Who Me? Yes You.

Review by Mike Gange

Stupid White Men

Michael Moore

Reganbooks, $37.95, 277 pages.

Michael Moore has it in for U.S. President George W. Bush. Its nothing personal and he is not threatening or dangerous. But Mr. Moore hates all those, like George W., who have used their position, prestige and family connections to grow richer, or to help their friends grow richer, at the expense of those who can’t.

Stupid White Men by Michael Moore starts out as a rant, aimed at those in power who have repeatedly proven they are unwilling to work to make things better for the average Joe, the environment, the poor, equal rights, education, justice, the electoral process.... While the title implies Mr. Moore takes issue only with white males, he says that is because the predominant rule makers and oppressors are white males, but he includes all those who have forgotten about other social and environmental issues, no matter what gender or race. Just when you think Mr. Moore is a left-leaning wing nut raving about everything, he begins to cite his sources. His argument then goes from shrill aggravation to be well researched and logical. Mr. Moore uses sources like BBC News, Miami Herald, Washington Post, PBS, U.S. News & World Report, NY Times and the World Health Organization to consistently make his points.

And one of his points is George W. stole that election. While the voting hung in the balance for a couple of days, the outcome was already decided, says Mr. Moore, because former U.S. president George Bush, George W.’s father, called in favours from family, friends and even Supreme Court Justices to get Jr. elected. Under Florida Governor (and brother to George W.) Jeb Bush, the electoral laws were quietly changed months before the election, disenfranchising anyone who had been convicted of a felony. Many black voters were likewise eliminated from the polls because they might not have met strict residential rules for voting.

Mr. Moore sees the election of George W. as a disturbing trend and he is clearly upset by the right wing agenda he sees being pushed on the U.S. and the rest of the world. Mr. Moore’s anger stems from the abuse of all those issues by those in "Corporations USA" who have pushed, bullied, badgered or bought their way into the public awareness while leaving their social consciousness behind.

Michael Moore’s style is extremely "in your face." He successfully employed that with his hard hitting movie about automobiles in "Roger & Me" and for the most part it works here too. Sometimes Mr. Moore is really funny, making the reader gleefully laugh right out loud. Sometimes he is deadly serious. Other times, he is motivational and inspirational, issuing a call to arms, saying the only way to achieve change is to get politically active, to become involved at any level, whether that be running for school boards or city councils or beyond.

Through out Stupid White Men Mr. Moore trashes the obsessive money culture and self righteous business agenda and the deceptive messages being sent. Remember the last recession? Mr. Moore wonders how the rich corporations could continue to make obscene profits for share holders, the executives could carry away huge pay packets, while the average worker was being cut back. How can the U.S. call itself a peaceful country, when it sells more handguns than many other countries combined, he says. How can we be concerned about the ozone when oil companies are allowed to work unfettered in National Parks, continues Mr. Moore. How can we be told there is an energy crunch when Detroit is still selling huge gas guzzling SUV’s, questions Mr. Moore.

What Michael Moore says isn’t always pretty. But it needs to be said. Some of the issues coming out lately in the news, stories like Enron, Worldcom, Exxon and the insider trading scandals, are proving Michael Moore is much more than just a left leaning wing nut. Rave on, Mr. Moore.

 

Mike Gange teaches media studies and journalism at Fredericton High.