Al Gore Delivers Great Discussion of Key Topics on Global Policy, Technology Innovation, and Key Drivers of Global Change

I attended an event today in Santa Clara, California where former Vice President of the United States, Al Gore, gave a great informal one hour discussion on key topics affecting not only the United States but the world. As this was the first time I had watched him talk live in public, I have to say I was very impressed. His ability to deliver on key points and back them up with facts as well as hold the audience’s attention were superior. It definitely is a whole other experience watching someone present live in person than on TV or radio.

In addition to being the former Vice President of the United States, Al Gore is co-founder and chairman of Generation Investment Management, a senior partner at venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and a member of Apple, Inc.’s board of directors. Al Gore also founded Current Media, LLC, in 2002 which broadcasts the channel Current TV. Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera recently announced the acquisition of Current Media on January 2, 2013. Today, Al Gore spends the majority of his time as chairman of The Climate Reality Project, a non-profit devoted to solving the Climate Crisis.

Al Gore has a new book out called “The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change”. I have not had the chance to read this book but do plan to do so. Everyone at the event was given a free copy of the book, which he was willing to personally sign at the end of the event. As I am slowly trying to replace my hardcover book collection with electronic books (PDFs, ePub, Amazon Kindle eBooks), I gave my book to a university student who did not have a book so they could meet the Vice President for a book signing. I quickly downloaded the same eBook on my Kindle for iPad for about $14.

When I went up to shake his hand and have the book signed, I think he was a little surprised when my book was already autographed by him. I explained and showed him my eBook. Highlight of my day… What do you expect in Silicon Valley? I guess hardcover books are still being sold? One change I would suggest for the world is let’s save trees and paper and go electronic already? Not to mention real estate in Silicon Valley is not exactly cheap; I can’t afford to have a portion of my apartment/house designated to a massive book collection. At the same time, I can fit thousands of eBooks on my iPad and take them everywhere with me.

Anyway getting back on topic. I was not sure what to expect at the event. I’m pretty objective and not easily impressed unless the speaker can impress me with factual, to-the-point content that is meaningful and relevant. Al Gore definitely met this expectation. I do not have the time to discuss everything mentioned today, however, I would like to list a few bullet point topics which had an impact on me.The below may not have been his exact phrases unless quoted, but they are condensed summary points with me paraphrasing.

Rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer – those providing capital are getting more return while those providing labor are getting less

Virtual stalking – with so much information and data of us online and the constant tracking of our online habits, what can or will this data be used for?

Government today is not what our US founding fathers intended – it is being controlled by special interest groups and people with money – have to have permission to get anything done. There has been a massive decline in American democracy that started even before Al Gore was vice president and since has worsened where current conditions are unacceptable

Access to provide information to the public is restricted to corporations, special interest groups, and people who have connections and money. It is difficult for the common person to start a movement or be heard because they do not have the resources to have access to mainstream outlets such as TV, radio, and popular newspapers and magazines. Things are not the same as they used to be back in the day of the printing press. However, the Internet is changing this and can possibly play a bigger role, however, the TV is still the major resource of information for most people.

The people fighting back and resisting against Internet censorship proposals in prior years has been a positive step in the right direction.

News outlets not doing the job they should. There is too little diversity in news outlets and ownership and they collaborate with their sister companies and make it hard for a newcomer to compete. Al Gore tried to change this with Current TV; it was difficult because of the large resources and inner-circle collaboration the bigger companies have. Al Gore stated, “We were the only independent news and information network in the entire US industry.”

Eventually Current TV was sold to Al Jazeera, which Al Gore states and I also believe is an outstanding objective news network. Infact, he mentioned that some cable companies had kicked off CNN and replaced it with Al Jazeera. Also he stated Al Jazeera was the only company willing to keep most of the current employees. Al Jazeera will rename Current TV as Al Jazeera English and is in the process of hiring many US journalists.

In my opinion, this is great – we need more diversity and actual news. Too much news and info out there is controlled by a select few, and much of it is opinionated commentary pushing certain agendas instead of actual news coverage. Who wants to be fed controlled news/info from a select few?

Climate – 2012 was the hottest year recorded in the history of the US; why and what can be done about it? We need to take action such as controlling the carbon footprint. Huge presidential debates have taken place much more than past years yet not one question focused on climate change; this is unacceptable.

As you can see, Al Gore is going head-to-head in discussing many topics. There are great challenges in the US and in the world. Honestly, and as mentioned prior, I was not expecting much but got a lot and left with some new ideas, thoughts, and knowledge.

One thing I mentioned to another fellow attendee, a former retired judge, was that there is so much we Americans and people all over the world need to learn about and take action on in order to make this world a better place. However, with the constant grind of paying the bills, staying employed, taking care of daily chores, and dealing with all the little things life throws at us, how does the average person find time to learn the important things in life and make a difference to help shape the future? We shouldn’t be blind and at the whims of policy makers and the select few deciding what is best for us, so what can be done? Just some food for thought!