“Daily Show” correspondent Jordan Klepper has conveyed his uncertainty about the notion that everyone should take part in democracy.
He highlighted that 7% of Americans genuinely believe that brown cows produce brown milk during a recent TED Talk appearance.
“When TED asked me to be a part of this democracy event, I was flattered,” Klepper began his video uploaded to YouTube on Tuesday. “When they told me it was a pro-democracy event, I paused. Like, really? We still think this is a good idea. Giving everyone a voice? Have you talked to everyone?”
He continued by highlighting findings from a 2017 survey conducted by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.
“One in 10 Americans believe chocolate milk comes from brown cows. We want those people weighing in on foreign policy?” Klepper asked. “Because democracy is hearing from the voice of the people, consider me skeptical of that conversation. Because I think we’re incapable of having it. Any conversation. And not just in America, globally, we’re tuning people out. Frankly, we’re bad at talking to other people.”
During his seven-minute lecture, he went on to discuss how conversations have become increasingly difficult over the years, all while throwing in a few jokes — like how dodging challenging conversations is like avoiding paying your taxes.
“So, how do we get better at talking to one another? If democracy depends on discourse, on compromise, how do we have civil conversations?” Klepper posed.
“Well, the long answer is destroy the bias of social media and the cesspool of misinformation that is propagated by the entertainment machine that dominates our politics and discourse,” he offered. “I could tell you how to do that, but TED only gave me seven minutes, so sorry.”
Even though he couldn’t provide a more in depth answer, Klepper gave quick tips on how to be a better conversationalist with someone you disagree with, such as “read a book,” “travel” and “concede on something.”
