I am struggling with the cognitive dissonance I perceive among us when I hear on the one hand that the GOP Fear-Mongers, and on the other hand I see the Al Gore trailer which made me very, very afraid.
I try to rationalize the two points of view without becoming schizophrenic.
http://climatecrisis.net/...
What is our Stance, what should it be, on fear propaganda?
Let it be generally agreed upon that fear is an effective marketing tool. Karl Rove has proven that, so let's not dispute that fear - if you include the forms of it: hatred; the mindless groupthink that results, including the willingness to believe whatever you are told ("trees cause pollution" probably got applause no less than "Al Gore invented the internet" got scornful guffaws); malice; the practice of turning enemies into hitlers - has as much the Midas Touch as any man. We're developing an understanding of the couple in the "American Gothic" painting transformed by fifty years of growth as seen in their TV and they appear (I can't relate to this, I seem to have no button there) to move left or right as they are told more in response to negative stimuli than positive. It is a well-known fact in Risk Theory that losses loom larger than gains, so working the fear angle works much better than working the, say, Love angle. It just doesn't work as well (However, the sex angle is non pareil in its field, but that is a different psychology - or physiology - at work).
Now to Al Gore's movie, which will open in three weeks or so, the trailer of which I just saw.
Some would say that it is fear-mongering, that it is trying to stir up emotions of fear of its portrayal of impending doom that will kill us all. Basically that is the message I got: Impending Doom that Will Kill Us All. Soon. Horribly.
I could not have gotten a better Fear Scenario if I tried, not even if I search the Bush Fear-mongering files. I would find Dick Cheney announcing that Saddam has nukes and is willing to use them, Condi Rice speaking of a smoking gun, Colin Powell playing the part of credible soldier showing aerial photos of such. Rove's tactics, which are never admitted to publicly (well, hell, neither are their statements that exist on-record, ask Rumsfeld about his response to McGovern) fear-monger in the 'pig-fucker' sense, a uniquely Texan form of character smear LBJ might not have said it after all, who was to know?) in which good people actually drop out of the race as if a Mafia hitman would take out their children if they ran for office. Yes, it is that cynical and evil. But that is what we mean by the epitome of fear-mongering, playing the homo card, the race card, the taxes card, telling you how the Democrats would be weak and indecisive on this or that, and that the result would be horrendous.
But in the meantime these very same people are doing things, such as looting the Treasury of the United States in a manner that Ken Lay must only wonder at in amazement (in broad daylight! the cops are carrying the bags to their trunk!!!), and sending our children (my step-son included, thankyouverymuch) to kill and be killed.
I will leave the issue of whether we went into war out of fear, or a National sense of bravado that I noticed in the Reagan years, for a different time. Let's just say they are commingled.
One of the very fearful things this administration is doing is ignoring the signs, if one is to judge their daily awareness of events global by their actions, of environmental catastrophe. CTG has an eloquent summary of Bushes' actions during Katrina, we all know what he did; my point is that it is, or it should be, awesomely, fear-inspiring to the average American if he understands the implications. Very fear-inspiring!
Perhaps the American people have been coddled for too long with Social Security, Medicare, central air conditioning, and a lifestyle that rivals any lifestyle in history for the general populace. Perhaps the American people have learned to short-circuit certain thoughts and use their precious adrenaline on anger about estate tax, Patrick Kennedy, or that girl in Aruba (to coin a cliche), Natalee Holloway (wow, I remembered her name, and I don't even care about the story).
We are complex beings, but the Science to which Vance Packard is perhaps considered an heretical high priest is the most highly funded research and development Science by far. Behavioral Modification. And it's unholy spawn: meet Karl Rove. Read about the Swift Boat Veterans for Peace.
So we are so complex we barely understand ourselves, but we are pretty sure that we respond positively (or negatively, if you will) to Fear. I believe that the mere utterance of that hypothesis gives credence and weight to the myth and makes it more true: I think Ronald Reagan understood that as well. Say it and it's True.
Which brings me to the initial reaction I had to the trailer of the Al Gore movie. Incidentally, I know this has been discussed as infinitum probably, but I don't consider this a repeat post; if it is let me know and I'll take it down.
The initial reaction I had to the trailer for the Al Gore movie was that it is fear-inspiring. But is it fear-mongering? Is it Chicken Little? Is it easily dismissed by the Right?
The answer to the last question is, emphatically: Yes. It is easily dismissed by the Right as fear-mongering, hand-wringing, Jimmy-Carter-esque, and all of that. And remember, the Right has all the money lined up against the proposition given in the movie!
The History of the Idea of Global Warming (mine own impressions):
1. Presented by scientists as a real threat, scaring us all (but we must differentiate from fear-mongering, if the connotations are to remain correct, it was a series of papers put out by Scientists giving their best estimate of the effect).
2. Discredited by Exxon first, then by Rush and all the other Right Wing pundits.
3. Relegated to inane references in casual talk, but part of the milieu, and a generally agreed-upon phenomena. The dispute is then one of severity rather than kind; we're warming up all right, but the effects will be - not debated - disputed for as long as some can dispute them.
My conclusion:
1. Tell the people of New Orleans that global warming is an unproven theory.
2. Yelling "Fire" in a crowded movie theater is not fear-mongering if there is a fire in the movie theater.
3. OK, Al, what do you suppose is within our power to do anything about this?
I hope the movie will tell us, and I am certain that the message is much more than "Vote for Me".
ManBearPig, indeed. Gore is not fear-mongering, but you should still be very afraid.
I live by mountains, what do you do?