Man of the Spring
Armed Liberal at Winds of Change compares Al Gore's environmentally friendly 10,000 square foot house to Marie Antoinette's pastoral pretensions, but not in the sneering sort of way.
Armed Liberal understands that it's everyone's dream to be rich in America; that most people -- Democrats included -- aspire to having money in the bank, executive transportation and the 10,000 square foot house. But what happens when the rich must also pretend to be Earth Friendly? When you come right down to it, just how low a footprint can a mansion have and still be a mansion? What would be the point of having a mansion and turning it into a dump? To try and be rich and environmentally friendly is to be caught between a rock and a hard place, because to live rich is by definition to consume. When I was just out of my teens I lived a very environmentally friendly life, sleeping on church benches; rarely laundering my clothes; eating minimally. Walking everywhere. This kind of life is called poverty and is characterized by the fact that you can't afford or consume anything.Created in 1783, the Petit Hameau was a mock farm area, complete with farmhouse, dairy, and poultry yard ... all areas traditionally associated with women. When visiting this ersatz farm, Marie Antoinette and her attendants would dress as shepherdesses, and play at milking the cows and tending other docile animals. The farmhouse interior was more opulent, featuring all of the luxuries expected by the Queen and her ladies. ...
Novelists, playwrights, and moralists encouraged the aristocracy to act their part by giving a helping hand to the deserving poor in well-staged events that would reflect well on them. The poor had a tendency to take the aristocrats to court if they failed in their traditional duties, and they often won their cases.
The contradiction between trying to become rich and staying a Friend of the Earth is the Problem of Evil of environmental religion. And the impossibility of squaring the circle forces most people not to think about the paradoxes involved. They just go through life both trying to become financially successful and putting their groceries in a recyclable supermarket bags without considering the absurdity of it. "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand knoweth." But absurdities are rarely obvious else the old time Mafia hitmen who went to church to pray for good luck before locking and loading would have noticed them.
Considering that it is practically impossible to dissuade people from pursuing prosperity, about all one can hope for to minimize the use of resources given a certain level of consumption. To have fuel efficient palaces and high-milage private planes. To be filthy rich in an environmentally acceptable sort of way. But this kind of prosperity sounds suspiciously like the kind of world a well-functioning market would produce anyway; because the marketplace creates efficient products. If so, the only substantive role of environmentalism would to set fashion trends that the market would fulfill, to make certain types of product characteristics more desirable than others. But then -- ok -- we're back at the Petit Hameau, where fashion rules under the guise of a shepherdesses' smock. Poor Al Gore.
posted by wretchardthecat at 3/01/2007 06:29:00 AM
31 Comments:
Another interesting analogy for the environmentalist/global warming movement is the scrap drives during WWII. The slide show behind Melissa Etheridge at the Academy Awards -- asking us to do our bit to save the planet by turning our thermostats down a few degrees and using a bicycle for short trips -- reminded me of the WWII admonitions to turn in old tires, used cooking oil and aluminum pots and pans for the war effort.
That effort had many of the same ironies as the global warming movement -- celebrities driving all over the country to urge people to save gas -- and offered a similar ratio of genuinely useful suggestions to out-and-out bullshit. During WWII the scrap steel and kitchen fat were useful for making munitions and explosives but the war effort never really figured out what to do with the rubber, newspapers and aluminum pots and pans. Similarly, some of the suggestions for things ordinary people can do to use their resources more efficiently also make sense -- compact fluorescent lights in the garage and the closet and more gas-efficient cars. Other things make less sense. Mass transit, for instance, is simply not an option for communities that lack the population densities that make it cost-effective.
This is perhaps a more sympathetic analogy for Gore and other environmentalist celebrities. We won the war whereas Marie Antionette came to an unfortunate end. What's more, despite the undeniable ironies, the celebrity huckstering during the war probably did help.
There is a role for fashion in shaping public perceptions.
Since I know that to all real patriots the welfare of America’s heroes can never be off-topic, I submit the following:
Hospital Officials Knew Of Neglect
So, where are Hewitt, Malkin, and Captain Ed? Where is the word of wisdom from Reynolds? Why no Fox News expose by Geraldo and O’Riley? Come on, guys, if the Washington Post is full of it, why the silence?
"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."
___Johnson
“But there is something even worse: it is the first, last, and middle range of fools.”
___Mencken
For those with access to any of the big guns named above, get them on the story, if they dare.
Agree--Al Gore may actually do some good, in regards to lowering the last margin of waste--that is, the margin not already controlled by folk's perpetually-serious personal budget-balancing.
...and he's for sure doing some good in the humor area. I saw Mr. Lean-Life @ the Oscars (on tv of course) and he had more chins than a Chinese phone book.
The interesting thing is that as a society, the US has gotten richer without using more energy. If you look at total energy usage (quads of BTU) per capita, it has remained constant over the last 50 years. Thus the only increase in energy usage has been from population growth.
Since the fertility rate in the US is at 2.1, the replacement rate, one could draw the conclusion that stopping immigration into the US would be the most effective way to limit energy growth. But that's probably a topic for another post.
Here is an excerpt from The Nine Nations of North America, by Joel Garreau.
In North Carolina, for example, there are simply tons of beautiful old log cabins in scenic settings, each heated by wood and graced by a yard full of chickens, the inhabitants of which participate in a cooperative life style. But the people who live in them do not consider themselves Ecotopians. What they consider themselves to be is poor and black. If pressed, they might describe as Utopian a situation in which they never again split another log or messed with another stupid chicken. The idea of a young, educated white couple voluntarily living the way they do -- even seeking out the experience -- would be, to them, almost beyond belief.
(p.272)
C4,
A couple nights ago some network carried a program on newsman Bob Woodruff's traumatization and recovery. Because of my spouse's line of work, she watched the whole program. I caught portions. On the whole, it was glowing in its praise of military battlefield and post-battlefield medicine.
One area of weakness covered in passing was the abysmal level of care available to discharged troops, especially those with lifelong, pronounced disabilities. I recall a brain damaged troop being discharged to San Antonio. The folks there were clueless and the young man required emergency intervention.
While heads should roll in the Army for those incidents covered by the Washington Post, I am most irritated by the utter lack of concern shown by the so-called patriotic bloggosphere and other “conservative” media. Can you imagine what we would be reading, hearing, and seeing from the likes of Bay, Morrissey, Malkin etc, if anything even fractionally egregious had occurred on the watch of a Democrat?
Sadly, the troops provide nothing more than the means for the crassest, grossest partisanship imaginable. The silence of Austin Bay and the others proves to me that, fundamentally, they are no more interested in the kids on the ground than John Murtha. They just spin events to their liking.
While silence may be golden, in the instance, it is an indictment. Assuming the American public could muster the effort to be insulted, it is ill served, across the board. G-d had better be on our side, because the elites certainly are not.
Good excerpt, Alexis. What's "green" and desirable to some is bleak, gray living to others. And there are so many shades of green springing forth that Crayola is going to run out of names.
There are the populist enviro-mentals who like the personal style and moral superiority of green. Alt-enviros enjoy the idea of Gaia and catering to her needs. Born-again enviros are doing God’s work and conserving His creation. NGO enviros now seem to be in business to hold back people and economic development. Science enviros have found religion and salvation through AGW grants.
But Learjet enviros especially enjoy the cachet of hipster causes and the profitable end of green, and they know what they’re doing- living large (with a show Prius here and there) while generating publicity and wealth for themselves in carbon offset schemes and green industry. They are also trying hard to corner moral market share for the Dems and promote a Progressive/transnational/market-state world for which Green is perfectly suited.
I read today that Al Gore is disappointed that the press still presents fair and balanced stories on Global Warming, which confuses us little people. Obviously, we should accept it ex cathedra as a Metaphysical Belief not subject to logic or empirical science.
When I read about the A6 Agreement the other night, I couldn't believe it because I had never heard of it. How would we not hear about the USA and Oz putting up $127,000,000 to develop cleaner energy, in an intl agreement with India, China, Japan and South Korea? Well, this story below is even more unbelievable, but just as true.
I searched the Philly Inky and Daily News Archives, and there were 0 mentions of the "Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate." I searched the Archives of the NYT and I found 1 mention (compared to 5,721 Hits for "global warming") in the story below, which doesn't seem like the A6 was the primary topic, even on page 3 of the Business section:
"January 9, 2006, Monday
(NYT); Business/Financial Desk
Late Edition - Final, Section C, Page 3, Column 1, 435 words
DISPLAYING ABSTRACT - $700 BILLION, HERE WE COME -- The United States trade deficit probably shrank a tad in November, but not enough to avert a record gap for 2006. Economists expect Thursday's figures to show that the imbalance narrowed to $65.9 billion, from $68.9 billion in October, the highest in history, ..."
It's under Times Select, so I don't have the rest of the article.
Anyway, 0 mentions in the Inky, and 1 casual mention in the NYT. Of course, the NYT had 5,721 hits on Global Warming. So, that's why we never heard of the A6 before. (Some comment on Al Gore's contempt for misplaced "balance" in the media, eh?) Anyway, it's true.
Then, like I said, I found this story on Instapundit yesterday, which is even more unbelievable. It's on the Ecotality Blog which declares "Our mission is to change the way we power our homes and buildings, our vehicles and appliances, and to change the world and make it a better place for you, your kids and future generations." Here's the unbelievable but true story:
Why the Gore Story Matters
___Victory Caucus: We Really, Really, Really, REALLY Care!
I stand corrected. The “Victory Caucus” has gone after the Washington Post’s “despicable tabloid expose in the guise of journalism”. Dana Milbank does not escape the ire of the worthy governors, who write, “He is a second rate hack, personifying the worst of yellow journalism. America’s brave warriors deserve better, but we are talking about the Washington Post.”…”While it is true that many veterans have received sub-par care at Walter Reed, that is no reason to cut and run. America is more important than one man or any number of men. Conservatives understand this.”
Support the “Victory Caucus” as it holds the line, fearlessly supporting American troops from the depredations of institutional neglect and abuse.
Board of Governors
Dean Barnett
Austin Bay
Matthew Currier Burden
Frank Gaffney
Hugh Hewitt
Ed Morrissey
"Publius"
"Joe Gish"
Link to Victory Caucus
Allen,
Thanks for keeping us posted and for pointing the way.
Tony,
We don't hear much about the A6 agreement because sane, win-win capitalistic-based action on cleaner energy would undercut the Progressive approach to environmentalism that wants more than anything to blame and punish America. And our media has become so Progressively biased as to make us wonder why we bother wondering why they don't wonder more and report on issues objectively.
Here's a song for Algore:
Some trails are commercial ones,
Others are in lieu.
It’s the way you ride the sky that counts,
Here’s a “happy” one for you.
Private contrails to you,
until we fry, freeze or drown again
Private contrails to you,
keep smirkin’ until then.
Who cares about the petro-waste and streams of over-insulating condensation when we’re together?
Just buy a credit and bling bling away the warming weather
Private contrails to you,
till you flying high and I living low meet 'The Day After Tomorrow' again!
(Dale Evans-Rogers unleashed)
In contrast to Gore's mansion (where electric consumption reportedly increased by some 2000 KWH per month AFTER that infamous film came out)- or the huge place being built for defeated VP candidate Edwards in NC, there is a more modest and genuinely eco-friendly home I heard about recently. It uses geothermal wells to aid heating and cooling and even captures rainwater to use in watering the lawn. Although the owner is quite famous we have not heard much about the place for some reason.
It's a ranch near Crawford, Texas.
Would be interesting to compare the electric and gas bills for the two places.
However, we need to realize that in all things both economic and environmental:
Socialists focus on what people consume.
Capitalists focus on what people produce.
Finally, in regards to Walter Reed, the military health care situation in the DC area has been a disaster for at least the past few decades. While there are more installations in that area than any other, and hence more clinics and hospitals, there is also a greater demand - which includes high-ranking civilians. I have known a number of active duty people there that became totally exasperated from their attempts to obtain even the simplest healthcare.
As one might expect from an ultra-liberal cesspool like Lucianne.com, Mrs. Goldberg is "piling on" a downed Army. She writes, "Walter Reed General Loses His Command: Too bad it took the WaPo to clean this up but so be it.”
aase's death,
I will continue to do my best for the troops. G-d knows, if they have rely on the so-called "conservative" and "military" blogs, their plight will be no more known to the public than if the Washington Post was reporting.
Hmm...The Washington Post is reporting...I'll have to rethink the last.
Obviously, for many in the bloggosphere, Tommy simply provides an outlet for venting about the “Libs” and/or covering for the administration. There is nothing personal about the troops; they're other people's kids.
It is hard to take the High Priest of the 1st Church of Global Warming seriously normally, even less so when he's a carbon piggie.
The new religion of Global Warming will forgive him - after all, he's their messiah.
allen,
Just what does your comment have to do with the price of tea in China or Al Gore's hypocrisy?
stephen renico,
"Since I know that to all real patriots the welfare of America’s heroes can never be off-topic, I submit the following:"
By the way, just what does your comment have to do with the price of tea in China or Al Gore's hypocrisy?
___Al Gore
During the ‘80s when Al Gore and his lovely wife were playing the protection racket against the recording studios and recording artists, I wrote that “Al Gore is the most dangerous man in politics. He must never become president.” When Al Gore attempted the subversion of the American election process by coup in 2000, he validated my opinion. His taking up the mantle of international prophet should give all freedom loving people pause.
allen said...
Since I know that to all real patriots the welfare of America’s heroes can never be off-topic, I submit the following:
Hospital Officials Knew Of Neglect
////////////
Walter Reed is slated for closing in a couple years. They'll move out of the city and in with bethesda naval hopital in the burbs. The surgeons there are first class but the staff sucks.
My guess is that the reason that Phil Graham broke with his wife and the mother of his children Catherine Graham -- was that he was told about the venona cables. They showed that McCarthy was essentially correct. Still the Washington post remained stridently
anti McCarthy. Likely the disconnect and alienation with the WP that Phil felt was overwhelming.
Here's a pretty good article called
How Soviet spooks shaped U.S. policy that mentions in passing that graham was informed of the venona cables. FYI hoover knew too. But he couldn't use the info gained from the intercepts in court. He had to develop his own leads.So most of the spies skated. Likely he imposed the same restrictions on McCarthy--with whom he met for four years during McCarthy's star turn.
However, McCarthy succeeded in pushing out soviet spies for 20 years. Not bad. The same can't be said today for Chinese communist spies.
Sadly, the tale of US veterans and soldiers getting the short shrift is nothing new. George Washington had to go hat in hand to the Continnetal Congress just to get food for his troops, and the promises made to his soldiers were soon forgotten after the war.
"In 1783 William Alld was discharged from the Continental Army. The eight-year war, the longest in American history until the Vietnam War, was over. Like thousands of other veterans of the Revolutionary War, Alld made his way home alone. No parade, no public homecoming ceremony welcomed the veteran when he arrived at his father's house in Peterborough, New Hampshire. The country had tired of the long and costly war. Veterans like Alld received no benefits. These men were soon forgotten by the country they had liberated from Britain's empire. The proud veterans felt betrayed by the nation's ingratitude."
It was 35 years later before America made even a halfway attempt at honoring its Revolutionary War promises.
"Congress finally passed pension legislation for indigent veterans in 1818, and service pensions for all veterans in 1832. Thus, a non-indigent veteran could receive a pension for military service, but only if he survived forty-nine years after the close of the war. Widows who were married before or during the war could receive a pension beginning in 1836. Because of the long delay between the end of the war and the development of indigent and service pensions, it is clear that few veterans were able to take advantage of the pensions. Among veterans receiving a pension, the average age at receipt was sixty-seven, and half of veterans received a pension for five years or less. In addition, many applicants were rejected because of missing discharge papers, service questions, or other problems. Widows were also frequently rejected if they could not provide proof of the marriage date."
Name a war or conflict and there have been scandals regarding supplies, care and pensions for the United States' soldiers. It's a wonder anyone volunteers for a country that all too often showers indifference and ingratitude on those that put their lives on the line for it.
Back on the subject of this thread, I find myself (gasp!) agreeing with C4. Must be the heat. ^_^
In regards to Al Gore being dangerous: Few people indeed seem to recall Gore's Reinventing Government Initiative. It was the crown jewel of his years of government service
The idea was very simple, thought up by one of Gore's ivory tower university professor buddies. 30% of the civilian manpower of the US Government would be cut and things would then magically become more effecient.
The cuts were done in a typical DC "You can't pin nothing on me, copper" manner. Instead of making the hard decisions to slash the Agriculture Department (which has more employees than there are farmers in the US) or the Commerce Department (whose role is uncertain at best) the cuts were handed fdan in a technique called a "Peanut Butter Spread."
Everyone got the same amount all the way down into the field. And this came IN ADDITION to the 40% cut in DoD. Certain provisions of this cut almost had to be created with the sage advice and counsel of the KGB.
So they cut people in the FBI. And NSA. And CIA. And DoD. And NASA.
But not the US Congress. The cuts did not apply to them.
And as a result we got 9/11 and the loss of the Shuttle Columbia and North Korean Nukes, and Iranian Nukes.
But the good news was that the still fully populated ranks of Congress had plenty of people with which to investigate all of these inexplicable disasters.
Rwe,
Don’t you mean “But the new good was that the fully rank populations of Congress had plenty of people with which to invite disaster upon inexplicable investigations”?
allen,
non sequitur
allen,
There are a lot of "blind spots" in the conservative blogosphere, some of them, I suspect, induced unconsciously. While we can't do much about other sites, those issues can be raised here and if you have anything in particular that you want to draw attention to, do send me an email.
The purchase of carbon credits by Gore and his ilk has been compared to indulgences and to the purchase of substitutes during the Civil War. I compare it to the medieval sumptuary laws that kept the rising middle class from aping the aristocracy. The widespread use of carbon credits could be the most monstrous way of keeping the poor in poverty ever devised by man.
Some folks are born made to wave the flag,
Ooh, they're red, white and blue.
And when the band plays "Hail to the chief",
Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord,
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no senator's son, son.
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no,
Yeah!
Some folks are born silver spoon in hand,
Lord, don't they help themselves, oh.
But when the taxman comes to the door,
Lord, the house looks like a rummage sale, yes,
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no millionaire's son, no.
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, no.
Some folks inherit star spangled eyes,
Ooh, they send you down to war, Lord,
And when you ask them, "How much should we give?"
Ooh, they only answer More! more! more! yoh,
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no military son, son.
It ain't me, it ain't me; I ain't no fortunate one, one.
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate one, no no no,
It ain't me, it ain't me, I ain't no fortunate son, no no no,
-J.C. Fogarty
wretchard,
Thank you for providing this forum.
The farflung audience you have garnered through your well deserved reputation for integrity can make a difference. I can ask no more.
"His taking up the mantle of international prophet should give all freedom loving people pause."
-allen
Agreed. While his failure as presidential candidate can be attributed to a lack of charismatic appeal with Americans as much as to anything else, he seems to have found his niche in selling Global Warming to the media. Our nation's (and Europe's it seems) prominent media outlets all seem enamored of his end-time prophecies, to the point that they now publish stories deeming Global Warming "beyond serious debate".
As far as I can tell, there has been no serious change in the amount of debating continuing on the subject, only a change in which side of the debate has the ear of the media.
Sorry, but to correct myself, I didn't mean to imply that the media ever seriously showcased the scientific arguments against Global Warming. . .because to my knowledge they never did. I meant that it's my impression that based largely on the publicity provided by Gore's activities related to the issue, the media is now comfortable totally ignoring scientific evidence or arguments that don't support Global Warming doom and gloom.
yashmak,
Thanks for your development of the thesis.
At some point, a nomenclature or vocabulary will need to be developed by those opposed to Mr. Gore. Temperatures have risen, as might be expected following a 500+/- year long Little Ice Age, which ended sometime after 1850, apparently. While the rise in temperature has been very modest by geologic metrics, it is pointless to deny the fact of a slight warming. So, rather than declaiming Mr. Gore et al on the matter generally, we must attack the premise that global warming is anthropogenic, for which there is no support beyond extremely subjective anecdote.
Again, thanks for the opportunity to talk.
I think that the financial aspect of all this has been mistreated. If your rich, your MORE apt to be able to lead a sustainable life. Not because of your jet, but because you can get all the fancy technologies and whatnot. Personal solar panels and wind turbines, super efficient heating and cooling systems, etc.
As an architect I was disturbed by the statement saying you're turning your home into a dump by reducing its footprint. Thats plain ignorance. Some of the most beautiful homes in the world are incredibly environmentally friendly. As for normal people affording these changes, I agree that they cannot - but places like England are trying to change that by making it a requirement that all housing meet new environmental standards, including reduced carbon footprints. They're offering government subsidies, reducing the cost of materials, and educating their people. Something the U.S. government is opposed to the majority of the time.
AlGore, in his epic search for Manbearpig, has realized something about "his" generation. They latch on to shiny things. Remember folks, this is the hippie generation all grown up. Al knows his audience. They're the same group that got in their dingy, polluting VW buses and drove around the country seeking their personal Ohm with no success -- and are looking for their new ideology.
Oh yes, and those hippy children also had kids, and are now the new focus. I remember "Tipper Gore you F'in whore" was our mantra in college back in the 80's. But today they are Mr. and Ms. Media Darling?
We are a fickle lot.
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