the truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.

[girlsoul]

tonight i saw a sneak preview of michael moore's sicko. it was excellent. i've seen almost all of his movies, and this one really seems to show how much he has progressed as a activist filmmaker. if anyone remembers, i wasn't crazy about farenheit 9/11 because i felt it was just so much left-wing propaganda being shoved down the audience's throat,

Comments

[they_say_lady]

ugh- im divided as to why america cant mobilize- well the non-religious zealous can- obviously. ANYHOW, i was talking to this guy i met in chicago about it and why the left has been, by and large, pretty ineffective at mobilizing. he chalked it up to "us" (the left) not being able to come together because of "petty issues" that split us up/divided us. perhaps- but he listed examples of those "Issues" as being- gay marrige and abortion. those, to me, i explained are NOT "petty" both as a woman and as a progressive person. i do not see myself voting for a non-gay-marriage candidate. i would consider voting for those that are pro-civil-union though- edwards has publically said that he's not 'there yet" for supporting gay marrige which i sort of scoffed at

[girlsoul]

exactly - and i think a lot of that can be attributed to what tony benn said about demoralizing and frightening the poor, and also to the fact that so much of getting ahead in politics in this day and age is dependent on how much money you have.

i am glad that edwards continually makes an effort to bring up the poverty issue, even though it sometimes seems disingenuous.

[they_say_lady]

WELL PLUS- democrats way way less mobilized to even, you know, fucking VOTE in the first place.
poor people dont vote either (as much as the rich WASPS)
minorities dont vote either (" ").
i think they both feel left out and helpless and theyre right. edwards' is not enough about the poor, in my opinion. i mean, unless we have universal health care and until somebody- some candidate- makes that push, as far as im concerned, we wont get those votes we need. hilary was on the right track in..what 93? 94? when clinton appointed her to shake up the health care system, but since then, shes backed down and gets a shit ton of money from the insurance companies.

meh.

[girlsoul]

what's pathetic is that the group that votes the least is single women in their twenties.

wedge issues motivate the shit out of the republican base to vote. it's mind blowing. you tell them that you're going to let gays perform godless abortions and take their guns and it's like a fucking bumrush to the polls.

there has to be a way for us to do this ! haha.

[reck_less]

i'm glad to hear that sicko was as moving as i expect it to be. i can't wait to see it! michael moore rules! have you seen roger and me!?

"it makes me wonder why we are incapable of that kind of mobilization today. we seem to have lost something, or maybe everyone's too busy with their own shit, i don't know"
i think free market capitalism is part of the problem. evidence suggests that mobilization for social causes becomes less and less important in a capitalist society over time, and i think you hit the nail on the head here - everyone is too busy and absorbed in their own lives to make a difference. we are too caught up in thinking of ourselves and watching our own backs - trying to find jobs with benefits to help ourselves - that we lose sight of the bigger picture and forget how things are sometimes.

oh p.s. - tell me about this sncc book. i also love the student non-violent coordinating committee (stemming from my soft spot for the black panthers, i'm sure) and i think i would love to read it.

[girlsoul]

but there are things the operate in a socialized framework within the united states - firemen/police, the post office, etc. it IS possible to have a free market economy and socialize some programs that benefit all americans. we can do it !!!

the book is called sncc: the new abolitionists, it's a history of the movement that was basically written during the movement. howard zinn is just an amazing historical writer, so i'd definitely recommend it, it was written in 1964.

[adeadlois]

while i'm pretty hot on health care, i have a bad feeling that moore doesn't give the right treatment to the foreign systems. england's NHS is in such a poor state right now that charging for their "free" healthcare is a common topic in parliament. waiting lists for organs is even longer for the free treatment people, and if you are rich enough to afford privatized health insurance in england, it's still incredibly bureaucratic and ridiculous.

granted i haven't seen it, i just know how moore works in general, and my intuition tells me he makes it look like NHS is the most pleasant experience ever. this isn't to say that i'm not interested to see it.

[girlsoul]

you make a really good point. to make america's system look awful, he does really make the english, french and cuban systems look AMAZING!! by comparison.

i don't think that any of those systems are a blueprint that can be applied to america as they are, but i think that we can borrow from them and modify them appropriately to fit our country.

in the words of david cross talking about the egg wave, "THERE'S GOT TO BE A BETTER WAY!!!!"