Al Gore: American democracy has been hacked

For a fleeting moment, the RTCC team thought we had made it. An email from Al Gore lay in our inbox – was this a personal email from the US VP turned climate campaigner?

Having read it, evidently not. But Al was kind enough to let us know about his new book – The Future.

It’s out tomorrow (Jan 29), and promises to be “a frank and clear-eyed assessment of six critical drivers of global change in the decades to come”.

The magic six are as follows: economic globalization, digital communications, shifting military and political power, a flawed economic compass, a scientific revolution, and finally a radical disruption of the relationship between human beings and the earth’s ecosystems.

Of all the reviews, this one by New York Times literary critic Michiko Kakutani sounds the most plausible, perhaps because it’s one of the few that admits it has some flaws – in particular: “it bites off way more than it can plausibly digest”.

And yet a major theme in the book that American democracy “has been hacked” will intrigue many.

Gore argues that oil, coal and gas companies operate a form of mind control over the public by buying huge amounts of TV coverage. This in turn affects the policies they demand from politicians.

It’s an interesting concept – and one we look forward to digesting. Buy it now for $30 or hold out for two years and head to your local charity shop.

VIDEO: Al Gore on his new book

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