People can say what they want about Michael Moore. They can make fun of his appearance (as if you look any better!), the ill-informed can call him a propagandist, but anyone who has seen his documentaries cannot deny that the man is prophetic and spot on. "Roger and Me" in 1989 was a critical success and has since become somewhat of a cult classic and in the past twenty years we've seen the entire auto industry behave just as they did in Flint and fail miserably.
"Bowling for Columbine" was a hard to watch but thoroughly accurate film about the ease at which anyone in America can get their hands on firearms and how the system turns it's back on the plague because of gun lobbying and the NRA. Obviously it was written after the Columbine massacre, but before the Virginia Tech massacre. Is anyone besides Michael and me tired of hearing the word "massacre" in the same sentence with schools? I thought so.
"Fahrenheit 9/11" was mocked by right wingers as a devious plan by Moore to unjustly have George W. Bush voted out of office. It detailed in a nutshell how the 2000 election was stolen and just how in bed the Bush family, and Republican Party was/is with the Saudi Royal Family. Again, it looked backward but it also made some bold predictions that people laughed at, but then came to pass. Of course, he was right and America re-elected Bush in 2004 and it's on their conscience.
"Sicko" was released prior to Obama's election and the new health care reform debate. A lot of people decried that Moore was lying about other countries having superior health care plans to America. Lists released subsequent to the film show he was right. America is behind every major industrialized country in the world. He pointed out the flawed system (and I had already experienced it far too well), but not enough listened.
"Capitalism: A Love Story" is the most centrist film Moore has done and he clearly explores how derivatives were the tiny leak in the dam of the American economy that suddenly led to the entire failure of the system. He points out how immoral "Dead Peasant" insurance plans, where an employer insures certain employees and upon their deaths collect millions of dollars, never giving a penny to the dead's family. I urge anyone who knows nothing of this practice to Google it and you can see if you're worth more to your company dead. At the end of the film with the screen dark, he gives a simple plea of a call to action. "I can no longer do this alone." Michael, I feel the same way on a much smaller scale.
I can re-post this entire plan from Moore since he e-mailed it to me directly (well, his staff did). It's worth reading, it's worth investigating and it's definitely worth doing. America is broke and broken. I cannot urge you enough to first of all, see the film, and then secondly take Michael up on his call to action.
I don't need any naysayers coming on here with your vitriol and rhetoric because for the first time I can assure you, I'm going to delete your comments. This is my post, this is my house and for once I don't want to hear your bullshit because I'm not stupid enough to believe anything that comes from your fingertips. I don't get paid to post on here. The Editors don't know I exist and I sure as f**k don't get paid to do it, so I make the f**king rules. So, fair warning I say in advance.
Michael Moore's Action Plan
15 Things Every American Can Do Right Now
You've Seen the Movie -- Now It's Time to ACT!
By Michael Moore
October 22, 2009 -- Friends,
It's the #1 question I'm constantly asked after people see my movie: "OK -- so NOW what can I DO?!"
You want something to do? Well, you've come to the right place! 'Cause I got 15 things you and I can do right now to fight back and try to fix this very broken system.
Here they are:
FIVE THINGS WE DEMAND THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS DO IMMEDIATELY:
1. Declare a moratorium on all home evictions. Not one more family should be thrown out of their home. The banks must adjust their monthly mortgage payments to be in line with what people's homes are now truly worth -- and what they can afford. Also, it must be stated by law: If you lose your job, you cannot be tossed out of your home.
2. Congress must join the civilized world and expand Medicare For All Americans. A single, nonprofit source must run a universal health care system that covers everyone. Medical bills are now the #1 cause of bankruptcies and evictions in this country. Medicare For All will end this misery. The bill to make this happen is called H.R. 3200. You must call AND write your members of Congress and demand its passage, no compromises allowed.
3. Demand publicly-funded elections and a prohibition on elected officials leaving office and becoming lobbyists. Yes, those very members of Congress who solicit and receive millions of dollars from wealthy interests must vote to remove ALL money from our electoral and legislative process. Tell your members of Congress they must support campaign finance bill H.R.1826.
4. Each of the 50 states must create a state-owned public bank like they have in North Dakota. Then congress MUST reinstate all the strict pre-Reagan regulations on all commercial banks, investment firms, insurance companies -- and all the other industries that have been savaged by deregulation: Airlines, the food industry, pharmaceutical companies -- you name it. If a company's primary motive to exist is to make a profit, then it needs a set of stringent rules to live by -- and the first rule is "Do no harm." The second rule: The question must always be asked -- "Is this for the common good?" (Click here for some info about the state-owned Bank of North Dakota.)
5. Save this fragile planet and declare that all the energy resources above and beneath the ground are owned collectively by all of us. Just like they do it in Sarah Palin's socialist Alaska. We only have a few decades of oil left. The public must be the owners and landlords of the natural resources and energy that exists within our borders or we will descend further into corporate anarchy. And when it comes to burning fossil fuels to transport ourselves, we must cease using the internal combustion engine and instruct our auto/transportation companies to rehire our skilled workforce and build mass transit (clean buses, light rail, subways, bullet trains, etc.) and new cars that don't contribute to climate change. (For more on this, here's a proposal I wrote in December.) Demand that General Motors' de facto chairman, Barack Obama, issue a JFK man-on-the-moon-style challenge to turn our country into a nation of trains and buses and subways. For Pete's sake, people, we were the ones who invented (or perfected) these damn things in the first place!!
FIVE THINGS WE CAN DO TO MAKE CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT LISTEN TO US:
1. Each of us must get into the daily habit of taking 5 minutes to make four brief calls: One to the President (202-456-1414), one to your Congressperson (202-224-3121) and one to each of your two Senators (202-224-3121). To find out who represents you, click here. Take just one minute on each of these calls to let them know how you expect them to vote on a particular issue. Let them know you will have no hesitation voting for a primary opponent -- or even a candidate from another party -- if they don't do our bidding. Trust me, they will listen. If you have another five minutes, click here to send them each an email. And if you really want to drop an anvil on them, send them a snail mail letter!
2. Take over your local Democratic Party. Remember how much fun you had with all those friends and neighbors working together to get Barack Obama elected? YOU DID THE IMPOSSIBLE. It's time to re-up! Get everyone back together and go to the monthly meeting of your town or county Democratic Party -- and become the majority that runs it! There will not be many in attendance and they will either be happy or in shock that you and the Obama Revolution have entered the room looking like you mean business. President Obama's agenda will never happen without mass grass roots action -- and he won't feel encouraged to do the right thing if no one has his back, whether it's to stand with him, or push him in the right direction. When you all become the local Democratic Party, send me a photo of the group and I'll post it on my website.
3. Recruit someone to run for office who can win in your local elections next year -- or, better yet, consider running for office yourself! You don't have to settle for the incumbent who always expects to win. You can be our next representative! Don't believe it can happen? Check out these examples of regular citizens who got elected: State Senator Deb Simpson, California State Assemblyman Isadore Hall, Tempe, Arizona City Councilman Corey Woods, Wisconsin State Assemblyman Chris Danou, and Washington State Representative Larry Seaquist. The list goes on and on -- and you should be on it!
4. Show up. Picket the local branch of a big bank that took the bailout money. Hold vigils and marches. Consider civil disobedience. Those town hall meetings are open to you, too (and there's more of us than there are of them!). Make some noise, have some fun, get on the local news. Place "Capitalism Did This" signs on empty foreclosed homes, closed down businesses, crumbling schools and infrastructure. (You can download them from my website.)
5. Start your own media. You. Just you (or you and a couple friends). The mainstream media is owned by corporate America and, with few exceptions, it will never tell the whole truth -- so you have to do it! Start a blog! Start a website of real local news (here's an example: The Michigan Messenger). Tweet your friends and use Facebook to let them know what they need to do politically. The daily papers are dying. If you don't fill that void, who will?
FIVE THINGS WE SHOULD DO TO PROTECT OURSELVES AND OUR LOVED ONES UNTIL WE GET THROUGH THIS MESS:
1. Take your money out of your bank if it took bailout money and place it in a locally-owned bank or, preferably, a credit union.
2. Get rid of all your credit cards but one -- the kind where you have to pay up at the end of the month or you lose your card.
3. Do not invest in the stock market. If you have any extra cash, put it away in a savings account or, if you can, pay down on your mortgage so you can own your home as soon as possible. You can also buy very safe government savings bonds or T-bills. Or just buy your mother some flowers.
4. Unionize your workplace so that you and your coworkers have a say in how your business is run. Here's how to do it (more info here). Nothing is more American than democracy, and democracy shouldn't be checked at the door when you enter your workplace. Another way to Americanize your workplace is to turn your business into a worker-owned cooperative. You are not a wage slave. You are a free person, and you giving up eight hours of your life every day to someone else is to be properly compensated and respected.
5. Take care of yourself and your family. Sorry to go all Oprah on you, but she's right: Find a place of peace in your life and make the choice to be around people who are not full of negativity and cynicism. Look for those who nurture and love. Turn off the TV and the Blackberry and go for a 30-minute walk every day. Eat fruits and vegetables and cut down on anything that has sugar, high fructose corn syrup, white flour or too much sodium (salt) in it (and, as Michael Pollan says, "Eat (real) food, not too much, mostly plants"). Get seven hours of sleep each night and take the time to read a book a month. I know this sounds like I've turned into your grandma, but, dammit, take a good hard look at Granny -- she's fit, she's rested and she knows the names of both of her U.S. Senators without having to Google them. We might do well to listen to her. If we don't put our own "oxygen mask" on first (as they say on the airplane), we will be of no use to the rest of the nation in enacting any of this action plan!
I'm sure there are many other ideas you can come up with on how we can build this movement. Get creative. Think outside the politics-as-usual box. BE SUBVERSIVE! Think of that local action no one else has tried. Behave as if your life depended on it. Be bold! Try doing something with reckless abandon. It may just liberate you and your community and your nation.
And when you act, send me your stories, your photos and your video -- and be sure to post your ideas in the comments beneath this letter on my site so they can be shared with millions.
C'mon people -- we can do this! I expect nothing less of all of you, my true and trusted fellow travelers!
Yours,
Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com
TIP:
Enter the amount, and click "Tip" to submit!
BOKO
Joan Wilder
Natalie K. Munden
donnastreet
Bill Maher
crystalsapphire
Salon.com
Comments
The only quibble I have with this list is the item encouraging union membership. While I have never belonged to one, everyone I know who is a member of a union (without exception) has been screwed by their union in a deep and meaningful way. In most cases the union participation led to unemployment, with their position going to a lower-cost worker. Unions aren't what they once were. But America is. So participate fully. It's out country!
Thanks for the list. Trouble is, there are just too many people who'd prefer to just sit on their asses and do nothing.
R
I've already gotten a few of these going on;
I'm the Mayor
I've stopped using ANY credit cards
And I'm in touch with my Senators and U.S. Representatives.
I'm workin' on it!!
Congress *Can't* do that, and neither can the President. Not legally. Not under either US Law or International Law. You see, the United States has ANOTHER health service, one that people rarely speak about. One that Congress and the President *can't* just do away with using the stroke of a pen.
It's called the Indian Health Service and, while it IS undoubtedly the WORST medical care in the WORLD, it is something called a "treaty obligation" and *can't* be simply done away with unless you are willing to re-negotiate the treaties involved. For the Upper Plains Tribes... there is NO negotiation possible UNLESS the immediate return of the Paha Sapa (black hills) is part of the negotiation and Wasicun won't negotiate at all if the return of the Black Hills IS included.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If we are going to do this one... 3. Demand publicly-funded elections and a prohibition on elected officials leaving office and becoming lobbyists.... we ALSO need that legislation to state that under NO circumstance can someone who has been employed as a lobbyist work in ANY capacity for local, state or Federal government.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thanks but no thanks: 2. Take over your local Democratic Party.
Never have met a Democrat that I could agree with on ONE issue and UNTIL the Democrats step COMPLETELY away from THAT particular issue there's not a hope in hell that I will support the Democratic party. Sorry but I have a "wee lit'l pro'lem" supporting ANYONE who supports murderers. (Don't support Republicans for the SAME damn reason too... ain't that funny)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. Recruit someone to run for office who can win in your local elections next year -- or, better yet, consider running for office yourself!
Have already done BOTH as a matter of fact. Not only have I BEEN an elected official but I have recruited someone to run for office on several occasions...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
*Chortles* 1. Take your money out of your bank if it took bailout money and place it in a locally-owned bank or, preferably, a credit union.
I live in Canada... My local bank didn't take bail out money and even if they DID it wouldn't affect OR effect a single taxpayer in the US. My money in the US has ALWAYS been in a Credit Union (Matter of fact the Credit Union that it is sitting in is one belonging to Michigan Governmental Employees) .
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I got rid of all of my credit cards YEARS ago and I'm NOT getting one just to make someone else "happy". Don't use them, don't want them and there's NOTHING that I "need" so much that I can't save the money to buy it with cash. Sorry but two of the BEST things that I ever did for my family was paying off the credit cards and paying off the 15 year mortgage on the house in MUCH less than the allotted amount of time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Currently T-bills are buying the toxic assets of banks... I have been MUCH better off buying Municipal Bonds that *local* governments sell to fund LOCAL projects that have been approved by LOCAL taxpayers. Keeps the money IN the community and has a decent rate of return on investment.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'll NEVER say "Yes" to a union. ANY union. Sorry but from where *I* am sitting they are nothing but murdering hoodlums and thieves. Of course I openly admit to WHY I feel that way about them... April 22, 1973... I broke my leg and when my father was carrying me back into the house following my little trip to the emergency room to have a cast put on it a union organizer for the UAW took a couple of shots at my father and I because my father was refusing to vote for a union in his workplace. That was ENOUGH as far as *I* am concerned. I simply *don't* react well to someone shooting at me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My family comes FIRST. Always has and always will. Equally though I am involved in some rather successful LOCAL projects where I used to live in Michigan to help OTHER families.
Every time I walk through the lobby of my work place I have to see the CNN Money people yakking about the stock market. Makes me sick that THIS is worthy of an entire network. Getting rich without DOING anything.
I think Michael Moore's Slacker Uprising was the most patriotic film I've ever seen. you can watch it for free online -- just google it.
Thanks for this reminder KOB! It's like the flu -- if we sneeze it enough, it'll be catching.
If you can't explain a derivative to a common man or a member of Congress then it has no business being traded for the benefit of CEO's.
Any company that if were to fail it would require a bailout by taxpayers is too big and must be broken up. Period. Large banks no longer like to make mom and pop loans so get the money down to the smaller local banks where it can do some good. I recognized that problem and solution months ago when it was obvious that the bailout money wasn't reaching Mainstreet banks. If someone like me can figure that out, what takes Congress and the White House so long? We've let 96 small town banks fail because they are only in the red a few million dollars. And guess who buys them up? Banks that use our bailout money making them even larger. That is just wrong anyway you look at it. Great Post, Greg. This should be all over the front page, but we know that ain't gonna happen.
Monte
I'm a realist. I know that the economy (mostly because of panic) HAD to be bailed out. What we are learning is that it was designed. The banking and financial sector, going back to the early twentieth century has run this country. It still does. You put your life in danger when you challenge them.
Secondly, I'm a gun nut so I can't agree with anything anti-gun. I had to cover 'Buffy's' ears...err..flash supressor when I read that part about the movie which shall not be named.
On everything else though, I'm with the plan!
Rated!
I've done a few of these, but need to be more active.
Rated!
Thanks again for the post.
Rated.
I am looking forward to his new movie coming out.
Oh, and I am thinking of running for office. Haaa.
Anything's possible. I hate the senators and congress having all these benifits, giving themselves raises, and the "working people" are suffering. I'll get in there! Thanks, Blue. Rate
Crystal, you should run for office! I've had friends encourage me for years and I just can't hold my tongue enough. You have to be a game player to a certain extent and I hate playing games with people I don't like.
Then I could just ask the mythical card dealer (the government) for more fake money chips... and I could do it again...
I belong to a union and have health coverage through it. It is worse than medicaid! My union does not represent us well because we are tantamount to minimum wage workers. We just don't matter to the big wigs who run it.
My hub and I did start a website about health reform, tho - it's:
http://www.wildcard.on-rev.com/useit/
No petition or anything, just getting the word out. It's important. Rated.
Rated
Declare a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures? Uh, people signed a contract to pay x dollars per month. Break a contract, accept the consequences, which may include getting kicked out of the house. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't have sympathy for those who lost their house because they lost their job. It means that contracts need to be enforceable.
State owned banks? No thanks. Yes, the biggest five banks control 70 plus percent of the country's deposits. That's fine, because we can find other banks. In my back yard, there are dozens of other options, and that doesn't include credit unions.
Picket the branch of a bank that took TARP money? Get real. Remember, those are loans that need to be paid back, with interest. The government will make money on the TARP, one of the few things they do make money on. And if it wasn't for the TARP, we would have seen the world's financial system collapse. Ask Michael Moore what he would have done with his millions if that happened. And yes, he has millions. Nothing wrong with that, but for him to play "man of the people" is about as legitimate as George Bush claiming it.
Do not invest in the stock market? That's a surefire way to watch your money dwindle away due to inflation. The stock market is the only way the average person has to get rich. It is our only real tool to build wealth.
And outlawing derivative trading and shorting stocks won't do a thing to help people. Look, millions of small investors make money trading options. I do it. Am I going to make Goldman like sums of money doing so? No, I won't. But hey, I'll take a $450 gain on a $1550 investment in a couple of weeks, and so would most people.
Shorting stocks also doesn't hurt anyone. In fact, a lot of times, the only people who get burnt are the shorts! Let's say you thought Citi was going to go under in January, so you shorted their stock. Guess who lost money on that trade?
There are a number of things that Moore has right, but there are a number of things he has wrong.
Kind of Blue: D, they all know in their minuscule hearts that it's all true. They all have reasons for being in denial. They were raced ignorantly, greedily, and/or blindly. When they see the truth they hide from it.
Maybe this is why. What could I possibly say to people who say I'm part of the "wingnut brigade", that I have a "minuscule heart", that I was raised "ignorantly, greedily, and/or blindly".
Do you really want to know what I think of this? What I agree with or disagree with? I don't think so, which is why I will save all of us some time by not telling you.
I find it sad that I have been blasted on OS, rightfully so, for generalizing, but some of the very people who have blasted me are people who do the same thing. Go figure.
Maybe it would be better if we all tried to find the areas we can agree on and then work from there. Just a thought.
Personally, I feel a little burst of pride when I see Moore wearing his Spartan hat. Still, as much as I like Mike, I disagree with some of this and will post later.