The Assault On Reason: How The Politics Of Blind Faith Subvert Wise Decision Making

Description

At the time George W. Bush ordered American forces to invade Iraq, 70 per cent of Americans believed Saddam Hussein was linked to 9/11. Voters in Ohio, when asked by pollsters to list what stuck in their minds about the campaign, most frequently named two Bush television ads that played to fears of terrorism. We live in an age when the 30-second television spot is the most powerful force shaping the electorate's thinking, and America is in the hands of an administration less interested than any previous administration in sharing the truth with the citizenry. Related to this and of even greater concern is the current administration's lack of interest in the process by which the truth is ascertained - first among which are an embrace of open inquiry, in which unexpected and even inconvenient facts can lead to unexpected conclusions. How did the US get here? And how much damage has been done to the functioning of American democracy and its role as steward of its national security?

First published 2007.

Promotion info

An Inconvenient Truth was on the New York Times bestseller list throughout the summer of 2006More than 600,000 copies of An Inconvenient Truth have so far been sold worldwideThe film of An Inconvenient Truth has been acclaimed worldwide and is one of the top three most successful documentaries ever released

Reviews

'You can't fault his sincerity, rigour and energy as he pleads, with recourse to blinding graphs and damning photo evidence, that we all, especially his fellow countrymen, need to sit up and realise that global warming is neither a wacky theory nor a political manifesto, but stone-cold reality.' Time Out 'An impeccable slideshow, with just the right balance of gut-wrenching photographs, comprehensive charts and frightening predictions.' New Scientist 'A lucid account of what Gore rightly calls 'a moral issue', delivered with authority, wit and style' The Observer

Author description

Al Gore was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1976 and the US Senate in 1984 and 1990. He was inaugurated as the 45th vice president of the United States on 20 January 1993 and served eight years. He is chairman of Generation Investment Management, a London-based firm that is focused on a new approach to Sustainable Investing. He also serves as chairman of Current, an independently owned cable and satellite television network for young people based on viewer-created content and citizen journalism. He is a member of the Board of Directors of Apple Computer, Inc., a senior advisor to Google, Inc., and a visiting professor at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. He is the author of the 1992 bestseller Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit and An Inconvenient Truth (2006), the companion book to the award-winning documentary film.