Saint Al

Quote:  “The climate crisis is not a political issue, it is a moral and spiritual challenge to all of humanity.”  Al Gore

Figure of Speech:  alloiosis (al-oy-OH-sis), the this-isn’t-that figure. From the Greek, meaning “difference.”

What do you give a politician who has everything? Al Gore gets a gold Nobel medal to display next to his Oscar — not to mention implied canonization as Patron Saint of the Earth.  (He’ll share the prize with the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ). Donning his figurative high priest’s robes, he uses an alloisis, a figure that redefines an issue, to claim that the unbalanced Earth is not political, it’s moral.

Sure, it’s not cricket to bequeath a toxic waste site to one’s progeny. But moral purity and $40 million will buy you a wind farm. In posing climate change as a “spiritual challenge,” Gore shuts off any debate that leads to practical choices. Values are inarguable; sermonic language reinforces values, it doesn’t change them. Dealing with the climate crisis requires the practical language of politics. It means sleeping with strange, smelly bedfellows.

Besides, as an NPR reporter noted this morning, whenever a politician says something isn’t political — it’s political.

Snappy Answer: “And I suppose you’re the guy to lead all of humanity.”

Comments

[Justin]

Thanks Figaro, a good post, as always. I was pleasantly surprised to see the metaphor 'it is not cricket' though. That saying doesn't really have much currency here in Australia even, so I didn't expect to see it used by an American. Is that an anachronism?

[Howard]

Justin -

I suppose Fig did not want to be too moralistic there. 'Not cricket' to my mind is more a borrowed phrase and, being a bit out-of-the ordinary, it brings something of a heightened meaning to the sentence (perhaps also a bit of irony or understatement).

"It's just not cricket to ...(fill in atrocious act)".

A quaint foreign phrase in reference to something that's not quaint at all.

[Figaro]

That, and it sort of sounded good.

Fig.

[Kassie]

Thank you for the tip you gave Richard about where to find the definition of "sermonic." In turn, I refer you to dictionary.com, where you will find the definition of "believe." This may cause you to alter your statement that you "don't believe in bestiality." You may also want to look up the word "endorse" while you're there, as well as the difference between "quote" and "quotation."

Experts gotta be accurate, man.