(long winded crazy talk ahead)
When I made this thread, many of the skeptics were referring to the AGW movement as a hoax. I wanted to point out that people were making a bunch of money on it and therefore it was a scam. Now, I see it as a bunch of different things, each equally valid.
I have no doubts that the original scientists who brought the concern about AGW to light, were sincere and asking a legitimate question. In fact, if you look at the early IPCC documentation, they were still asking questions instead of making declarations.
It doesn't take too much of an imagination to see how things progressed from a concern about man's influence on the climate to what we have today.
-Scientist understands that CO2 is a greenhouse gas and recognizes that GHGs are increasing rapidly. He writes a speculation piece on the worst case scenario.
-Loving a sensationalist story because that's what gets people to watch and stay watching, the press picks up on the speculation of the worst case global warming scenario and publishes it as a credible concern.
-Environmentalists latch on to it because it promotes their agenda
-The press and politicians start calling scientists who might have some knowledge of this CO2 global warming thing and the scientists start to realize that people are interested in this largely ignored branch of science.
-The press, politicians and people want to hear the worst case scenarios. Whether consciously or not, the new climate experts tell the world what they want to hear. Yes, it's possible that this worst case scenario exists.
-The first round of opportunists latch themselves to AGW. Though the movement isn't changing policy yet, climate experts are in the news, they are in demand and they are making money.
-Progressive political activists take note of the increased interest in AGW. This is a problem that can only be solved by more regulation and big government. And since every aspect of our economy generates CO2, this is an opportunity to instigate a power shift away from the installed capitalist economy. Grants are offered for studies that either assume or confirm AGW. They aren't presented as "if" grants.
-Scientists and learning institutions gravitate toward the grant money that has an expected outcome. And it's in everybody's best interest to confirm the assumption. Why would any climate scientist want to say AGW was insignificant? For the first time in their lives they are in the limelight, they are making money. And the worst case scenarios are amplified. Now we are talking true catastrophy of biblical proportions. We are talking about the apocalypse now. AGW is now a doomsday scenario.
-AGW gains ground with public awareness and acceptance
-Time for the second round of opportunists. Al Gore, Solyndra, GE, Wall Street, 3rd World countries. The green bubble inflates and perpetual victim groups get a voice.
-"We can't afford to do nothing if they are right". We are now in a full doomsday panic where only Al Gore and the climatologists can lead the way. Obvious contributors to CO2 emissions are vilified....demonized.
-Widespread acceptance of the doomsday AGW scenario allows a political shift in the country. Fossil fuels are the enemy, Corporations are the enemy. Capitalism is the enemy. White culture is the enemy. Christianity is the enemy.
-Any questioning of any aspect of the worst case scenario is met with derision. Skeptics are the new heretics.
-The AGW movement takes on the dynamics seen in riots. Normally law abiding people start breaking windows and stealing things because everyone else is. The group participation makes it ok to openly do something that they know is wrong. Scientists discard any pretense of following accepted scientific method. Federally funded businesses sprout up and spend lavishly and then their collapse is dismissed. Al Gore lives a life of excess, spewing CO2 in spectacular quantities in a way that defies anybody to question him on it, much like a priest with his male attendants who knows he has the cover of the vatican. Conservative businesses are singled out and punished asymmetrically. The corruption is obvious, but largely ignored.
-And then the prophecy fails. As is the case with most doomsday cults, predicting the end of the world can get a lot of people to listen and to even follow. But it is a bad bet with a 0% hit rate. But when the doomsday prophecy fails there are a couple of very predictable reactions. Almost none of them include re-evaluating the leaders of the cult and tar and feathering them. The believers are too far invested in their faith. In poker terms, they are "pot committed"...some to the level of being "all-in". To admit that they were taken in by hucksters is too much of an emotional blow. It would erode the foundation of their entire lives. Instead they will say that we didn't understand what the gods were saying. The Mayan calendar didn't say 2012, it said 2112. The climate models didn't really say that temperatures would skyrocket uncontrollably from now on. They absolutely account for variations in short term projections. When it becomes overwhelming clear that the models not only never worked, that they never will, they will switch to "our green efforts and diligent care of mother earth saved the planet and everyone on it." All hail the green kings.! And when the prophecies continue to fail and the costs in jobs, wages and lives become to great to ignore, the doomsday cult will implode. It will commit suicide and try to bring as many people with it.
The AGW movement has such a diverse cast of suspects, that it truly is mindboggling. And with so many motivations that it is hard to put one face on the movement.
-There are scientists who got lucky and found the suitcase of money on their doorstep and were thrilled enough with that. These are the lottery winners
-Then there are the scientists who saw the ATM machine spewing out $20 bills and went to scope up their fair share. They were the passive thieves and grifters
-Then there are the scientists, investment and business opportunists, media and celebrity gurus who perpetuate and exaggerate the lie for their own aggrandizement and profit. These are the whores, sophisticated con men and cult leaders.
-The politicians who use the movement as an opportunity to gain power over others. They are the tyrants.
-And then there are the people who embrace,without any critical thinking, disaster scenarios caused by corporate bad guys because it's easier to blame someone else for your problems than it is to take responsibility for your actions. They are the sheep...and there are a lot of them.
And they are the ones who created the environment of acceptance that encouraged the mob dynamics that allowed the grifters, thieves, pimps, whores, cult leaders and tyrants to destroy our culture and our economy.
AGW has all of the characteristics of a secular religion at the same time as having all of the characteristics of a long con and finally a destructive doomsday cult.
Even if everything that the AGW gurus, priests and scammers said was true. If we assume that every prediction is flawless, the causes are all properly identified and weighted and the cost in human lives and dollars are accurate, there still isn't enough information to initiate a call to action.
Until they look at the cost in human lives and dollars that it will take to end AGW (assuming that it could be done), they can't make an informed decision. How many people are being thrown below the poverty line as a direct result of the war on fossil fuels? How many people are being thrown below the poverty level as an indirect result of the war on fossil fuels because the cost of all goods and services necessarily has to go up when the cost of energy goes up? Add to that the decreased value of the dollar due to war on fossil fuels being funded through increased money supply. The green revolution has devastating economic ramifications to the poor people of the world. We will never know the true cost in lives because the big brains in washington and the EU never thought to ask what the true cost of the green revolution would be.
Where the different groups of AGW faithful have different motivations. And for the most part, the taking up of the AGW flag was opportunistic, I do believe that the liberal progressives were waiting for certain identifiable conditions to appear so that they could make their power play. The AGW movement provided the fertile ground to make their move and then 9/11 helped them gain momentum. The liberals don't see the shift that has happened yet because they helped build the fences and walls. They'll see those fences and walls that restrict our freedom as mere guidelines for a happier civilization. They aren't there to confine us, they are there to protect us.
And we haven't come up with a strategy to fight the destruction of our cultural, economic and political system. The progressives obviously saw the flaw and the folly in separating religion and government. The fundamental characteristic about any religion, including a secular religion like AGW, is faith. We've seen it on this thread. We can use logic and evidence that proves that science has been on vacation for many years when it comes to this subject. And yet, they still believe. Showing the contradictions, flaws and omissoins in AGW science has the exact same effect as showing the contradictions in the bible to Christians or showing muslims how the Koran justifies every kind of atrocity that could be done to mankind. And that is....none.
I can only see two ways that the present course that we are on, can be diverted. When opposing forces cannot come to an agreement using evidence and logic because one party is steeped in faith, the only resolution is war. And that ain't going to happen any time soon. We are all far too comfortable for that to happen.
the other scenario is even less likely. A mass flash of enlightenment where the emperor's new clothes are shown as they truly are.
Again, I truly believe that the AGW science started out as a legitimate concern and study. But it provided such a solid foundation for those seeking power and wealth that the each different group co-opted it to meet their needs. And just as rioters breaking into stores and stealing TVs may not be working together, they are likely to hold the door open for each other. |
