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Struggling communities need bold new ways to grow wealth #TEDTalks

Struggling communities don’t need handouts — they need bold new ways to root wealth. Meet Molly Hemstreet — a TED Fellow, Southern Appalachia native and cofounder of worker support network the Industrial Commons — who’s flipping the script on generational poverty by turning textile waste into $9-per-pound yarn and factory workers into business owners. Discover…

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Struggling communities don’t need handouts — they need bold new ways to root wealth. Meet Molly Hemstreet — a TED Fellow, Southern Appalachia native and cofounder of worker support network the Industrial Commons — who’s flipping the script on generational poverty by turning textile waste into $9-per-pound yarn and factory workers into business owners. Discover how her long-haul approach is rebuilding rural economies stitch by stitch, proving that opportunity grows when we stop extracting and start empowering.

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8 Comments

8 Comments

  1. @bklynmyke

    December 23, 2025 at 2:09 pm

    I’m just asking a question here: what if companies stopped outsourcing jobs to other countries to increase profits and opened more factories in the U.S., while at the same time paying a living wage and not raising the price of their products so they could still compete with Wal-Mart? Wouldn’t that help small towns across the country?

  2. @ms_salazar_1984

    December 23, 2025 at 2:10 pm

    ❤❤❤

  3. @amjedahmeh7816

    December 23, 2025 at 2:23 pm

    ❤❤❤

  4. @mojojojo813

    December 23, 2025 at 2:43 pm

    I think the companies would go out of business. How can they pay workers well by US standards if they don’t charge more than Walmart? The goods being sold at Walmart were made by people in other countries where they get paid much less.
    We can’t have it both ways. If we want manufacturing here, we need to get used to paying for it.
    Then again, CEOs don’t need to be paid thousands of times what regular workers are paid.

    • @bklynmyke

      December 23, 2025 at 3:42 pm

      I didn’t mention it in my comment, and that’s my fault, obviously. Most companies can indeed pay their workers a living wage and still make plenty of profit. They don’t have to raise prices to pay their workers fairly and still make money. They would still make more than enough money; it would just cut into profits a little. It’s not like they would lose money. They would still be in the black. They like us to think that if they made their product in the U.S., they would go bankrupt or lose so much money that it wouldn’t be worth it. It’s just that instead of making $50m in profit, they’d only make $48m. Also, as you said, the CEOs, COOs, CFOs, CMOs, Presidents, and Vice Presidents don’t need to make so much money. The pay gap between workers and high-level management is wider than it’s ever been, by far.

    • @mojojojo813

      December 23, 2025 at 5:59 pm

      Sorry, I meant this to be in reply to @bklynmyke

    • @VagueSpaces

      December 24, 2025 at 5:56 am

      That’s kind of how it works no? You pay people more and they can spend more? That’s the only reason I live in a city at all. I grew up living in the country, but I don’t like pumping gas in a podunk town eating gas station food since there’s no grocery store… I’d rather be paid well enough to support local and not have to shop at walmart either.

  5. @peaceydanckwerts

    December 24, 2025 at 5:21 am

    I like your thinking. It is not directly related, but I thoroughly recommend the late Elinor Ostrom’s book, Governing the Commons, which deals with communities managing their own resources. I believe you will find it useful in your work. Bruce Danckwerts, CHOMA, Zambia

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The best free comedy show may be in your backyard #TEDTalks

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Where’s the best free comedy show in town? Tom Sullam, cofounder of the annual Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards, shares hilarious animal photos that dissolve the distance between humans and nature. The result? A joyful case for caring about what we’re at risk of losing.

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How to Change Someone’s Perspective | Buenos Aires | TED Idea Search

Watch the full talks from the TEDxRiodelaPlata Idea Search: 00:00 – Intro 3:46 – Rehearsals 16:53 – The Talks 37:30 – Deliberation 40:04 – The Winner Is… The most interesting ideas often come from the most unexpected places. We searched the globe for ideas with the power to inspire, motivate and change lives — and…

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Watch the full talks from the TEDxRiodelaPlata Idea Search:

00:00 – Intro
3:46 – Rehearsals
16:53 – The Talks
37:30 – Deliberation
40:04 – The Winner Is…

The most interesting ideas often come from the most unexpected places. We searched the globe for ideas with the power to inspire, motivate and change lives — and we found them at @TEDx events around the world. The TED Idea Search follows extraordinary speakers from 9 countries competing for a spot on the TED main stage in Vancouver this April.

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The Controversial Climate Tool Funding Real Change | Sandeep Roy Choudhury | TED

If a company plants trees to offset its pollution, is that climate progress — or is it greenwashing? Critics of carbon markets say it’s the latter. But Sandeep Roy Choudhury, who’s spent two decades financing climate projects from rural cookstoves to coastal forests, says the real failure is discouraging companies from even trying. Hear his…

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If a company plants trees to offset its pollution, is that climate progress — or is it greenwashing? Critics of carbon markets say it’s the latter. But Sandeep Roy Choudhury, who’s spent two decades financing climate projects from rural cookstoves to coastal forests, says the real failure is discouraging companies from even trying. Hear his case for why we shouldn’t let perfection block meaningful action on climate change. (Recorded at TED Countdown Summit 2025 on June 17, 2025)

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The TED Talks channel features talks, performances and original series from the world’s leading thinkers and doers. Subscribe to our channel for videos on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and more. Visit to get our entire library of TED Talks, transcripts, translations, personalized talk recommendations and more.

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TED’s videos may be used for non-commercial purposes under a Creative Commons License, Attribution–Non Commercial–No Derivatives (or the CC BY – NC – ND 4.0 International) and in accordance with our TED Talks Usage Policy: . For more information on using TED for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film or online course), please submit a Media Request at

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