I just finished listening to this book on Audio CD on my iPod. There are a lot of messages in it, some delivered in a more balanced way than others. But the most important topic is one I often talk about when I give keynote speeches: the conversation about the future is one of the most important conversations to have. Gore makes that point that in general we now live in a world where we get our information in one-way feeds from television and radio and even the internet (how do you have a conversation with cnn.com?) and we don’t really discuss the important issues of the day. Doesn’t matter if it’s climate change or the war in Iraq or executive compensation, we don’t really talk about the things that matter in a way that airs all sides. In fact, there is a lot of proganda and disinformation on both (or many ) sides of most issues.
Gore talks about a lot of other important things, and does some pretty one-side Bush-bashing (but not really republican-bashing). His chapter on global warming is, predictably, fabulous and emotional. This is worth reading whether he’s preaching to your personal choir or you disagree with some of his known agenda.