Raising Awareness

We all know that there are some words that have a meaning far removed from their original intent. "Diversity" is a good example. It used to mean a collection of different things, opinions or viewpoints. Now it means just the opposite. When a liberal complains that a school board or a city council "is not diverse enough," they mean there are not enough liberals for their tastes. Their idea of diversity is to have a black liberal, a Hispanic liberal, a gay liberal, a native American liberal and an Asian liberal. The only kind of liberal they don't care about would be a white liberal. I mean white liberals are OK, they're just not "diverse enough." Of course far worse than a white person of any stripe, would be a black conservative. Black conservatives have no diversity at all. Despite being different, indeed, they are the anti-Christs of diversity and are welcomed nowhere.

But another term that has come to mean anything but it's actual meaning is "raising awareness." Take Leonardo DiCaprio and Sheryl Crow. Please. They are both ga-ga over Al Gore and his freight train of fear. Cheryl Crow has teamed up with environmental wacko Laurie David to tour the country (in a bio diesel bus, of course) playing at colleges across the country to "raise awareness about global warming."

Now are you under the impression that global warming is not being talked about enough these days? Is this a subject about which nobody is interested? My casual observations say otherwise. In fact, it seems to be the most overblown, over hyped issue in the world. The last thing anybody needs to do about it is "raise awareness." I say that because even if you believe it's really happening and that it's mankind's fault, the issue should be about what to do to solve or reverse it. But instead we get our awareness "raised." This accomplishes something very important. It puts millions of people into a panic about something they have no control over, unless you count killing yourself and your family for the good of the planet. That would be a good thing in their eyes, but anything short of that is lame.

And why does it always fall to a Hollywood liberal who is usually a high school graduate, at best, to educate us on the issue? Because they have time on their hands and a guilty conscience. They are busy bodies whose own lives are both blessed and cursed. They make lots of money, but their personal lives are, to put it plainly, shit. They are in search of something that will make them feel much better about themselves. And unfortunately, that seems to be making you feel worse about yourself and your lot in life. Their lives are so empty that they need somebody to tell them they are really doing something for the greater good. And since they are really big stars, quietly delivering meals on wheels to shut ins just won't do. No, they require massive good deeds to match their massive egos. They could forgo all the private jet trips and reduce the amount of carbon they generated, but telling people about a trip you didn't take really doesn't elevate your stature in Hollywood. Crisscrossing the country so that you can appear at a demonstration, or present a slide show, now that's activism a publicist can sink his teeth into. Oh, and you should buy some carbon offsets to take care of all that jet fuel you burned. For the uninitiated, carbon offsets are financial instruments that turn actual carbon emissions into a mixture of oxygen and distilled water that can be used to irrigate organic produce in Africa. There is also some evidence that they cure AIDS.

So when Leonardo and Sheryl come to town and raise our awareness, we can go on a carbon offset shopping spree. We'll have those glaciers advancing in no time.