Gore's Own Inconvenient Truths....

[.Shane.]

Why do you think it holds validity as a criticism? Throw me a bone!

Well, assuming that he does have full control over how his families trust fund is invested, then, I would say it is potentially hypocritical to be heavily invested in a company who's profit margin is linked to the further degredation of the earth.

Note there's a lot of wiggle room there. Maybe this company has a lot of renewable energy resource initiatives. Maybe Gore is active on the board and is influencing the choices the company makes.

Bottom line the author only provided the scant minimum of info to try and demonize Gore. A more credible writer would've delved a lot deeper.

 

[El_Machinae]

How is it hypocritical if you're taking steps to reduce their profit margin?

I just don't see how me owning PetroCanada makes the problem worse. Especially when I use my greater income (as a result) to reduce the problem. I mean, I know that in the short-term I'll collect excellent dividends from oil stocks - I might as well use the money to complain about the tar sand pollution.

 

[MobBoss]

Evidently Mobboss believes that if cannot bash the man's messege the next best thing is to bash the man.

Lets all find out Mobboss's real name and address so we can spy on him in his everyday life and point out his hypocracies in an attempt to discredit every positive idea he has...

Actually, let's not. Lets just point out this thread for what it is - irrelivant.

Evidently Mobboss was only linking up a editorial for discussion. Also, Mobboss is not a public figure, intent on being a figurehead for a movement.

But if you want to spy on me, go ahead. If you want the details of my daily life feel free to PM me for the download.

 

[ThePhysicist]

Well, I wouldn't say there is anything specifically wrong with discussing whether a person is a hypocrite or not, I just tend to think it isn't very productive. I'm not interested in who's an idiot or who isn't an idiot, or compiling a list of hypocrites. I'm interested in the issues that affect us. Hell I don't care if Gore is an Alien, as long as he has something to contribute to debate. Now, if Gore where to make an idiotic argument, ripping it to part would infact be constructive. But character assassinations don't help me understand the world any better.

But if you think it's fun, go ahead. Just remember that just because someone is a hypocrite, it doesn't necessarily mean their argument is wrong.

 

[Narz]

Evidently Mobboss was only linking up a editorial for discussion. Also, Mobboss is not a public figure, intent on being a figurehead for a movement.

But if you want to spy on me, go ahead. If you want the details of my daily life feel free to PM me for the download.

Thank you for your generous offer.

I have a better one though, why not write an autobiographical e-book and sell for $5 a download.

I request 10% royalties for the idea.

 

[Urederra]

Evidently Mobboss was only linking up a editorial for discussion. Also, Mobboss is not a public figure, intent on being a figurehead for a movement.

But if you want to spy on me, go ahead. If you want the details of my daily life feel free to PM me for the download.

And the most important thing is that MobBoss is not telling anybody to consume only renewable fuels, to practice economical austerity and to recycle everything. So he can do otherwise without being as blatantly hypocritical as Al Gore is.

 

[Narz]

And the most important thing is that MobBoss is not telling anybody to consume only renewable fuels, to practice economical austerity and to recycle everything. So he can do otherwise without being as blatantly hypocritical as Al Gore is.

So the lower your ideals the more immune you are to critism since you can always say "meh, I don't care about that anyway"?

I'd rather be a hypocrite than a sideline critic who has no ideals to contradict.

I've never met anyone who walks his talk 100% of the time. It's all about striving for that 100%, gradually increasing towards it.

IMO.

 

[Veritass]

I've never met anyone who walks his talk 100% of the time. It's all about striving for that 100%, gradually increasing towards it. IMO.

Still too simplistic. It's more about balance. I submit that even if you are a ferocious recycler / environmentalist / low carbon emitter, you also have a number of other commitments in your life. The pursuit of any one of these to the 100% mark will interfere with the others, and you need to make choices and compromises.

I have a commitment to help preserve the environment, so I recycle, and I have a set-back thermostat to keep from wasting energy, and I have low-water plants around my house. However, I never take public transportation: I also have a commitment to take care of my body and my mind, and I go to school or the gym right after work almost every night, and the public transportation cannot make that happen. I also have a desire to be well-travelled, so I fly somewhere on a trip 1-3 times per year, so I am not very environmentally-friendly.

These are all individual trade-offs that we all make. I have a friend whose family camps all the time, so they have invested in a camping trailer and a truck to haul it. However, they can't have a different car for every purpose, so he has to also take the truck to get to work, which is much more polluting that having a small car to do so. This is his trade-off -- not one that I would make, but I cannot fault his decision making.

 

[brennan]

The trouble with the Gore-bashers is that they see any inconsistency at all as hypocrisy and use that to ridicule Gore's position. After all it's not like they can actually say that recycling and using less energy is a bad idea. Hence the ad-hominems. Which are ad-hominems despite anything Urederra might think.

 

[amadeus]

Nobody so far has apparently noticed Al Gore's "do as I say, not as I do" attitude. Pretty repulsive.

 

[El_Machinae]

You seem to have missed the numerous posts where we complain about not being told WHAT Gore does ...

Do you truely think there's only a negative picture to paint?

Do you understand why people think that owning the oil stock is 'wrong'? That still hasn't been explained to me. People seemed so confident about their statement when they condemned it ... (except .Shane. who did not fully condemn or explain his discomfort)

 

[brennan]

You have conclusive proof that he does no recycling? That he leaves every light in the house on 24/7?

Let's face it the argument here is that Gore owns shares in an oil company and owns property. Hardly the worst case of hypocrisy ever.

 

[North King]

Nobody so far has apparently noticed Al Gore's "do as I say, not as I do" attitude. Pretty repulsive.

Apparently you haven't been reading the entire thread; reading only the quote in the first post and not even MobBoss's comment at the end of it, then posting your own post.



Every single anti-global-warming-is-a-human-phenomenon poster on this board, more or less, has been saying that.

 

[amadeus]

Do you truely think there's only a negative picture to paint?

When Al Gore criticizes the rest of us for heating our own houses, he's heating three. When he criticizes us for driving a car, he flies around in a private jet. When he criticizes us for buying gasoline, his portfolio is swelling up from it.

I don't care if he recycles plastic bottles -- that doesn't matter. The point is he's out there whining and moaning to the rest of us when he consumes 10 times as much as most other people in this country. It's like Michael Moore telling the Olsen twins that they're getting too heavy.

Apparently you haven't been reading the entire thread; reading only the quote in the first post and not even MobBoss's comment at the end of it, then posting your own post.

Aside from MobBoss, of course. It should be fairly obvious that he understands the score.

 

[El_Machinae]

So you DO see hypocrisy in owning oil shares!

Maybe you can explain how owning oil shares contributes to Global Warming?

You're the second person to decisively claim that there's something wrong with it; somehow my owning Petro-Canada is hypocritical if I write my government to tax CO2 ...

Maybe you can explain this point that is apparently so clear?

 

[North King]

Aside from MobBoss, of course. It should be fairly obvious that he understands the score.

New code-phrases for "he agrees with my opinion"... I mean, do you actually need to maintain the facade? Why not just say outright that you think he's cool because he agrees with you?

 

[brennan]

The point is he's out there whining and moaning to the rest of us when he consumes 10 times as much as most other people in this country. It's like Michael Moore telling the Olsen twins that they're getting too heavy.

Yeah, and even the most fanatical environment nazi around is going to have a more polluting lifestyle than a caveman; what's your point: that anyone who espouses a green lifestyle has to get back in the trees?

 

[MobBoss]

New code-phrases for "he agrees with my opinion"... I mean, do you actually need to maintain the facade? Why not just say outright that you think he's cool because he agrees with you?

Well...I am a dapper dresser as well. How about lets just say he does see the same hypocrisy that I do in the situation.

 

[ThePhysicist]

Well...I am a dapper dresser as well. How about lets just say he does see the same hypocrisy that I do in the situation.

Yeah, but the problem is we are looking through a crack in the wall, and cant see everything we need to see. Further, the crack in the wall was provided by someone who very much has a vested interest in showing us only the negative.

Plus, as I believe El Mac said about the oil....if Gore had invested in a company that profitted from his advocacy, you would be criticizing him for just trying to make money by scaring the public.

 

[El_Machinae]

I guess it's not hypocritical to show support for a one-sided article and then refuse to explain one-sided opinions...

I mean, to provide reasonable answers to reasonable questions would be to act contrary to the article they endorse....

Edit: though like I've said, I would be quite disappointed in Gore if he didn't own positions in penny-stocks that are working on solutions. Support at that level is quite essential, and stock ownership provides that support.