“This is a subject we cannot afford to be wrong about” (me, April 25, 2007 12:08 pm)

after watching Al Gore’s “An inconvenient Truth”. “There is no ‘business’ to be done on a

planet that does not exist” (Paraphrase from Al Gore in “An inconvenient Truth”).

Inconvenient Truth

Last night, my wife Karen and I saw Al Gore's new movie, An Inconvenient Truth. It is, in my
opinion, a very clear, compelling, and heartfelt documentary that profiles one man's authentic
effort to educate people around the world about the need to deal with the global warming crisis.

Thanks to the superb direction of Davis Guggenheim, the film offers an unexpectedly pleasant
balance and interweaving of technical and factual analysis, moral and ethical challenges, and
personal introspection and disclosure, with Al Gore speaking through all three of these voices in
a manner that sounds completely authentic and genuinely above the deplorable politics of this
controversial issue. In philosophical terms a la the universal pragmatics of Jurgen Habermas,
there is in this film a very effective differentiation and integration of validity claims in the three
domains of what is true, what is right, and what is sincere--the critical ingredients of the shared
understanding and coordinated action that is the apparent goal of this film
(http://www.catallaxis.com/2006/06/inconvenient_tr.html)

The problem with Al Gore is that he is an “idealist”. Not that I am against “idealism” or

ideas in any way, but I have found out that in a country that propagates active Public Relations

and ‘spin’ as ‘truth’, the motives, connections and source of information need to be investigated

thoroughly before accepting anything as “truth”. I do not typically believe in “conspiracy

theories”, but read them for signs of validity and nuggets of “truth” or another perspective that

need further investigation to present a more balanced perspective.

I am what I would call a “practical realist”. I am willing to investigate the possibility of

truth and error on the assumption that until there is some research and investigation into a matter,

there is in fact little “truth” or objectivity in any statement.

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 Since my definition of “politics” is what I want vs. what you want and what country “A”

wants vs. Country “B” etc., the scope of politics has to be looked at from several standpoints and

viewpoints. Culture, religion, party affiliation, historical reference and context all have to fit into

the learning process of understanding politics and people.

I have been watching videos of other countries, cultures and traveling to see different

perspective to understand my world and the world I live in. I have an innate ‘curiosity’ about

what motivates people and why they ‘do’ what they ‘do’. Most of it is understandable by the way

people were raised, the examples they choose (or chose) and the belief systems they have

adopted. Regardless of the framework involved, the challenge of “thinking” is not as easy as we

might believe.

This is where I think Al Gore’s “An inconvenient Truth” shines. This man has spent 30

years accumulating information, facts, opinions and perspectives that show his commitment to

not only the subject matter, but his real passion that he does not state (at the expense of being

labeled a “fringe lunatic” or having “delusions of grandeur” or a “Messiah Complex”) and that is

simply to save the world, to save life on this planet as we know it for the next generation and

each successive generation after that.

In his reference to the book of Revelations in the Bible, it is sure that Mr. Gore has no

ambition to see the world “go under” without a fight. His belief system challenges the fear

mongers who would use this platform into “repenting” for their purposes of propagating fear and

control instead of a springboard for education, reform and change to benefit the whole world.

Mr. Gore’s appeal is one of being a “Moral Appeal”; I would have added “A human

problem” as well. It is shown rather conclusively that government and corporate institutions have

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once again waged war against its constituents and customers for self benefit. It seem as

Americans we either get educated and informed or perish. It seems a dramatic statement, but this

film has once again changed my life. Taking on a global perspective and fighting for the future as

an activist is taking on a larger portion of my thought process. I am finding myself compelled to

make a difference instead of being a passive observer or a victim of my own fatigue, self

promotion of building a life or future security and taking my world more seriously as a

contributor of ideas maybe not shared. Becoming informed and keeping other essential

influential people informed has become somewhat of an imperative in my life recently. The ‘veil

of ignorance’ has been lifted, there is something worth fighting for, and it is life itself.

“What societies really, ideally, want is a citizenry which will simply obey the rules of

society. (Plato’s Republic chose to used lies to propagate ‘truths’ and institutionalized ‘thinking’

to fit societal ‘norms’). If a society succeeds in this, that society is about to perish. The obligation

of anyone who thinks of himself as responsible is to examine society and try to change it and to

fight it – no matter what the risk. This is the only hope society has. This is the only way societies

change.”

James Baldwin, “A Talk to Teachers,” Saturday Review, December 21, 1963

These dramatic changes chronicled in Mr. Gore’s film are likely to escalate into world

chaos and the loss of 100’s of millions of lives and is sure to cause chaos and mayhem in our

children’s lifetime. I like how Mr. Gore falls short of yelling “The sky is falling” with the frog in

the boiling water analogy. It saves him from his critics once again calling him an “alarmist” or

being overly emotional. Mr. Gore has presented this material in a factual, scientific, measured

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way to cause a sense of urgency, an awakening to alarm without a frantic call to fear. To use our

capabilities as a problem solving nation, one who has overtly contributed to the majority of the

problem through our consumption, leads us to take the lead and be a leader where we have

resisted the will of confusion spread by government propagandist and business loyalist for their

own Wall Street style “short term gain = long term pain”, mentality that must be transformed by

the will of the people into a “short term pain = long term gain” win for the whole globe.

References

Internet

http://www.climatecrisis.net/

http://forumpolitics.com/blogs/2007/03/17/an-inconvient-truth-transcript/

http://www.catallaxis.com/2006/06/inconvenient_tr.html