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Al Gore - The Arrogance of Ignorance
Albert Gore Jr. is a very curious kind of presidential candidate and becomes more so the more closely he is examined. Before serving as Vice President in the "most ethical administration in history", he represented Tennessee in the US House of Representatives from 1976 to 1984 and served in the US Senate from 1985 to 1992.
A lot has been written about him but it is the purpose of this article to allow his own words, as set forth in his monumental tome to junk science, "Earth in the Balance" to render him. Subtitled "Ecology and the Human Spirit" this 407 page polemic very clearly casts the man who would be king as a dangerous environmental extremist whose views are quasi-religious in nature.
We couldn't possibly address all of the factual errors contained in this 1992 book. It is illustrative to note that there is not one real footnote in this work and that all information is presented in an anecdotal manner, which denies the opportunity for the reader to refer to primary data.
We will, however, observe that in only the first three pages of the book:
Gore makes the inference that soil erosion is getting worse in the United States when in fact it has continually gotten better since soil conservation programs were started after the Dust Bowl experiences in the 1920's and 1930's
He says DDT "became a symbol of how carelessly our civilization could do harm to the world" in the face of overwhelming scientific evidence that in many ways DDT was one of the greatest boons ever to improving the quality of life, especially in the Third World. In India alone, malaria was cut from 75,000,000 cases in 1961 to 50,000 in 1971. Please refer to Elizabeth M. Whelan's "Toxic Terror". Click to Buy
He claims that "Agent Orange was the suspected cause of chromosomal damage" despite there being no clearly established link.
He recounts the Love Canal controversy again without presenting the overwhelming body of evidence, which contradicts his position that genetic damage was done to the surrounding population.
And finally he raises the specter of Global Warming which is far too complex to go into here, suffice it to say that the overwhelming opinion of climatologists is that there is no evidence of a trend towards an overall increase in the temperature of the earth's atmosphere and further that the actions of man have not been shown to be responsible for the increased concentration of greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere. We recommend S. Fred Singer's excellent "Hot Talk, Cold Science" for the full story, Click to Buy. Hey if they can't even predict tomorrows weather accurately how can they predict the climate 25 years in advance?
It isn't really surprising to note just how little of Gore's philosophy has been revealed to public by way of the mainstream press. Snippets of "Earth in the Balance" are quoted here and there but when this body of opinion is closely examined, in it's totality; one is struck by the truly radical nature of his beliefs. He obviously owes a great deal of debt to his mentor, Paul Ehrlich, author of the much discredited 1968 book "The Population Bomb".
We have chosen to accompany most of the pertinent quotes with page numbers for sourcing. We cannot however, in good conscience, encourage that you purchase the book to further your research. This would cause the cruel and totally senseless death of even more trees so please borrow it, as we did, from your friendly public library.
A significant trend in Gore's narrative is that its references to humanity are couched in terms most commonly used to describe crime:
"But one doesn't have to travel around the world to witness humankind's assault on the earth" pg-25
"we are creating a world that is hostile to wildness" pg-26
"that signal the damage from our assault on the environment" pg-27
"the violent collision between human civilization and the earth" pg-27
In this view mankind is seen as an outside cancerous force whose actions and very existence despoils the planet. Though Gore denies this allegation it is hard to escape this conclusion, given the repeated use of such terms.
Gore holds his views with the zeal of true religious fervor, this shouldn't be surprising given his Divinity School training:
"the voice of caution whispers persuasively in the ear of every politician, often with good reason. But when caution breeds timidity, a good politician listens to other voices, every time I pause to consider whether I have gone too far out on a limb I...conclude that I have not gone nearly far enough." pg-15
"if the earth is the Lord's and His servants are given the responsibility to care for it, then how are we to respond to the global vandalism now wreaking such unprecedented destruction on the earth?" pg-246
"As it happens, the idea of social justice is inextricably linked in the Scriptures with ecology. In passage after passage, environmental degradation and social injustice go hand in hand." pg-247
Gore clearly places a higher value on the components of the environment than mankind itself. Note especially how a felled tree is termed "sacrificed" which is a way of furthering a concept we call "bio-equivalence" wherein plants, animals and trees have value equal or greater than humankind.
"It seems an easy choice - sacrifice the tree for a human life - until one learns that three trees must be destroyed for each patient to be treated, how important are the medical needs of future generations? Are those of us alive today entitled to cut down all of these trees to extend the lives of just a few of us alive today" pg-119
Hey Al, tell that one to Grandpa when he comes down with liver cancer, tell him that YOU decided that he has to die to save a tree!
Strewn throughout his manifesto, Mr. Gore tosses about an assemblage of supposedly hip techno-speak jargon involving such disparate subjects as - chaos theory, black holes, positive feedback loops and the implications of bilateral symmetry to name but a few, which is then used as intellectual underpinning to attempt to strengthen his overall critique.
What Gore seeks to conceal, above all, is that he has the same collectivist mindset that F.A. Hayek warned about in "The Road to Serfdom" Click to Buy and that socialists everywhere take refuge in. The Vice President is a fervent believer in the idea of the perfectibility of man, especially when directed by a powerful centralized government. This results in an arrogance and hubris that comes from the feeling that only the anointed are truly capable of seeing the world:
"Government, as a tool used to achieve social and political organization, may be considered a technology" pg-171
This technology must somehow be used to impose the solution on a resistant proletariat:
"almost every poll shows Americans decisively rejecting higher taxes on fossil fuels even though that proposal is one of the most logical first steps in changing our policies in a manner consistent with a more responsible approach to the environment" pg-173
Capitalism does not escape the pithy analysis of the Vice President:
"imposes on us a new and even deeper obligation to address the shortcomings of capitalistic economics as it is now practiced" pg-182
"it's intricate calculations often completely ignore the value of other things fresh water, clean air, the beauty of the mountains, the rich diversity of life in the forest our economics fails to see the full value of major parts of our world " pg-183
At this point Gore clearly aligns himself with the anti-economic progress wing of the environmental movement:
"The Holy Grail of progress is so alluring that economists tend to overlook the bad side effects that often accompany improvements" pg-188
Gore quotes a University of British Columbia mathematician:
"Much of the apparent economic growth may in fact be an illusion based on a failure to account for the reduction in natural capital" pg-189
Gore bores even deeper taking on the mantra of 1970's Luddites such as Theodore Roszak who preached loss of connection to the earth and scientific objectivity as the cause for some undefined sense of anomie:
"Many people seem to be largely oblivious of this collision and the addictive nature of our unhealthy relationship to the earth" pg-223
"Our seemingly compulsive need to control the natural world may have derived from a feeling of helplessness in the face of our deep and ancient fear of "Nature red in tooth and claw" pg-225
Here it may be appropriate to note that another noted "environmentalist", Theodore Kozinsky, critiques industrialized society in a manner rather scarily similar to Al Gore's:
"The Industrial Revolution and its consequences have been a disaster for the human race. They have greatly increased the life-expectancy of those of us who live in "advanced" countries, but they have destabilized society, have made life unfulfilling, have subjected human beings to indignities, have led to widespread psychological suffering (in the Third World to physical suffering as well) and have inflicted severe damage on the natural world. The continued development of technology will worsen the situation. It will certainly subject human beings to greater indignities and inflict greater damage on the natural world, it will probably lead to greater social disruption and psychological suffering, and it may lead to increased physical suffering even in "advanced" countries".
Source: The Unabomber's Manifesto, Industrial Society and It's Future, Introduction paragraph 1
We challenge you to find any real distinction between the rantings of the Unabomber and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States!
So how does Albert Gore Jr. propose to limit mankind's apparently rapacious appetite for raw materials and his unquenchable lust to ravage the environment?
A Marshall Plan, of course!
Throughout the book every time Gore seems far down the road towards advocacy of clearly totalitarian means to force compliance, he backs off, but just slightly. In a comical and schizophrenic enviro-two-step he runs right up to the precipice, says "but that would be wrong", and then goes right on to advocate what he just said he wanted nothing to do with.
Along these lines, Gore states that a world government solution is not appropriate, apparently on practical grounds only:
"the mere mention of any plan that contemplates worldwide cooperation creates instant concern on the part of many - especially conservatives" pg-301
Thank God for the conservatives!
"the administration problems would be gargantuan" pg-301
Well, Al, Mussolini found he could get even get Italian trains to run on time, don't underestimate yourself.
So what Gore proposes is a consortium of National Governments linked by enforceable global agreements, call it World Government Lite, and it reads just like the wish list of any self respecting mega government junkie:
"In my view, five strategic goals must direct and inform our efforts to save the global environment...the stabilizing of world population...the rapid creation and development of environmentally appropriate technologies...a comprehensive and ubiquitous change in the economic "rules of the road" by which we measure the impact of our decisions on the environment...the negotiation and approval of a new generation of international agreements...the establishment of a cooperative plan for educating world citizens about our global environment...the establishment...of social and political conditions most conducive to the emergence of sustainable societies" pg-305-307
So there it is in all its Hitlerian glory, sure it's scrubbed and cleaned up for general consumption but all the pieces are there:
1. "Stabilizing world population" it is only a very short step from recommending "delayed marriage and birth spacing" to forced family planning and worse. Al, just where do you find the authority to grant to government the power to impose decisions upon the family? Eugenics are obviously the next step.
2. Appropriate technology? Actually the first step is to completely eradicate the internal combustion engine. "it ought to be possible to establish a coordinated global program to accomplish the strategic goal of completely eliminating the internal combustion engine over, say a twenty five year period" pg-326
Looks like the clock is already running on this one and considering this book was written in 1992, the deadline appears to be 2017.
"The government must establish higher mileage requirements for all cars and trucks sold in the United States" pg-350
Better gas up right now, BIG time.
3. Changing the rules of the road huh? What Al Gore wants is government intrusion into the way capitalism works and wants environmental factors made part of the equation. "a new obligation to change those features of our economic philosophy that we know are flawed in the light of the ecological destruction they legitimize, and even encourage" pg-337
Change the definitions of GNP and productivity to include environmental "costs"
Slow down the economy by raising discount rates
Revise anti trust laws for relevance to "environmental harm"
Government should "assist" companies to study the costs and benefits of environmental "damage"
Incorporate "environmentalism" in global standards, treaties, international and trades agreement
Incorporate "environmentalism" into the structure of international finance "Debt" for nature swaps by government
An international treaty to limit production of "greenhouse" gasses such as carbon dioxide. Extrapolated from pg-346-347
4. A new generation of treaties starting with the Montreal Protocol and finding it's full embodiment in the Kyoto Accords. If the United States Senate ever went along with the Kyoto Accords we would be reduced to a third rate bananna republic.
5. And what scheme would be complete without a plan to re-educate the populace? Al Gore again falls into the techno-speak, which he apparently thinks gives greater intellectual weight to his radicalism:
"I am recommending here is to distribute the information collecting and processing capability in a "massively parallel" way throughout the world by involving students and teachers in every nation...establishing environmental training centers" pg-359-360
We told you this was scary stuff! When you combine such radicalism with the obvious fundamental religious fervor that Al Gore embodies, you have the grist of Mao's Cultural Revolution - any takers? It seems incredible that this is where the Democratic nominee for President of the United States is coming from ideologically and that he has such obviously wide support within the party as well as the population in general. To those of you who may doubt this assesment we will again call your attention to the fact that this is THE MAN SPEAKING FOR HIMSELF!
PipeBombNews will continue to publish the unvarnished truth, we truly take seriously our motto "Exploding Your World View"
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