Indeed, he wants to change attitudes about government as much as he wants to
preach environmentalism. Global warming is what William James called a
"moral equivalent of war" that gives political officials the power to do
things they could never do without a crisis. As liberal journalist James
Ridgeway wrote in the early 1970s: "Ecology offered liberal-minded people
what they had longed for, a safe, rational and above all peaceful way of
remaking society ... (and) developing a more coherent central state."
This explains Gore's relentless talk of "consensus," his ugly moral bullying
of "deniers" and, most of all, his insistence that because there's no time
left to argue, everyone should do what he says.
Isn't it interesting how the same people who think "dissent is the highest
form of patriotism" when it comes to the war think that dissent when it
comes to global warming is evil and troglodytic?
"If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor," Gore said this week. "If
the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say, 'Well, I read a
science fiction novel that told me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on
fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame retardant. You take
action."
True enough. But if your baby's crib is on fire, you don't run to a
politician for help either.
You can tell that Gore's schtick is about something more than the moderate
and manageable challenge of global warming when he talks of sacrifice. On
the one hand he wants everybody to change their lifestyles dramatically.
These are the sacrifices the voracious energy user Al Gore won't have to
make because he can buy "carbon credits" for his many homes and his
jet-setting.
But when asked this week about the enormous and unwise costs his plan would
impose on the U.S. economy (according to the global consensus of
economists), Gore said that his draconian emissions cuts are "going to save
you money, and it's going to make the economy stronger."
Wait a second. This is the gravest crisis we've ever faced, but if we do
exactly as Gore says (but not as he does), we'll get richer in the process
as we heal Mother Earth of her fever? Gore's faith-based initiative is a
win-win. No wonder so many people think it's mean to disagree.