Book Preview - "The Future"

Al Gore recently taped an in-depth interview about his new book, "The Future" for PBS.  Vice President Gore is one of my favorite thinkers, picking himself up after the most bizarre and undemocratic Presidential campaign in history - note that Jeffrey Brown says "Since he conceded the 2000  presidential election...".  (He did after all win the popular vote by a comfortable margin only to have the Supremes 'appoint' Bush  based on the archaic and un-democratic Electoral College.)

In his new book, he tackles some of the major changes in the world - changes which Washington DC in general and Congress in particular (still governing from the 1950s) has ignored.   The first part sees Jeffrey Brown pressing him about the sale of his TV network to Al-Jazeera...but in many ways that network has evolved into one of the most trusted and credible news sources in the world.  VP Gore's views are fairly focused, and as you will see Jeffrey doesn't let him off easy on the larger questions...something typical of PBS that you won't find on any cable news channel. 

I particularly liked his comments on the fact that the American citizenry has largely lost any influence over their Congressional representatives -- the folks in Washington know that it is only important to keep the money flowing from lobbyists by keeping them happy.  That money will help them buy any amount of false advertising for their next campaign and sway the gullible voters into reelecting them. 

  

Watch Al Gore's 'Future' Tackles Technology, Global Economy on PBS. See more from PBS NewsHour.

The second part of the interview zeroes in on the climate-change myopia that has occupied Washington for the last decade or so.  Some revealing facts in here that you probably won't hear elsewhere...or unless you plan to read his book, which I will certainly be doing. 



Happy thinking!