Review of Stupid White Men

Even if you disagree with what Michael Moore says, you have to admit that he's a funny man. The way he presents his ideas in "Stupid White Men" is definitely noisy, but I think that if one looks past the obvious shock value of Moore's statements this can be appreciated as an important book. Despite its title, this book is about lots more than stupid white men. Moore is rightly upset about our current America: the huge different between rich and poor, racism, pollution, unemployment, poor education, sexism, American violence and negative media influences. Unlike other muckrakers, he supports his opinions with facts and figures that even his detractors don't dispute. And instead of just whining and whining, he includes specific instructions to readers who might want to contact their Congressional Representative, organize within their own communities, and make a real difference.

Moore's first and easiest target is Bush administration and, in his view, the completely illegitimate presidency of George W. Bush. Moore is appalled at Bush's lack of qualifications, his deceit about his past, and his family and financial connections that seem to have been used unfairly. Moore's summarizes the screwed-up election (delivery of the Florida vote before the election ever took place, pre-Election day illegal disqualification of Democratic voters) in a way that will definitely shock readers. Although this aspect of the election was generally ignored by US media because it was partly their fault, it is factual.

Moore's style, unfortunately, is also kind of goofy. At times, his sarcasm isn't really necessary given the importance of his message. In addition, the book's tone changes for the worse midway through. In the first half of the book Moore gives a variety of useful lists: "How to Stage the Countercoup," a how-to for community organizers; "Survival Tips for White America," a serious discussion of ways to end racism; and "Guide to Student Rights." Halfway through this book his lists change and become stupid. "How to Use Less Gas," suggests that readers "siphon gas from parked cars at airports," "hitchhike," and "live in your office or place of work." He is serious, but then he jokes around, often at the expense of his thesis.

This an important book with more than several messages toward advancing a broken America that Moore clearly believes is worth fixing. "Stupid White Men" is deadly serious in places, and funny in others. A good read.

So If It's Not The Democrats and It's Not the Republicans...

Michael Moore thinks the Republicans were a bunch of corrupt politicians who only made laws and manuevered in ways that would benefit themselves. He also accuses Democrats of being "soft" and not doing enough to counter the Republicans. Basically, Moore is unhappy with everything that both major political parties... so who does he actually like? Well actually, he has a bit of a man crush on Ralph Nader. He holds Nader at a pretty high standard, showing him not to be a corporate sell-out and the only candidate in recent memory who has a pretty clean record. He recommends that readers vote for Nader not so that he'll actually become president (because he'll NEVER get enough votes) but so that the Democrats realize that a sizable portion of their voting base is unhappy with the way they've been combatting (or more specifically, NOT combatting) the Republican agenda.

It's interesting because I know that in 2008 Michael Moore and Ralph Nader had a bit of a falling out. This book was written in 2000 so none of that is here. But it's interesting to note that at this point, Moore worshipped Nader as the one "clean" candidate in a mess of politicians who were too "politician-y"

It's YOUR Turn To Act

So, reading this whole book can get kind of depressing. From America's still-existent racism to the dismal circumstances that blue collar workers are going through (did you know starting pilots get paid $16,000 a year? That's not a lot), Moore paints America as a pretty horrible place. Ironic, because compared to so many countries in the world, ours seems pretty nice. But Moore is definitely not content with 21st-century America.

After Moore puts all these horrible facts and statistics on the table for us, it's hard not to come to the conclusion that America is totally and completely screwed. Alas, Moore doesn't simply criticize America and go on his way. Instead, he presents a guide called "How To Stage The Countercoup" so as not to spend the entirety of the book complaining, but instead putting forth some useful ideas. The "Countercoup," however, is kind of silly; Moore prompts readers to "contact your representatives on a weekly basis, and get three friends to do the same," which is fair enough. "Dog Bush wherever he goes" and "Force the Democrats to do their job" are some more interesting ideas. But finally, he presents, "YOU must run for office. That's right- YOU...Unless normal, decent people run for government office, the job is left to rascals." I guess he's assuming that everyone reading his book are "normal, decent people." It's hard to be more evil than Cheney and the Bush administration, but Moore's whole book is based on this sort of outlandish, shocking, and entertaining writing style.

The Bush Administration

Reading about the Bush administration is just scary. Each person seems so corrupt and biased in the positions that they have. Dick Cheney, for example, has one of the most conservative voting records of all 435 members of Congress. he voted against the Equal Rights Amendment, against funding the Head Start program, against a House resolution calling for the release of Nelson Mandela, and against federal funding for abortions even in the case of rape. He's this super-conservative guy who does not seem like the greatest pick for a country that was pretty clearly divided in half in terms of Democrats and Republicans. Attorney General John Ashcroft, the man in charge of our justice system, opposes abortions in the case of rape, is against protecting gays from job discrimination, voted to limit death penalty appeals process (and oversaw 7 exectusions as governor), and announced that within twenty four hours of a purchase and background check for a gun, all background files on people are to be destroyed with NO record of who has a gun or what kind of gun they have. It just seems like a bunch of completely corrupt, selfish, people who were completely unfit for power.... were put in power. At least the way Moore puts it, it sounds like a nightmare

Dear George

The more of this book I read, the more scared I get that any American could ever have voted for Bush. Essentially, Bush was a C student who got into Harvard and Yale even though he didn't have the grades and he ran all the business ventures his dad gave him into the ground. In fact, my grandpa was a CPA in New York and told me that Bush came in one day offering a proposal, but my grandpa refused because he could tell that Bush obviously didn't know what he was talking about. Moore also reminds us that Bush was a former alcoholic (and did not disclose his DUI until it came to media attention 3 days before the election. His excuse: "I didn't want this to be public because I didn't want to be a bad role model for my daughters." Unfortunately, Bush's daughters have dozens of drinking chargers so I guess he was never much of a role model to begin with. Moore also accuses Bush of being a former coke addict but failing to disclose that; however, this is not the first I've heard of some connection between Bush and cocaine use.
Bush basically seems like a sorry guy, but not evil like Cheney. He just seems like someone you'd want to hang out with, not someone with the Big Red Button under his fingertips. Moore puts Bush on an equal playing field as us: while he is incredibly wealthy and has a ton of power and influence, he's really just an average (C student) guy like us with his own problems and insecurities. However, compared to the stories of other presidents (i.e. Obama) his seems pretty bad in comparison.

Stupid White Men

The book I'm reading is called Stupid White Men by Michael Moore. Moore has written two other books Downsize This! Stupid White Men is primarily aboout how the Bush administration is corrupt and is essentially ruining our country. The first sentence its is pretty provocative: "There are those who say it all started to unravel the night of November 7, 2000, when Jeb Bush gave his brother George Jr. an early Christmas present- the state of Florida." Moore goes on to talk about how corrupt the election was and how Bush essentially got elected because his family has all kinds of connections with people in power. Though Moore presents his facts in a way to get as much shock value as possible, much of what he says has been confirmed in other sources. People are often angry with the way Moore goes about making his points, but his facts are often not refuted. If even half of what Moore says is true, I still say it's pretty scary for us and our country.

Abortion

1. An undue burden is anything that actually prevents a women from getting an abortion. Sure, the government can limit the amount of facilities that give abortions or give regulations for when it is no longer moral to abort a fetus (i.e. several weeks before its birth, when it could potentially be born and survive on its own) but laws that actually prevent women from getting aboritions at all are, in my opinion, "undue burdens". Restricting abortion clinics with dumb laws like they have to be in a "pretty" setting or have hallways of a certain width and lenght would be what I consider undue burdens.

2. Taxpayer dollars should pay to help people who shouldn't or do not have the means to pay for abortions (poor unhealthy mothers-to-be) the same way we support any other charity cause. Tax dollars should not be used to cover health plans of people who, for some reason or another, get abortions, can afford it, but don't want to.

3. Abortion needs to be legal. There are too many "what if" situations where it seems like people just need abortions. When you make abortions illegal, nobody has access to them. If you keep abortion legal, people who are against them don't have to get them and can do everything they can to convince people not to, but at least the option is still there.