BPSDB Huge thanks to Brian D for reminding me about Marcus Brigstocke. I went to fetch the video that he refers to in his comment and was delighted to find a new one … it’s awesome
The Return Of Marcus Brigstocke
In a six minute piece a comedian debunks more Denier memes and gets more science and politics right than most major media manage in a year, and more than some have ever managed. (Never mind the self-styled climate science “authorities” that make up the Denialosphere)
In it he refers to yet another one that I missed, viz:
Dr Seuss at Copenhagen
Oh my God I needed this so badly last December. Ummm, is it too much to suggest that it is awesome? and then I found:
Late Edition – climate change vox-pops
For those who missed it, I introduced Brigstocke back when as British Wit goes after a Climate Change Denier Twit where he trashes ‘The Swindle’, Durkin, and Deniers generally. Here it is again (well worth hearing again)
Marcus Brigstocke on Climate Change Denial
Thanks again Brian, I needed that 🙂
We give our consent every moment that we do not resist.
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Thanks for that, Brian D and greenfyre. Funny man, the Dr. Seuss was brilliant. Glad to know someone’s talking about it in such an accessible way – wondering now what George Carlin would have thought about it…
Carlin addressed this in his The Planet Is Fine routine (it was included as the finale of 1992’s HBO special, Jammin’ In New York); this was the same year the Framework Convention was signed, for context:
Note that this is frequently shared by denialists, who seem to miss the massive wordplay/cognitive inversion around 2:27 in that clip (keep your eyes on the audience and see how many can keep up with him!) and that the entire focus of the second half is about human extinction. (Then again, the opening volley of Jammin’ in New York was an anti-government tirade, so that may have primed the audience somewhat. The fact that it was against the Bush Sr. regime might have been lost on them.)
Carlin didn’t have a high opinion of traditional environmentalists, in part because of the naiive thinking the traditional messaging implied (that’s the point of the clip). I get the impression from Last Words (posthumous autobiography) that he also didn’t like “movements” much; I don’t remember anything explicit, but I got the same “anti-joiner” vibe from him as I do from Penn & Teller. He never did comment on the non-environmentalist climate activists, though – those didn’t really start to become a major player until Carlin was already extremely old, and his last routines were based mostly around thoughts of death anyway. (I would have loved to see his reaction to Greg Craven’s style of messaging, especially because Craven explicitly says “Forget the planet – save us!”).
I think he may have discussed it a bit in one of the interviews he gave just before he died, but I can’t remember enough of it to dig a clip or quote up. Generally, searching Carlin +climate or Carlin +warming produces denialists sharing that clip around.
(I had the pleasure of seeing him on his final tour. It was the third time I’d seen him live.)
🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂
Thanks guys!
Not to quibble Brian D but I’m still thinking about that Carlin routine in a disappointed way. I think he was turning into a real crank towards the end of his life, or else he was so good at posing as one that it hardly mattered whether he was or not. His approach implies that human beings don’t matter. Clever inversion? I’m not sure. If so, too easily misinterpreted. As the denier who sent it to me proved.
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