The Future also covers the impact of the Citizens United US Supreme Court case granting corporations the same rights as individuals; how fracking and other profit-seeking technologies pollute the Earth; China’s matching young people with their professions according to genetic profiles; and the far-ranging impact of global warming, including the loss of crucial boreal forests in Russia and other northern nations. Gore’s myriad citations can be downright terrifying: For instance, since the early ’80s, frackers have injected about 30 million gallons of “toxic liquid waste” into more than 680,000 wells. He uses statistics to tell multilayered, significant stories quickly. For instance, China has spent $100 billion on life sciences research since 2010, and has persuaded 80,000-plus Chinese grad students who earned PhDs in elsewhere to return to China.
“Citizens United”
The US Supreme Court decision in the Citizens United case granted corporations the same rights as individuals. Gore calls this a coup for reactionary political forces because it means corporations can donate money directly to candidates to buy increasingly expensive political ads. Now that a few big corporations own most US mass media and can control the means of communicating with the public, Gore cautions that censorship and propaganda will become even more serious issues. When print dominated, public access to mass media was easier. Once, ordinary people could afford newspaper ads. Now giant corporations can charge enormous fees for access to TV time and print ads. Gore warns that US elections now are at the mercy of the candidates who can raise the most money. To garner the staggering sums needed for modern political campaigns, candidates must mortgage their positions on issues to their sponsors – “wealthy individuals, corporations and special interests” that seldom prioritize the public good.
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