Stupid White Men ...and Other Sorry Excuses for the State of the Nation!

some of this is outdated and childish (in his joking style) but i am glad to have read this now, before this upcoming election. it was such a great reminder both of how truly radically terrible donald trump has been (i mean, i in no way need this reminder as i have one every single day; but with specifics about actual governing that you could forget in all the chaos and fascism and general danger and stupidity.) as well as a needed reminder of how truly bad george bush was. he has looked so much better since donald trump was elected that i'd nearly forgotten all the awful stuff he did and was responsible for. also, moore doesn't spare bill clinton, and has a chapter in here about him, too.

in particular, i'd never really paid close show more attention to the language around george bush becoming president back when it happened, and i was in my early twenties. sure, i voted for gore, and i thought it was a travesty what happened. but the language of george bush stealing the election felt like so much political speech always does - extreme and as if they weren't using the words they should be using. but holy shit! this election was totally and completely stolen! he really truly didn't win, and not just because gore won the popular vote. gore won florida! and seeing now, this much later, how much this mattered. wow. (i mean, i think moore would actually argue that in some sense it didn't matter that much at all, because clinton/gore weren't that much different than bush/cheney, but they were in some important ways that would be making a difference now.) but for it to have been so blatant and for it to still have happened this way, wow. stunning.

this is where the book is strong. when he talks politics, specifically bush and the election.

he is on less solid ground in other areas. for example i'm not sure his framework of racism as a mental illness is helpful or useful. other areas where his jokes feel childish or like he's reaching. and a lot of the numbers are very outdated and so don't land as powerfully as they would have when he wrote this. still, the political stuff was worth reading, especially right now, even though it's almost 20 years later.

"...the three richest men in America own more personal assets than the combined assets owned by the entire populations of the sixty poorest countries." show less

I don't get why many people criticize a lack of facts. This is not mainly an informational work but a political one, an opinion-based - and considering that there are enough facts.
For me with my 20 years it was an interesting read because I obviously wasn't actively political when George W. Bush was president and I had some good laughs.

Random thoughts that occurred as I read -- prettified for public consumption:

I realize this book was written and published less than a year after the 2000 election; but Moore's over-the-top anger in the first chapter took me aback. I'm thankful he dialed the emotion down a notch or several in subsequent chapters. For a while, I feared the book was going to burst into flames right in my hands. Still, when I had finished it, I felt like I had been listening to someone yell at me for hours.

Some valid observations and occasional good suggestions, but the pre-September 11 viewpoint seems so...petty. Which leads to my next thought.

I guess I'm one of the no-more-fire-in-the-belly Democrats to whom Mr. Moore refers so scathingly in this book. I show more like my comfortable cushy government job and cozy middle-aged middle class life. I agree that more must be done to alleviate poverty, hunger, prison overcrowding and any number of other societal ills, but at what cost to the rest of us? It's a conundrum.

As I read I kept thinking, "Where are your footnotes?" It wasn't until I got to the end and read his sources that I felt at all good about the book.

My first Michael Moore book. Probably my last. It seemed mean-spirited, and I don't believe mean-spiritedness is helpful. show less

I like a good trashing of the current stuctures of American politics and this is a good one. Mr. Moore is a keen social critic and they keep setting up targets for his barbs. The particular targets for this quiver are found in the essays entitled "Kill Whitey!", "Dear George", and "A Very American Coup" . It should be read, even by those who find Mr. Moore brings them news they don't want to hear. It is cruel fun, to an outsider, but for those of you in this mess.....

I loved the introduction to the Penguin edition, where he explains to his non-American readers how the librarians of America put the fear of God onto his US publishers and forced them to publish SWM after they got extremely cold feet in the wake of 9/11. This is a great book, passionate and full of righteous indignation and ideas for making a difference. I have liked Michael Moore since seeing his "TV Nation" series.

If you want to know why large portions of the human race including my good self disapprove of America's government and corporates then read this book. Just like everything I have seen and read from Moore you are sure to go away angry.
This is especially true for me as many of the ugly neo liberal policies being perpetrated in the US are slowly slithering into the politics of other countries including Australia and New Zealand where I currently reside. Privitised medical, undermined workers rights and parasitical banks are a plague we all have to watch out for. Aided and abetted of course by stupid white men (and women) out for a quick buck at everyone elses expense. Like Moore or hate him he makes his point and makes it well.

My evil little brother gave this to me. He's currently on Naomi Klein's No Logo and he recommended this to me - as better, he was right, it's more readable and gets you both laughing and feeling guilty about the fact that the laugh has irony attached. Also has a paen to Librarians in the intro.
Why evil little brother - I couldn't put it down one night and stayed up until 3 am reading it, I eventually put it down due to tiredness and as soon as I woke I picked it up again