(Host) CNN founder Ted Turner told graduates at the Vermont Law School that cooperation, not confrontation, is the answer to a host of global problems from terrorism to overpopulation.
Turner spoke Saturday at the law school’s commencement exercises in South Royalton. He told students he’s learned a lot from traveling around the world:
(Turner) “Let me tell you about this world. If you’re looking for friends, you can go out and find them everywhere. If you’re looking for enemies, you can go out and find them anywhere, too. Most people are decent, good, fun people to be with if you just give them a chance. On the other hand, very few of them won’t punch you in the nose if you come in and say, ‘I don’t like the way you look. I don’t like your color. I don’t like the way you dress. I don’t like your religion. I don’t like the way the buildings look around here. I think the place stinks.’ There’s almost no place in the world you won’t get punched in the nose if you do that.”
(Host) Turner told the graduates the only way to confront global problems is for nations to work together. He was critical of American foreign policy, which he says is based on force rather than cooperation.
(Turner) “In my opinion, we’re acting irresponsibly in this world. We can’t go around and tell everybody in the world what to do. We’ve got to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem. If we want to export stuff around the world, it shouldn’t be force and violence, but it ought to be friendship and education and technology. We should be helping people in the developing world. That’s the way to combat terrorism, the safest way.”
(Host) The law school awarded Turner an honorary degree for his philanthropic work. Six years ago Turner donated one billion dollars to the United Nations.