Kathy, organizer of the ticket giveaway, along with ShareTheTruth, wants to provide a forum for NE Wisconsin viewers of the movie to connect with each other. Many people feel inspired to take some sort of action after seeing the film (like we did!).
In fact, two of the viewers from the Green Bay ticket giveaway were key in helping organize the Appleton ticket giveaways. And groups can often accomplish even more than individuals and inspire each other with ideas.
So here feel free to share with other local viewers anything from simply your reaction to the film, ideas you might have had for changes in your personal behavior, or ideas for efforts in the community that people might work on together, etc.
(For instance, people might share with each other information about local candidates or policies that are supportive of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, think about ways to show the movies in local schools once it is on DVD, work with a local video store to offer 25 free rentals of the DVD once it is out -- just to toss out some ideas.)
"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has." (Margaret Mead)
If you have any questions at all about how to participate, email me!
icstars
Jul 26th 2006
I went into the movie with a healthy apprehension, concerned that there would be a science blunder or overstatement that would undermine the overall message. Throughout the movie, I thought the presentation of science was well done. There were dramatic moments, but on the whole the presentation was appropriately restrained. Things that were projections were presented as such. I was surprised at the personal stories that Al Gore included, and I thought they were particularly poingnant. They were moving examples that illustrated the point at hand, and they served to show that thinking and acting "globally" is ultimately about individuals.
Will all of the consequences possible come to pass in our lifetimes if we do nothing? A better question is--what kind of people would do nothing and wait to find out?
I know Gore has said several times already he is not doing this for political reasons, and if you watch the movie, you'll see that the message is about a planetary imperitive, not something as mundane or small as an elected office. Nonetheless, I will say that at the end of the movie, I thought to myself: this man should be President. His view for what Americans should be known for throughout the world is correct, in my opinion. We should be leaders on this issue of global warming, of being good stewards of our planet.
jthechemist
Jul 26th 2006
This gets me irritated, when people say it's too big of a problem so we might as well give up. The worst is when people say "either it's of no significance, or it's too huge for us to deal with." There is an insidious laziness behind that statement, that the speaker might not even notice having.
It is the mindset that frustrates me, probably because I don't know how to change it. Some people seem less receptive to debate the more you try to talk about their argument.
KathyW
Jul 26th 2006
icstars --
Re: your comment: "Will all of the consequences possible come to pass in our lifetimes if we do nothing? A better question is--what kind of people would do nothing and wait to find out?"
I think that's a terrific way of summarizing it eloquently.
Thanks for sharing it.
KathyW
Jul 26th 2006
I agree that it's really frustrating (and somewhat of a cop-out) when people say it's too big of a problem so we might as well give up (before we even really tried.) I think there's a line in the movie about going from denial to despair in 1.5 hours. We have to actively work against despair.
I actually think that's why it is important for people to stay until the very end of the movie and watch the credits -- where they also scroll through with actions individuals can take. (So if you tell people to go see the movie, tell them to make sure to watch the credits!) That way, people can leave on a note of being called to action with some specific guidelines v. just feeling gloom and doom. If you missed those, make sure to check out http://www.climatecrisis.net/pdf/10things.pdf
These are ideas that are easy to share with other people, too.
That's also partly why I wanted to create this forum -- so people might share ideas for action with each other. Keep focused on solutions and possibilities. And maybe don't even bother too much with the people that try to argue about it (you probably won't change their view -- but there are way more people out there who don't have a strong opinion or are open to being inspired by your positive action.)
Cumulative little changes can add up -- especially if they inspire other people to make some changes, and we get a ripple effect going. So let's all go and turn out hot water heaters down to 120 :-) And tomorrow do something else little . . .