1
00:00:01,031 --> 00:00:05,095
My students often ask me,
"What is sociology?"

2
00:00:05,558 --> 00:00:09,910
And I tell them it's the study of the way
in which human beings are shaped

3
00:00:09,934 --> 00:00:11,687
by things that they don't see.

4
00:00:12,501 --> 00:00:15,825
And they say, "So,
how can I be a sociologist?

5
00:00:16,660 --> 00:00:18,778
How can I understand
those invisible forces?"

6
00:00:18,802 --> 00:00:20,330
And I say, "Empathy.

7
00:00:20,354 --> 00:00:22,454
Start with empathy.

8
00:00:22,478 --> 00:00:25,260
It all begins with empathy.

9
00:00:25,284 --> 00:00:27,040
Take yourself out of your shoes,

10
00:00:27,064 --> 00:00:29,708
put yourself into the shoes
of another person."

11
00:00:29,732 --> 00:00:31,362
Here, I'll give you an example.

12
00:00:32,263 --> 00:00:35,667
So I imagine my life
if, a hundred years ago,

13
00:00:35,691 --> 00:00:38,541
China had been the most powerful
nation in the world

14
00:00:38,565 --> 00:00:42,052
and they came to the United States
in search of coal.

15
00:00:42,076 --> 00:00:45,267
And they found it, and, in fact,
they found lots of it right here.

16
00:00:45,291 --> 00:00:48,817
And pretty soon,
they began shipping that coal,

17
00:00:48,841 --> 00:00:50,617
ton by ton,

18
00:00:50,641 --> 00:00:54,079
railcar by railcar, boatload by boatload,

19
00:00:54,103 --> 00:00:57,188
back to China and elsewhere
around the world.

20
00:00:58,069 --> 00:01:00,319
And they got fabulously
wealthy in doing so.

21
00:01:00,343 --> 00:01:02,676
And they built beautiful cities

22
00:01:02,700 --> 00:01:05,800
all powered on that coal.

23
00:01:07,612 --> 00:01:11,033
And back here in the United States,

24
00:01:11,057 --> 00:01:13,204
we saw economic despair, deprivation.

25
00:01:13,228 --> 00:01:14,676
This is what I saw.

26
00:01:14,700 --> 00:01:17,331
I saw people struggling to get by,

27
00:01:17,355 --> 00:01:20,450
not knowing what was what
and what was next.

28
00:01:20,474 --> 00:01:22,741
And I asked myself the question:

29
00:01:22,765 --> 00:01:26,095
How is it possible that we could
be so poor here in the United States,

30
00:01:26,119 --> 00:01:29,824
because coal is such a wealthy
resource; it's so much money?

31
00:01:29,848 --> 00:01:31,008
And I realize:

32
00:01:31,032 --> 00:01:34,437
because the Chinese ingratiated themselves

33
00:01:34,461 --> 00:01:37,220
with a small ruling class
here in the United States,

34
00:01:37,244 --> 00:01:40,782
who stole all of that money
and all of that wealth for themselves.

35
00:01:41,430 --> 00:01:43,596
And the rest of us,
the vast majority of us,

36
00:01:43,620 --> 00:01:44,885
struggle to get by.

37
00:01:45,389 --> 00:01:48,493
And the Chinese
gave this small ruling elite

38
00:01:48,517 --> 00:01:51,886
loads of military weapons
and sophisticated technology

39
00:01:51,910 --> 00:01:54,676
in order to ensure that people like me

40
00:01:54,700 --> 00:01:57,700
would not speak out
against this relationship.

41
00:01:58,573 --> 00:02:00,009
Does this sound familiar?

42
00:02:01,445 --> 00:02:04,806
And they did things like train Americans
to help protect the coal.

43
00:02:05,056 --> 00:02:08,294
And everywhere, there were
symbols of the Chinese --

44
00:02:08,318 --> 00:02:11,294
everywhere, a constant reminder.

45
00:02:11,931 --> 00:02:14,074
And back in China,

46
00:02:14,098 --> 00:02:15,424
what do they say in China?

47
00:02:15,448 --> 00:02:19,047
Nothing! They don't talk about us.
They don't talk about the coal.

48
00:02:19,071 --> 00:02:20,261
If you ask them,

49
00:02:20,285 --> 00:02:22,676
they'll say, "Well, you know,
we need the coal.

50
00:02:22,700 --> 00:02:25,898
I mean, come on, I'm not going
to turn down my thermostat.

51
00:02:26,422 --> 00:02:27,827
You can't expect that."

52
00:02:28,374 --> 00:02:31,549
And so, I get angry, and I get pissed,

53
00:02:31,573 --> 00:02:33,886
as do lots of average people.

54
00:02:33,910 --> 00:02:36,452
And we fight back,
and it gets really ugly.

55
00:02:36,476 --> 00:02:38,885
And the Chinese respond
in a very ugly way.

56
00:02:40,620 --> 00:02:43,015
And before we know it,
they send in the tanks

57
00:02:43,039 --> 00:02:44,736
and they send in the troops.

58
00:02:45,382 --> 00:02:47,030
And lots of people are dying.

59
00:02:47,700 --> 00:02:51,451
And it's a very, very difficult situation.

60
00:02:52,676 --> 00:02:55,723
Can you imagine what you would feel

61
00:02:55,747 --> 00:02:57,912
if you were in my shoes?

62
00:02:57,936 --> 00:03:00,261
Can you imagine
walking out of this building

63
00:03:00,285 --> 00:03:02,103
and seeing a tank sitting out there,

64
00:03:02,127 --> 00:03:04,454
or a truck full of soldiers?

65
00:03:05,900 --> 00:03:09,120
Just imagine what you would feel,
because you know why they're here;

66
00:03:09,144 --> 00:03:10,790
you know what they're doing here.

67
00:03:10,814 --> 00:03:13,701
And you just feel the anger
and you feel the fear.

68
00:03:14,374 --> 00:03:17,140
If you can, that's empathy.
That's empathy.

69
00:03:17,164 --> 00:03:20,343
You've left your shoes,
and you've stood in mine.

70
00:03:21,138 --> 00:03:22,953
And you've got to feel that.

71
00:03:22,977 --> 00:03:24,676
OK, so that's the warm-up.

72
00:03:25,056 --> 00:03:26,228
That's the warm-up.

73
00:03:26,252 --> 00:03:29,986
Now we're going to have
the real radical experiment.

74
00:03:30,010 --> 00:03:33,676
So, for the remainder of my talk,
what I want you to do

75
00:03:33,700 --> 00:03:38,288
is put yourselves in the shoes
of an ordinary Arab Muslim

76
00:03:38,312 --> 00:03:40,041
living in the Middle East --

77
00:03:40,065 --> 00:03:42,191
in particular, in Iraq.

78
00:03:44,343 --> 00:03:45,626
And so to help you,

79
00:03:46,271 --> 00:03:50,247
perhaps you're a member
of this middle-class family in Baghdad.

80
00:03:50,604 --> 00:03:53,298
What you want is the best for your kids.

81
00:03:53,322 --> 00:03:55,299
You want your kids to have a better life.

82
00:03:55,323 --> 00:03:57,410
And you watch the news, you pay attention.

83
00:03:57,434 --> 00:04:00,988
You read the newspaper, you go down
to the coffee shop with your friends,

84
00:04:01,012 --> 00:04:03,233
you read the newspapers
from around the world.

85
00:04:03,257 --> 00:04:06,293
Sometimes you even watch satellite,
CNN, from the United States.

86
00:04:06,317 --> 00:04:08,804
You have a sense of what
the Americans are thinking.

87
00:04:08,828 --> 00:04:11,876
But really, you just want
a better life for yourself.

88
00:04:11,900 --> 00:04:13,088
That's what you want.

89
00:04:13,445 --> 00:04:16,509
You're Arab Muslim living in Iraq.

90
00:04:16,533 --> 00:04:18,280
You want a better life for yourself.

91
00:04:18,304 --> 00:04:19,518
So here, let me help you.

92
00:04:19,542 --> 00:04:23,033
Let me help you with some things
that you might be thinking.

93
00:04:23,057 --> 00:04:24,326
Number one:

94
00:04:24,350 --> 00:04:28,676
this incursion into your land
these past 20 years and before --

95
00:04:28,700 --> 00:04:30,819
the reason anyone
is interested in your land,

96
00:04:30,843 --> 00:04:32,987
and particularly
the United States, is oil.

97
00:04:33,011 --> 00:04:36,120
It's all about oil; you know that,
everybody knows that.

98
00:04:36,144 --> 00:04:39,244
People back in the United States
know it's about oil.

99
00:04:39,459 --> 00:04:44,557
It's because somebody else
has a design for your resource.

100
00:04:44,581 --> 00:04:47,134
It's your resource --
it's not somebody else's.

101
00:04:47,158 --> 00:04:50,136
It's your land; it's your resource.

102
00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:51,833
Somebody else has a design for it.

103
00:04:52,778 --> 00:04:54,631
And you know why they have a design?

104
00:04:54,655 --> 00:04:56,752
You know why they have
their eyes set on it?

105
00:04:56,776 --> 00:04:58,850
Because they have
an entire economic system

106
00:04:58,874 --> 00:05:02,083
that's dependent
on that oil -- foreign oil,

107
00:05:02,107 --> 00:05:04,733
oil from other parts of the world
that they don't own.

108
00:05:05,247 --> 00:05:07,814
And what else do you think
about these people?

109
00:05:07,838 --> 00:05:09,246
The Americans, they're rich.

110
00:05:09,270 --> 00:05:11,791
Come on, they live in big houses,
they have big cars.

111
00:05:11,815 --> 00:05:14,215
They all have blond hair,
blue eyes. They're happy.

112
00:05:14,239 --> 00:05:17,748
You think that. It's not true, of course,
but that's the media impression.

113
00:05:17,772 --> 00:05:18,968
And that's what you get.

114
00:05:18,992 --> 00:05:20,200
And they have big cities,

115
00:05:20,224 --> 00:05:23,327
and the cities are all dependent on oil.

116
00:05:24,700 --> 00:05:26,676
And back home, what do you see?

117
00:05:26,700 --> 00:05:28,724
Poverty, despair, struggle.

118
00:05:29,216 --> 00:05:31,608
Look, you don't live in a wealthy country.

119
00:05:31,632 --> 00:05:33,679
I mean -- this is Iraq.

120
00:05:35,275 --> 00:05:37,188
This is what you see.

121
00:05:37,212 --> 00:05:39,526
You see people struggling to get by.

122
00:05:39,873 --> 00:05:41,942
It's not easy; you see a lot of poverty.

123
00:05:41,966 --> 00:05:43,633
And you feel something about this.

124
00:05:43,657 --> 00:05:45,754
These people have designs
for your resource,

125
00:05:45,778 --> 00:05:47,083
and this is what you see?

126
00:05:47,982 --> 00:05:50,094
Something else you see
that you talk about --

127
00:05:50,118 --> 00:05:52,328
Americans don't talk
about this, but you do --

128
00:05:52,352 --> 00:05:54,879
there's this thing,
this militarization of the world,

129
00:05:54,903 --> 00:05:57,047
and it's centered
right in the United States.

130
00:05:57,071 --> 00:05:58,945
And the United States is responsible

131
00:05:58,969 --> 00:06:03,447
for almost one half
of the world's military spending.

132
00:06:04,264 --> 00:06:06,256
Four percent of the world's population!

133
00:06:06,280 --> 00:06:08,824
And you feel it; you see it every day.

134
00:06:08,848 --> 00:06:10,170
It's part of your life.

135
00:06:10,194 --> 00:06:12,972
And you talk about it with your friends.

136
00:06:12,996 --> 00:06:14,584
You read about it.

137
00:06:14,608 --> 00:06:17,839
And back when Saddam Hussein was in power,

138
00:06:18,486 --> 00:06:21,387
the Americans didn't care
about his crimes.

139
00:06:21,411 --> 00:06:23,828
When he was gassing
the Kurds and gassing Iran,

140
00:06:23,852 --> 00:06:25,327
they didn't care about it.

141
00:06:25,351 --> 00:06:27,430
When oil was at stake,

142
00:06:27,454 --> 00:06:30,914
somehow, suddenly, things mattered.

143
00:06:32,485 --> 00:06:34,887
And what you see, something else:

144
00:06:34,911 --> 00:06:36,697
the United States,

145
00:06:36,721 --> 00:06:38,830
the hub of democracy around the world --

146
00:06:38,854 --> 00:06:42,493
they don't seem to really be supporting
democratic countries

147
00:06:42,517 --> 00:06:44,404
all around the world.

148
00:06:44,428 --> 00:06:47,147
There are a lot of countries,
oil-producing countries,

149
00:06:47,171 --> 00:06:50,399
that aren't very democratic,
but supported by the United States.

150
00:06:51,130 --> 00:06:52,293
That's odd.

151
00:06:52,317 --> 00:06:55,118
Oh -- these incursions, these two wars,

152
00:06:55,142 --> 00:06:57,454
the 10 years of sanctions,

153
00:06:57,478 --> 00:07:01,149
the eight years of occupation,

154
00:07:01,173 --> 00:07:04,827
the insurgency that's been
unleashed on your people,

155
00:07:04,851 --> 00:07:07,676
the tens of thousands,
the hundreds of thousands

156
00:07:07,700 --> 00:07:10,164
of civilian deaths?

157
00:07:12,914 --> 00:07:14,760
All because of oil.

158
00:07:15,628 --> 00:07:17,144
You can't help but think that.

159
00:07:17,588 --> 00:07:18,969
You talk about it.

160
00:07:19,700 --> 00:07:22,176
It's in the forefront
of your mind, always.

161
00:07:22,700 --> 00:07:24,715
You say, "How is that possible?"

162
00:07:25,207 --> 00:07:27,628
And this man, he's everyman --

163
00:07:28,700 --> 00:07:30,751
your grandfather, your uncle,

164
00:07:30,775 --> 00:07:32,838
your father, your son, your neighbor,

165
00:07:32,862 --> 00:07:34,507
your professor, your student.

166
00:07:35,092 --> 00:07:37,971
Once a life of happiness and joy

167
00:07:37,995 --> 00:07:40,012
and suddenly, pain and sorrow.

168
00:07:42,100 --> 00:07:48,314
Everyone in your country
has been touched by the violence,

169
00:07:48,338 --> 00:07:51,423
the bloodshed, the pain,
the horror -- everybody.

170
00:07:51,447 --> 00:07:56,620
Not a single person in your country
has not been touched.

171
00:07:57,124 --> 00:07:58,676
But there's something else.

172
00:07:58,700 --> 00:08:02,676
There's something else about these people,
these Americans who are there.

173
00:08:02,700 --> 00:08:04,901
There's something else
about them that you see

174
00:08:04,925 --> 00:08:06,499
that they don't see themselves.

175
00:08:06,523 --> 00:08:08,675
And what do you see? They're Christians!

176
00:08:08,699 --> 00:08:10,167
They're Christians.

177
00:08:10,191 --> 00:08:13,692
They worship the Christian God,
they have crosses, they carry Bibles.

178
00:08:13,716 --> 00:08:15,874
Their Bibles have a little insignia

179
00:08:15,898 --> 00:08:18,673
that says "US Army" on them.

180
00:08:19,700 --> 00:08:22,676
And their leaders, their leaders:

181
00:08:22,700 --> 00:08:26,993
before they send their sons and daughters
off to war in your country --

182
00:08:27,017 --> 00:08:28,355
and you know the reason --

183
00:08:28,379 --> 00:08:29,946
before they send them off,

184
00:08:29,970 --> 00:08:33,272
they go to a Christian church,
and they pray to their Christian God,

185
00:08:33,296 --> 00:08:36,080
and they ask for protection
and guidance from that god.

186
00:08:36,104 --> 00:08:37,281
Why?

187
00:08:37,305 --> 00:08:41,358
Well, obviously,
when people die in the war,

188
00:08:41,382 --> 00:08:45,961
they are Muslims, they are Iraqis --
they're not Americans.

189
00:08:45,985 --> 00:08:48,805
You don't want Americans to die --
"Protect Our Troops."

190
00:08:48,829 --> 00:08:51,160
And you feel something about that --

191
00:08:51,184 --> 00:08:52,387
of course you do.

192
00:08:52,411 --> 00:08:54,338
And they do wonderful things.

193
00:08:54,362 --> 00:08:56,176
You read about it, you hear about it.

194
00:08:56,200 --> 00:08:58,418
They're there to build schools
and help people.

195
00:08:58,442 --> 00:08:59,811
That's what they want to do.

196
00:08:59,835 --> 00:09:02,603
They do wonderful things,
but they also do the bad things,

197
00:09:02,627 --> 00:09:04,262
and you can't tell the difference.

198
00:09:04,286 --> 00:09:07,053
And this guy, you get a guy
like Lt. Gen. William Boykin.

199
00:09:07,077 --> 00:09:09,574
Here's a guy who says
that your god is a false god.

200
00:09:09,598 --> 00:09:11,676
Your god's an idol;
his god is the true god.

201
00:09:11,700 --> 00:09:14,796
The solution to the problem
in the Middle East, according to him,

202
00:09:14,820 --> 00:09:16,754
is to convert you all to Christianity --

203
00:09:16,778 --> 00:09:18,234
just get rid of your religion.

204
00:09:18,700 --> 00:09:21,411
And you know that.
Americans don't read about this guy.

205
00:09:21,435 --> 00:09:23,676
They don't know anything
about him, but you do.

206
00:09:23,700 --> 00:09:25,891
You pass it around.
You pass his words around.

207
00:09:25,915 --> 00:09:28,487
I mean, this is serious. You're afraid.

208
00:09:28,511 --> 00:09:31,751
He was one of the leading commanders
in the second invasion of Iraq.

209
00:09:31,775 --> 00:09:34,489
And you're thinking,
"My God, if this guy is saying that,

210
00:09:34,513 --> 00:09:36,620
then all the soldiers
must be saying that."

211
00:09:37,112 --> 00:09:38,597
And this word here --

212
00:09:38,621 --> 00:09:40,534
George Bush called this war a crusade.

213
00:09:40,558 --> 00:09:43,036
Man, the Americans,
they're just like, "Ah, crusade.

214
00:09:43,060 --> 00:09:45,006
Whatever. I don't know what that means."

215
00:09:45,030 --> 00:09:48,055
You know what it means --
it's a holy war against Muslims.

216
00:09:48,079 --> 00:09:51,908
Look, invade, subdue them,
take their resources.

217
00:09:51,932 --> 00:09:53,742
If they won't submit, kill them.

218
00:09:54,205 --> 00:09:55,556
That's what this is about.

219
00:09:55,580 --> 00:09:59,208
And you're thinking, "My God,
these Christians are coming to kill us."

220
00:09:59,232 --> 00:10:00,676
This is frightening.

221
00:10:00,700 --> 00:10:03,454
You feel frightened.
Of course you feel frightened.

222
00:10:03,478 --> 00:10:06,175
And this man, Terry Jones:

223
00:10:06,199 --> 00:10:08,946
I mean here's a guy
who wants to burn Qurans, right?

224
00:10:08,970 --> 00:10:11,623
And the Americans:
"Ah, he's a knucklehead.

225
00:10:11,647 --> 00:10:15,276
He's a former hotel manager; he's got
three dozen members of his church ..."

226
00:10:15,300 --> 00:10:16,467
They laugh him off.

227
00:10:16,491 --> 00:10:19,677
You don't laugh him off,
because in the context of everything else,

228
00:10:19,701 --> 00:10:20,852
all the pieces fit.

229
00:10:20,876 --> 00:10:22,760
Of course this is how Americans think.

230
00:10:22,784 --> 00:10:25,787
So people all over the Middle East,
not just in your country,

231
00:10:25,811 --> 00:10:26,967
are protesting.

232
00:10:26,991 --> 00:10:28,922
"He wants to burn Qurans, our holy book.

233
00:10:28,946 --> 00:10:31,074
These Christians --
who are these Christians?

234
00:10:31,098 --> 00:10:34,513
They're so evil, they're so mean --
this is what they're about?"

235
00:10:34,537 --> 00:10:37,152
This is what you're thinking
as an Arab Muslim,

236
00:10:37,176 --> 00:10:38,585
as an Iraqi.

237
00:10:38,609 --> 00:10:40,586
Of course you're going to think this.

238
00:10:40,610 --> 00:10:44,534
And then your cousin says,
"Hey coz, check out this website.

239
00:10:44,558 --> 00:10:46,832
You've got to see this -- Bible Boot Camp.

240
00:10:46,856 --> 00:10:48,134
These Christians are nuts!

241
00:10:48,158 --> 00:10:51,025
They're training their little kids
to be soldiers for Jesus.

242
00:10:51,049 --> 00:10:53,634
They take little kids
and run them through these things

243
00:10:53,658 --> 00:10:55,960
till they teach them
how to say, 'Sir! Yes, sir!'

244
00:10:55,984 --> 00:10:59,096
and things like 'grenade toss'
and 'weapons care and maintenance.'

245
00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,152
And go to the website --
it says 'US Army' right on it.

246
00:11:02,176 --> 00:11:04,086
I mean, these Christians, they're nuts.

247
00:11:04,110 --> 00:11:06,120
How can they do this
to their little kids?"

248
00:11:06,144 --> 00:11:07,675
And you're reading this website.

249
00:11:07,699 --> 00:11:10,520
And of course, Christians
in the United States, or anybody,

250
00:11:10,544 --> 00:11:13,425
says, "This is some little church
in the middle of nowhere."

251
00:11:13,449 --> 00:11:14,600
You don't know that.

252
00:11:14,624 --> 00:11:17,033
For you, this is like, all Christians.

253
00:11:17,057 --> 00:11:19,359
It's all over the Web: "Bible Boot Camp."

254
00:11:19,383 --> 00:11:20,712
And look at this.

255
00:11:21,157 --> 00:11:22,552
They even teach their kids --

256
00:11:22,576 --> 00:11:25,389
they train them in the same way
the US Marines train.

257
00:11:25,907 --> 00:11:27,374
Isn't that interesting.

258
00:11:27,398 --> 00:11:29,676
And it scares you, and it frightens you.

259
00:11:29,700 --> 00:11:31,676
So these guys, you see them.

260
00:11:31,700 --> 00:11:34,884
You see, I, Sam Richards --
I know who these guys are.

261
00:11:34,908 --> 00:11:37,841
They're my students, my friends;
I know what they're thinking.

262
00:11:37,865 --> 00:11:39,073
You don't know.

263
00:11:39,097 --> 00:11:41,642
When you see them, they're something else.

264
00:11:42,426 --> 00:11:43,700
They're something else.

265
00:11:44,130 --> 00:11:45,866
That's what they are to you.

266
00:11:46,908 --> 00:11:49,375
We don't see it that way
in the United States,

267
00:11:49,399 --> 00:11:50,835
but you see it that way.

268
00:11:54,700 --> 00:11:55,867
So here.

269
00:11:56,501 --> 00:11:58,533
Of course, you've got it wrong.

270
00:11:58,557 --> 00:12:01,040
You're generalizing. It's wrong.

271
00:12:01,064 --> 00:12:03,351
You don't understand the Americans.

272
00:12:03,375 --> 00:12:05,055
It's not a Christian invasion.

273
00:12:05,079 --> 00:12:08,052
We're not just there for oil;
we're there for lots of reasons.

274
00:12:08,076 --> 00:12:10,089
You have it wrong. You've missed it.

275
00:12:10,113 --> 00:12:12,890
And of course, most of you
don't support the insurgency;

276
00:12:12,914 --> 00:12:14,672
you don't support killing Americans;

277
00:12:14,696 --> 00:12:16,676
you don't support the terrorists.

278
00:12:16,700 --> 00:12:18,676
Of course you don't. Very few people do.

279
00:12:18,700 --> 00:12:20,964
But -- some of you do.

280
00:12:21,972 --> 00:12:23,394
And this is a perspective.

281
00:12:23,781 --> 00:12:26,513
OK. So now, here's what we're going to do.

282
00:12:26,537 --> 00:12:30,498
Step outside of your shoes
that you're in right now,

283
00:12:30,522 --> 00:12:32,312
and step back into your normal shoes.

284
00:12:32,336 --> 00:12:34,311
So everyone's back in the room. OK?

285
00:12:35,265 --> 00:12:37,166
Now here comes the radical experiment.

286
00:12:37,190 --> 00:12:38,547
So we're all back home.

287
00:12:39,216 --> 00:12:41,308
This photo: this woman --

288
00:12:41,332 --> 00:12:43,205
man, I feel her.

289
00:12:43,229 --> 00:12:44,802
I feel her.

290
00:12:44,826 --> 00:12:46,306
She's my sister,

291
00:12:46,330 --> 00:12:49,514
my wife, my cousin, my neighbor.

292
00:12:49,538 --> 00:12:50,934
She's anybody to me.

293
00:12:50,958 --> 00:12:53,665
These guys standing there,
everybody in the photo --

294
00:12:53,689 --> 00:12:55,406
I feel this photo, man.

295
00:12:56,832 --> 00:12:58,467
So here's what I want you to do.

296
00:12:58,491 --> 00:13:01,543
Let's go back to my first
example, of the Chinese.

297
00:13:02,500 --> 00:13:04,322
I want you to go there.

298
00:13:04,346 --> 00:13:07,576
It's all about coal, and the Chinese
are here in the United States.

299
00:13:07,600 --> 00:13:09,346
What I want you to do is picture her

300
00:13:09,370 --> 00:13:12,298
as a Chinese woman
receiving a Chinese flag

301
00:13:12,322 --> 00:13:16,991
because her loved one has died
in America in the coal uprising.

302
00:13:17,612 --> 00:13:19,241
And the soldiers are Chinese,

303
00:13:19,265 --> 00:13:21,140
and everybody else is Chinese.

304
00:13:21,620 --> 00:13:24,620
As an American, how do you feel
about this picture?

305
00:13:26,930 --> 00:13:28,826
What do you think about that scene?

306
00:13:31,700 --> 00:13:34,222
OK, try this. Bring it back.

307
00:13:34,246 --> 00:13:35,676
This is the scene here.

308
00:13:35,700 --> 00:13:37,566
It's an American, American soldiers,

309
00:13:37,590 --> 00:13:40,645
American woman who lost
her loved one in the Middle East,

310
00:13:40,669 --> 00:13:42,872
in Iraq or Afghanistan.

311
00:13:42,896 --> 00:13:44,872
Now, put yourself in the shoes,

312
00:13:44,896 --> 00:13:48,751
go back to the shoes
of an Arab Muslim living in Iraq.

313
00:13:51,005 --> 00:13:55,803
What are you feeling and thinking
about this photo,

314
00:13:55,827 --> 00:13:57,640
about this woman?

315
00:14:06,001 --> 00:14:07,676
OK,

316
00:14:07,700 --> 00:14:09,676
now follow me on this,

317
00:14:09,700 --> 00:14:11,831
because I'm taking a big risk here.

318
00:14:11,855 --> 00:14:14,594
And so I'm going to invite you
to take a risk with me.

319
00:14:14,618 --> 00:14:16,595
These gentlemen here, they're insurgents.

320
00:14:16,619 --> 00:14:20,628
They were caught by the American soldiers,
trying to kill Americans.

321
00:14:20,652 --> 00:14:24,062
And maybe they succeeded.
Maybe they succeeded.

322
00:14:24,086 --> 00:14:28,460
Put yourself in the shoes
of the Americans who caught them.

323
00:14:29,207 --> 00:14:31,287
Can you feel the rage?

324
00:14:31,311 --> 00:14:33,693
Can you feel that you just want
to take these guys

325
00:14:33,717 --> 00:14:35,167
and wring their necks?

326
00:14:35,191 --> 00:14:36,441
Can you go there?

327
00:14:37,335 --> 00:14:39,010
It shouldn't be that difficult.

328
00:14:39,389 --> 00:14:42,338
You just -- oh, man.

329
00:14:43,274 --> 00:14:48,445
Now, put yourself in their shoes.

330
00:14:50,771 --> 00:14:52,748
Are they brutal killers

331
00:14:52,772 --> 00:14:54,725
or patriotic defenders?

332
00:14:56,701 --> 00:14:57,854
Which one?

333
00:14:58,491 --> 00:15:01,676
Can you feel their anger,

334
00:15:01,700 --> 00:15:03,131
their fear,

335
00:15:03,155 --> 00:15:05,131
their rage

336
00:15:05,824 --> 00:15:08,021
at what has happened in their country?

337
00:15:08,045 --> 00:15:12,448
Can you imagine that maybe
one of them, in the morning,

338
00:15:12,472 --> 00:15:15,604
bent down to their child
and hugged their child

339
00:15:15,628 --> 00:15:19,605
and said, "Dear, I'll be back later.

340
00:15:19,629 --> 00:15:22,958
I'm going out to defend
your freedom, your lives.

341
00:15:22,982 --> 00:15:25,455
I'm going out to look out for us,

342
00:15:26,469 --> 00:15:27,993
the future of our country."

343
00:15:29,080 --> 00:15:30,377
Can you imagine that?

344
00:15:30,401 --> 00:15:31,904
Can you imagine saying that?

345
00:15:33,128 --> 00:15:34,544
Can you go there?

346
00:15:37,700 --> 00:15:39,435
What do you think they're feeling?

347
00:15:47,723 --> 00:15:49,128
You see, that's empathy.

348
00:15:49,882 --> 00:15:51,326
It's also understanding.

349
00:15:51,350 --> 00:15:52,978
[understand]

350
00:15:53,002 --> 00:15:54,310
Now, you might ask,

351
00:15:54,334 --> 00:15:57,601
"OK, Sam, so why do you
do this sort of thing?

352
00:15:57,625 --> 00:15:59,985
Why would you use
this example of all examples?"

353
00:16:00,009 --> 00:16:02,676
And I say, because.

354
00:16:02,700 --> 00:16:04,501
You're allowed to hate these people.

355
00:16:04,525 --> 00:16:09,676
You're allowed to just hate them
with every fiber of your being.

356
00:16:09,700 --> 00:16:13,477
And if I can get you
to step into their shoes

357
00:16:13,501 --> 00:16:17,058
and walk an inch -- one tiny inch --

358
00:16:17,880 --> 00:16:20,594
then imagine the kind
of sociological analysis

359
00:16:20,618 --> 00:16:24,236
that you can do in all other
aspects of your life.

360
00:16:25,268 --> 00:16:26,676
You can walk a mile

361
00:16:26,700 --> 00:16:31,771
when it comes to understanding why
that person's driving 40 miles per hour

362
00:16:31,795 --> 00:16:33,192
in the passing lane;

363
00:16:33,993 --> 00:16:35,664
or your teenage son;

364
00:16:36,374 --> 00:16:40,017
or your neighbor who annoys you
by cutting his lawn on Sunday mornings.

365
00:16:40,041 --> 00:16:42,897
Whatever it is, you can go so far.

366
00:16:43,501 --> 00:16:45,596
And this is what I tell my students:

367
00:16:45,620 --> 00:16:49,112
step outside of your tiny, little world.

368
00:16:49,136 --> 00:16:53,648
Step inside of the tiny,
little world of somebody else.

369
00:16:53,889 --> 00:16:55,330
And then do it again

370
00:16:55,354 --> 00:16:57,053
and do it again and do it again.

371
00:16:57,077 --> 00:16:59,186
And suddenly, all these tiny,
little worlds,

372
00:16:59,210 --> 00:17:01,462
they come together in this complex web.

373
00:17:01,486 --> 00:17:04,556
And they build a big, complex world.

374
00:17:04,580 --> 00:17:06,959
And suddenly, without realizing it,

375
00:17:06,983 --> 00:17:09,160
you're seeing the world differently.

376
00:17:09,184 --> 00:17:10,947
Everything has changed.

377
00:17:10,971 --> 00:17:12,714
Everything in your life has changed.

378
00:17:13,821 --> 00:17:16,894
And that's, of course, what this is about.

379
00:17:16,918 --> 00:17:20,040
Attend to other lives,

380
00:17:20,064 --> 00:17:21,422
other visions.

381
00:17:21,446 --> 00:17:23,871
Listen to other people,

382
00:17:23,895 --> 00:17:25,740
enlighten ourselves.

383
00:17:26,509 --> 00:17:30,136
I'm not saying that I support
the terrorists in Iraq.

384
00:17:30,779 --> 00:17:34,010
But as a sociologist, what I am saying is:

385
00:17:34,700 --> 00:17:37,449
I understand.

386
00:17:38,700 --> 00:17:42,928
And now perhaps -- perhaps -- you do, too.

387
00:17:42,952 --> 00:17:44,104
Thank you.

388
00:17:44,128 --> 00:17:47,007
(Applause)