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A hilarious must-read for anyone who wants to know
what the con is and how 'they' get away with it, Stupid White Men is
only available uncensored because public pressure forced the original
publishers to publish a book they felt was too hot to handle. Now it's
time to find out why. It's so damn funny it'll make you cry. |
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Ok, this was weird. The book arrived, and I opened the packaging and began reading at once. That never happens to me, unless it's a Pratchett I've been champing at the bit to get at. The odd thing is that I'm compelled to read on, and I find myself relieved to know that there's another human being in the world who thinks these things. More over this book is a #1 best seller, which means that even if people don't agree with what's being said here they are at least thinking about the issues. I'll be honest, though entirely sardonic, I wouldn't describe what I've read as funny. Shocking, gob-smacking, but not necessarily funny. Maybe that's because what's being discussed is how people are being controlled and fucked over by a bunch of rich white guys in suits...who aren't even the duly elected rich white guys in suits. That's scary, and so are many of the issues talked about. To me at least. If absolute power corrupts absolutely then GW probably has three sixes hidden somewhere about his anatomy. That leads me to something else I find hard. Trying to stay balanced while reading an incredibly biased collection of statistics. On one hand it totally confirms my gut feeling about the Bush administration, and just how corrupt our own government has become to support such a power hungry regime. That between them they have ridden rough-shod over the UN and have set themselves up as the world's police scares me more than anything that's happened in my life time. At school we were always taught that evil dictators that wanted to take over the world were our enemies. Now we are them. There
are lots of ideas in this book, and much thought provoking debate. It
does a body good to listen to an entirely different viewpoint on the
world for a change, and so I'll keep reading. I'm not sure I'll agree
with everything Michael Moore suggests, but so far it's looking good. |
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Whether you love Michael Moore or hate him you can't deny that he makes you think. That's a good thing, without a little perspective we'd buy the bullshit the government spin doctors try to sell us and never ask questions. That's how they got where they are today. I'm not super political, but the implications of what I read are far reaching and hint at such deep seeded corruption at the highest possible level that unless we (that means you) the people of the world stand up and be counted it'll continue. What's weird is that changing the way things are should be relatively easy, given how much we all hate the way things are being run. Run for local government, be honest, do what your constituents want you to do and actually try to make the world a better place, rather than trying to line your own pockets. Did I enjoy the book? Well, I found it absorbing and interesting. Michael Moore gives references for all his sources, which would be relatively easy to check up on should you wish to. He seems to genuinely want to inform people about what he sees as injustice and corruption...and he's a smart-ass to boot. There were things I found annoying; his constant referrals to President Bush by childish nicknames was...well, like playground taunting. I understand that he doesn't respect the man, or believe he deserves the office, but it made him look weak by playing that game. I would have preferred his debate to be put across based purely on his merits (or lack thereof) as a politician, rather than his personality. I would also have liked this to feel less of a campaign manifesto for The Green Party, or Ralph Nader. A journalists own beliefs are important to know so you can assess the bias used to write the piece, but if you believe Moore then Nader is the second coming, and we should all run out and support him. I'd rather have Moore himself running for office (either in the US or here in the UK) so that I can see if he's all hat and no cattle, or the principled man of the people he claims to be. He does ask some very difficult questions of the people in power though, and I for one would certainly like to know the answers. As an exercise in freedom of speech this is an amazing book. Just the way it was initially held back, and finally made it onto bookshelves at a time of intense worldwide political upheaval is incredible. Who knew librarians were holders of such awesome power? I knew they were totally cool, and defenders of the books but I thought all that involved was introducing me to great books and then stopping me borrowing them (I could never part with a book I loved). It turns out that hiding in the stacks are a small army of militant campaigners for freedom of speech. I'll never return a book late again! It doesn't matter whether you agree with Michael Moore or not, that someone is challenging authority at this level is great. It has definitely given me another perspective to consider on issues I thought I understood. You can never have too much information! Amendment September 14th 2003 One of the things I meant to say when I wrote this review was this. Moore uses a style of journalism I'm not entirely comfortable with. Hence my many references to the bias this book was written with. He throws statistics out like candy, and doesn't explain very well how he arrived at his conclusions. There are chasmic leaps of logic, and he writes with an almost evangelical rhetoric that becomes fairly tiresome. That doesn't mean he's wrong, or that he doesn't make a fair few valid points. I like that he's able to tell it like it is, in layman's terms, but he preaches every bit as much as every other politician around. The problem is that he tries to speak as Joe Average, when in fact he's a skilled politician who actively campaigned for Nader in the 2000 elections. That takes him from commentator to politician in my book, so when he says he's the guy telling the truth and everyone else is lying I react the same way I react when ever other politician tells me that. With cynicism. As I'm a bit of a lefty myself I cheer him on. Just wanted to clarify a little there.
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