Vita Matiss (Vita Matīsa) is an essayist, public intellectual, political analyst, teacher, and expert on international affairs with a doctorate in political science from the University of Geneva-IUHEI in Switzerland. She is the former Founding Executive Director of the Soros Foundation -- Latvia. A fervent advocate for the true values of democracy, for the import of the individual, she is highly respected for her independent commentary on the political and cultural issues that continue to impede Latvia's democratic development.

We have been warned. From Orwell to Brodsky ("evil is a bad stylist"), we have been put on guard: when words lose their integrity, democracy corrodes. Vita Matiss asks us to pay attention to the language used by politicians, bankers, bureaucrats and ordinary citizens today: is anyone actually saying something, or are words being used to give the "appearance of solidity to pure wind"? Is our slide back into an image based culture corrupting our democracies?

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)