Book Excerpt: The Assault on Reason -- By Al Gore -- TIME

Book Excerpt: The Assault on Reason -- by Al Gore -- TIME

A very interesting read. I don't know if this was taken as a whole, or if it was edited, but there are some points that can be made.

He talks about the value of PRINT for getting news, and how TV doesn't work because it is a ONE-WAY medium. It seems to be that PRINT is a ONE-WAY medium too.

The funniest point was when he ended a paragraph talking about the need for the "respect of the rule of reason" then in the next paragraph it complains about how "MoveOn.org" wasn't treated fairly. Using "reason" and "MoveOn.org" that close together was a big mistake.

Many Americans now feel that our government is unresponsive and that no one in power listens to or cares what they think. They feel disconnected from democracy. They feel that one vote makes no difference, and that they, as individuals, have no practical means of participating in America's self-government. Unfortunately, they are not entirely wrong.

This is his best point. But WHY do American's feel powerless? Is it, as Gore suggests, because we don't have a healthy marketplace of ideas, of good public debate? I don't think so, I think it is because the Federal government has too much centralized, bureaucratic, power. Gore sees this so clearly when he talks about the effect media centralization has had, or the fears of centralized control of the internet, but he doesn't see centralized government power as dangerous. Like with media, the POWER of government comes from MONEY. If the federal government's budget was cut, then the Senate would once again be a place or reason debate on policy and direction or the country.

(sorry I gotta run right now)
But seriously, the Federal government hasn't worked the way Gore thinks it should since the Income Tax amendment was passed. This this was moved back to the States, then the federal government would work better, I think.