A masterpiece of a con

I wanted to write a post about how I hate hypocrisy and hypocrites, and point to this story about Al Gore, the Oscar-winning crusader for the environment, whose Knoxville, Tennessee, mansion consumes 20 times more electricity than an average American household. However, the more information about this gets uncovered by inquisitive bloggers, the harder it becomes not to admire Gore for his devilish cleverness. Get this:

1. Gore's mansion used so much natural gas and electricity in 2006, that his energy bill for that year was $30,000


2. Gore buys "carbon offsets" (a modern form of indulgencies) to compensate for his use of carbon-based energy sources


3. He buys those offsets from a company called Generation Investment Management


4. Gore is a chairman of that company and owns its stock


5. In other words, it is like me issuing a speeding ticket every time I go 100 mph on a highway, and writing a check to myself.

If that isn't a clever, clever scheme, I don't know what is. Gore may still be a hypocrite, but he's also much more than that: he's a brilliant con man. There is nothing particularly impressive about profiting from any public fad or hysteria of the moment. What is impressive is double-dipping: profiting from whipping up that hysteria (e.g. by making a blokbuster "documentary", getting an Oscar, being paid for speeches), and then positioning yourself to make tons of money from the gullible public. In some sense it's akin to a dishonest stockbroker talking up some worthless stock in some chat rooms, and then making a killing by selling it to the suckers. It is however, much more elaborate and intelligent a con - it is a masterpiece of the genre. I've always had a soft pot for mastery. If I could be assured that Gore would use his considerable skill for the benefit of the United States and not merely for personal enrichment and aggrandizement, I'd vote for him in a heartbeat.