Little Mr Mahatma

In which the middle-aged Peacenik mouths off about War Drones--and all the other things that make him cranky.

Mr Mahatma--who is a Mr in real life--lives in the valleys of Southern California with his wife, a herd of Dears, and an impressive collection of books. Pnorny!
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Little Mr Mahatma

Wednesday, May 28, 2003

Stupid White Men
"Stupid White Men" by Michael Moore is one of those humor books so full of irony and nauseating revelations that it's almost unreadable. But I read it and enjoyed it. Except for one niggle that refused to go away. It's the same niggle that bothered me all through out the O.J. Simpson trial (Oh crap! Not that again! It's dead Jim!!!).

What bothered me about O.J. and what bothers me about Moore's book is that they both erroneously focused on race.

Moore's book would have been far more enjoyable if he had expanded his invectives on the CLASS bias in Politics, instead of a rail against Whitey. Maybe he's making some sort of politically correct Race appeal ("I'm Cool! I'm White. I can put down Whitey!) but it didn't sit well. His griping against Rich White Men needed to lose the color and gender distinctions. Rich Blacks, Asians, Women - Rich PEOPLE with their tentacles in our Government are the problem. How many poor people or small business can afford Lobbyists or make campaign contributions or attend $1000 / plate dinners?

Moore's book should have been called "Stupid Rich People".

And that brings us to to O.J.. Sorry, that trial was *NEVER* about race. It was about class. How many poor people - black, white, yellow, purple - could *EVER* afford the legal power that O.J. had? If any one from the lower 90% economic status had gone on trial with the same evidence but with "normal" attorneys, they'd have been literally buried by now. Six feet under for double homicide.

Yes, the Rich really do live by a different set of rules. Winona Ryder shoplifts and the prosecutors(!) work to keep her out of jail though she was guilty of grand theft. If Jose Garcia did the same thing he'd be in jail for grand theft, vandalism, and a variety of drug charges, and likely we'd never see him again. And many Rich people, particularly celebrities, get the dreaded punishment of Community Time for the crimes. Oh, they must suffer!

Moore calls for political change by acknowledging that the Democrats and Republicans are the one and same Party, and with that we need to create a new political party for the remaining 70% of Americans. Great idea, except the wealthy have such a grip on our Political System that even a grassroots movement is doomed to fail. Why? Because it costs an absurd amount of money to run for major offices and the rules are weighed heavily against any one who isn't a Democrat/Republican. The Federal Election Committee essentially has two sets of rules - one for the Demo/Repubs and the other for everyone else. Guess which group faces more hurdles and paperwork? Right - group #2. You get a cigar. And which group appoints the members of the Committee? Bingo! Group #1. Another cigar.

Between an election process that pretty much guarantees a race between two rich (white, male) candidates and an electoral process that doesn't work, our dear American Government is doomed to wallow in its own bloated stink.

And we want our system of Government to spread?!?

MESSAGE: To any other country thinking of emulating our style of Government. Don't copy it - improve it. Remove the corrupting influences and keep the system for the people.

1:35 PM

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