"We'll pick our poison." So says Prof. Robert Kaufmann, the professor at Boston University who was involved in the study that showed that the coal burning in China was casting pollutants in to the atmosphere causing global cooling. So Prof. Kaufmann says we pick our poison, whether that be CO2 or sulfur.
It is beginning to sound like Mr Camping's campaign. "The world will end in May 2011." Multitudes of people streamed to him. News stories showed people with placards and handouts out on the streets spreading his message.
It all sounds very much like Chicken Little: "The sky is falling!" Or it sounds like the boy who cried "Wolf". Why do people flock after such doom and gloom "prophets"? Why do these "prophets" seem to crop up everywhere?
Well, did you know that rumor has it that Mr Camping is worth millions and it seems as a result of his "prophecies"? And that seems to be the case with the global warming/cooling scare. There is a lot of money that can be earned by people who scare people enough so that they demand "studies" to research these scares, people who want "experts" to guide them and care for them through such horrible "prophecies".
Is that why people swarm to such "prophecies"? We all feel like the world is going to come to an end and we want someone who "knows" what is going on to lead us through and to care for us during such difficulties. As our grandparents often said to us: "Oh, for the good old days when things were much simpler and less threatening." So we search for "experts" upon whom we can lean when life looks so threatening. And guess what? Here they are, whether religious "experts" or science "experts" or psychological "experts" or you name it. And they willingly(reluctantly?) take our money whether by grants from governments or from private donations or insurance and promise us they know how to take care of us or fix the situation. And so thousands and millions of dollars go into trying to create a hopeful place of security.
Isn't it interesting that that is what seems to be happening in our society, nation and government. We want our government to provide us the security so that we don't have to worry about health, wealth or life. We demand of our government our right to health and wealth. And so, guess what? Our government claims to be made up of "experts", including politicians and bureaucrats, who will solve our problems. That way we don't have to worry our fool heads off with such concerns.
And so the government keeps calling: "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" Our officials keep crying "Wolf". And we keep ponying up more and more funds so they can take care of us in such scary times.
What is sad about this is that those who could help us the most are the ones who are trampled on in the rush. The problem, you see, is that these individuals/organizations do not claim the title of "expert". They just keep plodding along with us striving to do whatever can be done in each situation. We all can think of people and organizations that do this with alarming consistency. But they receive far less recognition and funds. As so they are often pleading for donations. And they don't seek any recognition. They just invite us to join them in their service/work. The most effective and efficient help after Katrina was provided by the private sector. It is interesting that the word is out that Joplin, MO does not want government help. They are going to take care of themselves.
The real Gordian knot in this is that is exactly the line these doom-sayers use also. So how do we sort this out? Maybe we just let everyone decide for themselves and some will follow the doom-sayers and some will not. Let us beware lest we begin to think we are the "experts" who can protect others from the doom-sayers.
It is beginning to sound like Mr Camping's campaign. "The world will end in May 2011." Multitudes of people streamed to him. News stories showed people with placards and handouts out on the streets spreading his message.
It all sounds very much like Chicken Little: "The sky is falling!" Or it sounds like the boy who cried "Wolf". Why do people flock after such doom and gloom "prophets"? Why do these "prophets" seem to crop up everywhere?
Well, did you know that rumor has it that Mr Camping is worth millions and it seems as a result of his "prophecies"? And that seems to be the case with the global warming/cooling scare. There is a lot of money that can be earned by people who scare people enough so that they demand "studies" to research these scares, people who want "experts" to guide them and care for them through such horrible "prophecies".
Is that why people swarm to such "prophecies"? We all feel like the world is going to come to an end and we want someone who "knows" what is going on to lead us through and to care for us during such difficulties. As our grandparents often said to us: "Oh, for the good old days when things were much simpler and less threatening." So we search for "experts" upon whom we can lean when life looks so threatening. And guess what? Here they are, whether religious "experts" or science "experts" or psychological "experts" or you name it. And they willingly(reluctantly?) take our money whether by grants from governments or from private donations or insurance and promise us they know how to take care of us or fix the situation. And so thousands and millions of dollars go into trying to create a hopeful place of security.
Isn't it interesting that that is what seems to be happening in our society, nation and government. We want our government to provide us the security so that we don't have to worry about health, wealth or life. We demand of our government our right to health and wealth. And so, guess what? Our government claims to be made up of "experts", including politicians and bureaucrats, who will solve our problems. That way we don't have to worry our fool heads off with such concerns.
And so the government keeps calling: "The sky is falling! The sky is falling!" Our officials keep crying "Wolf". And we keep ponying up more and more funds so they can take care of us in such scary times.
What is sad about this is that those who could help us the most are the ones who are trampled on in the rush. The problem, you see, is that these individuals/organizations do not claim the title of "expert". They just keep plodding along with us striving to do whatever can be done in each situation. We all can think of people and organizations that do this with alarming consistency. But they receive far less recognition and funds. As so they are often pleading for donations. And they don't seek any recognition. They just invite us to join them in their service/work. The most effective and efficient help after Katrina was provided by the private sector. It is interesting that the word is out that Joplin, MO does not want government help. They are going to take care of themselves.
The real Gordian knot in this is that is exactly the line these doom-sayers use also. So how do we sort this out? Maybe we just let everyone decide for themselves and some will follow the doom-sayers and some will not. Let us beware lest we begin to think we are the "experts" who can protect others from the doom-sayers.
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