This Man Was Almost Elected President of the United States!
By Randall Holcombe • Wednesday February 22, 2012 2:56 PM PDT • 21 Comments
Al Gore, who came within a few hundred votes of being elected president in 2000, has designed a blueprint to overhaul capitalism to create a sustainable capitalism that will support lasting economic growth. He says that the way capitalism is now practiced does not “...incorporate sufficient regard for its impact on people, society and the planet.”
Up until the Industrial Revolution in the mid-1700s most people lived at a subsistence level of income, and starvation was a constant threat. Only since that time, thanks to capitalism, has the world ever seen “lasting economic growth.” Most of human history has been the search for sufficient calories to survive, and people who lived prior to the twentieth century would have been astounded to witness people today who actually have too much food, and are trying to lose weight.
Fifty years ago nobody had cellular telephones, microwave ovens, or personal computers. Air conditioned homes and automobiles were a rarity, and color television was new and equally rare. Today we take all these things for granted, as we have hundreds of available television channels, even more content on the internet, as we drive around in our air conditioned automobiles and travel anywhere in the world in a matter of hours in jet aircraft.
All this happened in a few hundred years, thanks to capitalism. All these things are “the impact of capitalism on people, society, and the planet.” Life has never been better, easier, or more secure for most people, and the people who today have it the hardest are the people who don’t live in capitalist economies.
Capitalism continues to give people higher incomes, and more significantly, more of the things they want. Goods like phones and televisions produced as recently as a decade ago don’t measure up to what is available now. Twenty-first century capitalism is more productive than capitalism ever has been.
Mr. Gore is especially critical of the financial system, and the fact that investors rapidly turn over their portfolios. This liquidity is one reason why capitalism works so well. Entrepreneurs can raise money in financial markets, and one reason people buy securities is because they are very liquid, so people aren’t locked in long-term as Mr. Gore would prefer.
This man appears to have no understanding about the aspects of our economy that have made us productive and wealthy.
Tags: American History, Business, Economics, Free Market, Progressivism 
Thanks be to God, you didn’t win !!!!!
nina Foster | Feb 22, 2012 | Reply
”Sustainable Capitalism”? Isn’t that what China has? Of course, there it’s called Communism! Mr. Gore’s problem, is that, like most Liberal Progressives, he sees everything through the lens of Government. he believes that Capitalism is “unfair” because some people do better than others, and that it’s the job of Government to make it more “fair”. What he doesn’t get is WHY some people do better than others. And, I’m afraid he never will.
ironzo | Feb 22, 2012 | Reply
mr gore and all his cohorts aka clintons obamas and anyone else who deem themselves progressive i think even geo bush sr. i one but he’s to old to say so they are of the new world order sect but they all calling it a new name thats there mode whenever somthing gives trouble they change the language this is something that was talked about 2000 years ago in the bible lawlessness from the leaders and if the people of this great land don’t eliminate these people from power we will be under the rule of a one world gov. and fairness will be preached a chicken in every pot and a VW in every driveway sound familiar do any one ever notice the word familiar contains liar in it people perish because truth is lost and lies are taught instead this is the reason the one know as GOD came as a man told the truth and was killed by people who couldn’t see the truth thru the lack of understanding knowledge knowledge without understanding and discernment will always make lies flourish i think a fair is a place of amusement ferris wheel and all whats unfair is they change history or deny it to fit there lies get the word out kick out all these people send them to africa and see if there social experiment works they need food and some good gov people to take care of them if they can fix the mess in africa then maybe we will listen to them again but for now we need to send out the truth and see to it the lies are stopped
ron sparks | Feb 22, 2012 | Reply
What we have is not capitalism – I’m a conservative republican and can tell the difference! Problem here is the definition of government. It is by for and of the people – but most Americans are lazy ass takers and fakers. Single digit approval for congress. Look in the mirror pig people. I sit on several state boards here in AZ because I was asked – I make nothing for this. Get involved or you are the problem.
Paul | Feb 22, 2012 | Reply
Meanwhile, Gore stands to make billions selling carbon credits. What a phony!
Keith | Feb 22, 2012 | Reply
One thing is for sure, if Americans do not vote and do not holder their representatives accountable, the corporations will. I am small government AC. But, corporations will destroy our constitutional representative government if we don’t wake up before it is too late! RP2012!
Lenny | Feb 23, 2012 | Reply
Our forefathers gave us a Republic...We need to preserve this at all costs. America has been internally under attack since 1913....A corporate take over of America has already happened..unfortunately most Americans have no clue whats really going on. Al Core is an idiot and his carbon blueprint is BS!! Yes..people need to wake up..I could go on for hours on so many things that are really screwed up. Get informed..do some home work and turn off the mainstream media!!!
Wayne | Feb 23, 2012 | Reply
Everything you say here is true. Economic growth as a way-of-life and all the conveniences it brings is a recent development, and virtually all of it came from enterprising folks living inside systems that protected individual liberty. I’m a big fan.
In my youth I’d espouse just that kind of thing. It was true then and it’s true now.
But there is, indeed, more to the picture. Some of this progress has side effects that mess things up for people. Example: take a look at what Robyn O’Brien has to say about recent advances in food (see the video at her website http://www.robynobrien.com/ — I’m not affiliated in any way). That’s the kind of thing that Gore wants to deliberate upon.
Yes, he’s a wacko, but don’t throw the baby out with the bath water. :)
Will | Feb 23, 2012 | Reply
You have to understand that Mr. Gore’s sentiment is very convenient for any politician who wishes the government sector to have a bigger percentage of the consumption of GDP. And with today’s education, more and more people seem to believe it’s the truth. We’ll have to see where we go on the rocky road down which the political class is leading us!
Safariman | Feb 23, 2012 | Reply
And thanks to China’s “sustainable Capitalism”, theyve be able to buy and control America and its “unsustainable Capitalism” like a puppet.
Notice that America’s economy went to [...], while China is eating our lunch.
Why would you want China to continue to have such an advantage over us? Why do you not want America to be more successful?
Will | Feb 25, 2012 | Reply
If Al Gore (the actual winner of the majority of the American vote) had been President, instead of George W. Bush (who was appointed by the Supreme Court), 9/11 would have never happened, thousands of American troops would still be alive today, our economy never would have tanked, wed be more prosperous than ever, and foreign countries wouldnt be beating us at space exploration.
We had one great chance at prosperity and the Supreme Court stole it from us, and plunged us into an economic and ideological American Dark Age.
Will | Feb 25, 2012 | Reply
My goodness, Will. Your effusive praise for the wonders of the still-born Gore administration knows no bounds. I’m surprised that you didn’t predict an end to scarcity too.
“9/11 would have never happened.” What evidence do you cite to back up your bold assertion? Zip. Remind me again who was VP during the barbaric sanctions against Iraq and the deaths of hundreds of thousands. Wouldn’t that be your hero, Mr. Gore? Yes, it would. That was reason #2 Al Qaeda gave for its attack.
And reason #3 was the unconditional support for Israel against the Palestinians. Senator Gore and VP Gore thought this was a great policy, yet somehow, Al Qaeda would have viewed President Gore as heaven on earth and called off the terrorist attacks. Really?
“Our economy never would have tanked.” Earth to Will: the economy was tanking before the Clinton-Gore regime left office. That pop the world heard was the NASDAQ bubble bursting. The Greenspan tenure and his reckless monetary policies gave us that bubble – all of which was heartily supported by your hero.
And the maestro followed up his mistakes of the 90s with 1 percent interest rates, giving us the largest asset bubble in world history. Please educate us as to how President Gore would have prevented a collapse that he helped engender and ushered in this economic miracle.
“Foreign countries wouldn’t be beating us at space exploration.” Oh no! How can I sleep at night knowing some other country might fly to the moon! If it wasn’t for those damn republicans, we’d have moon bases there by now!
Tell you what, Will. I’ll be happy to support a moon program, on the condition that you and Al take a one-way trip on the maiden voyage.
Steve H. | Feb 25, 2012 | Reply
Vice President Algae didn’t understand the concept of “controlling legal authority” when he was in office. His sad, pudding-like intellect has only grown thinner since then even as he’s ridden the scare-mongering of glowball warmening to centimillionaire status.
BlogDog | Feb 26, 2012 | Reply
Hey RYAN, Capitalism works when the taxpayers bail out the capitalist crooks. Yeah right smarty!
3 minutes ago · LikeUnlike.Thomas Hazard John Allen said to me “You’re easily duped obviously my dim-witted friend!” Typical of the posts here.
2 seconds ago · LikeUnlike.
He said this Bec I SAID this: Thomas Hazard via The Independent Institute
TO John Allen Peters and others of your ilk. An educated person criticizes ideas w/o attacking the person. You and most of the people posting here nasty comments about Gore don’t seem to know this. This kind of immature discourse is not helpful. BTW You did the same to me w/o knowing me. My comments were more than about Gore who is not perfect just as we are not. I said : “Capitalism does have... faults–one of them are poor decisions about use of resources when greed is unchecked and income distribution is skewed to either side of middle class income. I studied economics-macro and micro- applying calculus under Paul Samuelson when I was an MIT freshman and I applied my knowledge of the art and artifice of an artificial methodology that ignored true costs to business decisions for the short term benefit of a few. I think Al Gore knows what I know as a retired chemical engineer who optimized the operation and investments and asset structure of a global oil company. Are there any real adults with real business knowledge posting here!? I don’t think a real discussion about the economics of any economic ism can be understood by people uneducated in the mathematical methods of economic analysis or mature understanding of the poor ways we incorporate long term values into our cost equations. Way too many ae educated in how to cheat the economic system setingmorl values aside. TWH stardate 02232012
Thursday at” Apparently few can read what I said or understand what I said. I know and have applied economics mathematically solving investment and operating problems. Few here have. TWH stardate 02262012<<<
Thomas Hazard | Feb 26, 2012 | Reply
Paul I agree with your criticisms. What we have here are uneducated smartasses posting on a topic they have no real knowledge of or the moral values necessary to improve the financial system that has been cleaning up the last 30 yrs turning us in the US into wage slaves in debt. Gore is not the issue and Randall should know better!
TWH stardate 02262013
“What we have is not capitalism – I’m a conservative republican and can tell the difference! Problem here is the definition of government. It is by for and of the people – but most Americans are lazy ass takers and fakers. Single digit approval for congress. Look in the mirror pig people. I sit on several state boards here in AZ because I was asked – I make nothing for this. Get involved or you are the problem.”
Thomas Hazard | Feb 26, 2012 | Reply
Blogdog post your econonic backgound pls.
Thomas Hazard | Feb 26, 2012 | Reply
This commet is ad hominem crap: “Vice President Algae didn’t understand the concept of “controlling legal authority” when he was in office. His sad, pudding-like intellect has only grown thinner since then even as he’s ridden the scare-mongering of glowball warmening to centimillionaire status.” Address the issue which is address how to fix the flaws and failures of capitalism. Pls Show us substance based on knowledge abd experience if you can!
Thomas Hazard | Feb 26, 2012 | Reply
Gore doesn’t understand capitalism because in his experience, the best way to get rich is to choose your parents carefully.
Henry Bowman | Feb 27, 2012 | Reply
What nonsense. No child gets to pick their parants!
Thomas Hazard | Feb 27, 2012 | Reply
Of course they do. The process is called “irony.” Look it up.
Henry Bowman | Apr 2, 2012 | Reply