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About Me

Jerry Johnson is a currently the corporate communication partner at one of India’s largest advertising agencies. Prior to this, he was marketing manager at a global conglomerate based out of Mumbai. Beyond his professional life, Jerry is also a published writer, a TEDx speaker, the curator of Mumbai’s first TEDx City 2.0 conference, and a lecturer on ethical and political philosophy at think-tank forums and universities.
He is also on the Advisory Board of Blinking Peacock Productions, where his role is to offer intellectual guidance for a new television series focused on legal and political issues of the country.
Jerry lived, studied, and worked in the United States for 8 years, where he graduated with a degree in Communication and a specialization in Psychology and Philosophy. While there, he worked with the Chicago City Mayor's Office in Public Information. His policy of making at least one international trip a year has seen him travel widely across continents from Thailand and Sri Lanka in the East to parts of Italy, France, and the UK in the West.
Now in India, Jerry is fairly active in the television and print media circles as a thought-leader on topics of sexuality and human rights. As a gay man who was born into a deeply conservative Catholic family, Jerry openly discusses the evolution of his emotional and spiritual growth in the context of his sexual orientation in a country like India. He has appeared on several news channels such as the BBC, IBN7, CNN-IBN, and News24, and has been featured in newspapers such as the Times of India and The Mint for discussing rights, sexuality, and free speech.
A full-page article on him was featured in a leading English daily called DNA in 2009. He has also been interviewed by The Telegraph Kolkata and the Time Out Mumbai magazine for his volunteer work with spreading value of philosophy through his club activities at the University of Mumbai.

Location:
India, Mumbai
Current organization:
Aegis Ltd - An Essar Enterprise
Past organizations:
Essar Group
Current role:
Marketing Manager - IT/ITES, Banking, Communications
Gender:
Male
Areas of expertise:
gay and lesbian issues, Human Rights, Self-Esteem, Public Speaking and Teaching, Queer Theory, editing - academic, technical, creative writing, Writing - Blogs, articles, Critical Analysis, Philosophy (ethics, political philosophy, political economics), Thinking and Reasoning
I am:
Atheist, Blogger, Change Agent, Gay, Idea generator, Marketer, World traveler, Writer/Editor
Languages:
English, Hindi
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More About Me

I'm passionate about

I am passionate about ideas that can directly help result in successful human living.

An idea worth spreading

Nothing escapes the province of logic. All human values and human actions and human experiences can be logically comprehended. And, that with a greater understanding of the science of human behavior--the province of philosophy and psychology, it is most certainly possible to achieve overall improvements in the condition of the human life itself.

It has worked for me in helping me achieve happiness, and confidence in my self. I wish to advocate these better ideas, in the fullest and truest spirit of TED.

Talk to me about

Art, Philosophy, History, Psychology, Self-esteem, LGBT rights, and much more

People don't know that I'm good at

Writing poetry :)

My TED Story

I am an atheist and openly gay man, living a financially independently in Mumbai with my boyfriend of more than 3 years.

Reaching this emotional and psychological space in my life was no small feat: growing up a highly conservative, Catholic, South Indian family, I was highly attuned to issues of social face, and the fear of punishment.

My migration to the United States and my studies in philosophy for more than 8 years have been instrumental in my shrugging off the past and re-inventing myself as an independent thinker and philosopher, able to challenge both my personal history as well as the traditions of this country. Philosophically, I identify closely with the Aristotelian ethical tradition and the 20th century philosophical system of Objectivism, developed by Ayn Rand.

I am a US-graduate in Communication and have also extensively studied Social Psychology and Philosophy for almost 10 years now.

Comments

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  • +3

    A comment on Conversation: Should blasphemy be outlawed by the UN?

    Oct 2 2012: This is not a matter of opinions or popular vote. it is unfortunate that the notion of individual rights is so badly understood and therefore so poorly defended. Rights are not a matter of public opinion.

    The right to free speech derives its meaning from the fundamental right to life--inextricably. The universal human right to life implies that we have the right to act in furtherance of our survival, unhindered by anyone else's coercion. It means we are owners of our lives and can choose to dispose of ourselves or work towards survival and flourishing.

    Since humans live in a material world, all actions taken to further our survival is taken materially in this actual world. Which means, we have the right to free actions that fall within the purview of our pursuit of the right to life (realize that all humans have this, hence, encroaching on another person's range of free actions is a violation of that person's rights).

    This is the right to liberty -- the right to freely pursue actions.

    Free speech is a constituent of free actions or free expressions. It can be as basic to our survival as saying: "I need food, I am starving" to as distant from survival and closer to intellectual self-actualization and flourishing as saying: "I don't think Muhammad was a good man; in fact, he was a pedophile to have consummated a marriage with a 9 yr old."

    Now, since only *actions* can carry the weight of force, not speech, all speech is necessarily protected by the right to liberty in the service of right to life--so long as this speech-act does not violate the rights to life, liberty, and property of someone else.

    (Crying fire in a theater is a violation of the property rights of the theater owner, a misuse of his premises in a way that jeopardizes his property, his wealth, and his earning potential--not to mention the right to life and liberty of the movie-goers.)

    There's much more to this theory of universal human rights from natural law. Please read Ayn Rand.
  • +2

    A comment on Conversation: Do you support unrestricted Immigration?

    Sep 18 2012: Unrestricted immigration is an application of the universal human right to mobility, which is in turn an application of the universal human right to liberty.

    So long as no one else's rights are being violated, every individual should be left free to live on his or her own terms, wherever they please, however they please.

    Once we accept these are fundamental principles, we will be able to create more rational and benevolent laws around mobility and ownership keeping in mind security, health, and economic impacts.

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