TedTest

From the Ted Talk by Eric Liu: How to understand power

Unscramble the Blue Letters

Every day of your life, you move through systems of power that other people made. Do you sense them? Do you understand power? Do you rezlaie why it matters? Power is something we are often uncomfortable talking about. That's especially true in cviic life, how we live together in community. In a democracy, power is soesuppd to reside with the people, period. Any further talk about power and who really has it seems a little ditry, maybe even evil. But power is no more inherently good or evil than fire or pchyiss. It just is. It governs how any form of government wkros. It determines who gets to determine the rules of the game. So learning how power operates is key to being effective, being taken seriously, and not being taken advantage of. In this lesson, we'll look at where power comes from, how it's exercised and what you can do to become more powerful in public life. Let's start with a basic definition. Power is the ability to make others do what you would have them do. Of course, this plays out in all arenas of life, from family to the workplace to our relationships. Our fcous is on the civic anrea, where power means getting a community to make the choices and to take the actions that you want. There are six main sources of civic power. First, there's payschil force and a capacity for violence. Control of the means of force, whether in the police or a militia, is power at its most primal. A second core source of power is wtaelh. Money creates the ability to buy results and to buy almost any other kind of power. The third form of power is state action, government. This is the use of law and becaaurrcuy to compel people to do or not do certain things. In a dceoarmcy, for example, we the people, theoretically, give government its power through elections. In a dictatorship, state power emerges from the threat of fcroe, not the consent of the governed. The fourth type of power is social nmors or what other people think is okay. Norms don't have the creznleiatd machinery of gmnvoneret. They oraptee in a softer way, peer to peer. They can certainly make people change behavior and even change laws. Think about how norms around marriage equality today are evolving. The fifth form of power is ideas. An idea, iuanvididl liberties, say, or racial equality, can generate boundless amounts of power if it motivates enough people to cgahne their thknniig and actions. And so the sixth source of power is numbers, lots of humans. A vocal mass of people creates power by expressing collective intensity of interest and by asserting legitimacy. Think of the Arab Spring or the rise of the Tea Party. Crowds count. These are the six main sources of power, what power is. So now, let's think about how pweor operates. There are three laws of power worth examining. Law number one: power is never static. It's always either ancuualmticg or dcaneiyg in a civic arena. So if you aren't taking action, you're being acted upon. Law nemubr two: power is like water. It fwols like a current through everyday life. Politics is the work of harnessing that flow in a direction you preefr. Policymaking is an efofrt to freeze and perpetuate a particular flow of power. Policy is power frozen. Law number three: power compounds. Power begets more power, and so does powerlessness. The only thing that keeps law number three from leading to a situation where only one person has all the power is how we apply laws one and two. What rules do we set up so that a few people don't accumulate too much power, and so that they can't enshrine their privilege in piocly? That's the question of democracy, and you can see each of these laws at work in any news story. Low wage weorkrs organize to get higher pay. Oil companies push to get a big pipeline aperovpd. Gay and lesbian couples seek the legal right to marry. Urban parents demnad school vouchers. You may support these etffros or not. Whether you get what you want depends on how aepdt you are with power, which brings us finally to what you can do to become more puewfrol in public life. Here, it's useful to think in terms of literacy. Your challenge is to learn how to read power and wirte power. To read power manes to pay attention to as many tetxs of power as you can. I don't mean books only. I mean seeing society as a set of texts. Don't like how things are in your campus or city or country? Map out who has what kind of power, arrayed in what systems. unedtsnard why it turned out this way, who's made it so, and who wants to keep it so. Study the sgreeiatts others in such situations used: frontal aattck or indirection, coalitions or charismatic authority. Read so you may write. To write power rqereius first that you believe you have the right to write, to be an author of change. You do. As with any kind of writing, you learn to express yourself, sapek up in a voice that's authentic. Organize your ideas, then organize other peploe. Practice consensus building. Practice conflict. As with writing, it's all about pcacrtie. Every day you have a chacne to practice, in your neighborhood and beyond. Set objectives, then bigger ones. wtcah the patterns, see what works. adpat, repeat. This is citizenship. In this srhot lesson, we've explored where civic power comes from, how it works and what you can do to eecrxise it. One big qtuieson remaining is the "why" of power. Do you want power to benefit everyone or only you? Are your purposes pro-social or anti-social? This question isn't about strategy. It's about character, and that's another set of lessons. But remember this: Power plus character equals a gerat citizen, and you have the power to be one.

Open Cloze

Every day of your life, you move through systems of power that other people made. Do you sense them? Do you understand power? Do you _______ why it matters? Power is something we are often uncomfortable talking about. That's especially true in _____ life, how we live together in community. In a democracy, power is ________ to reside with the people, period. Any further talk about power and who really has it seems a little _____, maybe even evil. But power is no more inherently good or evil than fire or _______. It just is. It governs how any form of government _____. It determines who gets to determine the rules of the game. So learning how power operates is key to being effective, being taken seriously, and not being taken advantage of. In this lesson, we'll look at where power comes from, how it's exercised and what you can do to become more powerful in public life. Let's start with a basic definition. Power is the ability to make others do what you would have them do. Of course, this plays out in all arenas of life, from family to the workplace to our relationships. Our _____ is on the civic _____, where power means getting a community to make the choices and to take the actions that you want. There are six main sources of civic power. First, there's ________ force and a capacity for violence. Control of the means of force, whether in the police or a militia, is power at its most primal. A second core source of power is ______. Money creates the ability to buy results and to buy almost any other kind of power. The third form of power is state action, government. This is the use of law and ___________ to compel people to do or not do certain things. In a _________, for example, we the people, theoretically, give government its power through elections. In a dictatorship, state power emerges from the threat of _____, not the consent of the governed. The fourth type of power is social _____ or what other people think is okay. Norms don't have the ___________ machinery of __________. They _______ in a softer way, peer to peer. They can certainly make people change behavior and even change laws. Think about how norms around marriage equality today are evolving. The fifth form of power is ideas. An idea, __________ liberties, say, or racial equality, can generate boundless amounts of power if it motivates enough people to ______ their ________ and actions. And so the sixth source of power is numbers, lots of humans. A vocal mass of people creates power by expressing collective intensity of interest and by asserting legitimacy. Think of the Arab Spring or the rise of the Tea Party. Crowds count. These are the six main sources of power, what power is. So now, let's think about how _____ operates. There are three laws of power worth examining. Law number one: power is never static. It's always either ____________ or ________ in a civic arena. So if you aren't taking action, you're being acted upon. Law ______ two: power is like water. It _____ like a current through everyday life. Politics is the work of harnessing that flow in a direction you ______. Policymaking is an ______ to freeze and perpetuate a particular flow of power. Policy is power frozen. Law number three: power compounds. Power begets more power, and so does powerlessness. The only thing that keeps law number three from leading to a situation where only one person has all the power is how we apply laws one and two. What rules do we set up so that a few people don't accumulate too much power, and so that they can't enshrine their privilege in ______? That's the question of democracy, and you can see each of these laws at work in any news story. Low wage _______ organize to get higher pay. Oil companies push to get a big pipeline ________. Gay and lesbian couples seek the legal right to marry. Urban parents ______ school vouchers. You may support these _______ or not. Whether you get what you want depends on how _____ you are with power, which brings us finally to what you can do to become more ________ in public life. Here, it's useful to think in terms of literacy. Your challenge is to learn how to read power and _____ power. To read power _____ to pay attention to as many _____ of power as you can. I don't mean books only. I mean seeing society as a set of texts. Don't like how things are in your campus or city or country? Map out who has what kind of power, arrayed in what systems. __________ why it turned out this way, who's made it so, and who wants to keep it so. Study the __________ others in such situations used: frontal ______ or indirection, coalitions or charismatic authority. Read so you may write. To write power ________ first that you believe you have the right to write, to be an author of change. You do. As with any kind of writing, you learn to express yourself, _____ up in a voice that's authentic. Organize your ideas, then organize other ______. Practice consensus building. Practice conflict. As with writing, it's all about ________. Every day you have a ______ to practice, in your neighborhood and beyond. Set objectives, then bigger ones. _____ the patterns, see what works. _____, repeat. This is citizenship. In this _____ lesson, we've explored where civic power comes from, how it works and what you can do to ________ it. One big ________ remaining is the "why" of power. Do you want power to benefit everyone or only you? Are your purposes pro-social or anti-social? This question isn't about strategy. It's about character, and that's another set of lessons. But remember this: Power plus character equals a _____ citizen, and you have the power to be one.

Solution

powerful
physics
force
adapt
question
individual
physical
short
strategies
attack
approved
supposed
thinking
government
people
workers
change
accumulating
write
adept
practice
prefer
dirty
texts
realize
demand
effort
great
requires
focus
means
decaying
exercise
watch
centralized
speak
number
policy
chance
efforts
arena
understand
flows
wealth
works
norms
democracy
operate
bureaucracy
civic
power

Original Text

Every day of your life, you move through systems of power that other people made. Do you sense them? Do you understand power? Do you realize why it matters? Power is something we are often uncomfortable talking about. That's especially true in civic life, how we live together in community. In a democracy, power is supposed to reside with the people, period. Any further talk about power and who really has it seems a little dirty, maybe even evil. But power is no more inherently good or evil than fire or physics. It just is. It governs how any form of government works. It determines who gets to determine the rules of the game. So learning how power operates is key to being effective, being taken seriously, and not being taken advantage of. In this lesson, we'll look at where power comes from, how it's exercised and what you can do to become more powerful in public life. Let's start with a basic definition. Power is the ability to make others do what you would have them do. Of course, this plays out in all arenas of life, from family to the workplace to our relationships. Our focus is on the civic arena, where power means getting a community to make the choices and to take the actions that you want. There are six main sources of civic power. First, there's physical force and a capacity for violence. Control of the means of force, whether in the police or a militia, is power at its most primal. A second core source of power is wealth. Money creates the ability to buy results and to buy almost any other kind of power. The third form of power is state action, government. This is the use of law and bureaucracy to compel people to do or not do certain things. In a democracy, for example, we the people, theoretically, give government its power through elections. In a dictatorship, state power emerges from the threat of force, not the consent of the governed. The fourth type of power is social norms or what other people think is okay. Norms don't have the centralized machinery of government. They operate in a softer way, peer to peer. They can certainly make people change behavior and even change laws. Think about how norms around marriage equality today are evolving. The fifth form of power is ideas. An idea, individual liberties, say, or racial equality, can generate boundless amounts of power if it motivates enough people to change their thinking and actions. And so the sixth source of power is numbers, lots of humans. A vocal mass of people creates power by expressing collective intensity of interest and by asserting legitimacy. Think of the Arab Spring or the rise of the Tea Party. Crowds count. These are the six main sources of power, what power is. So now, let's think about how power operates. There are three laws of power worth examining. Law number one: power is never static. It's always either accumulating or decaying in a civic arena. So if you aren't taking action, you're being acted upon. Law number two: power is like water. It flows like a current through everyday life. Politics is the work of harnessing that flow in a direction you prefer. Policymaking is an effort to freeze and perpetuate a particular flow of power. Policy is power frozen. Law number three: power compounds. Power begets more power, and so does powerlessness. The only thing that keeps law number three from leading to a situation where only one person has all the power is how we apply laws one and two. What rules do we set up so that a few people don't accumulate too much power, and so that they can't enshrine their privilege in policy? That's the question of democracy, and you can see each of these laws at work in any news story. Low wage workers organize to get higher pay. Oil companies push to get a big pipeline approved. Gay and lesbian couples seek the legal right to marry. Urban parents demand school vouchers. You may support these efforts or not. Whether you get what you want depends on how adept you are with power, which brings us finally to what you can do to become more powerful in public life. Here, it's useful to think in terms of literacy. Your challenge is to learn how to read power and write power. To read power means to pay attention to as many texts of power as you can. I don't mean books only. I mean seeing society as a set of texts. Don't like how things are in your campus or city or country? Map out who has what kind of power, arrayed in what systems. Understand why it turned out this way, who's made it so, and who wants to keep it so. Study the strategies others in such situations used: frontal attack or indirection, coalitions or charismatic authority. Read so you may write. To write power requires first that you believe you have the right to write, to be an author of change. You do. As with any kind of writing, you learn to express yourself, speak up in a voice that's authentic. Organize your ideas, then organize other people. Practice consensus building. Practice conflict. As with writing, it's all about practice. Every day you have a chance to practice, in your neighborhood and beyond. Set objectives, then bigger ones. Watch the patterns, see what works. Adapt, repeat. This is citizenship. In this short lesson, we've explored where civic power comes from, how it works and what you can do to exercise it. One big question remaining is the "why" of power. Do you want power to benefit everyone or only you? Are your purposes pro-social or anti-social? This question isn't about strategy. It's about character, and that's another set of lessons. But remember this: Power plus character equals a great citizen, and you have the power to be one.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations

ngrams of length 2

collocation	frequency
law number	4
power operates	2
public life	2
power means	2
main sources	2
civic power	2
read power	2
write power	2

Important Words

ability
accumulate
accumulating
acted
action
actions
adapt
adept
advantage
amounts
apply
approved
arab
arena
arenas
arrayed
asserting
attack
attention
authentic
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expressing
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gay
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higher
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ideas
indirection
individual
inherently
intensity
interest
key
kind
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laws
leading
learn
learning
legal
legitimacy
lesbian
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lessons
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life
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map
marriage
marry
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motivates
move
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number
numbers
objectives
oil
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organize
parents
party
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pay
peer
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period
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person
physical
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pipeline
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