Comments on: Questions over Greg Mortenson's stories
Add a Comment
- What a flippin' phony. L Ron Hubbards Protege'. Just a goofball with a wild imagination he happened to put down on paper. Why can't he get a real job and put his talenst to use instead of ripping people off and trying to fool everyone by his manipulation and trickery.
UNBELEIVABLE. This guy belongs in Scientology with the rest of the phonies in the world who think they are smarter, better, and don't have to work for a living and take their earnings off the backs of others.
Truly shameful. - Reply to this comment
- Interesting. Having read all 354 comments (whew) and found little light, I poked around and read the Montana DOJ's investigative report (https://dojmt-zippykid.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2012_0405_FINAL-REPORT-FOR-DISTRIBUTION.pdf). Mortenson settled for more than a million dollars.
The articles that led to the 60 Minutes story are also available at the Charity Watch website: http://www.charitywatch.org/articles/CentralAsiaInstitute.html
Krakauer's short book Three Cups of Deceit (Kindle short) is also enlightening.
These pieces actually do shed light on what happened for anyone who cares. - Reply to this comment
- Hi..I am in support of Greg Mortenson and his co-author, David Relin, in regards to the "Three Cups of Tea" book that was published, along with numerous pictures, to help substantiate his and his organization's validity.
An attack by another author who wrote.."Into Thin Air", of which self-same author admits that he had to rely upon the 'reconstructed' stories of his fellow climbers, because Mr. Krakauer's brain was not 'working', (his own words) and he could not process what was going on without the 'fill-in-the-blanks' provided by his fellow climbers, seems tantamount towards calling the book authered by Mr. Mortenson with the assist of Mr. David Relin as 'The pot calling the Kettle, black!.'
Then, Mr. Krakauer, has the supposed right to say that his book: "Into The Wild" was actually based upon fact, when, it is classified as 'fiction'.? He is , it seems, good at gathering notes from other people who should be given credit. Was he, himself, along with the young man who made his trek into the Alasken wilderness and then watched as that young man died? Doubt it..just as I doubt the 'put-down' upon Mr. Mortenson and David Relin's book: "Three Cups of Tea"
Who's kidding who, Mr. Krakauer? Thanks...Kat - Reply to this comment
- I apologize for misunderstanding. I was not trying to present an Afghanistan accent. You took my reply out of context. Not even close to being a racist. Again, I am very sorry.
- Reply to this comment
- I just started reading Three Cups of Tea a few weeks ago. None of what 60 Minutes is saying seems particularly shocking or surprising to me. For example, it probably does cost that much more to promote a book in the U.S. than it does to build 100 schools in Pakistan. I found the story to be engaging and inspiring, but also suspected all along that some of the facts were distorted to make the story flow better. If he had stated only dry facts, would the book have made the best seller list and would people be lining up to hear him speak? I went on the Central Asia Institute's website and noticed that there are only a handful of Board Members, 2 of whom are "emeritus" and no longer living. That he has questionable management skills is not surprising. He never mentions getting an MBA in his book. Lots of would-be successful entrepreneurs have great ideas, but no idea how to implement and even worse, don't seem to understand that commingling of funds makes you look bad. So he can't keep track how many schools he has really founded, but he doesn't seem like a bean counter to me. More an idealist. That's really what the appeal is with 3 Cups of Tea... that you can start with nothing and build a dream, any dream. I think some of his dream for schools in Pakistan is still real, at least I hope so. By the way, this isn't the first time that Americans have invested money into building schools for girls in Pakistan, USAID (part of the State Department) has been doing it for years. I am enjoying the book, but probably won't be donating to his organization. Not because of this 60 Minutes story, but because we need to put our resources to building schools in the U.S. first.
- Reply to this comment
- A lot of people who've commented on the Mortenson story, in particular those who continue to defend Greg, would do well to read a recent piece in Mother Jones on "Motivated Reasoning" and consider whether any of it applies to them. Lots of interesting food for thought about clinging to beliefs notwithstanding evidence to the contrary, reaching conclusions and then cherry-picking facts to support them, and so on. http://motherjones.com/politics/2011/03/denial-science-chris-mooney
- Reply to this comment
- This is the problem with turning real people into icons and heroes. They inevitably end up real people after all and then we vilify them for not meeting our expectations. I have no doubt that Greg Mortensen is not a perfect person, he may indeed have spun events for the sake of a good story and, despite a four star rating from Charity Navigator, his organization may not be flawlessly run. But stop to consider that there are lots of good adventure stories and the notion that the villagers saved Mr. Mortensen or that he survived a kidnapping is not the reason word of mouth made "Three Cups of Tea" a runaway bestseller. The reason this book and the CAI is such a raging success is that we all recognize at a gut level that it is this approach, and not militaristic battering, that will eventually put an end to terrorism and likely a great many other ills the world suffers from. While I applaud 60 Minutes and other such news organizations for upholding truth and accountability, I would urge them to wisely consider what to do with the torch before they weaken the hand that holds it. Failure in this regard will inevitably call their objectivity, intelligence and motives into question. I would urge all concerned, most importantly, those of us who are observing, not to lose sight of the fact that the way Mr. Mortensen may or may not have imparted his principles to us and the skills he may have or lack to run a rapidly growing organization does not mar the truth and beauty of the concept. Perhaps a better application of energy would be to stop picking apart the details and attacking what's wrong and instead step up to what is right and do it better.
- Reply to this comment
- http://www.linkedin.com/news?actionBar=&articleID=491175299&ids=0UcP8UcP0NejgIcjAUcP8TcjAQb3wNd3gUe34Vd2MMdPcTc3sNejgIejAOdjsNcjAQ&aag=true&freq=weekly&trk=eml-tod-b-ttle-100
Read this article by philanthropic experts about Greg/CAI, as to whether or not it's "okay" ethically or legally to do what CAI has shown they are doing, when you run an organization. Very informative article for all of us. . . - Reply to this comment
- Please visit http://www.gilgitbaltistan.us to learn more about the region where Mortenson started his school projects. We the natives of Gilgit-Baltistan, a region of former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir do have lot of respect for him for providing education to girls in that area. The region has one of the lowest per capita incomes and one of the lowest literacy rates and without support of NGOs like CAI and AKDN, education would be a dream for the majority as more than half of the locals live below the poverty line. Since Pakistan government has failed to provide for the educational needs of the people of Gilgit-Baltistan, it is people like Mortenson who became the hope for us
- Reply to this comment
- Greg is an American by birth but was not raised in the US. He left here as a 3-month old and was raised in Africa in a very primitive area with no awareness/accounting of the passage of time, business, etc. He was computer illiterate in 1993 when he began his mission to raise $$ for the first school. He does not do the accounting for the institute, nor does he take care of the legal issues. If there are problems in those areas, he is not responsible--he hired experts in those fields to take care of that!! He works like a madman with a harrowing speaking schedule and trips to Central Asia--missing much of his own children's childhood in the process. I see no problem with his retaining control of his intellectual property, such as his books. Nor do I see a problem with his taking a salary out of those proceeds--he has a wife and family who need a roof over their heads and have sacrificed much. Also, he did not author the first book, he hired a journalist, David Oliver Relin, to write the book and it was David's recommendation to "take literary license" in some instances to make the book more readable--such as the condensing of the visits to Korphe into one. The abduction is addressed in the book--he was held against his will and then accepted--this accounts for the pictures, in my mind. It seems that in that society, you are either enemy or family and Greg started out as enemy and then became family--because they grew to know his heart.
His unusual upbringing makes him wired very differently than most people who are used to creature comforts, routine, etc. This is what makes him uniquely suited to building relationships in the poorest areas of war-torn Pakistan and Afghanistan. I am sure he has made mistakes but they are honest ones!! His intent is not to defraud but to build up.
I am not sure I could work with a man like Greg. He works on impulse and to hell with procedure! LOL But that would my due to MY own hangups, not his. Shame on the people who found they could not stand to work with such an unstructured person and then sought to tear down the good he does, so their own egos are left intact. I love that the author states that Greg Mortenson is devoid of ego--speaks volumes about Greg's charcter!! I think "60 Minutes" simply didn't do a thorough job--trying to make deadlines, etc. Read the statement from the CAI board--they know the whole truth. - Reply to this comment
