Live Earth without Rose-Colored Glasses

At the risk of developing a reputation for goring oxen, I think it is important to view this last weekend's Live Earth events through those same dark lenses I used to examine Bill Moyers. By way of a bit more explanatory context this time, I should explain that one of the strongest intellectual roots of my student years has to be Tom Paxton’s “Love Me, I’m a Liberal.” He found just the right balance of cynicism and wit to deliver the message; he just never had enough people pay attention!

Well, whether the issue is Public Broadcasting or the "global celebration" of Live Earth, folks are still not paying attention to Paxton's message; and I fear that, as a result, my capacity for cynicism has overwhelmed my capacity for wit! Thus I saw Live Earth as just another feel-good event that created little more than an illusion of social conscience (which, according to Tony Azios of The Christian Science Monitor, did not even extend to the environment-consciousness of picking up the trash). I would rather see the media celebrate people who do things that make a difference, preferably at a grass-roots level, than cover all those glitterati trying to show the world how much they “care.” One recent case in point has been coverage of institutions (including restaurants and even the San Francisco city government) that no longer have anything to do with bottled water, because tap water is just as good (and cheaper).