> >==================== > > > > >"Gore Doesn't Seem to Trust People to Handle the Truth" >by John R. Lott, Senior Research Scholar, Yale Law School >from the Hartford Courant > > >Vice President Gore is battling with Green Party candidate Ralph Nader for >the hard-core environmentalist vote for president. In response to >environmentalists' claims that Gore is taking their votes for granted, >Gore's campaign points to Gore's recently re-released book, "Earth in the >Balance," as evidence of what his administration would do. Indeed, if the >book is a good indicator, the extremes to which it goes in supporting the >environmentalist cause should give even the most radical environmentalists >comfort. >The book paints a grim future of overpopulation, mass starvation and death >from disease and pollution, and suggests that only drastic changes in our >lifestyles can prevent such a global nightmare. The American automobile is, >for example, "more deadly than that of any military enemy we are ever again >likely to confront." >Gore expresses such great fear that he even proposes dispensing with the >usual goal of an impartial press: The media should not give "equal weight" >to both sides in environmental debates such as global warming, for "it >undermines the effort to build a solid base of public support for difficult >actions we must soon take." Self-censorship is also justified because "98 >percent of the scientists" share his view that man-made pollution is >responsible for global warming. >His 98 percent figure, of course, represents just one of the book's many >exaggerations. At the time that he wrote the book, a Gallup poll revealed >that only 18 percent of climate experts thought identifiable man-caused >warming had occurred (whereas 49 percent held the opposite view and 33 >percent did not know). Opinions today are similar. >Gore advocates self-censorship on yet another ground: People are addicted >to consumption and will desperately grasp at false hopes to maintain their >addiction. The trouble supposedly started when God's importance in peoples' >lives diminished due to the start of the "scientific era." In Gore's own >words: >"But with God receding from the natural world to an abstract place, the >patriarchal figure in the family (almost always the father) effectively >became God's viceroy, entitled to exercise godlike authority when enforcing >the family's rules. As some fathers inevitably began to insist on being the >sole source of authority, their children became confused about their own >roles in a family system that was severely stressed by the demands of the >dominant, all-powerful father. . . . >"One of the ways dysfunctional families enforce adherence to rules and >foster the psychic numbness on which they depend is by teaching the >separation between mind and body and suppressing the feelings and emotions >that might otherwise undermine the rules." >How exactly fathers create this separation between their children's minds >and bodies is never explained, but the resulting cleavage supposedly >produces an emptiness that is alleviated only through consumption. This >"mental illness," as Gore labels it, has created for people the illusion >that they want "the food on the supermarket shelves, the water in the >faucets in our homes, the shelter and sustenance, the clothing and >purposeful work, our entertainment." He writes of "a false world of plastic >flowers and Astroturf, air conditioning and fluorescent lights . . . frozen >food for the microwave oven." >But even more worrisome is Gore's perspective of those who hold opposing >views. After classifying "denial" as a serious mental illness, Gore charges >that those who criticize environmental programs are themselves suffering >from "a well-established form of denial." Those who oppose him are not just >wrong, but sick. >Largely because of people's inability to make the right decisions, Gore >wants centralized government regulations to solve environmental problems. >Take his example of California's water shortages during 1987-92. While >ignoring the oft-noted claim that extremely subsidized prices reduce >farmers' incentives to carefully economize on water, Gore blames the >shortage on farmers watering their crops so much that they stunt plant >growth. Gore's remedy is detailed watering regulations to keep apparently >misguided farmers from harming their crops while simultaneously freeing up >water for others. As with essentially all environmental problems, Gore sees >the proper regulations as painlessly making everyone better off. >Possibly Gore's view of most people not being able to handle the truth >justifies his book presenting exaggerated claims and distorted evidence. >After all, he is only following the advice that he has already given the >media: Make things look as bad as possible. >Yet there is a nagging fear of what he might do if elected president. What >other policy issues are so compelling as to justify withholding evidence >from voters? When else will he discourage a free debate in the press and >question the mental health of his opponents? > >========= > > CENTER-RIGHT is edited by Eugene Volokh, who teaches constitutional >law, copyright law, and a seminar on firearms regulation at UCLA Law School >(http://www.law.ucla.edu/faculty/volokh) ><http://www.law.ucla.edu/faculty/volokh)> , and organized with the help of >Terry Wynn and the Federalist Society (http://www.fed-soc.org/) ><http://www.fed-soc.org/)> . > Check out (and link to) our Web site, > http://www.center-right.org/ <http://www.center-right.org/> > To subscribe, visit our website. > >______________________________________________________________________ >To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] ><mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! 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