TED Community » Joshua Hamlet

About Me

Weirdly enough I really do not like to describe myself. It is one of those acts that always leave me cringing in a corner hoping that someone could step in.

My Name is Joshua Hamlet and I am very passionate about change. For most of my life I have felt like the square peg smothered in a sea of circle holes. It is a journey filled with both internal and external struggles that created the product or better stated allowed me to reach my present stage in my development.

I grew up in a lower class family. It is a very struggling existence; it is true that income increases choices however I have learned to hone the things that money cannot buy. I am a very reflective and open person, the quintessential dreamer at times whereby I am just ready to leap and take chances. I love living on the edge, not in relation to bad life practices but more in relation to ideas and innovation. It is this that really at times pushes me to be the square peg, I think it wrong to view society and not want it to change. Growing up I understood the few constants in life ;(1) everyone wants love and needs love, (2) we are society, individual or collective, society dwells within us and gives us identity and (3) our purpose makes us.
I am pretty much a self driven person. I have had many examples of what not to be surrounding me that I have pushed myself to be something different. I am currently in that phase of understanding life and really pushing towards my purpose. I have had a very difficult childhood but leaving that behind and pressing towards a new mark is currently my goal. I am not interested in becoming a charismatic leader but rather a pragmatic pioneer. I have also realized that I cannot live behind a desk in a dead 9-5 for my life, as such I am really trying to find a career that is enjoyable for me and where I can change the world.

I am currently studying for my M.sc in Global Studies as I have a strong passion for social change specifically in relation to combating crime and international policy. My country Trinidad and Tobago is currently under a severe battle with the issue of crime and as with any other Caribbean territory finding its place with the Global Framework.

In terms of combating crime, it is within my interest to really understand both ends of the crime economy, the perspective of the offenders as well as law enforcement agencies. The mosaic nature of crime and its causes deeply intrigue me; the very thin line between citizen and offender and how it affects behaviour are areas which constantly play on my mind.

By international policy, just the grand scale of global politics and the constant divergence of what is meant to be to what is reality, constantly catch my attention. The realization that the idea of nation state is being replaced by the notion of a global identity is mind boggling. The world can no longer view itself as separate nations but as Martin Luther King Jr stated “We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now”. Issues facing one country seem to spread out and affect others, such as the currently pressing climate change issue and the effects of the financial crisis are not merely national but global questions. At the heart of these global problems forever is the issue of good governance. My passion strongly lies in issues of governance and human rights; how to translate constitutions into proper lifestyles.

Finally, there is an original idea that I am currently trying to formulate which I refer to as schema malleability. This refers to the flexibility of schemata in relation to situations that individuals may face. The flexibility can be place in relation to being able to make comparisons among different problems. This is an idea that I am currently still thinking of and due to workload may take longer than expected to really come full circle but I believe very strongly in it.