Michael Moore

Joe, formerly of the Chezmonsieurjoe blog, sent me this article, which I'm pretty sure is from the New York times. It isn't very long, so I've pasted it here. It is from the Op/Ed section, I think. I don't find it to be the best-written piece ever, and I don't understand the ending, but I do think it is worth the read, if only to bring up a point about freedom of speech and the need to take advantage of it.

All Hail Moore June 26, 2004 By DAVID BROOKS

In years past, American liberals have had to settle for intellectual and moral leadership from the likes of John Dewey, Reinhold Niebuhr and Martin Luther King Jr. But now, a grander beacon has appeared on the mountaintop, and from sea to shining sea, tens of thousands have joined in the adulation.

So it is worth taking a moment to study the metaphysics of Michael Moore. For Moore is not only a filmmaker; he is a man of ideas, and his work is based on an actual worldview.

Like Hemingway, Moore does his boldest thinking while abroad. For example, it was during an interview with the British paper The Mirror that Moore unfurled what is
perhaps the central insight of his oeuvre, that Americans are kind of crappy.

"They are possibly the dumbest people on the planet . . . in thrall to conniving, thieving smug [pieces of the human anatomy]," Moore intoned. "We Americans suffer from an enforced ignorance. We don't know about anything that's happening outside our country. Our stupidity is embarrassing."

It transpires that Europeans are quite excited to hear this supple description of the American mind. And Moore has been kind enough to crisscross the continent, speaking to packed lecture halls, explicating the general vapidity and crassness of his countrymen. "That's why we're smiling all the time," he told a rapturous throng in Munich. "You can see us coming down the street. You know, `Hey! Hi! How's it going?' We've got that big [expletive] grin on our face all the time because our brains aren't loaded down."

Naturally, the people from the continent that brought us Descartes, Kant and Goethe are fascinated by these insights. Moore's books have sold faster there than at home. No American intellectual is taken so seriously in Europe, save perhaps the great Chomsky.

Before a delighted Cambridge crowd, Moore reflected on the tragedy of human existence: "You're stuck with being connected to this country of mine, which is known for bringing sadness and misery to places around the globe." In Liverpool, he paused to contemplate the epicenters of evil in the modern world: "It's all part of the same ball of wax, right? The oil companies, Israel, Halliburton."

In the days after Sept. 11, while others were disoriented, Moore was able to see clearly: "We, the United States of America, are culpable in committing so many acts of terror and bloodshed that we had better get a clue about the culture of violence in which we have been active participants."

This leads to Michael Moore's global plan of action. "Don't be like us," he told a crowd in Berlin. "You've got to stand up, right? You've got to be brave."

In an open letter to the German people in Die Zeit, Moore asked, "Should such an ignorant people lead the world?" Then he began to reflect on things economic. His central insight here is that the American economy, like its people, is pretty crappy, too: "Don't go the American way when it comes to economics, jobs and services for the poor and immigrants. It is the wrong way."

In an interview with a Japanese newspaper, Moore helped citizens of that country understand why the United States went to war in Iraq: "The motivation for war is simple. The U.S. government started the war with Iraq in order to make it easy for U.S. corporations to do business in other countries. They intend to use cheap labor in those
countries, which will make Americans rich."

But venality doesn't come up when he writes about those who are killing Americans in Iraq: "The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not `insurgents' or
`terrorists' or `The Enemy.' They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow - and they will win." Until then, few social observers had made the
connection between Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and Paul Revere.

So we have our Sartre. And the liberal grandees Arthur Schlesinger, Ted Sorenson, Tom Harkin and Barbara Boxer flock to his openings. In Washington, a Senate vote was delayed because so many Democrats wanted to see his movie.

The standards of socially acceptable liberal opinion have shifted. We're a long way from John Dewey. Perhaps inspired by Moore, I got a fact wrong in my previous column. Bill Clinton did not win the evangelical vote in 1992 and 1996. I had relied on a report that was later corrected.

While I don't agree that Americans are the stupidest people on Earth, I would say that we can be pretty ignorant. Complacency will do that to you though. Let's face it -- we've had it pretty good.

I think the author of the article is trying to mock Michael Moore, but honestly, I'm not sure. Is he more displeased with the "American People" for listening to anything this liberal has to say, or at Michael Moore for having, and expressing, an opinion?

Sure, Michael Moore has agenda -- why else would he continue to shout from the highest mountain? That doesn't make what he is saying less important. Statistics and "facts" can be shaded to prove a point, and that doesn't make them wrong.

What I love about Michael Moore is not so much what he is saying, but simply, that he is saying anything at all. I'm glad that someone is using the media to discuss really important material. I know it frightens people to question the status quo, but it is a very important thing to do. Feeding one's brain with little more than death counts, reports of Hollywood eating disorders, diets, and who's fucking who, doesn't encourage serious thought.

The general population of the USA is acting much like the insects described in a diary entry by Christa Wolf. The insects in question are sitting upon the inner rim of the wheel of a motor vehicle. They complain when the vehicle drives through the mud, splashing them, and get all excited when it drives over smooth, dry land. However, they are so concerned with minutiae, that they give little thought to where the vehicle is actually headed.

Agree with Moore, disagree with Moore, it doesn't really matter. What does matter is that we pay attention to the world around us, form opinions, stay interested, stay educated, and vote our consciences, not only in November, but with our dollars as well.

How's that for a long blog?