0:00:03.310,0:00:04.845 Well, as many of you know, 0:00:04.869,0:00:07.251 the results of the recent[br]election were as follows: 0:00:08.220,0:00:10.836 Hillary Clinton, the Democratic candidate 0:00:10.860,0:00:12.756 won a landslide victory 0:00:12.780,0:00:14.860 with 52 percent of the overall vote. 0:00:15.580,0:00:17.836 Jill Stein, the Green candidate, 0:00:17.860,0:00:20.460 came a distant second, with 19 percent. 0:00:21.140,0:00:23.596 Donald J. Trump, the Republic candidate, 0:00:23.620,0:00:25.900 was hot on her heels with 14 percent, 0:00:26.740,0:00:30.156 and the remainder of the vote[br]were shared between abstainers 0:00:30.180,0:00:33.220 and Gary Johnson,[br]the Libertarian candidate. 0:00:36.320,0:00:37.890 (Laughter) 0:00:38.420,0:00:42.340 Now, what parallel universe[br]do you suppose I live in? 0:00:43.820,0:00:45.836 Well, I don't live in a parallel universe. 0:00:45.860,0:00:48.660 I live in the world,[br]and that is how the world voted. 0:00:50.220,0:00:52.860 So let me take you back[br]and explain what I mean by that. 0:00:53.860,0:00:55.076 In June this year, 0:00:55.100,0:00:57.260 I launched something[br]called the Global Vote. 0:00:57.860,0:01:00.940 And the Global Vote[br]does exactly what it says on the tin. 0:01:01.700,0:01:03.356 For the first time in history, 0:01:03.380,0:01:06.116 it lets anybody, anywhere in the world, 0:01:06.140,0:01:09.140 vote in the elections[br]of other people's countries. 0:01:10.100,0:01:11.386 Now, why would you do that? 0:01:12.180,0:01:13.796 What's the point? 0:01:13.820,0:01:16.156 Well, let me show you what it looks like. 0:01:16.180,0:01:17.580 You go to a website, 0:01:18.860,0:01:20.146 rather a beautiful website, 0:01:20.900,0:01:23.716 and then you select an election. 0:01:23.740,0:01:25.780 Here's a bunch that we've already covered. 0:01:27.020,0:01:30.156 We do about one a month, or thereabouts. 0:01:30.180,0:01:32.996 So you can see Bulgaria,[br]the United States of America, 0:01:33.020,0:01:35.516 Secretary-General of the United Nations, 0:01:35.540,0:01:38.476 the Brexit referendum at the end there. 0:01:38.500,0:01:41.276 You select the election[br]that you're interested in, 0:01:41.300,0:01:44.556 and you pick the candidates. 0:01:44.580,0:01:47.516 These are the candidates[br]from the recent presidential election 0:01:47.540,0:01:50.636 in the tiny island nation[br]of São Tomé and Príncipe, 0:01:50.660,0:01:53.036 199,000 inhabitants, 0:01:53.060,0:01:54.441 off the coast of West Africa. 0:01:55.580,0:02:00.076 And then you can look at the brief summary[br]of each of those candidates 0:02:00.100,0:02:02.596 which I dearly hope is very neutral, 0:02:02.620,0:02:05.436 very informative and very succinct. 0:02:05.460,0:02:07.780 And when you've found[br]the one you like, you vote. 0:02:08.700,0:02:10.236 These were the candidates 0:02:10.260,0:02:13.116 in the recent Icelandic[br]presidential election, 0:02:13.140,0:02:14.426 and that's the way it goes. 0:02:15.980,0:02:20.700 So why on earth would you want to vote[br]in another country's election? 0:02:21.780,0:02:24.876 Well, the reason[br]that you wouldn't want to do it, 0:02:24.900,0:02:26.116 let me reassure you, 0:02:26.140,0:02:30.036 is in order to interfere in the democratic[br]processes of another country. 0:02:30.060,0:02:31.716 That's not the purpose at all. 0:02:31.740,0:02:33.156 In fact, you can't, 0:02:33.180,0:02:35.636 because usually what I do[br]is I release the results 0:02:35.660,0:02:39.196 after the electorate in each[br]individual country has already voted, 0:02:39.220,0:02:42.036 so there's no way that we could[br]interfere in that process. 0:02:42.060,0:02:43.436 But more importantly, 0:02:43.460,0:02:45.036 I'm not particularly interested 0:02:45.060,0:02:47.316 in the domestic issues[br]of individual countries. 0:02:47.340,0:02:48.900 That's not what we're voting on. 0:02:49.740,0:02:53.676 So what Donald J. Trump or Hillary Clinton[br]proposed to do for the Americans 0:02:53.700,0:02:55.716 is frankly none of our business. 0:02:55.740,0:02:58.756 That's something that only[br]the Americans can vote on. 0:02:58.780,0:03:02.316 No, in the global vote,[br]you're only considering one aspect of it, 0:03:02.340,0:03:05.540 which is what are those leaders[br]going to do for the rest of us? 0:03:06.540,0:03:09.196 And that's so very important[br]because we live, 0:03:09.220,0:03:11.636 as no doubt you're sick[br]of hearing people tell you, 0:03:11.660,0:03:15.900 in a globalized, hyperconnected,[br]massively interdependent world 0:03:16.940,0:03:19.676 where the political decisions[br]of people in other countries 0:03:19.700,0:03:21.916 can and will have an impact on our lives 0:03:21.940,0:03:24.180 no matter who we are,[br]no matter where we live. 0:03:25.500,0:03:27.356 Like the wings of the butterfly 0:03:27.380,0:03:29.676 beating on one side of the Pacific 0:03:29.700,0:03:33.236 that can apparently create[br]a hurricane on the other side, 0:03:33.260,0:03:35.916 so it is with the world[br]that we live in today 0:03:35.940,0:03:37.636 and the world of politics. 0:03:37.660,0:03:41.860 There is no longer a dividing line between[br]domestic and international affairs. 0:03:42.980,0:03:45.396 Any country, no matter how small, 0:03:45.420,0:03:47.476 even if it's São Tomé and Príncipe, 0:03:47.500,0:03:50.036 could produce the next Nelson Mandela 0:03:50.060,0:03:51.260 or the next Stalin. 0:03:52.700,0:03:56.676 They could pollute the atmosphere[br]and the oceans, which belong to all of us, 0:03:56.700,0:03:59.620 or they could be responsible[br]and they could help all of us. 0:04:00.660,0:04:03.756 And yet, the system is so strange 0:04:03.780,0:04:07.476 because the system hasn't caught up[br]with this globalized reality. 0:04:07.500,0:04:10.716 Only a small number of people[br]are allowed to vote for those leaders, 0:04:10.740,0:04:12.796 even though their impact is gigantic 0:04:12.820,0:04:14.020 and almost universal. 0:04:15.100,0:04:16.516 What number was it? 0:04:16.540,0:04:19.076 140 million Americans voted 0:04:19.100,0:04:21.356 for the next president[br]of the United States, 0:04:21.380,0:04:24.315 and yet, as all of us knows,[br]in a few weeks time, 0:04:24.339,0:04:26.956 somebody is going to hand over[br]the nuclear launch codes 0:04:26.980,0:04:28.180 to Donald J. Trump. 0:04:28.780,0:04:31.596 Now, if that isn't having[br]a potential impact on all of us, 0:04:31.620,0:04:32.820 I don't know what is. 0:04:33.580,0:04:39.300 Similarly, the election[br]for the referendum on the Brexit vote, 0:04:40.260,0:04:43.676 a small number of millions[br]of British people voted on that, 0:04:43.700,0:04:46.396 but the outcome of the vote,[br]whichever way it went, 0:04:46.420,0:04:48.116 would have had a significant impact 0:04:48.140,0:04:52.556 on the lives of tens, hundreds of millions[br]of people around the world. 0:04:52.580,0:04:54.460 And yet, only a tiny number could vote. 0:04:55.020,0:04:56.500 What kind of democracy is that? 0:04:57.660,0:04:59.396 Huge decisions that affect all of us 0:04:59.420,0:05:03.276 being decided by relatively[br]very small numbers of people. 0:05:03.300,0:05:04.636 And I don't know about you, 0:05:04.660,0:05:06.820 but I don't think[br]that sounds very democratic. 0:05:07.420,0:05:09.196 So I'm trying to clear it up. 0:05:09.220,0:05:10.676 But as I say, 0:05:10.700,0:05:12.556 we don't ask about domestic questions. 0:05:12.580,0:05:15.636 In fact, I only ever ask two questions[br]of all of the candidates. 0:05:15.660,0:05:18.156 I send them the same[br]two questions every single time. 0:05:18.180,0:05:19.596 I say, one, 0:05:19.620,0:05:22.756 if you get elected, what are you[br]going to do for the rest of us, 0:05:22.780,0:05:26.196 for the remainder of the seven billion[br]who live on this planet? 0:05:26.220,0:05:28.156 Second question: 0:05:28.180,0:05:31.396 What is your vision[br]for your country's future in the world? 0:05:31.420,0:05:32.980 What role do you see it playing? 0:05:33.620,0:05:35.740 Every candidate,[br]I send them those questions. 0:05:36.420,0:05:38.516 They don't all answer. Don't get me wrong. 0:05:38.540,0:05:40.316 I reckon if you're standing 0:05:40.340,0:05:42.716 to become the next president[br]of the United States, 0:05:42.740,0:05:45.116 you're probably pretty tied up[br]most of the time, 0:05:45.140,0:05:49.196 so I'm not altogether surprised[br]that they don't all answer, but many do. 0:05:49.220,0:05:50.716 More every time. 0:05:50.740,0:05:52.796 And some of them do much more than answer. 0:05:52.820,0:05:55.956 Some of them answer in the most[br]enthusiastic and most exciting way 0:05:55.980,0:05:57.196 you could imagine. 0:05:57.220,0:05:59.716 I just want to say a word here[br]for Saviour Chishimba, 0:05:59.740,0:06:01.156 who was one of the candidates 0:06:01.180,0:06:03.436 in the recent Zambian[br]presidential election. 0:06:03.460,0:06:07.996 His answers to those two questions[br]were basically an 18-page dissertation 0:06:08.020,0:06:11.676 on his view of Zambia's[br]potential role in the world 0:06:11.700,0:06:13.716 and in the international community. 0:06:13.740,0:06:16.180 I posted it on the website[br]so anybody could read it. 0:06:16.980,0:06:19.300 Now, Saviour won the global vote, 0:06:20.020,0:06:21.900 but he didn't win the Zambian election. 0:06:22.380,0:06:23.756 So I found myself wondering, 0:06:23.780,0:06:26.716 what am I going to do[br]with this extraordinary group of people? 0:06:26.740,0:06:29.596 I've got some wonderful people here[br]who won the global vote. 0:06:29.620,0:06:31.316 We always get it wrong, by the way. 0:06:31.340,0:06:32.556 The one that we elect 0:06:32.580,0:06:35.460 is never the person who's elected[br]by the domestic electorate. 0:06:36.700,0:06:39.620 That may be partly because[br]we always seem to go for the woman. 0:06:40.460,0:06:42.596 But I think it may also be a sign 0:06:42.620,0:06:46.196 that the domestic electorate[br]is still thinking very nationally. 0:06:46.220,0:06:48.356 They're still thinking very inwardly. 0:06:48.380,0:06:51.876 They're still asking themselves:[br]What's in it for me? ... 0:06:51.900,0:06:53.996 instead of what[br]they should be asking today, 0:06:54.020,0:06:55.780 which is, what's in it for we? 0:06:57.060,0:06:58.276 But there you go. 0:06:58.300,0:07:00.436 So suggestions, please, not right now, 0:07:00.460,0:07:02.460 but send me an email if you've got an idea 0:07:02.484,0:07:05.736 about what we can do[br]with this amazing team of glorious losers. 0:07:05.760,0:07:06.836 (Laughter) 0:07:06.860,0:07:09.316 We've got Saviour Chishimba,[br]who I mentioned before. 0:07:09.340,0:07:10.716 We've got Halla Tómasdóttir, 0:07:10.740,0:07:13.636 who was the runner up[br]in the Icelandic presidential election. 0:07:13.660,0:07:16.356 Many of you may have seen[br]her amazing talk at TEDWomen 0:07:16.380,0:07:17.596 just a few weeks ago 0:07:17.620,0:07:21.196 where she spoke about the need[br]for more women to get into politics. 0:07:21.220,0:07:23.740 We've got Maria das Neves[br]from São Tomé and Príncipe. 0:07:24.580,0:07:26.196 We've got Hillary Clinton. 0:07:26.220,0:07:28.276 I don't know if she's available. 0:07:28.300,0:07:29.500 We've got Jill Stein. 0:07:30.540,0:07:33.396 And we covered also the election 0:07:33.420,0:07:35.900 for the next Secretary-General[br]of the United Nations. 0:07:36.525,0:07:38.716 We've got the ex-prime minister[br]of New Zealand, 0:07:38.740,0:07:40.836 who would be a wonderful[br]member of the team. 0:07:40.860,0:07:42.356 So I think maybe those people, 0:07:42.380,0:07:45.036 the glorious loser's club,[br]could travel around the world 0:07:45.060,0:07:46.436 wherever there's an election 0:07:46.460,0:07:49.836 and remind people[br]of the necessity in our modern age 0:07:49.860,0:07:51.476 of thinking a little bit outwards 0:07:51.500,0:07:53.691 and thinking of[br]the international consequences. 0:07:55.500,0:07:57.396 So what comes next for the global vote? 0:07:57.420,0:07:59.196 Well, obviously, 0:07:59.220,0:08:03.676 the Donald and Hillary show[br]is a bit of a difficult one to follow, 0:08:03.700,0:08:06.636 but there are some other[br]really important elections coming up. 0:08:06.660,0:08:08.476 In fact, they seem to be multiplying. 0:08:08.500,0:08:11.636 There's something going on,[br]I'm sure you've noticed, in the world. 0:08:11.660,0:08:14.900 And the next row of elections[br]are all critically important. 0:08:16.340,0:08:17.836 In just a few day's time 0:08:17.860,0:08:20.916 we've got the rerun[br]of the Austrian presidential election, 0:08:20.940,0:08:22.716 with the prospect of Norbert Hofer 0:08:22.740,0:08:24.716 becoming what is commonly described 0:08:24.740,0:08:28.220 as the first far-right head of state[br]in Europe since the Second World War. 0:08:29.340,0:08:30.756 Next year we've got Germany, 0:08:30.780,0:08:31.996 we've got France, 0:08:32.020,0:08:34.156 we've got presidential elections in Iran 0:08:34.180,0:08:35.380 and a dozen others. 0:08:35.979,0:08:38.116 It doesn't get less important. 0:08:38.140,0:08:39.739 It gets more and more important. 0:08:41.460,0:08:45.236 Clearly, the global vote[br]is not a stand-alone project. 0:08:45.260,0:08:46.739 It's not just there on its own. 0:08:47.820,0:08:49.076 It has some background. 0:08:49.100,0:08:53.116 It's part of a project[br]which I launched back in 2014, 0:08:53.140,0:08:54.700 which I call the Good Country. 0:08:55.500,0:08:58.060 The idea of the Good Country[br]is basically very simple. 0:08:58.900,0:09:02.356 It's my simple diagnosis[br]of what's wrong with the world 0:09:02.380,0:09:03.580 and how we can fix it. 0:09:04.860,0:09:07.276 What's wrong with the world[br]I've already hinted at. 0:09:07.300,0:09:10.036 Basically, we face[br]an enormous and growing number 0:09:10.060,0:09:13.236 of gigantic, existential[br]global challenges: 0:09:13.260,0:09:15.916 climate change, human rights abuses, 0:09:15.940,0:09:20.140 mass migration, terrorism,[br]economic chaos, weapons proliferation. 0:09:21.140,0:09:24.316 All of these problems[br]which threaten to wipe us out 0:09:24.340,0:09:26.476 are by their very nature[br]globalized problems. 0:09:26.500,0:09:30.900 No individual country has the capability[br]of tackling them on its own. 0:09:31.820,0:09:33.556 And so very obviously 0:09:33.580,0:09:37.196 we have to cooperate[br]and we have to collaborate as nations 0:09:37.220,0:09:39.078 if we're going to solve these problems. 0:09:39.620,0:09:41.980 It's so obvious, and yet we don't. 0:09:42.940,0:09:44.820 We don't do it nearly often enough. 0:09:45.700,0:09:49.276 Most of the time,[br]countries still persist in behaving 0:09:49.300,0:09:53.956 as if they were warring, selfish tribes[br]battling against each other, 0:09:53.980,0:09:56.716 much as they have done[br]since the nation-state was invented 0:09:56.740,0:09:58.316 hundreds of years ago. 0:09:58.340,0:10:00.476 And this has got to change. 0:10:00.500,0:10:03.836 This is not a change in political systems[br]or a change in ideology. 0:10:03.860,0:10:05.796 This is a change in culture. 0:10:05.820,0:10:07.820 We, all of us, have to understand 0:10:08.700,0:10:12.716 that thinking inwards is not the solution[br]to the world's problems. 0:10:12.740,0:10:16.716 We have to learn how to cooperate[br]and collaborate a great deal more 0:10:16.740,0:10:19.140 and compete just a tiny bit less. 0:10:20.260,0:10:22.636 Otherwise things[br]are going to carry on getting bad 0:10:22.660,0:10:25.860 and they're going to get much worse,[br]much sooner than we anticipate. 0:10:26.820,0:10:28.716 This change will only happen 0:10:28.740,0:10:30.476 if we ordinary people 0:10:30.500,0:10:33.316 tell our politicians[br]that things have changed. 0:10:33.340,0:10:35.876 We have to tell them[br]that the culture has changed. 0:10:35.900,0:10:38.476 We have to tell them[br]that they've got a new mandate. 0:10:38.500,0:10:41.396 The old mandate[br]was very simple and very single: 0:10:41.420,0:10:43.596 if you're in a position[br]of power or authority, 0:10:43.620,0:10:47.236 you're responsible for your own people[br]and your own tiny slice of territory, 0:10:47.260,0:10:48.476 and that's it. 0:10:48.500,0:10:51.196 And if in order to do[br]the best thing for your own people, 0:10:51.220,0:10:54.276 you screw over everybody else[br]on the planet, that's even better. 0:10:54.300,0:10:56.036 That's considered to be a bit macho. 0:10:56.060,0:10:59.436 Today, I think everybody[br]in a position of power and responsibility 0:10:59.460,0:11:01.076 has got a dual mandate, 0:11:01.100,0:11:04.076 which says if you're in a position[br]of power and responsibility, 0:11:04.100,0:11:05.956 you're responsible for your own people 0:11:05.980,0:11:09.220 and for every single man, woman,[br]child and animal on the planet. 0:11:10.340,0:11:12.716 You're responsible[br]for your own slice of territory 0:11:12.740,0:11:16.436 and for every single square mile[br]of the earth's surface 0:11:16.460,0:11:17.836 and the atmosphere above it. 0:11:17.860,0:11:21.196 And if you don't like that responsibility,[br]you should not be in power. 0:11:21.220,0:11:23.276 That for me is the rule of the modern age, 0:11:23.300,0:11:26.676 and that's the message that we've got[br]to get across to our politicians, 0:11:26.700,0:11:29.996 and show them that that's the way[br]things are done these days. 0:11:30.020,0:11:31.700 Otherwise, we're all screwed. 0:11:33.100,0:11:34.716 I don't have a problem, actually, 0:11:34.740,0:11:37.676 with Donald Trump's credo[br]of "America first." 0:11:37.700,0:11:40.116 It seems to me that that's[br]a pretty banal statement 0:11:40.140,0:11:43.316 of what politicians have always done[br]and probably should always do. 0:11:43.340,0:11:46.780 Of course they're elected to represent[br]the interests of their own people. 0:11:47.540,0:11:50.516 But what I find so boring[br]and so old-fashioned 0:11:50.540,0:11:53.276 and so unimaginative[br]about his take on that 0:11:53.300,0:11:55.820 is that America first[br]means everyone else last, 0:11:57.340,0:12:01.516 that making America great again[br]means making everybody else small again, 0:12:01.540,0:12:02.740 and it's just not true. 0:12:03.700,0:12:06.596 In my job as a policy advisor[br]over the last 20 years or so, 0:12:06.620,0:12:10.236 I've seen so many hundreds[br]of examples of policies 0:12:10.260,0:12:13.796 that harmonize the international[br]and the domestic needs, 0:12:13.820,0:12:15.796 and they make better policy. 0:12:15.820,0:12:19.396 I'm not asking nations[br]to be altruistic or self-sacrificing. 0:12:19.420,0:12:20.756 That would be ridiculous. 0:12:20.780,0:12:22.180 No nation would ever do that. 0:12:22.900,0:12:26.716 I'm asking them to wake up and understand[br]that we need a new form of governance, 0:12:26.740,0:12:27.940 which is possible 0:12:28.700,0:12:30.516 and which harmonizes those two needs, 0:12:30.540,0:12:33.580 those good for our own people[br]and those good for everybody else. 0:12:34.580,0:12:36.796 Since the US election and since Brexit 0:12:36.820,0:12:39.196 it's become more and more obvious to me 0:12:39.220,0:12:41.836 that those old distinctions[br]of left wing and right wing 0:12:41.860,0:12:43.156 no longer make sense. 0:12:43.180,0:12:44.820 They really don't fit the pattern. 0:12:45.820,0:12:48.116 What does seem to matter today 0:12:48.140,0:12:49.756 is very simple, 0:12:49.780,0:12:51.956 whether your view of the world is 0:12:51.980,0:12:55.676 that you take comfort[br]from looking inwards and backwards, 0:12:55.700,0:13:00.420 or whether, like me, you find hope[br]in looking forwards and outwards. 0:13:01.300,0:13:02.796 That's the new politics. 0:13:02.820,0:13:06.460 That's the new division that is[br]splitting the world right down the middle. 0:13:07.860,0:13:10.756 Now, that may sound judgmental,[br]but it's not meant to be. 0:13:10.780,0:13:12.716 I don't at all misunderstand 0:13:12.740,0:13:16.860 why so many people find their comfort[br]in looking inwards and backwards. 0:13:17.620,0:13:20.116 When times are difficult,[br]when you're short of money, 0:13:20.140,0:13:22.236 when you're feeling[br]insecure and vulnerable, 0:13:22.260,0:13:24.756 it's almost a natural[br]human tendency to turn inwards, 0:13:24.780,0:13:26.796 to think of your own needs 0:13:26.820,0:13:28.916 and to discard everybody else's, 0:13:28.940,0:13:32.676 and perhaps to start to imagine[br]that the past was somehow better 0:13:32.700,0:13:35.100 than the present or the future[br]could ever be. 0:13:35.780,0:13:38.236 But I happen to believe[br]that that's a dead end. 0:13:38.260,0:13:40.516 History shows us that it's a dead end. 0:13:40.540,0:13:42.676 When people turn inwards[br]and turn backwards, 0:13:42.700,0:13:44.476 human progress becomes reversed 0:13:44.500,0:13:48.060 and things get worse for everybody[br]very quickly indeed. 0:13:49.780,0:13:51.196 If you're like me 0:13:51.220,0:13:53.916 and you believe in forwards and outwards, 0:13:53.940,0:13:58.636 and you believe that the best thing[br]about humanity is its diversity, 0:13:58.660,0:14:01.436 and the best thing about globalization 0:14:01.460,0:14:05.756 is the way that it stirs up[br]that diversity, that cultural mixture 0:14:05.780,0:14:08.796 to make something more creative,[br]more exciting, more productive 0:14:08.820,0:14:11.756 than there's ever been before[br]in human history, 0:14:11.780,0:14:14.300 then, my friends,[br]we've got a job on our hands, 0:14:15.220,0:14:18.116 because the inwards and backwards brigade 0:14:18.140,0:14:20.676 are uniting as never before, 0:14:20.700,0:14:22.636 and that creed of inwards and backwards, 0:14:22.660,0:14:25.220 that fear, that anxiety, 0:14:26.100,0:14:27.916 playing on the simplest instincts, 0:14:27.940,0:14:30.476 is sweeping across the world. 0:14:30.500,0:14:32.436 Those of us who believe, 0:14:32.460,0:14:35.196 as I believe, in forwards and outwards, 0:14:35.220,0:14:37.100 we have to get ourselves organized, 0:14:38.140,0:14:41.780 because time is running out[br]very, very quickly. 0:14:43.300,0:14:44.516 Thank you. 0:14:44.540,0:14:46.492 (Applause)