[extropy-chat] Hypocrisy and Preaching (was The great global warming swindle)

[Rafal Smigrodzki]

On 4/5/07, Anna Taylor <femmechakra at yahoo.ca> wrote:
> --- Rafal Smigrodzki <rafal.smigrodzki at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > ### Interestingly, Al Gore's electricity bill in his
> > lavish mansion is about 4000$/month.
>
> > Preachers frequently don't live the lives they
> > preach.
>
> I don't understand. How much does the mansion next to
> Al Gore spend on electricity?  I thought that what he
> was preaching about energy efficiency, if so, why
> wouldn't a $3000.00 reduction be a valid amount
> compared to $7000.00?   If the difference is $4000.00
> then I would assume that Al Gore is preaching and
> practising about energy efficiency. Ofcourse, if his
> bill is $4000.00 a month and the next door neighbor's
> bill is $4200.00, I could rationalize that he is being
> a hypocrite.
>
### The environmentalists I know are not really any more efficient
than me, although they frequently pay lip service to it. They are
really after a diminished "ecological footprint" of humans, and
especially other humans. Mr Gore's ecological footprint is huge (which
I see as not bad, as long as he is paying for it himself) but he
demands from me (and other Americans) to reduce my footprint, and he
is willing to use the force of the state to cut me down to size. I see
this as very bad.

Whether his neighbor's mansion burns 3000$ or 10000$ a month doesn't
matter, as long as the neighbor is not a crusading environmentalist
(and pays his bills).

--------------------------------------
> I have heard the comment "practice what you preach",
> I'm just not convinced anybody can 100% "practice what
> they preach".

### Absolutely everybody can reduce their preaching until it fits
exactly with what they already practice.
--------------------------------------
>
> How do you determine who is a hypocrite and who isn't?
>  If I listen to someone preach that smoking is bad yet
> watch them light a cigarette the next moment, I would
> consider them a hypocrite. I thought it was about the
> proof?

### I prefer to reserve the word "hypocrite" to somebody falsely
claiming to have certain moral beliefs with the aim of manipulating
others for his ends. The smoker in your example may very well believe
that smoking is bad for his health but be too weak to quit, so he
would neither falsely describe his beliefs, nor use such claims to
manipulate others for his ends.

Rafal