Global Warming IV: Don’t Wake Up The “Little People”

Who are the “little people?” You know, “the folks,” as one popular TV host calls them. The people who, to a large extent, trust and depend on celebrities and community leaders to tell them who and what to believe. The same people to whom Leona Helmsley, the real estate billionaire, referred when she reputedly said “I don’t pay taxes, only little people pay taxes…”

Meaning, of course, that ordinary low and middle income people are not savvy or bold enough to know how to evade paying them. A familiar attitude exhibited by some leaders in all societies, isn’t it? Corrupt leaders at the top who know the ropes taking advantage of others who don’t. Some examples Business leaders, knowingly hawking inferior products, political leaders making promises they never intend to keep, hypocritical religious leaders preaching moral behavior while they are secretly abusing children, defrauding their parishioners, or having illicit sex with prostitutes are only some examples.

Denying the truth of man-made global warming by TV and radio talk show hosts and business and political leaders who should, and probably do, know better is another. They and their gushing lieutenants keep repeating their irrational claim that man-made global warming is a hoax concocted by brainwashed scientists, socialists, and communists. Why?

To help them increase the size and power of governments worldwide.

Then, so this line goes, The scientist-socialist-communist can (eventually) consolidate all into one very powerful socialist state—a state led by (you guessed it): socialist-communist scientists.

This claim is music to the ears of gullible supporters who loyally listen to these media hucksters almost every day and night. If listeners suspected that man-made global warming is real and accelerating, they might realize they have been purposely misled, jeopardizing the shows’ ratings, so the shows’ hosts continue to invite carefully chosen guests and climate “experts” onto their shows to help them bolster their conspiracy claims and maintain their audiences’ loyalty—by telling them what they want to hear!

Climate science is complicated. The Earth’s climate depends on many factors. For this reason, the science has become a political football used by strong-willed politicians on both ends of the political spectrum to “prove” their beliefs.

Since it is clear to me that nothing I could say here would change the opinions of these political football players and their few carefully chosen experts, I won’t even try. But, to those reading this who are still unsure whether global warming is a hoax or real, I respectfully suggest the following:

• Compare the credentials and credibility of the “experts” the politicians rely upon and read as much about the subject as you can

If you haven’t already, read my other three essays on global warming: “Global Warming and Death,” “Global Warming Debate Settled?,” “Global Warming: We Got Trouble,” and my essay “Fossil Fuels: Fetishes of Our Time.”

• Carefully read and think about this recent statement issued by the prestigious U.S. National Academy of Sciences:

“There is a strong, credible body of evidence, based on multiple lines of research, documenting that climate is changing, and that these changes are in part caused by human activities.”

This powerful statement flies in the face of what is being touted by global warming deniers and skeptics, does it not? Think the Academy and thousands of other top climatologists around the world would participate in a hoax? Think they would risk their hard-earned reputations to gain the praise of politicians? No, they wouldn’t. In my opinion, the Academy’s words alone should be sufficient to the wise but, as always, everyone, even “little people,” are entitled to their own opinions.

A more detailed scientific explanation of the causes and likely consequences of climate change is discussed in my book, Settled Science, that attempts to connect the dots between the Big Bang and the Evolution of Man.