I’d like to say a few things about this video and its value to us as parents. On the surface its presentation and tone are friendly and it is easy to believe that it is a well-researched mini documentary, but that’s the scary part. It IS well presented, but it’s mission is not to inform, it is to persuade. It is a blatant attempt to mislead and actually lie to our childre; this video should NOT be in our schools, unless an opposing viewpoint is offered for equal time.
The video came out last year, and that far right-wing network CNN (sarc) did a short segment on it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vTJdpbUYhY
The “Story of Stuff” video portrays America and corporations in general as bad, a concept that I wholeheartedly disagree with. Leonard complains about “stuff” but fails to talk about how the manufacture, sale and consumption of “stuff” has helped make America the greatest nation on Earth.
For starters, Annie Leonard is the host. As with any presentation the audience should know what the speaker’s credentials are and why we should be listening to her. Leonard has worked for some of the most liberally oriented organizations in America.
- Greenpeace International – Far left environmental activist group, its history and violence is well-documented.
- GAIA – A Dutch group who’s vision is stated in its web site: “for all people to live in settlements containing all elements of society much like a holograph, where every part contains the whole.” It is anti-corporation, but interestingly enough, GAIA is funded through a massive hedge fund based on currency trading.
- Health Care Without Harm – The Tides Foundation is one of its many funders. HCWH has “a vision of a health care sector that does no harm, and instead promotes the health of people and the environment. To that end, we are working to implement ecologically sound and healthy alternatives to health care practices that pollute the environment and contribute to disease.” This sounds great, but the group is quite liberally biased.
- Global Greengrants. This group is a non-profit that provides grants to green projects and activists. Its board treasurer works for George Soros’ Tides Foundation, its board chair runs the Tobacco Free Project based in San Francisco.
- Essential Information – Founded in 1982 by Ralph Nader, Essential Information is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization. Very anti-corporation, anti-industry.
Based on her resume Annie Leonard is what most people would consider biased. As to the facts and errors in the video, it has been thoroughly explained and debunked. These videos are worth watching more than once.
- Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c5uJgG05xU
- Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZzHU3ZfTtY
- Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgLrZc7cws8
- Part 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XeW5ilk-9Y
If you lack the time or attention span to watch the four videos above I’ve provided a small sample of the problems that lie within. Keep in mind that the following five errors appear in just the first three minutes of the video. The italicized statements are from the video verbatum, you can also download the script with footnotes in PDF format.
The source of this statement is the “War Resisters League.” Obviously they are biased enough, but the math is just horrible. To reach this conclusion they removed Medicare, Medicade and Social Security costs from the equation to inflate its number. Why? Because it serves their purpose of persuasion. By the way, the Congressional Budget Office confirms that military spending consumes 20%, not 50% of tax dollars. That’s a BIG difference.
2) “It’s the government’s job is to watch out for us, to take care of us. That’s their job.”
This is a very liberal interpretation of the PreAmble to the Constitution. The government exists to protect us from invasion, to handle foreign trade, and that’s about it. The STATES have more rights. The state is NOT our parent, our teacher or our baby-sitter. We get Life, Liberty and the PURSUIT of Happiness, not the GUARANTEE of happiness.
3) “Of the 100 largest economies on earth now, 51 are corporations”
Source: IPS, which acknowledges that it operates as a training center for radical organizers. This is a radically left anti-corporation organization. It is based on sales revenue, not profits. It is meaningless. Yes, Exxon/Mobile sells more product than the entire country of Chad. So what? This is just more anti-corporation rhetoric.
4) “we’ve seen a little change in the government where they’re a little more concerned in making sure everything is working out for [corporations] than for us.”
Again, more liberal anti-capitalism bias. The video shows the government shining the shoes of fat corporations. She completely ignores the influence of unions, lawyers and environmental activists on corporate behavior.
5) “In the past three decades alone, one-third of the planet’s natural resources base have been consumed. Gone.”
100% false. Pure liberal bias based on a book by environmental activists. It cannot be proved because it is a useless statement. As one of the videos above says, land with oil underneath it was useless until we discovered oil and learned how to use oil. Resources are replaceable.
I could go on but I think I’ve made my point. This well-produced video — funded by some of the most liberal, anti-American, anti-capitalism groups in existence — has done damage that we as involved parents need to correct. I shudder to think how many parents are not aware of this and how many millions of minds have been falsely persuaded toward this liberal eco/green way of thinking.
The Obama admnistration is high on CAFE standards. But research has suggested that making calls smaller, a requirement to meet these rushed mileage standards, will kill more Americans than the Iraq War.
The National Academy of Sciences has linked mileage standards with about 2,000 deaths per year. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that every 100-pound reduction in the weight of small cars increases annual traffic fatalities by as much as 715. In contrast in the more than six years since the Iraq war began, there have been 4,296 deaths among American military personnel.
From our friends across the pond, a review of the new Honda Insight. This pretty much sums it up:
It’s terrible. Biblically terrible. Possibly the worst new car money can buy. It’s the first car I’ve ever considered crashing into a tree, on purpose, so I didn’t have to drive it any more.
You have to appreciate the irony of this story.
The following email was sent out to MoveOn’s vast email network. The message is below, my comments are in italics:
From: Adam Ruben, MoveOn.org Political Action <moveon-help@list.moveon.org>
Subject: MoveOn’s biggest campaign ever
To: “xxxxxxxx” <xxxxxxxx@yahoo.com>
Date: Wednesday, February 18, 2009, 7:55 AMDear MoveOn member,
When FDR became president, a group of progressive activists asked him to push for some really big changes. His response? “I agree with you. I want to do it. Now make me do it.” President Obama gets that we need to transform our economy. He’s passionate about creating millions of green jobs and investing billions in renewable energy. And he’s appointed great leaders like Energy Secretary Chu to help him.
But unless we create a massive green-economy movement across America, Obama won’t have the mandate he needs to overcome the oil companies and make fundamental change. (overcome the oil companies? Those horrible 4-5% profit margins and an end-product that the entire world depend on. Not only petroleum, but plastics, etc.) As president, Obama’s extraordinary power comes from the people outside Washington. And that’s us. (it’s also US, the 55 million that voted Republican, plus the many millions more that did not vote.)
So we’ve worked up a big plan to build a green-economy groundswell. It’ll mean tripling our field organizing team, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of MoveOn members to take local action, and running ads targeting powerful interests that stand in the way. It’ll be MoveOn’s biggest long-term campaign ever. (Therefore our action/response needs to be even larger and more long-term.)
If President Obama is going to transform our economy, he needs all of us standing behind him giving him strength. Are you in?
This will be our biggest long-term organizing program ever. We’ll build on the lessons of the Obama campaign and our own work over the years to create a new approach to organizing—empowering MoveOn members to run powerful campaigns in their own communities. We’ll combine traditional community organizing (like ACORN?) with cutting-edge technology to make sure our voices are heard. We’re talking about ramping up our current organizing capacity—sending talented organizers to train and mobilize MoveOn members from Maine to California to build a massive green economy movement. (Is this only about being green? For me it is NOT. It is about personal and financial responsibility. Recycling is good. Ruining an economy to try and effect global climate change is a waste of time, energy and money.)
Together, we’ll:
- Build diverse coalitions of small-business owners, green-collar workers, faith communities (did they really say faith?), and many more to show widespread support for a clean-energy economy.
- Organize creatively to make sure members of Congress hear our message everywhere they go. (in other words, continue wearing pink, being disruptive, yelling and generally acting like a spoiled child to get attention. I guess we need to consider adopting the same tactics since they were so effective for liberals last year? I shudder the thought.)
- Combine innovative grassroots and paid advertising campaigns to grab the attention of local and national media. (this means reaching into the deep pockets of liberal supporters in Hollywood and elsewhere. We need to find conservatives with deep pockets that are serious about effecting change.)
- Hold a massive wave of house parties where MoveOn members will reach out to neighbors to involve them in the campaign. (House parties? Then again, the 18-29 demographic helped Obama win the White House. We need to make politics cool and intereting. Nominating old, white-haired men is NOT the way to do this.)
As a country, we face a choice: Either we take dramatic steps and put this country on a new path—a clean-energy economy that shifts us from oil and coal to renewable energy while creating millions of green jobs and fighting the climate crisis. Or we take baby steps that could leave us right where we started. (Where exactly is this? Perhaps it was a vibrant economy that rewards hard work instead of sloth-like behavior? This is a paraphrase of the “last eight years” mindset that has been proven false.)
This is the moment to go big and seize this opportunity—but it’ll take everyone’s help.
Yes. This is a big opportunity. Right now the Left has control. The Right needs to be bigger, louder and more passionate about the issues. Let’s get to Loud Talking!
