Could you get away with nearly anything if you did it to highlight the fight against global warming.?

Question

Could you get away with nearly anything if you did it to highlight the fight against global warming.?

Answer 1

Only if you count going to prison as getting away with it.

Answer 2

No, take James Patterson's newest book, "The Final Warning" for example.  There are a ton of fans who have disowned him for it.  See this review from amazon.com:

INTRODUCTION

     Let me begin by saying that I am a HUGE fan of the Maximum Ride Series...I anxiously awaited “The Final Warning” only to be VERY surprised and confused at the tangent taken in the text.  I am a high school educator (teaching debate, reading for pleasure, and others).  I have never been a fan of nonfiction until I read “The Angel Experiment” and got hooked on the Ride of a lifetime.  Since then, I have recommended the series to numerous high school students and adults.  I have followed the development of these characters from book #1 and have been a loyal and faithful reader, but I am SORELY disappointed with this last effort.  

STORY SPECIFIC KRITIK

     The major problem that I had with the storyline is how Max and the rest of the Flock were inactive participants in this scenario instead of actually running the scenarios as in previous books.  One of the reviewers here stated that the Flock took a backseat to GW as the main character.

     Another major problem that I had with the content of the story was that the villains came from no where and had no back story…we are left to assume that the UD comes from Itex and the brain in a vat that was described in previous novels, but the true background is never revealed.  Where did Gozen come from?  How were these soldiers described in the beginning made?  And why does Fang seem to develop the same ability they have?  Why are they after the Flock?  Their only motivation (which we are again assuming) is the money gained from the sale of the flock to international bidders (but this is also flawed as explained by another reviewer here).  I guess/hope that book #5 will give this back story in-retro, but it will be a little too late!  SPOILER ALERT IN THIS SENTENCE: Especially since Gozen and the UD evidently perish at the end of the story.

GENERAL KRITIK    

     Although I see the possible application for this book in education (discussion of genetics, environmental problems, etc) I think it falls short of what would be necessary to actually begin a meaty discussion.  Being concerned about GW myself, I am also disappointed at the lack of factual information included—if this was going to be the purpose of Book #4, better scientific research should’ve been done and included to actually give the youth something to stand on rather than making them into alarmist blow-hards—this “message” will be quickly picked apart and discarded when it could’ve been much more.  The book has other problems as well.  

     Not only is it shorter than previous books (the length 272 pages is pretty skimpy -- especially when you consider that “The Angel Experiment,” the first book in the series, had 432 pages), it reads as though it was a rushed writing.  I am EXTRAORDINARILY upset at what Mr. Patterson has done with my characters...I say my characters because that is really what I felt like they had become.  That being said, I completely agree with the political message contained in “The Final Warning,” but I am gravely upset that Mr. Patterson has taken this format and used Max and the Flock to speak from his soapbox.  

     I just don’t understand why this book was written like this: I understand the metaphor, if-you-will, that is laid out throughout the series of youth empowerment and I understand how that transcends to the issue of Global Warming, but where are the twists and turns we have come to expect?  Why is this all so straightforward and borderline boring?  This was supposed to be the last book—the only reason this book was written was at the million click urging of fans (and the publishers greed for more money)—and as such tie up the loose ends and conclude the adventures…leave the Flock in a place where readers could be satisfied and move on, but if Paterson wanted to end the series, why the last chapter that sets up for another sequel?    For me, the saving grace of the book is this final chapter where we are set up for another adventure...I COMPEL you, Mr. Patterson, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE go back to the basics.  No more tangents!  No more soapbox!  If necessary, go back and read your own tales in books 1-3, those are the characters we love, not a politicized bastardization of them.  I sincerely hope that “The Final Warning” is, truly, just a tangent and when the next Maximum Ride novel comes out, things get back on track.  I sincerely hope there is a book #5 that redeems these amazing characters.  I also sincerely hope that if Mr. Patterson wants to end the series that he does indeed, end here, rather than choose to run the series into the ground!

Answer 3

Yup. Doesn't mean one shouldn't try to decipher the truth from spin.

Answer 4

No.

There are people on both sides of the issue who take dubious actions.  Some exaggerate the problems of global warming, even though they're serious enough without exaggeration.  Some deny the solid science which proves it's real, and mostly caused by us.

Answer 5

Al Gore does. It's ok for Al to fly around in a personal jet and live in a huge mansion, while telling me to conserve and pay extra for green energy.

Answer 6

Yes that is how the oil Co. is robing u now.

Answer 7

Why not? Al Gore has.......

Answer 8

Pretty much.  Including scaling buildings and driving Greenpeace ships around.

Answer 9

You could certainly bump up taxes.

In the same way as the "fight against terrorism" has been used as an excuse to bring in a lot of laws.

Answer 10

Err...no.

It would have to be related.  You couldn't smash up your school and say it was a protest against global warming!