ARMCHAIR ATLAS: Micheal Moore? Seriously, Michael Moore???

In the last twenty four hours, I have been debating with myself on whether or not to write this post. It is questionable at best to think that giving any response to anything Michael Moore has to say is worth my time. However, twice this week, I have read posts that are actually agreeing with this "interesting" individual. This is the same individual who actually told Keith Olbermann that "Hurricane Gustav is proof that there is a God in heaven." He was of course referring to the hurricane that threatened the gulf coast immediately prior to the GOP convention in Minneapolis. Moore also in the same interview stated that "this woman (for some odd reason both he and Olbermann refused to say the name: Gov. Sarah Palin) is against the very things that women are for and against the things that women need." Does anyone in reality think that Michael Moore knows what women want or need? Of course on that note, does any member of the male species?

This also reminds me of a terrific episode of The West Wing in which POTUS refuses to use the phrase "my opponent" in a debate thinking that he will sound stupid for not being able to remember his opponent's name. Sorkin was a terrific writer, but I digress. On to Moore and his "interesting" ramblings.

On his privateley held and capitalist funded website, Moore outlines his action plan entitled "15 things every American can do right now." Let's take a look at some of highlights of this gift to humanity:

The first 5 are things that we should demand The President and Congress do immediately:

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. Call me old fashioned but I thought that when you asked someone to loan you money, you agreed to pay it back on the terms that were mutually agreed upon. Will the IRS give me a refund on the capital gains taxes I paid because my investment portfolio has lost value on paper? As far as making a law that says you cannot be "tossed out of your home" if you lose your job, why stop there? Why not say, if you lose your job, all restaurants and grocery stores must provide you with free food?

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. Ah yes, this makes sense. Everything for everybody, and we remove that evil profit motive. Mr. Moore, why would anyone spend the enormous amounts of money necessary and devote years of their life to educating themselves in the medical profession so that some bureaucratic agency can regulate their income? When people go to see your movies, why should they pay? If after all, your films are for "the common good".

Demand publicly-funded elections and a prohibition on elected officials leaving office and becoming lobbyists. Publicly funded elections would be interesting. Without the private sector media involved, many people in this country would not even realize election day was approaching. Think the internet could provide a public vehicle? Perhaps, but try it without the companies that developed things like fiber optics and broadband.

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?" Regarding the Bank of North Dakota, this is actually an amazing concept. It was developed by the people of North Dakota and does not even participate in the FDIC! Of course, when your deposit base includes all state tax revenue, it's fairly easy to remain liquid. I cannot understand why Moore would be a fan of this, since it actually reduces the influence of the Fed. The second half of this point is the most dangerous item in Moore's manifesto. A company's primary motive must always be to make a profit. It is the only thing that insures survival, and therefore the survival of its stakeholders: owners, suppliers, customers, employees. Who exactly should determine "the common good"? Value for value and commercial exchange is still the only way for humans to interact, except of course with the muzzle of a gun.

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. And how do we expect to attain these "public" resources without the technology developed by the oil and gas companies? Will these magical mass transit organizations be government subsidized? Perhaps one should look at Amtrak as a shining example (insert sarcasm here). Should landowners be forced to give up their property rights so that the government can lay the tracks for all this mass transit rail right through their front yards? Since profit seems to be only a secondary motive in Mooreland, how will these companies pay the union scale wages of the workforce we will be "instructing" them to rehire? Who is going to be driven to develop the non-combustion engine without some type of incentive? Doesn't this sound a bit ludicrous?

In the section entitled "5 things we can do to make The President and Congress listen to us: 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. Moore is even so considerate that he has added a special link so you can download the signs right from his website. Of course, the bottom of the sign contains a marketing plug for his movie (marketing, another capitalist evil). What type of civil disobedience is Moore referring to here? Perhaps the kind that destroys private property, violates the rights of others, prevents civil discourse? I am grateful for the easy link above showing all of the organizations that received bailout funds, it shows me where not to invest my money! However, I am curious as to why Moore refers only to the "big" banks with regards to the bailout money. A bailout should have never occured in the first place!! Almost 20% went to General Motors, a company with a failed business model.

Finally, in the section entitled "FIVE THINGS WE SHOULD DO TO PROTECT OURSELVES AND OUR LOVED ONES UNTIL WE GET THROUGH THIS MESS": 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. First, it is not your business! It wasn't your idea, it isn't your capital, it isn't your risk! As an employee, you are entitled to whatever was agreed upon at the time you were hired. This is obviously subject to change based on market conditions. You are not a slave because you always have a choice: whether or not to quit and seek employment elsewhere. Even better, use your own mind and talents to start your own business (hopefully the union members and the federal government will not dictate to you as they have to GM). "Americanize" your workplace? Give me a break. If you are unhappy with your workplace, change it. That is as American as it gets.

I am more than likely wasting my time here as Michael Moore followers are about as apt to change as Dittoheads and Beck-Ites. I just could not let this go without some sort of defense of the greatest economic model ever to be known by man: Capitalism.

CAPITALISM DID THIS: