple other things.

00:06:29.882 --> 00:06:31.994
Something else you see
that you talk about --

00:06:32.018 --> 00:06:34.228
Americans don't talk
about this, but you do --

00:06:34.252 --> 00:06:36.779
there's this thing,
this militarization of the world,

00:06:36.803 --> 00:06:38.947
and it's centered
right in the United States.

00:06:38.971 --> 00:06:40.845
And the United States is responsible

00:06:40.869 --> 00:06:45.524
for almost one half
of the world's military spending.

00:06:46.364 --> 00:06:48.356
Four percent of the world's population!

00:06:48.380 --> 00:06:50.924
And you feel it; you see it every day.

00:06:50.948 --> 00:06:52.270
It's part of your life.

00:06:52.294 --> 00:06:55.072
And you talk about it with your friends.

00:06:55.096 --> 00:06:56.684
You read about it.

00:06:56.708 --> 00:06:59.939
And back when Saddam Hussein was in power,

00:07:00.586 --> 00:07:03.487
the Americans didn't care
about his crimes.

00:07:03.511 --> 00:07:05.928
When he was gassing
the Kurds and gassing Iran,

00:07:05.952 --> 00:07:07.427
they didn't care about it.

00:07:07.451 --> 00:07:09.530
When oil was at stake,

00:07:09.554 --> 00:07:13.014
somehow, suddenly, things mattered.

00:07:14.585 --> 00:07:16.987
And what you see, something else:

00:07:17.011 --> 00:07:18.797
the United States,

00:07:18.821 --> 00:07:20.930
the hub of democracy around the world --

00:07:20.954 --> 00:07:24.593
they don't seem to really be supporting
democratic countries

00:07:24.617 --> 00:07:26.504
all around the world.

00:07:26.528 --> 00:07:29.247
There are a lot of countries,
oil-producing countries,

00:07:29.271 --> 00:07:32.499
that aren't very democratic,
but supported by the United States.

00:07:33.230 --> 00:07:34.393
That's odd.

00:07:34.417 --> 00:07:38.117
Oh -- these incursions -
here, let me help you

00:07:39.042 --> 00:07:42.054
these two wars,
the 10 years of sanctions,

00:07:42.378 --> 00:07:46.196
the eight years of occupation,

00:07:46.473 --> 00:07:50.127
the insurgency that's been
unleashed on your people,

00:07:50.151 --> 00:07:52.976
the tens of thousands,
the hundreds of thousands

00:07:53.000 --> 00:07:55.464
of civilian deaths?

00:07:58.214 --> 00:08:00.060
All because of oil.

00:08:00.928 --> 00:08:02.444
You can't help but think that.

00:08:02.888 --> 00:08:04.269
You talk about it.

00:08:05.000 --> 00:08:07.476
It's in the forefront
of your mind, always.

00:08:08.000 --> 00:08:10.015
You say, "How is that possible?"

00:08:10.324 --> 00:08:11.324
Come on.

00:08:14.207 --> 00:08:16.628
And this man, he's everyman --

00:08:17.700 --> 00:08:19.751
your grandfather, your uncle,

00:08:19.775 --> 00:08:21.838
your father, your son, your neighbor,

00:08:21.862 --> 00:08:23.507
your professor, your student.

00:08:24.092 --> 00:08:26.971
Once a life of happiness and joy

00:08:27.295 --> 00:08:29.312
and suddenly, pain and sorrow.

00:08:31.400 --> 00:08:37.614
Everyone in your country
has been touched by the violence,

00:08:37.638 --> 00:08:40.722
the bloodshed, the pain,
the horror -- everybody.

00:08:40.746 --> 00:08:45.920
Not a single person in your country
has not been touched.

00:08:46.424 --> 00:08:47.976
But there's something else.

00:08:48.000 --> 00:08:51.976
There's something else about these people,
these Americans who are there.

00:08:52.000 --> 00:08:54.201
There's something else
about them that you see

00:08:54.225 --> 00:08:55.799
that they don't see themselves.

00:08:55.823 --> 00:08:58.310
And what do you see? They're Christians!

00:08:58.599 --> 00:09:00.067
They're Christians.

00:09:00.091 --> 00:09:03.592
They worship the Christian God,
they have crosses, they carry Bibles.

00:09:03.616 --> 00:09:05.774
Their Bibles have a little insignia

00:09:05.798 --> 00:09:08.573
that says "US Army" on them.

00:09:09.600 --> 00:09:12.696
And their leaders, their leaders:

00:09:13.100 --> 00:09:17.393
before they send their sons and daughters
off to war in your country --

00:09:17.417 --> 00:09:18.755
and you know the reason --

00:09:18.779 --> 00:09:20.346
before they send them off,

00:09:20.370 --> 00:09:23.672
they go to a Christian church,
and they pray to their Christian God,

00:09:23.696 --> 00:09:26.480
and they ask for protection
and guidance from that god.

00:09:26.504 --> 00:09:27.681
Why?

00:09:27.705 --> 00:09:31.758
Well, obviously,
when people die in the war,

00:09:31.782 --> 00:09:36.361
they are Muslims, they are Iraqis --
they're not Americans.

00:09:36.385 --> 00:09:39.205
You don't want Americans to die --
"Protect Our Troops."

00:09:39.229 --> 00:09:41.560
And you feel something about that --

00:09:41.584 --> 00:09:42.787
of course you do.

00:09:42.811 --> 00:09:44.738
And they do wonderful things,

00:09:45.173 --> 00:09:46.863
beautiful humanitarian things.

00:09:46.887 --> 00:09:50.196
But these humanitarians,
I mean these people, they're there -

00:09:50.862 --> 00:09:52.676
You read about it, you hear about it.

00:09:52.700 --> 00:09:54.918
They're there to build schools
and help people.

00:09:54.942 --> 00:09:56.311
That's what they want to do.

00:09:56.335 --> 00:09:59.103
They do wonderful things,
but they also do the bad things,

00:09:59.127 --> 00:10:00.762
and you can't tell the difference.

00:10:00.786 --> 00:10:04.045
And this guy, you get a guy
like Lt. Gen. William Boykin.

00:10:04.277 --> 00:10:07.373
Here's a guy who says
that your god is a false god.

00:10:07.398 --> 00:10:09.476
Your god's an idol;
his god is the true god.

00:10:09.500 --> 00:10:12.596
The solution to the problem
in the Middle East, according to him,

00:10:12.620 --> 00:10:14.554
is to convert you all to Christianity --

00:10:14.578 --> 00:10:16.034
just get rid of your religion.

00:10:16.600 --> 00:10:19.311
And you know that.
Americans don't read about this guy.

00:10:19.335 --> 00:10:21.576
They don't know anything
about him, but you do.

00:10:21.600 --> 00:10:23.791
You pass it around.
You pass his words around.

00:10:23.815 --> 00:10:26.387
I mean, this is serious. You're afraid.

00:10:26.411 --> 00:10:29.651
He was one of the leading commanders
in the second invasion of Iraq.

00:10:29.675 --> 00:10:32.389
And you're thinking,
"My God, if this guy is saying that,

00:10:32.413 --> 00:10:34.520
then all the soldiers
must be saying that."

00:10:35.012 --> 00:10:36.497
And this word here --

00:10:36.521 --> 00:10:38.434
George Bush called this war a crusade.

00:10:38.458 --> 00:10:40.936
Man, the Americans,
they're just like, "Ah, crusade.

00:10:40.960 --> 00:10:42.906
Whatever. I don't know what that means."

00:10:42.930 --> 00:10:45.955
You know what it means --
it's a holy war against Muslims.

00:10:45.979 --> 00:10:49.808
Look, invade, subdue them,
take their resources.

00:10:49.832 --> 00:10:51.809
If they won't submit, kill them.

00:10:52.405 --> 00:10:53.756
That's what this is about.

00:10:53.780 --> 00:10:57.408
And you're thinking, "My God,
these Christians are coming to kill us."

00:10:57.432 --> 00:10:58.876
This is frightening.

00:10:58.900 --> 00:11:01.654
You feel frightened.
Of course you feel frightened.

00:11:02.804 --> 00:11:04.804
Of course you feel frightened.

00:11:08.291 --> 00:11:10.491
Why wouldn't you feel frightened.

00:11:10.678 --> 00:11:13.375
And this man, Terry Jones:

00:11:13.399 --> 00:11:16.146
I mean here's a guy
who wants to burn Qurans, right?

00:11:16.170 --> 00:11:18.823
And the Americans:
"Ah, he's a knucklehead.

00:11:18.847 --> 00:11:22.476
He's a former hotel manager; he's got
three dozen members of his church ..."

00:11:22.500 --> 00:11:23.667
They laugh him off.

00:11:23.691 --> 00:11:26.877
You don't laugh him off,
because in the context of everything else,

00:11:26.901 --> 00:11:28.052
all the pieces fit.

00:11:28.076 --> 00:11:29.960
Of course this is how Americans think.

00:11:29.984 --> 00:11:32.987
So people all over the Middle East,
not just in your country,

00:11:33.011 --> 00:11:34.167
are protesting.

00:11:34.191 --> 00:11:36.122
"He wants to burn Qurans, our holy book.

00:11:36.146 --> 00:11:38.274
These Christians --
who are these Christians?

00:11:38.298 --> 00:11:41.713
They're so evil, they're so mean --
this is what they're about?"

00:11:41.737 --> 00:11:44.352
This is what you're thinking
as an Arab Muslim,

00:11:44.376 --> 00:11:45.785
as an Iraqi.

00:11:45.809 --> 00:11:47.786
Of course you're going to think this.

00:11:47.811 --> 00:11:49.545
How can you not think this?

00:11:49.610 --> 00:11:53.534
And then your cousin says,
"Hey coz, check out this website.

00:11:53.558 --> 00:11:56.131
You've got to see this -- Bible Boot Camp.

00:11:56.156 --> 00:11:57.434
These Christians are nuts!

00:11:57.458 --> 00:12:00.325
They're training their little kids
to be soldiers for Jesus.

00:12:00.749 --> 00:12:03.334
They take little kids
and run them through these things

00:12:03.358 --> 00:12:05.660
till they teach them
how to say, 'Sir! Yes, sir!'

00:12:05.684 --> 00:12:08.796
and things like 'grenade toss'
and 'weapons care and maintenance.'

00:12:08.820 --> 00:12:11.852
And go to the website --
it says 'US Army' right on it.

00:12:11.876 --> 00:12:13.786
I mean, these Christians, they're nuts.

00:12:13.810 --> 00:12:15.820
How can they do this
to their little kids?"

00:12:15.844 --> 00:12:17.375
And you're reading this website.

00:12:17.399 --> 00:12:20.220
And of course, Christians
in the United States, or anybody,

00:12:20.244 --> 00:12:23.125
says, "This is some little church
in the middle of nowhere."

00:12:23.149 --> 00:12:24.300
You don't know that.

00:12:24.324 --> 00:12:26.733
For you, this is like, all Christians.

00:12:26.757 --> 00:12:29.059
It's all over the Web: "Bible Boot Camp."

00:12:29.083 --> 00:12:30.412
And look at this.

00:12:30.657 --> 00:12:32.052
They even teach their kids --

00:12:32.076 --> 00:12:34.889
they train them in the same way
the US Marines train.

00:12:35.307 --> 00:12:36.774
Isn't that interesting.

00:12:36.798 --> 00:12:39.076
And it scares you, and it frightens you.

00:12:39.100 --> 00:12:41.076
So these guys, you see them.

00:12:41.100 --> 00:12:44.284
You see, I, Sam Richards --
I know who these guys are.

00:12:44.308 --> 00:12:47.241
They're my students, my friends;
I know what they're thinking.

00:12:47.265 --> 00:12:48.473
You don't know.

00:12:48.497 --> 00:12:51.042
When you see them, they're something else.

00:12:52.426 --> 00:12:53.700
They're something else.

00:12:54.130 --> 00:12:55.866
That's what they are to you.

00:12:56.908 --> 00:12:59.375
We don't see it that way
in the United States,

00:12:59.399 --> 00:13:00.835
but you see it that way.

00:13:04.700 --> 00:13:05.867
So here.

00:13:06.501 --> 00:13:08.533
Of course, you've got it wrong.

00:13:08.557 --> 00:13:11.040
You're generalizing. It's wrong.

00:13:11.064 --> 00:13:13.351
You don't understand the Americans.

00:13:13.375 --> 00:13:15.055
It's not a Christian invasion.

00:13:15.079 --> 00:13:18.052
We're not just there for oil;
we're there for lots of reasons.

00:13:18.076 --> 00:13:20.089
You have it wrong. You've missed it.

00:13:20.113 --> 00:13:22.890
And of course, most of you
don't support the insurgency;

00:13:22.914 --> 00:13:24.672
you don't support killing Americans;

00:13:24.696 --> 00:13:26.676
you don't support the terrorists.

00:13:26.700 --> 00:13:28.676
Of course you don't. Very few people do.

00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:30.964
But -- some of you do.

00:13:31.972 --> 00:13:33.394
And this is a perspective.

00:13:33.781 --> 00:13:36.513
OK. So now, here's what we're going to do.

00:13:36.537 --> 00:13:40.498
Step outside of your shoes
that you're in right now,

00:13:40.522 --> 00:13:42.312
and step back into your normal shoes.

00:13:42.336 --> 00:13:44.311
So everyone's back in the room. OK?

00:13:45.265 --> 00:13:47.166
Now here comes the radical experiment.

00:13:47.190 --> 00:13:48.547
So we're all back home.

00:13:51.116 --> 00:13:53.208
This photo: this woman --

00:13:53.232 --> 00:13:55.105
man, I feel her.

00:13:55.129 --> 00:13:56.702
I feel her.

00:13:56.726 --> 00:13:58.206
She's my sister,

00:13:58.230 --> 00:14:01.414
my wife, my cousin, my neighbor.

00:14:01.438 --> 00:14:02.834
She's anybody to me.

00:14:02.858 --> 00:14:05.565
These guys standing there,
everybody in the photo --

00:14:05.589 --> 00:14:07.306
I feel this photo, man.

00:14:08.732 --> 00:14:10.367
So here's what I want you to do.

00:14:10.391 --> 00:14:13.443
Let's go back to my first
example, of the Chinese.

00:14:14.400 --> 00:14:16.222
I want you to go there.

00:14:16.246 --> 00:14:19.476
It's all about coal, and the Chinese
are here in the United States.

00:14:19.500 --> 00:14:21.246
What I want you to do is picture her

00:14:21.270 --> 00:14:24.198
as a Chinese woman
receiving a Chinese flag

00:14:24.222 --> 00:14:28.891
because her loved one has died
in America in the coal uprising.

00:14:29.512 --> 00:14:31.141
And the soldiers are Chinese,

00:14:31.165 --> 00:14:33.040
and everybody else is Chinese.

00:14:33.520 --> 00:14:36.520
As an American, how do you feel
about this picture?

00:14:38.830 --> 00:14:40.726
What do you think about that scene?

00:14:43.600 --> 00:14:46.122
OK, try this. Bring it back.

00:14:46.146 --> 00:14:47.576
This is the scene here.

00:14:47.600 --> 00:14:49.466
It's an American, American soldiers,

00:14:49.490 --> 00:14:52.545
American woman who lost
her loved one in the Middle East,

00:14:52.569 --> 00:14:54.772
in Iraq or Afghanistan.

00:14:54.796 --> 00:14:56.772
Now, put yourself in the shoes,

00:14:56.796 --> 00:15:00.651
go back to the shoes
of an Arab Muslim living in Iraq.

00:15:02.905 --> 00:15:07.703
What are you feeling and thinking
about this photo,

00:15:07.727 --> 00:15:09.540
about this woman?

00:15:17.901 --> 00:15:19.576
OK,

00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:21.576
now follow me on this,

00:15:21.600 --> 00:15:23.731
because I'm taking a big risk here.

00:15:23.755 --> 00:15:26.494
And so I'm going to invite you
to take a risk with me.

00:15:27.040 --> 00:15:28.040
Okay?

00:15:31.318 --> 00:15:33.295
These gentlemen here, they're insurgents.

00:15:33.319 --> 00:15:37.328
They were caught by the American soldiers,
trying to kill Americans.

00:15:37.352 --> 00:15:40.762
And maybe they succeeded.
Maybe they succeeded.

00:15:42.086 --> 00:15:46.460
Put yourself in the shoes
of the Americans who caught them.

00:15:47.207 --> 00:15:49.287
Can you feel the rage?

00:15:49.311 --> 00:15:51.693
Can you feel that you just want
to take these guys

00:15:51.717 --> 00:15:53.167
and wring their necks?

00:15:53.191 --> 00:15:54.441
Can you go there?

00:15:55.335 --> 00:15:57.010
It shouldn't be that difficult.

00:15:57.389 --> 00:16:00.081
You just -- oh, man.

00:16:02.474 --> 00:16:07.645
Now, put yourself in their shoes.

00:16:11.671 --> 00:16:13.648
Are they brutal killers

00:16:13.672 --> 00:16:15.625
or patriotic defenders?

00:16:17.601 --> 00:16:18.754
Which one?

00:16:19.391 --> 00:16:22.576
Can you feel their anger,

00:16:22.600 --> 00:16:24.031
their fear,

00:16:24.055 --> 00:16:26.031
their rage

00:16:26.724 --> 00:16:28.921
at what has happened in their country?

00:16:28.945 --> 00:16:33.348
Can you imagine that maybe
one of them, in the morning,

00:16:33.372 --> 00:16:36.504
bent down to their child
and hugged their child

00:16:36.528 --> 00:16:40.505
and said, "Dear, I'll be back later.

00:16:40.529 --> 00:16:43.858
I'm going out to defend
your freedom, your lives.

00:16:43.882 --> 00:16:46.355
I'm going out to look out for us,

00:16:47.369 --> 00:16:48.893
the future of our country."

00:16:49.980 --> 00:16:51.277
Can you imagine that?

00:16:51.301 --> 00:16:52.804
Can you imagine saying that?

00:16:54.028 --> 00:16:55.444
Can you go there?

00:16:58.600 --> 00:17:00.335
What do you think they're feeling?

00:17:08.623 --> 00:17:10.028
You see, that's empathy.

00:17:11.281 --> 00:17:12.726
It's also understanding.

00:17:12.750 --> 00:17:14.377
[understand]

00:17:14.402 --> 00:17:15.710
Now, you might ask,

00:17:15.733 --> 00:17:19.001
"OK, Sam, so why do you
do this sort of thing?

00:17:19.025 --> 00:17:21.385
Why would you use
this example of all examples?"

00:17:21.409 --> 00:17:24.076
And I say, because.

00:17:25.800 --> 00:17:27.601
You're allowed to hate these people.

00:17:27.625 --> 00:17:32.776
You're allowed to just hate them
with every fiber of your being.

00:17:32.800 --> 00:17:36.577
And if I can get you
to step into their shoes

00:17:36.601 --> 00:17:40.158
and walk an inch -- one tiny inch --

00:17:40.980 --> 00:17:43.694
then imagine the kind
of sociological analysis

00:17:43.718 --> 00:17:47.336
that you can do in all other
aspects of your life.

00:17:48.368 --> 00:17:49.776
You can walk a mile

00:17:49.800 --> 00:17:54.871
when it comes to understanding why
that person's driving 40 miles per hour

00:17:54.895 --> 00:17:56.292
in the passing lane;

00:17:57.093 --> 00:17:58.764
or your teenage son;

00:17:59.474 --> 00:18:03.117
or your neighbor who annoys you
by cutting his lawn on Sunday mornings.

00:18:03.141 --> 00:18:05.997
Whatever it is, you can go so far.

00:18:06.601 --> 00:18:08.696
And this is what I tell my students:

00:18:08.720 --> 00:18:12.212
step outside of your tiny, little world.

00:18:12.236 --> 00:18:16.748
Step inside of the tiny,
little world of somebody else.

00:18:16.989 --> 00:18:18.430
And then do it again

00:18:18.454 --> 00:18:20.153
and do it again and do it again.

00:18:20.177 --> 00:18:22.286
And suddenly, all these tiny,
little worlds,

00:18:22.310 --> 00:18:24.562
they come together in this complex web.

00:18:24.586 --> 00:18:27.656
And they build a big, complex world.

00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:30.059
And suddenly, without realizing it,

00:18:30.083 --> 00:18:32.260
you're seeing the world differently.

00:18:32.284 --> 00:18:34.047
Everything has changed.

00:18:34.071 --> 00:18:35.814
Everything in your life has changed.

00:18:36.921 --> 00:18:39.994
And that's, of course, what this is about.

00:18:40.018 --> 00:18:43.140
Attend to other lives,

00:18:43.164 --> 00:18:44.522
other visions.

00:18:44.546 --> 00:18:46.971
Listen to other people,

00:18:47.011 --> 00:18:48.856
enlighten ourselves.

00:18:48.915 --> 00:18:51.048
Abd so, what I will say here is,

00:18:53.909 --> 00:18:57.536
I'm not saying that I support
the terrorists in Iraq.

00:18:58.179 --> 00:19:01.410
But as a sociologist, what I am saying is:

00:19:02.100 --> 00:19:04.849
I understand.

00:19:06.100 --> 00:19:10.328
And now perhaps -- perhaps -- you do, too.

00:19:10.352 --> 00:19:11.504
Thank you.

00:19:11.528 --> 00:19:14.896
(Applause)