Not one to miss an opportunity to bash a Democratic leader, Fox Nation posted an item that featured a headline deliberately designed to cast the former vice-president in a negative light: Al Gore Takes Aim At ‘Unsustainable’ Capitalism.
Followers of the Fox Nation vs. Reality series have probably already guessed that the article that Fox linked to never once cited Al Gore saying that capitalism is “unsustainable.” It also never cited Gore disparaging capitalism. In fact, the Reuters article that the Fox Nationalists referenced quoted Gore saying that…
“While we believe that capitalism is fundamentally superior to any other system for organizing economic activity, it is also clear that some of the ways in which it is now practiced do not incorporate sufficient regard for its impact on people, society and the planet.”
The story was about the launch of an initiative to promote more long-term investing that would have a beneficial impact on business and the economy. The goal was to highlight the changes in the investment world that has seen some mutual funds turn over their entire portfolios in seven months when 20 years ago it took seven years. The short-term investing philosophy is credited with causing higher levels of volatility in the stock market and hampering the sort of real wealth creation that results from committed investors making wise decisions.
In all likelihood the financial analysts that Fox relies on for commentary would agree with Gore, but the Fox Nationalists care more about misleading their audience than reporting the truth. And snipping parts of the announcement out of context in order to imply that Gore hates capitalism is the way Fox keeps their audience so blissfully ignorant.