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"THE WAR CUP"
MITCH THROWER AT TEDXLAJOLLA |
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Video Transcript
Mitch Thrower: First you need some background, some background that's a little hard to imagine when we're here in La Jolla. In World War I, more than 37 million people died. World War II, 56, of which 27 million were civilians.
The second Congo War, 5,400,000 people. Somalia Civil War, 1991 to present, it's still going on. The Iraq war, a hundred thousand? We're not sure. There are 25 places around the world today which are engaged in armed conflict, a war. We don't hear about all of them. We don’t know about all of them. We don't think about all of them. It is my great wish that within the next thousand years, we can figure out a way to create peace, to stop shooting each other. The fact that we can put ourselves on the moon, which should be coming up over the hill in just a second, the fact that we can put ourselves on that moon but still engage in trying to kill each other is shocking. There are about a million fatalities around the world from the current conflicts. So, now I'd like to go and either have you close your eyes or keep your eyes open and imagine what it's like to be at a war while we're here in La Jolla. [Video Presentation] As you watch these images, how many Dalai Lamas have we killed? How many Richard Bransons? How many Gandhis? How many Mother Teresas? How many Muhammads? Jesus? George Washington? Charles de Gaulle? Margaret Thatcher? King Arthur? Queen Victoria? This is a young man who is exposed to a war because it's the first thing he sees. It's the first thing they experience. This is their soccer match for many people around the world. This is the lives they grow up in. Their gun is what defines them. It's what defines their team. It's what defines their struggle. Around the world today, we are not at peace. We are an interesting society of human beings that actually eliminate the lives, the miracle of life, at a moment's notice. Painful. Painful to watch. Painful to hear. Painful to see. There are an infinite number of reasons why people go to war--political, demographic, social. But, how many reasons do we need to experience peace? How many children's faces carrying a gun do we need to figure out ways as a human civilization to create peace? In Boston, you'll hear people in a bar saying, "Rip his head off. Destroy him." There is not a chance that they're watching video of war. They're talking about the Boston Bruins. So, what do we do? What's the solution? My wish is that this 2012 is not the end but the beginning, that 2012 is our chance to continue to spread peace through the inspiring seed of sport to the areas of the world where it is needed most. My TED wish is that of the countries at war, with over a thousand battlefield deaths annually as defined by the United Nations, that we hold something with mixed teams from each country. And here’s a quick list of who's invited. [Video Presentation] TED today was brought to you by the La Jolla Foundation, and our first initiative is Project Active. And it is our goal in the year 2012 to the War Cup with a purpose of educating the world and bringing it together for the mission of peace. I hope that somehow in some way my wish upon a star will come true. Thank you. [END OF AUDIO] |