On vacation I saw the documentary,
An Inconvenient Truth. Run, don't walk to go see this movie. It is fantastic. Not only does it give you an great explination of global warming showing that it is an actual phenomenom not some paranoid theory of environmentalists, but it is a times funny. There is a special treat for all you
Futurama fans out there. In the movie, Al Gore brings the facts of excessive CO2 use front and center. Viewers are shown not only what will happen, but what
is happening because of our actions. I also liked this movie because unlike other environmental awareness projects, this did not pull at heartstrings as a means to get people to care. Instead, it layed out the facts of the matter, and people who care will hopefully be called into action while people who didn't care before will realize why they should. Go see this movie! Then, sign up for green energy (if you can afford it), change all you light bulbs to compact floresent lightbulbs, and visit
the website to learn more.
Now, for all of you are going to say, "it doesn't help if only one person does it." or some other similar crap that really makes me angry, don't. True, it doesn't help enough if only one person does it, but if everyone stopped saying that and did something, then more than just one person would be doing it, wouldn't they? In order for laws and programs to change to make it easy for people to be envirionmentally responsible, people have to change their mindset and demand that programs be made to make environmentally responsilbe choices easy. Its a cycle that has to start somewhere, and once it does has the potentail to spin blissfully out of control until it becomes second nature for people to make the smart choice. So, don't do nothing because you can't do everything - do what you can and complain that you community doesn't make it easier for you do to the rest!
This blog post brought to you by "Movie Mondays"
5 comments:
You make an interesting point. Nobody's one contribution to the problem makes any difference, so nobody should do anything. Much like how my one vote doesn't count for anything, so I shouldn't vote.
You've convinced me.
umm.. I think that is actually the exact OPPOSSITE of what I'm saying.
So, if I understand you correctly, the role my contribution would play is so insignificant that I should just give up all hope? Sounds good to me - let's hear it for apathy!
On a more serious note, I was massively, massively pro-Gore in 2000. I mean, I was a total Gore head, and the bullshit that was spewed about that guy was totally unfair, and I got really angry about stuff like love canal, inventing the internet, all that. It was an early run at swift boat, where the republicans spread lies about the other candidate that people just sucked up whole and ran with. It was really depressing.
And furthermore I think that he was robbed of the presidency by an outrageous act of judicial activism by the court. Conservatives hate Roe v Wade, why don't they hate the SCOTUS deciding the outcome of an election, is what I want to know.
But seeing Gore in the media recently, I just don't know that he's a strong candidate any longer, and it kills me to say it, because I was so strongly in his favor. And I know that he would've been an infinitely better president than the inept and corrupt motherfucker currently in office.
But I don't know that I would want Gore running in 08. There's something offputting in his demeanor, no matter how much I like him as a person. But saying that...it makes me feel like I'm calling my mother a whore or something. Like I've bought the republican line.
So I guess I'm conflicted on the subject.
offputting? Really? Maybe it is just becuase he seems to be satisfied at not being "in" politics anymore. He feels he can do more for his cause (the environment) outside of the confinds of the White House. Perhaps what you find offputting is the fact that he doesn't pander and spew b.s. like candidtates for political office pretty much have to do.
Unlike many, I do not see this movie as a spring board back into politics for A.G. Nobody wins on an evironmental platform. Being really smart, Gore is smart enough to know this.
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to the whole activist judement thing... good point.
Maybe it's veiled self-loathing on my part - I see him as a smart but often pedantic guy.
On the environment, I feel that's an issue that should appeal to everybody. I mean, conservation was originally a Republican idea, after all. It's something that affects everybody. You can't each too much fish, because that's going to fill you up with heavy metals that'll leave you severely damaged. That's not a partisan issue, and it shouldn't be a partisan issue.
I feel that, with the right spin, a good candidate could get a lot of popular support for a strongly pro-environment stand, particularly in the area of pollution.
The biggest problem is how much money the polluters have. And since giving money is protected speech, polluters can buy favorable policies for themselves. That's not what democracy or the marketplace of ideas is all about, even if it might be what capitalism's all about.
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