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TechnoratiMichael Moore Calls New Film Capitalism: A Love Story
Michael Moore's new documentary comes billed as a tale of forbidden passion, charting a wild romance that flourished for decades before coming to a crashing, calamitous end in the autumn of 2007. It's title? Capitalism: A Love Story.
![['It will be the perfect date movie' … Michael Moore. Photograph: Stephen Chernin/AP
]](http://www.commondreams.org/files/article_images/Michael-Moore-001_0.jpg "Michael-Moore-001.jpg")
The film reportedly sets itself up as a spoof of the grand Hollywood romance, using the genre's hallmarks to examine the causes of the global economic recession. "It will be the perfect date movie," Moore said in a statement. "It's got it all - lust, passion, romance and 14,000 jobs being eliminated every day. It's a forbidden love, one that dare not speak its name. Heck, let's just say it: it's capitalism."
Backed by Overture Films, Capitalism: A Love Story is set for a US release on 2 October, a year and a day after the Senate approved its controversial $700bn (£432bn) bank bailout. The date also marks the 20th anniversary of the release of Moore's debut film, Roger and Me, which lambasted the actions of General Motors in the director's home town of Flint, Michigan.
According to Moore, the new film is about "the disastrous impact that corporate dominance and out-of-control profit motives have on the lives of Americans and citizens of the world. But this time the culprit is much bigger than General Motors, and the crime scene far wider than Flint, Michigan."
Thus far, it seems safe to assume that Moore has personally dodged the worst effects of the global recession. He is the creator of three of the six most successful documentaries in box-office history - Bowling for Columbine, Sicko and Fahrenheit 9/11.
113 Comments so far
Show Allcan you visualize beyond capitalism?????
First I give Michael Moore the credit he deserves. In the 'American Universe' he is but one of a very few that put their life in the line of Republican/ Rightwing (gun)fire.
As some educated entities might well know, 'The Capital' by Karl Marx was a non-fictional work of observing, analyzing and offering remedy for the inhumane treatment of the 'Have Nots' by the 'Haves'. The same 'Haves' Bush referred to as his base.
Eager to see the movie, but equally aware that it will not contain anything we don't know of yet, but never dared to ask, capitalism is a mindset that has come to an end. When Marx wrote the capital it was as utopistic as Barbarella, knowing that the only way to transzendent capitalism is to experience its whole nine yards. Now that we have come to the last few eights of an inch, people realize that Marx was right all along. Not so much in his remedies, but moreso in his analysis of the perpetualization of extracting money out of the very human livestock called proletariat. To the bitter end.
Planet Earth was never for sale. Never will be. Nothing in it and on it ever came with a price tag. Price tags are the invention of capitalists and they have ever since found more ways to put them on 'incommerciable' entities/commodities.
From a higher perspective Capitalism was a necessary phase or component in spiritual growth. To overcome inhumanity and to reinstate respect for all things living is the obvious goal. More and more people follow the markers Moore has put forth for the Americans to ponder about.
He deserves our gratefulness for this precarious task. As an old proverb states: The One that speaks out the truth better makes sure he is not standing next to a well.
May All Beings Be Blessed.
No Restrictions Or Limitations Shall Apply.
BeForKids and Ted,
Touche, touche and touche!!!! Great rebuttles! Ted are you a history teacher? You are informed! I try to be - a sociologist by training a while back but your quickness is admirable!
I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE! So is he now officially out of the book business? I almost pissed myself laughing reading "Dude, where's my country?".
If Michael Moore is down on capitalism then he should show his film for free. In fact just put it on DVD and give the discs away. What a blowhard hypocrite. When are people going to get it, Michael Moore is all about more of Moore. While some of his messages are valid and on the mark he loses the message due in no small part to his manner of delivering it (i.e. his fat face showing up everywhere even at political conventions) this guy is the Brittney Spears of liberals. (Liberal - one who is rich enough to take up the cause of the common man and not have to worry about how its implications may impact them) Give me "Bruno" anyday over Michael Moore's self-agrandizing faux champion of the downtrodden.
Moore & face aside, Johnz, this argument makes no sense.
Just because Moore wants to live in a socialist system, assuming for the moment that he does, does not mean that he lives in one. If he could cash in his chips and go to Havana, how would that be more or less hypocritical than making movies promoting change and charging for them so as to make more movies?
Your passing diss of Britney Spears seems to indicate that you'd still find Moore's face unwelcome were it less fat. But you give no other reason.
How do you think he gets the money to make more movies? I know people who are desperately trying to get two movies in the theaters about prescription drugs -- most notably anti-depressants -- and finally blow the lid of that mess. They were supposed to come out this year and have been slammed by the depression. Fortunately "Food, Inc." just came out, too. I wish it were coming to a theater near me but it doesn't look like it, so I'll have to wait for the DVD or cable.
The guys got guts. He writes a great blog. He's written a couple of really good pieces on HuffPo about what should be done with GM -- it was brilliant and forward thinking. GM should be building our mass transit cars, but that won't happen. They're going back into the same-old, same-old. And we'll just bail them out again. Sad, very sad.
Michael Moore is good. I wish I had the kind of guts this guy has and the talent to put it all together.
Gee John Neocon,
Michael Moore's "fat face" is the only one out of three hundred million which is attached to a backbone. He was the only one to tell the Emperor that he had no clothes on. He stood up at the convention, in a nation of cowards and gave the bushmonkey the big "L" (for loser; right to his face.)
Personally, I don't agree with socialism. But why should we begrudge a man the fruits of his labor? Why should we be jealous of a man who makes an honest living under the current rules of the market?
Is Disaster Capitalism so frail it cannot stand any criticism at all? Even Bill Gates recently has questioned the viability of Capitalism. If we would listen to the last great republican president Teddy Roosevelt and break the "trusts" and monopolies up, maybe the system would work as advertised. And yes, this great critic of Monopolistic Tyranny (T.R.) also was rich as was FDR.
You don't have to be poor or throw your money away to be a champion of the people. Absurd notion!
TJ
"To criticize those in power, is the highest form of patriotism." - Thomas Jefferson
Isn't it ironic: Michael Moore, a critic of Capitalism, is its ultimate embodiment - a self-made millionaire prospering under Capitalism's intellectual property right laws (i.e. copyright)and using Capitalist publishing companies to air his views - all motivated by profit in some form or another.
When Fahrenheit 9/11 came into my small city for a whoppin 2-day stand, I ran a mile & a half to get there to see it on time (my car was in the garage for repair). What a document! the theater was filled w/working class people. Filing out, I heard many uttering how angered they were and espousing their intents to vote Democratic for president.
Flash forward to the Democratic Convention where Kerrey sheds off his finest moment as a part of the winter soldier campaign on Viet Nam, and projects a macho image re the War on Iraq, ala Bush, only he'll do it smarter. Kinda like Obama on Afghanistan, Bush was cool on the goal, but I'l do it smarter. Well, at the damn Convention did they use any of the great Moore film segments that Randi Rhodes continually replayed, like, when Bush addressed the BIG bankers with "here are before me the haves and the have mores; I call you my base." Or, after a resistance attack on Usan soldiers, W cried "bring 'em on". Or, re Osama bin Laden, "we're gonna smoke him out." Then, abit later, "I don't know where he is; I don't spend that much time on it."
And, oh yeah, bush said something about the great dangers of terrorism, and then, as he was golfing, said, "Watch this drive." There was at least one more zinger, but I apologize for drinking too much cabernet, plus being old to to recall (call me in the am, but not too early).
But, the point is that acknowledging dare I say affirming the wisdom of Moore's flick was totally lost on the '04 Demo establishment, can you say DLC. Instead, they relegated where the upper boxes where he sat near Arundunti roy, invited by Amy Goodman, who I also believed helped sneak Medea Benjamin into both conventions.
Of course we know that Kerry, despite his many errors, still won. But, then again, I look upon (hey, maybe this because of the cabernet; maybe it should be pot or better, pscilocyobin (sp?)that it was stolen in Ohio, maybe again in fla., as in 2000.
Very troubling is the reaction in the US. so strong is our alienation that we expect to be screwed. So where was the reaction to the 2 US stolen elections, except for the massive demos vs. the W inaugural in 2000 where, well documented by Michael Moore, where eggs were there was a large dmomonstration that included eggs tossed on the calvacade.
So, I guess this is about Michael Moore. I love the man. I encourage everyone to buy as many of his dvds as you think you can afford, and share them w/all. I also ask all to buy and share The Eleventh Hour, The Corporation, and The World According to Monsanto (the latter so due to their political power, has been erased from all websites and is not even available on Amazon; but, I did obtain it from Amazon/Canada)
So, all we can keep doin is learnin and sharin, & yes certainly w/our congresspeople.
don't be TOO paranoid. I googled The World According to Monsanto and was able to watch the whole thing on YouTube. Power to the People! Let's get the word out and around about Monsanto.
The capitalist economic system is exhausted and will soon collapse. From the time of the collapse of feudalism and its birth in the Industrial Revolution, capitalism was always destined to become a dominant global force. Globalization will be a historic marker as the zenith of its existence. But globalization robbed the system of the only thing that kept its fatal internal contradictions at bay—-growth. Capitalism has conquered the planet, it has nowhere else to feed. The time of its death is now at hand.
There are preparations for civil unrest underway in China, India, Russia and the United States. Skirmishes around the world are signs the two most powerful groups that capitalism creates are beginning to engage in a final battle for power. Marx called them the bourgeoisie, the ruling class, and the proletariat, the working class. It can be most simply described as the clash between the wealthy and the working people.
The fight is inevitable and it will destroy one class or the other. Then on the ruins of the old system, the class that prevails will reorganize society along the lines of their dictates. If the bourgeoisie remains on top it will not mean the restoration of capitalism to health and stability. It will mean the depopulation of the planet and the enslavement of man in a world described in the dystopian literature of Orwell, Huxley, and Atwood.
'les miserables'.................on a bigger scale.
malcom martin, dead on the money. Revolutions will happen in countries not globally of course, I think the US will be the 1st capitalist industrial economy to experience a Revolution, I wonder if you agree. Great Post mm. A comrade? ...joe.
Great post malcolm,
Interesting the contrast of an enlightened post like yours vs. the anti-Moore "Rush-the-Druggie" posts of no content whatsoever. They apparently have tired preaching falsehoods to their own Faux News drones on NASCAR sites and can't live in a world of diverse American opinion. So they show up here, unhappy that the post-Bushmonkey world has betrayed them. They are now unemployed and resentful, but still uneducated, and unenlightened.
The bipolar nature of the neocon who visits CD is most amusing. They incorrectly assume one must be in either one camp (Repuke) or the other (Democon). Most posters here on CD are, in fact, neither. This is the haunt of true third party intellects. I for example, am a hybird Naderite/Libertarian. I believe what the founders wrote: "The government that governs least, governs best."
Globalization is a unsustainable disaster. Ships pass in the night with identical cargos bound for opposite ends of the earth for the sole purpose of monopolistic trade. This abortion has nothing to do at all with the principles of Adam Smith and his free competition principles present in a mercantile environment. Adam Smith is, no doubt, rolling in his grave right now. The Monopolistic Terrorism present in today's Wall Street is in no way anything he taught. Some global trade will always exist, but to burn the atmosphere into a cinder with transport ships blowing volcanos of CO2 into the air is suicidal.
The only thing that has propped up the ailing market is the fraud present in banking and trade. Many Bernie Madoffs no doubt exist quietly in the background. Nothing could possibly support this level of soaring unemployment and contraction. But the big question I want answered is: how long can the government keep the DOW at 8,000 with the PPT? (plunge protection team: see wikipedia.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plunge_Protection_Team
The Working Group on Financial Markets (also, President's Working Group on Financial Markets, the Working Group, and colloquially the Plunge Protection Team) was created by Executive Order 12631,[1] signed on March 18, 1988 by United States President Ronald Reagan.
The Group was established explicitly in response to events in the financial markets surrounding October 19, 1987 ("Black Monday") to give recommendations for legislative and private sector solutions for "enhancing the integrity, efficiency, orderliness, and competitiveness of [United States] financial markets and maintaining investor confidence".[1]
As established by Executive Order 12631, the Working Group consists of:
The Secretary of the Treasury, or his designee (as Chairman of the Working Group);
The Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or his designee;
The Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or his designee; and
The Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or her designee.
Contents [hide]
1 Plunge Protection Team
2 Market Crisis of 2008
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
[edit]Plunge Protection Team
"Plunge Protection Team" was originally the headline for an article in The Washington Post on February 23, 1997,[2] and has since become a colloquial term used by some mainstream publications to refer to the Working Group.[3][4] Initially, the term was used to express the opinion that the Working Group was being used to prop up the markets during downturns.[5][6] Financial writers for British newspapers The Observer and The Daily Telegraph, along with U.S. Congressman Ron Paul and writers Kevin Phillips (who claims “no personal firsthand knowledge” and is “not interested in becoming a conspiracy investigator”) [7] and John Crudele,[8] have charged the Working Group with going beyond their legal mandate. Claims about the Working Group, which are labeled conspiracy theories by some writers, generally include that it is an orchestrated mechanism that attempts to manipulate U.S. stock markets in the event of a market crash by using government funds to buy stocks, or other instruments such as stock index futures—acts which are forbidden by law. In August 2005, Sprott Asset Management released a report that argued that there is little doubt that the PPT intervened to protect the stock market.[9] However, these articles usually refer to the Working Group using moral suasion to attempt to convince banks to buy stock index futures. [10]
Former Federal Reserve Board member Robert Heller, in the Wall Street Journal, opined that "Instead of flooding the entire economy with liquidity, and thereby increasing the danger of inflation, the Fed could support the stock market directly by buying market averages in the futures market, thereby stabilizing the market as a whole." His statement has been used to claim that the Fed actually did act in that way. Mainstream analysts call those claims a conspiracy theory, explaining that such claims are simplistic and unworkable.[11][12]
[edit]Market Crisis of 2008
On 06 October 2008, the working group issued a statement indicating that it was taking multiple actions available to it in order to attempt to stabilize the financial system, although purchase of stock shares was not part of the statement.[13] The government may wind up owning shares in the firms to which it has provided loans, as they will receive warrants as collateral for these loans.
unquote.
The longer this ponzi scheme goes on, the bigger the fall is going to be at the end. Imho.
TJ
"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
WE worship two things, greed and money. On you knees a******s.
Things haven't changed and they won't until you do.
More Moore!!
The local Dubuque corporate theaters have refused to play Michael Moore's two most recent movies, Fahrenheit 9/11 and Sicko, so I waited for the DVDs and bought them.
In this case I may be waiting for Christmas before I see Capitalism!
Unless I make the road trip to Madison or Cedar Rapids.
I look forward to plunking down my capital to view Moore's cinematic critique of capitalism.
Michael Moore For President!
Why not? Cali got Ahnold. Minne got Al. We all had Ronnie, remember?
At least he'd get some media coverage.
No doubt, Mike will point out the REAL cause of capitalism's failure ... read/see it (with a suggested solution) here:
http://www.sonic.net/~taryfast/us.html
personally speaking as a non-american, there are two great things that came out of the u.s.a.................
walt disney and michael moore..........
the fact and the fiction............
Walt Disney was a fascist, tried and true. I, for one, would NEVER buy anything from his company. I am truly ashamed of Disney crap, on every level. I was raised within walking distance of the original Disneyland, and have known many past employees. Disneyland is hell on earth for workers. Can't you pick something else American to like, like perhaps the fact that our empire is imploding? Maybe you could celebrate the fact that Texas or Utah are NOT parts of your nation. Perhaps you could take pleasure in the fact that so many crackpot religions are American perversions that your smarter population rejects. Take our deathcare system, please.
well, i was talking about the man himself, who died in 1966. not the mega corporation that followed him. and not having personally known walt disney, i cannot comment on his being fascist or not. (maybe adolph hitler was quite a nice bloke if you got to know him)
i'm quite certain that some aspects of working in a 'fantasy' world concocted by 'fascist' mega corporations are not very pleasant. and to that i give my heartfelt condolences to the past employees you have known.
as to something else american to like. well, i'm hard pressed here acemoab. i've tried very dilligently to think of something else to like. but then, i would be hard pressed to think of something to like about chemotherapy.
i do understand your anger at the situation your 'imploding' empire finds itself.
but you have no-one to blame but yourselves.
so taking it out on me, an innocent bystander,(a non-american) who just made a comment on a personal note of two great things that i thought came out of the u.s.a., shows how insecure you are. (by you, i mean that collectively)
the reason i comment here on c.d. is because i find the posters coherent, intelligent, witty, clued-up and progessive.
never mind that all these words and posts will never make a difference in all this chaos.
i respect the camaraderie...................and i never mean to offend. (unless i'm pushed to do so.)
Here are a few things to like: jazz,blues,old time music, roadhouses,Cape Cod, some of the people, some of the time.
The Walt Desney mego co. IS about as fascist as you can get, right up there with McDonalds. Also, as a matter of taste, Disney products are slick but second rate. Why not try substituting Blues/Jazz/Rock and Roll? As far as I know, that is the only truly unique American export. And this past week of Jackson mania tends to prove it.
MY sentiment also, "all these words....In all this chaos" sad, no?
very sad and very frustrating...............
People who don't like Michael Moore movies, probably prefer films that reflect reality, like Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs, or Cinderella.
So Mikey has 3 hits, and GM has failed. Hmmmmmmmm..........
Reading the comments to this article, most of them make me want to barf, but hey! Michael Moore has a way of binging out the Archie Bunkers of the world so he must be doing something right. He doesn't mind stepping on a few toes to make a point so if you are feeling trod upon move your feet.
As no one has seen his new documentary it is pretty presumptous to become a critic before the fact.
Michael Moore makes good movies and has said some good things. But I can't give him a pass because he was standing tall and espousing the same 'anybody-but-bush-bullshit' in the last two elections. His ignorant support for jerks like John Kerry and Obama don't do a damn thing to keep strong Progressives in the running. I will happily throw my vote in the toilet for people like Nader until the Democrats put up someone worth voting for!
"I will happily throw my vote in the toilet for people like Nader until the Democrats put up someone worth voting for!" Don't hold your breath.
shach, I have to agree with your quote. Although in this case, we managed to elect a president who is making sure those who caused this disaster are held harmless. Shame on him.
And no one knows how large this disaster will be. Maybe we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg right now, and the trillions of our dollars Obama is throwing at the banks will just end up as concrete boots on our feet.
Michael Moore is a hero to me and I don't think he's in this for the money. He's trying to reach people with the truth.
As for the trolls, don't waste your time on them. They don't add anything to the discourse.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
In case y'all haven't seen it I would highly recommend "The Corporation." Here is a link:
http://www.thecorporation.com/
I have it on DVD, excellent.
Also I recommend "The Trap" a BBC2 documentary by Adam Curtis. It was shown in the UK a couple of years ago, however it is not available on DVD or shown on PBS in the "land of the free". One can find it online here for example:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=404227395387111085
Adam Curtis also did The Century of the Self, didn't he? Thanks for the suggestion -- I haven't yet seen The Trap. The Century of the Self can be found on Google Video in four parts. It's also worth watching.
Yes, also see "The Power of Nightmares" all three are some of the best documentaries made in the English-speaking world.
"Once profit becomes the exclusive goal, if it is produced by improper means and wihout the common good as its ultimate end, it risks destroying wealth and creating poverty." (Encyclical issued by Pope Benedct xv1).
I,m sure Michael Moore would agree with the Pope. Congratulations Michael! I have confidence that your new film will tell the truth about vulgar capitalism.
I wonder what his next claim to fame is gonna be.
With Sicko he managed to convince people that Cuba has this top notch healthcare system.
Cuba found out what works, not what makes money.
Chameleon, where is your head? He didn't have to convince anyone. Cuba does have a top notch healthcare system. It just has a lot of poor people and not much money to back its system up. Anyone with eyes can see that.
What is your beef with Cuba? Are you an anti-Castro bourgeois expat? You no like film you no watch
Actually I've seen most of Michael Moore's movies. He was doing better when he was channeling his actvism thru comedies, like Canadian Bacon, rather than "documentaries" presenting foreign government fed propaganda.
How predictable, a non-answer. I guess by omission you answered my question thanks, your depth of analysis and insights are most impressive
here's your answers:
1.) I despise dictatorships that opress their people and keep them in poverty
2.) No.
Chameleon, you're either ignorant or hypocritical. Anyone who has actually studied the history of this country knows what this kleptocracy AKA the USA is and has been doing to it's own citizens and to many countries in the world.
If you truly despise dictatorships, then you must despise the USA for murdering democratically elected presidents, brutally stamping out popular democratic movements and installing pro US dictators in third world countries. For glaring examples, think Chile and Iran.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
BeForKids, thank you for your consinstently incisive comments.
I don't wanna judge you but if you think it's bad in the US then you had a really sheltered life.
I haven't seen americans standing in line for rationed food at 4AM, when there was none. I haven't seen americans shivering in their own apartments cuz it was cold and there was no power. Or american students hooking up car batteries at night to study when the power is out. And I mean normal working americans not street bums.
I don't see any of you being picked up by black SUVs in the middle of the night never to be seen again just because you said what you said in your post.
I dont't see americans being shot or beaten to death with a shovel at the border with Mexico or Canada wanting to get out of here an escape the evilness.
I have seen people die in one of your paradises with free healthcare cuz there was no care. No means. You seen sick people on the floors of hospitals on roach infeted mattreses?
I have seen all that so don't talk to me about ignorance and hypocrisy.
For Pete's sake Cubans are tying together inner tubes and 2x4s to get to the US. Mexicans are risking their life swimming the Rio Grande and hiking the burning Arizona desert to be here.
Asians are cramming themselves in 40ft shipping contaiers to cross the Pacific to be here.
Why do you think those people do that? Because it sucks to be where they are.
By the way, Jefferson was right.
All that you say may be true, chameleon, but who causes it? Americans use up a huge percentage of the worlds resources, we have armies or an armed prescence in most of the world, and our secret services work night and day to see to it that foreign governments toe the US line. Cuba is impoverished mainly because of the US imbargo. Even so, the majority of the population is glad to be there.
I've been to Europe several times. I don't mind saying that if I had the recources, I would rather live in England or France or most places in western Europe. Sure I'd miss America, but I could always visit my home town of San Francisco.
"I haven't seen americans standing in line for rationed food at 4AM, when there was none."
According to Reuters, "The previous record for food stamp enrollment was 31.6 million last September, which included "disaster" stamps for states hit by hurricanes and floods." Today's disaster, that has increased that number is the U.S. economy; even with the government bailouts totaling close to $3 trillion, the U.S. economy is in freefall and the lines for food stamps and unemployment benefits continue to climb.
http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2009/03/388111.shtml
"I haven't seen americans shivering in their own apartments cuz it was cold and there was no power. "
Cold weather threatens the elderly and very young, particularly in Native American reservations on the Great Plains. Houses often have no electric utilities, are poorly insulated and are often the scene of tragic deaths every winter because their residents can't afford wood fuel
http://tinyurl.com/lhotsa
If you are poor and have to choose between heating and eating, LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program), is where you can try to find help. But LIHEAP is chronically under-funded. Typically only about 75% of those who apply get any assistance before the money runs out.
http://www.energybulletin.net/node/10578
"I don't see any of you being picked up by black SUVs in the middle of the night never to be seen again just because you said what you said in your post."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsLjNUdEWc4
Under Bush, and the unconstitutional Patriot Act, thousands of Americans have been arrested without charge and denied their habeas corpus rights. In addition, their conversations with their attorneys have been monitored, violating their attorney/client privilege.
http://www.votenader.org/issues/high-crimes-and-misdemeanors
"I dont't see americans being shot or beaten to death with a shovel at the border with Mexico or Canada wanting to get out of here an escape the evilness."
Hmm, I'll have to get back to you on this one. However, your use of the term "evilness" gives me a clue as to your orientation. Maybe you should do some research into the many causes of "evilness."
"I have seen people die in one of your paradises with free healthcare cuz there was no care."
Studies estimate that the number of excess deaths among uninsured adults age 25-64 is in the range of 18,000 a year. This mortality figure is more than the number of deaths from diabetes (17,500) within the same age group.
http://www.nchc.org/facts/coverage.shtml
In 2002, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) estimated that 18,000 Americans died in 2000 because they were uninsured. Since then, the number of uninsured has grown. Based on the IOM’s methodology and subsequent Census Bureau estimates of insurance coverage, 137,000 people died from 2000 through 2006 because they lacked health insurance, including 22,000 people in 2006.
http://www.pnhp.org/news/2008/january/make_that_22000_uni.php
"You seen sick people on the floors of hospitals on roach infeted mattreses?"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lKUwBCIBzA
Adults and children have died in emergency rooms because improper and inadequate care was administered. Many people are aware of the witness accounts of family members whose loved one was ignored and died while waiting for care that could have prevented the patient from dying. In addition, many of us witnessed the released hospital video a woman in a New York hospital left unattended and she died.
http://tinyurl.com/m84zuf
"For Pete's sake Cubans are tying together inner tubes and 2x4s to get to the US. Mexicans are risking their life swimming the Rio Grande and hiking the burning Arizona desert to be here.
Asians are cramming themselves in 40ft shipping contaiers to cross the Pacific to be here.
Why do you think those people do that? "
In his recent book Bad Money, political commentator Kevin Phillips warns that an unprecedented number of citizens, fed up with failed politics and a souring economy, have already departed for other countries, with even larger numbers planning to do so soon.
http://tinyurl.com/5snb4j
Over three hundred thousand Americans emigrate each year, and more than a million go to foreign lands for lengthy stays.
http://www.amazon.com/Getting-Out-Leaving-America-Self-reliance/dp/0976082276
Great post, Ted. Don't forget the Americans who die yearly in our 'spotless' hospitals from nosocomial (hospital induced) infections. 88,000 in 1995 and increasing. Our medical personnel infect 2,000,000 Americans in our hospitals every year. These are preventable infections. That doesn't include all the deaths from medical errors.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
Very long posting Ted, but a very good one.
You rock Ted,
Great Rebuttal.
The USSA has turned into a Banana Republic from hell. As long as you're behind a gated community with private security, you won't notice the change. Slums go for miles in every city. Police Sirens wail 24/7 in Ghettos coast to coast. Cuba might be a sleepy paradise, but Americans cannot go there to see it because of the Bush Iron Curtain. If you went to Cuba during his reign of terror, you would be convicted of trading with the enemy upon return. Meanwhile, Canadians freely can visit Cuba without gov oppression upon return.
Neocons shout: "They hate us for our freedoms"
What freedoms? The [Anit] Patriot Act took them all away!
TJ
\"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." - Thomas Jefferson
Looks like we still have the freedom to blather on inconsequentially on CD, and so far,none of my relatives have been shot in an American equivalent of the Lubyanka prison, so I guess there are a few things to be thankful for.
Wow. What a retort!
You rock.
Wow, it is pretty bad in America.
Vaid points tho. Now calculate the percentages, invert them and imagine a country like that. Feeling better about the US?
No, I'm not feeling better about the US.
In some ways, we are more free than many countries, in other ways, less so. As long as we keep repeating the mantra that we have (USA!, USA!, USA!, best country in the world!) we will continue to be snowed and we won't see it crumbling around us.
I've lived in 3rd world countries. I've seen poverty. However, go to inner city neighborhoods in the US, or Appalachian hollers, also in the US, or reservations, also in the US, and you will see 3rd world areas.
In many ways, we are very lucky here, and have many opportunities that those in some countries don't. However, we are also witnessing (and being exposed to) a rape and pillage of epic proportions. We must open our eyes to the reality - that things are not as good as they are being reported to be (and even those reports are getting more dismal). If we continue to live in a little fantasy world, we will literally be living in a 3rd world. Maybe then many of us will be using inner tubes to float to Cuba, where at least health care is accessible.
Are you sure you aren't referring to the U.S. government in #1? You must brush up on your history or else provide facts to back up your statements. I, for one don't call someone a dictator of a country that has no homeless children.
The cool thing about Cuba is that they don't need to use health care to oppress their people like our country. And capitalism is a big purveyor of that cause.
Thank goodness Mr. Moore still knows how to keep the pulse alive of those who really know whats going on in this country. If it was up to the capitalists, all things in a communist country are bad because there's no need for a profit.
Get over your false facts and say something credible instead of sounding like faux news.
Yeah, if s/he despises dictatorships, s/he can start with the USA which supports dictatorships and ignores its own election fraud, denies 50 million people health care, has the highest number of prisoners in the world (per capita and absolute numbers) ignores High Treason and war crimes, allows a corporate media oligopoly, and gives away taxpayer money to banksters and the MIC to the tune of trillions, etc. and so on...
Dicatorships supported by the USA: Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Israel (a phony democracy), Kuwait, Colombia, China, Musharraf's Pakistan, Pinochet's Chile, Colombia, Suharto's Indonesia, the Shah's Iran and now it seems we can add Honduras to the list.
I give up. I have been living in the US for 10 years and I realized americans are really kind and good people but extremely naive when it comes to life in other countries.
Msmutt and Socialist you can continue to belive you have it bad in the US (I assume you live here) if that makes you feel good.
Also, newsflash, not everything you see on american TV is true. Get yourselves one of them larger dishes and watch some foreign content if you can't afford to travel. They no habla ingles though on those channels.
chameleon, I'm not saying we have it worse than people in third world countries. We have it shamefully good compared to them because we oppress them for profit. Not going to last. The party is just about over. We are about to get what we deserve. And Americans are not only ignorant about how other people live, but even more ignorant about our complicity with keeping them in poverty. Most people think we're the world's heroes.
US policies create a living hell in third world countries, but the rich have gotten carried away with brazenly stealing from their own citizens. They would have been better off not awakening the sleeping giant.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
I would correct you only on one pont, BeForKids. You said 'Most people think we're the world's heroes.' You should have said most people in America. The only people in the rest of the world who think we are heros are those profiting from our policies. I'm thinking mostly of Israel.
Sorry George, I didn't mean to leave that out. At one time we were admired by many in the world. I can't think why, unless it was our standard of living. Maybe it was just a hangover from WW11.
I do get tired of hearing people (Americans) say we're the most wonderful country in the world. I realize there's no way they would hear the truth. It's true that history is written by the winners.
When the people fear their government there is tyranny,
when the government fears the people there is liberty.
~ Thomas Jefferson
you obviously miss the point, why don't you take your own advice and not watch TV - I don't!
I have travelled round the world; very likely to more countries than you have, so don't tell me about it I have lived abroad as well. If anyone is naive it is you. Your callous, naive and arrogant attitude leads me to believe you have a comfortable life-style, you have health care insurance, you have not had to file bankruptcy due to health care issues, you have not had your house foreclosed on, and you are getting a better than inflation return on any savings you have,
Good for you! what about the vast majority of Americans who are suffering? Get your head out of the sand! You have an extremely naive view of the history of the USA
Well, socialist, you have described me to a T, except for the helath insurance. I'm on medicare, and find it a piss poor health insurance. Those co-pays are murder!
But I do have friends and extended family. Many of them have lost their American Dream, sometimes dramatically. You have to be in an alternate world not to see the increasing suffering in this country. Me thinks chameleon's habitat must be in one of them. I'm curious to know where he/she comes from orginally.
TV? What's that? Yes, i have one of those. The only thing that's been hooked up to it for the pasr 3 years is a DVD player.
What's a majority? 5% of mortages that are foreclosed on? 13% that don't have health coverage?
And yes, I am doing OK thank you. Not thanks to any government help tho. I don't worry about heathtcare too much. Buy my own insurance. Kinda costly, but by the time I retire, universal coverage will be available. The baby boomers need it and they gonna make everyone else pay for it in the next few years they did with all other stuff.
You guys enjoy your evening gotta go get some dinner now.
Good for you Lord Chameleon! we peons can eat cake. Check your figueres again they are way off the mark. What is the unemployment rate really? You better run and hide when the guillotines are rolled out
There is a role for people like Michael Moore, and he plays it well. He may be selective in his attacks - but how many people can you attack within two hours? Just what America needs right now. I can't wait to see this film. October 2nd also happens to be the birthday of Gandhi.
Michael Moore the new Karl Marx!
Marx said: the last capitalist will sell you the rope to hang him with or something like that--bravo Moore, he's no Henry the 8th.
Personally, I would like to see Moore leading the charge for a people's revolt, peaceful civil disobedience, or some form of general strike. Another film is great and I like his past films, but sadly it will do very little if anything to change the status quo. It will however make money.
I imagine Moore would retort: "I'm doing what I do best. Maybe you should do what you do best and together we can change things."
At least, that's what I'd suggest.
And he is making a good living doing it as well, meanwhile...
I tried to get him to call it: CRAPitalism; a defication story... but he told me Congress already had the registered TM on that.
Henry8 July 9th, 2009 10:26 am
said,....."Its time to follow people that live the life they suggest to others"
Guess if you cannot argue with the merits of the argument, settle on the old illetrate "you have to be perfect or shut up" rhetorical routine."
Henry 8 has a very shallow understanding of history. There is no relation between personal life style and political/ethical values. We must always remember that FDR, the great friend of the workers, was born rich and lived in luxury. The same is true of Teddy Roosevelt, the scourge of malefactors of great wealth.
FDR was also a cold, calculating man who probably closed his eyes before Pearl Harbor so that the US would have an excuse to fight Japan. If he were still alive when we developed the bomb, he probably would have used it on quite a few Japanese cities. He knew about the German Camps, but chose to ignore them while we won the war. In other words, he knew how to play "The Game". Fortunate for us (the people), he was on our side when it came to dealing with his wealthy cohorts and he was married to a very strong, liberal wife. Too bad we don't have someone on our side in 2009. By the way, conservatives consider FDR a communist and shudder at the very mention of Eleanor. That's how fascist we've become.
I'll take FDR's "cold calculation" along with his courage, any day over the present gutless wonder in the White House.As for his knowledge about the German camps, he didn't have much of a choice. He could either pursue the War to its end, and liberate who was left in the camps, or he could bomb them and kill everybody in them.I think he made the right choice.How do you know he would have used the bomb on the Japanese? You on the main line?
First let me say I think Mike Moore is great, I love his movies and can't wait to see this one. It's great that he provides an alternative to the corporate mainstream media view of the world.
Just mentioning Michael Moores name is a great way to find out who the closeted right wingers are on this site. They just can't contain themselves when you mention his name, so all I can say is:
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May I add: Michael Moore, Michael Moore, Michael Morre!
Michael Moore has often used this familiar maxim, "A capitalist will sell you the rope with which you hang him," (he used in the documentary, The Corporation). It appears as if he has decided to put that into movie action.
Moore tells some stories that need telling. His style is not really an issue as much as it gripes the conservative crooks. To them capitalism means get yours and screw everyone else. Adam Smiths idea of capitalism was not that way at all. It was Smiths error thinking that in the name of self interest capitalists would understand that it is in their self interest to be honest and include everyone in their plans for improvement. Not the case now or ever was.
Never, never! Capitalists are short sighted and greedy. During the Reagan years they became even more so with the 'bottom line' philosophy. Self interest to them is the size of the profits at the end of every year. Roosevelt understood them very well, and managed to tie them up to a certain extent. Reagan started untying the knots and every president since then has been doing the same. Obama doesn't seem to be a very good knot tier either. His answer is to hire the crooks and give them lots of our money to 'straighten things out' (untie more knots).
Here's hoping that this film like his others will reach a broad audience with wit, verve, and help a vast sweep of the people gain some greater and deeper understanding of the monstrous system we are living under. Those of us working with hard facts and ideas often fail to find the ways to communicate to the larger audience in ways that they can hear. Often humor is a wonderful tool that can get behind people's prior notions and shake them up. Go Mike!!!
Wasn't so long ago that the word "capitalism" was primarily used reverentially. Now it has become sullied in more and more eyes by the openly criminal behaviors all around us such that even the lapdog corporate media couldn't totally hide or camouflage it all. Small wonder the Wall Street thugs are about to launch a large scale PR--professional lying--program in an attempt to clean up their image. In fact full page ads from some of the major bankster/gangsters have already started appearing telling the world of their deep, deep concern for ordinary people. You betcha!
Michael Moore makes good, entertaining documentaries. And he tells the truth. I don't begrudge him any money he makes from it.
pjd412, the good thing about asking thomasmore/henry8 a direct question is that he'll disappear from the site for the rest of the day.
of course, thomas, you could prove me wrong by answering the question.
Sioux Rose
PJD: I am not sure it is Thomas More. Thomas was very polite and had better spelling skills. I am unconvinced it's him.
He probably just looks in once a day and adds comments. That's what I do. I seldom go back, unless I'm really involved. Some of us have a life.
Are you sure Thomas More and Henry8 are the same person? The name association suggests it of course, but his refusal to rebut doesn't seem very More-like.
True, but he'll only do so after whining about how rude you are for challenging his nonsense.
q
"...and you're doing a heckuva job Mikey!"
(LOL)