Regarding the Stupid White Men

Michael Moore has published the book entitled 'Stupid White Men … and other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation'. The book is published by Harper Collins Publishers, Inc., in 2001. The enticingly catchy title of the book ensures the commercial success of the book and promises fortune and fame (the notoriety, too) for the author. The discriminating lines between fame and notoriety are usually indistinguishable these days; both are part of the celebrity package. It is not surprising therefore that it is the best selling non-fiction book.

There had been some problems regarding its publication and subsequent release to the book - stores for sale. The book was due in stores for sale on October 2, 2001, but due to the September 11 tragedy, copies were not released for sale. Kera Bolonik states, (wysiwyg://69/http://www.salon.com/b…features/2002/01/ 07/moore/print.htm), "According to Harper Collins both Moore and (Judith Regan's Harper Collins Imprint) Regan Books thought its publication would be insensitive, given the events of September 11….It was holding off in hopes that Moore would include new material to address the recent events, and would change the title and cover art". And according to Moore, the Publishers asked him to change about 50% of the book at his own expense and also to underwrite the cost of some 50,000 copies that had already been printed, at an estimated cost of $100,000. "They wanted me to censor myself and then pay for the right to censor myself", says Moore. Again Bolonik asserts, "..after September 11, the satirical bite of Moore's book was too sharp for his publisher. In particular, Harper Collins flagged an open letter to George W. Bush, in which Moore asks the president whether he's a functional illiterate, whether he's a felon and whether he is getting the necessary help for his drug and alcohol problem….They said it would be intellectually dishonest not to admit that Bush had done a good job, and that the other things in the book wouldn't be believable if I didn't at least give Bush that much, says Moore".

Eventually the book saw the light of the print and found its way to bookstores. Summing this up, Moore says, "This is a fascinating story because it shows what a free society does when confronted with a crisis. Do we maintain our sense of freedom and liberty and dissent and open discussion of the issues? Or do we start putting the clamp down? I waited it out to see. And Harper Collins eventually did the right thing. I am really proud of this book, and I am dying for it to get out there". Well out there it is, and is receiving variegated reviews from the readers.

The book is sensational for the content that it contains, and for its sharp language and scandalous style. Sensation and scandal are the hottest commodities for sale. Michael Moore is neither a novice and naïve, and nor is he an unknown vendor. He is quite well known for his movie Roger and Me. A sample of Moore's style is depicted, for instance, when he raises the question "So, who then, is the man that now occupies 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?" and then furnishes the answer, "I'll tell you who: He is George W. Bush, 'President' of the United States. The Thief in Chief". He calls Al-Gore, "President in Exile", because according to him, "Al-Gore is the elected President of the United States. He received 539,898 more votes than George W. Bush. But he does not sit tonight in the Oval office. Instead our elected President roams the country without purpose or mission, surfacing only to lecture college students…". Again "Bill Clinton was the best Republican President we ever had".

Discussing the presidential election, a reviewer Bobby Jennings (wysiwyg://30/http://mightynatural.com/book_reviews/stupid.h tm) remarked, "Chapter 1

(A Very American Coup) of Moore's new book alone is reason enough to pick up (and) read it. I was aware of most of the facts regarding the election 2000 debacle in Florida and Moore has captured the facts, spirit, and shame of one of the darker moments in the history of voting rights in America. While reports of voter fraud has been perceived by the political right as a democratic poor loser whine, the facts should send shivers up the spine of true American patriots of every flavor and persuasion who believe that one man one vote is the cornerstone of American style democracy. If you were not really up on the facts regarding Florida election results then Moore's account may very well turn your stomach". Jennings concludes his review by observing "Stupid White Men is a must read for people who want to know both sides of the story before they make up their mind on issues".

There are however others who do not so readily gloss over the 'facts' that Moore has included in his book, to make his satirical points. Others believe that Moore's research is shoddy and inaccurate and the conclusions that he has drawn in his book necessarily lack accuracy and credibility. For instance, Ben Fritz (http://www.spinsanity.org/columns/20020403.html) remarks, "And at a time when some Republican leaders are using Bush's popularity to equate any criticism of U.S. policy with treason, Moore's success should be a reason for any democracy loving American to cheer. It should be, but it isn't". He has quoted several instances in his review in which he sharply disagrees with Moore and takes exception to his conclusions. Fritz asserts, "With the success of Roger and Me also came a critical rap: That he took liberties with the truth, fiddling with the chronology, for greater dramatic effect. But that criticism doesn't seem to have made an impression on Moore, and that's nowhere more apparent than in Stupid White Men". He further criticized Moore suggesting "..Moore twists the truth to advance his agenda". "After accurately describing the hard times that hit the country in the past year, he (Moore) offers his analysis to his readers: There is no recession, my friends. No downturn. No hard times. The rich are wallowing in the loot they've accumulated in the past two decades, and now they want to make sure you don't come a- looking for your piece of the pie", quotes Fritz. Fritz may disagree with Moore, but Enron has opened a new window on how business is conducted by 'fat cats' in America, and Moore, after all, may not be too wide off the mark in his satirical observations.

Another dissident reviewer is David Harsanyi (wysiwyg://224/http://www.frontpagem…columnists2002/ha rsanyi03-15-02.htm). According to him, "Ostensibly, Moore exposes the hypocrisy and misconduct of establishment figures through his films, TV shows and books. In reality, Moore, whose political stance is uncommonly demented, obtuse, and juvenile, uses kamikaze journalism to further a clear and precarious agenda….Particularly gruesome has been Moore's character assassination of President Bush. The day after September 11, for instance he wrote: 'Many families have been devastated. This just is not right. They did not deserve to die. If someone did this to get back at Bush, then they did so by killing thousands of people who DID NOT VOTE for him! Boston, New York, DC, and the planets' destination of California - these were places that voted AGAINST Bush'! Blaming the President, who had been in office for less than a year, for an act that took considerable time to plan, while never once mentioning Bush's predecessor as complicit, took impressive dexterity". Then Fritz remarks, "In just eight eight months, Moore writes, Bush gets the whole world back to hating us again. He withdraws from the Kyoto agreement, walks us out of the Durban conference on racism, insists on restarting the arms race - you name it, and Baby Bush has blown it all".

Moore has a one-dimensional view when he holds the white men responsible for all the ills that humanity is suffering from, at present. The white men may have visited the most gruesome misdeeds on the human beings, but they don't hold the monopoly on such things exclusively. Sadly, c. Every nation in its hey - day acted inhumanly towards its foes and devised most effective instruments of torture. Nonetheless, Holocaust, and Hiroshima and Nagasaki were undoubtedly unparalleled genres of human misery and sufferings; and they were the acts of the white men. Moore delightedly enumerates the evils of the white men, from his tote board, as follows:

Who gave the black plague? A white guy.

Who invented PBC, PVC, PBB and a host of chemicals that are killing us? White guys.

Whose idea was it to pollute the world with the internal combustion engine? Whitey, that's who.

The Holocaust? That guy really gave white people a bad name.

The genocide of Native Americans? White man.

It should be remembered that the white men have done a lot of good too. Consider the state of public health, medicine, and treatment of diseases such as tuberculosis, heart, and others, which were incurable in the past.

Who discovered the medicine and the treatment for such diseases? White man, of course.

Who has made the significant progress for treating schizophrenia? Again, the white man.

Who are likely to discover the cure for cancer? White men, or others, who may be working in their (white men's) laboratories or the research institutes.

Who gave us the computers? White man.

Who gave us the calculus? White man.

Who developed the intellectual curiosity about physical sciences? White man.

This serial enumeration can continue on and on.

Moore's book is surely titillating; the reader can have a good laugh at the expense of the white men, but it is not serious although it deals with serious issues. It has selective facts, which are true for a group (a very large group, one can argue) of white men but broad generalization is dangerous.

Even so, the book contains really some heady stuff. Every thing that Moore has described may not be accurate as contested by several reviewers, but it makes you think. In another open letter addressed to George W. Bush, posted on January 29, 2002, Moore discusses the Enron scandal. He says, "What shame do you feel tonight George, for the lies you have told? What shame do you feel using the dead of 9-11 as a cover for your actions, hoping that our sorrow for those lost-souls and our fear of being killed by terrorists would distract us from what your boys and Kenny Boy (Kenneth Lay) were up to during those horrific weeks in September and October"?

It makes you think.

Detroit, Michigan