This Ted Talk by David Rothkopf, entitled “How fear drives American politics,” was primarily about the inability to generate proportional policy responses in government. He starts off using 9/11 as an example of fear driving policy. He argues that a strong response was necessary, however the changes to our defense system were disproportionate and did not have the intended effects. Rothkopf says that the dysfunction in Washington is more dangerous than terrorism. He acknowledges that sometimes fear can produce constructive responses but that has not been the case for a long time. In today’s world, the largest obstacle to democracy is technology, he seems to believe. I thought he made some good points, for example the deterrence of policy makers to create bold ideas because public attack on social media can be so severe that it threatens reelection. There is an us versus them mentality that is amplified with technology, and this can certainly be threatening.

I thought watching this Ted Talk was rather stressful. A lot of what he was saying made sense, and I can definitely see the ways that the government has failed to adjust to technological advances. There is a great deal of fear and power held in the internet, and it is important that they respond proportionally. However, I wish he had gone a bit more into a solution. I was left with the sense that the government is not working effectively but less of an idea of how to fix it. Nonetheless, Rothkopf highlighted a lot of key problems so I am happy I watched it.

I do see a large connection to the current situation of the pandemic. It makes me especially nervous that the government will make a mistake in their response that we will suffer from for years to come. On a hopeful note, I think there may be an important opportunity for change on the other side of this crisis. So many inequalities have been brought to light that it will be (hopefully) impossible for policy makers to ignore, and that successful changes will be enacted.