Michael Moore Offers A Refresher Course in Citizenship
By Susie Madrak Friday Oct 23, 2009 5:00amI've been a little down lately, because it seems too many people are in a state of learned helplessness and don't want to participate in our democracy if it involves stepping away from the computer.
But then I saw this letter from Michael Moore and I felt a lot better. Because it's still our country, and we can still make a difference:
Friends,
It's the #1 question I'm constantly asked after people see my movie: "OK -- so NOW what can I DO?!"
You want something to do? Well, you've come to the right place! 'Cause I got 15 things you and I can do right now to fight back and try to fix this very broken system.
Here they are:
FIVE THINGS WE DEMAND THE PRESIDENT AND CONGRESS DO IMMEDIATELY:
1. 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.
2. 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. The bill to make this happen is called H.R. 3200. You must call AND write your members of Congress and demand its passage, no compromises allowed.
3. Demand publicly-funded elections and a prohibition on elected officials leaving office and becoming lobbyists. Yes, those very members of Congress who solicit and receive millions of dollars from wealthy interests must vote to remove ALL money from our electoral and legislative process. Tell your members of Congress they must support campaign finance bill H.R.1826.
4. 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?" (Click here for some info about the state-owned Bank of North Dakota.)
5. 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. (For more on this, here's a proposal I wrote in December.) Demand that General Motors' de facto chairman, Barack Obama, issue a JFK man-on-the-moon-style challenge to turn our country into a nation of trains and buses and subways. For Pete's sake, people, we were the ones who invented (or perfected) these damn things in the first place!!
FIVE THINGS WE CAN DO TO MAKE CONGRESS AND THE PRESIDENT LISTEN TO US:
1. Each of us must get into the daily habit of taking 5 minutes to make four brief calls: One to the President (202-456-1414), one to your Congressperson (202-224-3121) and one to each of your two Senators (202-224-3121). To find out who represents you, click here. Take just one minute on each of these calls to let them know how you expect them to vote on a particular issue. Let them know you will have no hesitation voting for a primary opponent -- or even a candidate from another party -- if they don't do our bidding. Trust me, they will listen. If you have another five minutes, click here to send them each an email. And if you really want to drop an anvil on them, send them a snail mail letter!
2. Take over your local Democratic Party. Remember how much fun you had with all those friends and neighbors working together to get Barack Obama elected? YOU DID THE IMPOSSIBLE. It's time to re-up! Get everyone back together and go to the monthly meeting of your town or county Democratic Party -- and become the majority that runs it! There will not be many in attendance and they will either be happy or in shock that you and the Obama Revolution have entered the room looking like you mean business. President Obama's agenda will never happen without mass grass roots action -- and he won't feel encouraged to do the right thing if no one has his back, whether it's to stand with him, or push him in the right direction. When you all become the local Democratic Party, send me a photo of the group - photos@michaelmoore.com - and I'll post it on my website.
3. Recruit someone to run for office who can win in your local elections next year -- or, better yet, consider running for office yourself! You don't have to settle for the incumbent who always expects to win. You can be our next representative! Don't believe it can happen? Check out these examples of regular citizens who got elected: State Senator Deb Simpson, California State Assemblyman Isadore Hall, Tempe, Arizona City Councilman Corey Woods, Wisconsin State Assemblyman Chris Danou, and Washington State Representative Larry Seaquist. The list goes on and on -- and you should be on it!
4. 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. (You can download them from my website.)
5. Start your own media. You. Just you (or you and a couple friends). The mainstream media is owned by corporate America and, with few exceptions, it will never tell the whole truth -- so you have to do it! Start a blog! Start a website of real local news (here's an example: The Michigan Messenger). Tweet your friends and use Facebook to let them know what they need to do politically. The daily papers are dying. If you don't fill that void, who will?
FIVE THINGS WE SHOULD DO TO PROTECT OURSELVES AND OUR LOVED ONES UNTIL WE GET THROUGH THIS MESS:
1. Take your money out of your bank if it took bailout money and place it in a locally-owned bank or, preferably, a credit union.
2. Get rid of all your credit cards but one -- the kind where you have to pay up at the end of the month or you lose your card.
3. Do not invest in the stock market. If you have any extra cash, put it away in a savings account or, if you can, pay down on your mortgage so you can own your home as soon as possible. You can also buy very safe government savings bonds or T-bills. Or just buy your mother some flowers.
4. 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.
5. Take care of yourself and your family. Sorry to go all Oprah on you, but she's right: Find a place of peace in your life and make the choice to be around people who are not full of negativity and cynicism. Look for those who nurture and love. Turn off the TV and the Blackberry and go for a 30-minute walk every day. Eat fruits and vegetables and cut down on anything that has sugar, high fructose corn syrup, white flour or too much sodium (salt) in it (and, as Michael Pollan says, "Eat (real) food, not too much, mostly plants"). Get seven hours of sleep each night and take the time to read a book a month. I know this sounds like I've turned into your grandma, but, dammit, take a good hard look at Granny -- she's fit, she's rested and she knows the names of both of her U.S. Senators without having to Google them. We might do well to listen to her. If we don't put our own "oxygen mask" on first (as they say on the airplane), we will be of no use to the rest of the nation in enacting any of this action plan!
I'm sure there are many other ideas you can come up with on how we can build this movement. Get creative. Think outside the politics-as-usual box. BE SUBVERSIVE! Think of that local action no one else has tried. Behave as if your life depended on it. Be bold! Try doing something with reckless abandon. It may just liberate you and your community and your nation.
And when you act, send me your stories, your photos and your video - photos@michaelmoore.com - and be sure to post your ideas in the comments beneath this letter on my site so they can be shared with millions.
C'mon people -- we can do this! I expect nothing less of all of you, my true and trusted fellow travelers!
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Sorry, no time to comment right now. I have 15 things to do.
how is it that some company can sell our oil back to us? that's like sucking up all the air and selling it back to us. what if exxon pumped all of our oil out of the ground and sold it to Japan? how do they get the right to do that, how did we lose our resources to corporations?
Mineral Rights
farmers suck up all the nutrients from our soil and sell it back to us? Or to other countries? Or the same with steel manufactures, how can they suck up all the iron ore and coal to make the steel and sell it back to us?
... the water, and yes even the nutrients.
I think Mr. Moore had more in mind a system like Norway's, where petroleum is nationalized.
oil companies have to pay for the land either through purchase or lease, the equipment, payroll etc.
Should we nationalize farms also? What else should we nationalize?
The kicker is the condition that the land is returned to us after said company mines/drills/logs/etc. If you returned a rental car in similar condition, you'd get a hefty bill.
New Title:
Dismantle the Corporate State
New List:
Dismantle the Corporate State, repeal Corporate personhood.
stems from the feeling you get that nothing good comes about when you do the 15 things. Remind me again how long (and how many Administrations ago) we've talked about universal healthcare in this country!
Oh yes, posting signs like that on foreclosed homes, vacant business buildings and schools would rattle the cages of a lot conservatards down here in good ole' Florida.
http://weirdscifi.ratiosemper.com/loneranger/...
to get us off of fossil fuels is to start with the motor sports industry. Make them stop until they are able to run their vehicles on nonfossil fuel inputs. Think of the fuel saving if there were no NASCAR, Indycar, NHRA,... all the way down to local Sprint Car and motorcycle motocross. Not only do you get savings from the fuel not being used in the races, but while they're shut down you get savings from the lack of spectators. It should be done, we're at war!
You're not going to get the shit-kicking cousin-mating rednecks behind any type of alternative fuels until NASCAR is behind it.
Formula One and some other international racing groups encourage or require automotive research. Chances are, your car has benefited massively from this research.
Some racing organizations are getting behind advanced fuels, and awarding points for efficiency and smallness of footprint.
Yes, NASCAR would help in a large way if they got behind it, too.
the public can BARELY tear itself away from American Idol long enough to order a Dominos pizza.
Not saying it's a good idea to try, just be aware that Moores audiences are small, and the number of people in that audience who will want to *become* active (as opposed to already being active) is microscopic.
But you better be groveling on your hands and knees for a Domina's Pizza pie.
Ok I just did this and now it is your turn;
Phone Barney Frank's office.
Here is his website.
Phone numbers (call them all --- often!):
(202) 225-5931
(617) 332-3920
(508) 999-6462
On his site it says:
"If you would like to ask Barney to support or oppose a bill, the best way to reach him is to send an email. Or you may also call the Washington office at (202) 225-5931. We discourage constituents from sending postal mail because House security procedures can delay delivery for up to several weeks.
"To express your opinion about legislation concerning mortgages, banking, executive compensation and other financial issues, you may address an email to the House Financial Services Committee."
To contact the "Financial Services Committee." Phone: (202) 225–4247 or email them using this form.
If you would like to send an email to Barney you can fill out this form. If you do not live in his district you can use 02740 as a zip code and this address (560 N. 6th Street New Bedford, MA 02740) to get to his email form. The thing about email is that it is not as good as the phone. I have no idea how much it matters but calling and writing cannot hurt. I will give out this info during the week to remind everybody to contact these people. I hope that the C+L staff understands.
if Bush's base hasn't killed me off to benefit THEIR bottom line.
Reagan, the Bush's and Cheney made no sense for Americans, that's why bizarro republicans want Palin in 2012.
People from the left and right in the media are making sport of tearing down Obama - even some from here.
Just like they did with Clinton.
It'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.
When is the last time anybody (even here at C&L) wrote anything positive about what Obama is doing?
Hmmmmm?
When he does something positive I will note it!
Observing and stating policy defects is not a sport with me.
The Corporate Media is the propaganda tool of the Corporate State.
When you have government reports saying DADT should be repealed, and retention levels in the armed forces at crisis levels, the majority of the public backing the removal of DADT and the fact that it was a campaign promise... Obama could remove it easily via Executive Order. But will he? Hell no.
Has the Patriot Act been reigned in? Or has its scope been expanded?
Is the US out of Iraq yet?
Has Guantanamo been shut down?
What about transparency? Did Obamas administration recently have a sh*t fest because the UK didn't do as told and release details of the Bush torture program?
So yes, please, let us know what good things Obama is doing that haven't been covered to your satisfaction.
I am not sure why you replied to me.
I concur with your list although I would order it somewhat differently.
The first problem for Obama is his subservience to the Financial sector but this can be scored under the rubric of Corporate State.
The Corporate Perpetual War Machine also falls under that heading as does the Surveillance/Security Complex and Medical Industrial Complex.
I tend to use a broad brush, so for simplicity sake, I just say: Dismantle the Corporate State and repeal Corporate Personhood.
The problem for the people I am concerned with, those outside of the power structure, is that they are and have been bombarded with Corporate propaganda for one hundred years.
The machinery has grown very sophisticated. My point about the Corporate Media being a tool of the Corporate State is a rebuttal of the notion that there is anything Liberal about it, certainly in the sense that we generally use the term Liberal. In the sense that Marx used the term, there might be a case, that being that the Liberal is a capitalist who seeks to mitigate the excesses of that, to Marx and yours truly, vile system, but I hardly think that applies.
---
On the short list of positive notes for Obama, he apparently has decided to try to talk to Iran rather than bomb them. This, of course, remains to be seen. But that would be positive.
After his FISA treachery I abandoned support for Obama, I could never listen to another speech.
I am not looking for him to fail at policies inherent in the high sounding rhetoric of his campaign speeches.
I am looking for him to begin to follow through on them.
I think that is also what you were saying.
and Not To the Past"....
Which means no new regulations of the Wall Street Banker Boyz who are currently WELL represented in the Obama Administration (Geithner, Summers)...
Which means no serious investigation by The Justice Dept. into the obvious war crimes of Bush/Cheney and Co.
Which means "going along to get along" with the for-profit health insurance corporations and keeping any discussions of "Single Payer" OFF THE TABLE from the day he was Inaugurated
Which means "going along to get along" with the Pentagon in Iraq and Afghanistan. Allowing top generals to circumvent Obama while making foreign speeches. (Newsflash to Obama: the American people and the majority in Iraq and Afghanistan look at us as unwanted foreign occupiers...we need to GET OUT. Plus...we can't afford it anyhow).
And on and on the list goes.
Hey Handypants!!! Why not give us your list of all the hope and "change" you've seen since Obama was inaugurated?
Appreciate it! Inquiring minds would like to know!
operate under a perennial state of warfare against the English language.
That is a change, I guess.
is re-elected and becomes a lame-duck, look out repubs.
However without bold action followed by positive results he gives the GOP more than they should reasonably have, given their behavior, to work with in 2012.
Also, Obama being in the unique position he's in majority-wise, history-wise, circumstances-wise, it would be a HUGE shame if he gambled and lost the chance to be a lame-duck president. I understand it, but I say, if you've got the chance to do something good for the country, take it!
He'd have a BETTER CHANCE OF RE-ELECTION.
Aren't we all sick and tired of the same 'ol same 'ol??
P.S. The U.S. doesn't have to "bomb" Iran. Israel can do it "for us". I read an article today in The Berkshire Eagle regarding Iran and Israel (AP)
At an international conference on nuclear disarmament held last month in Egypt, Israeli delegate Meirav Zafary-Odiz said Israel would only be interested in a "nuclear weapons FREEZE".
How con-veeeeeenient!!! Especially considering they already have 200 nuclear weapons and the delivery systems to get them to their targets in Iran (and elsewhere).
Iran's representative, Ali Ashgar Soltanieh asked Odiz point blank if Israel has nuclear weapons. Odiz just smiled but did not respond. Israel is NOT a member of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and Iran is. Iran allows inspections and Israel REFUSES. Someone please remind me again of why we are so cozy with Israeli war criminals (war crimes just passed by the U.N. regarding Gaza)?
One more giant mistake Obama is making. He needs to sit the Israeli's down and tell them to dismantle their nuclear weapons or STFU about Iran and inspections blah, blah, blah. He also needs to tell them to make a FAIR AND JUST peace with the Palestinians.
This one act alone by Obama would go very far in making the American people "safer". (Blowback and all that other nasty stuff).
Except of course, for the blowback from Israel.
It's dog eat dog--I'm just waking up / The dove is in the dungeon / And the white-washed hawks pedal hate and call it love ...
we MUST get the money out of politics and OUTLAW ALL campaign contributions, PACs, industrial lobbyists, and we must do this SOON.
Our founding fathers would freak if they knew that Fundraising took up 80% of elected officials time and energy, and that these folks actually take MONEY from constituents and industries in exchange for favorable treatment. - thebassguy
http://thebassguy4u.blogspot.com
If you got the money out of politics all the other stuff would get fixed as sane non-bribed policy took over DC.
knew that politicians were getting money by stealing it from the people(taxes)to campaign they would be rolling over in their graves.
How do you think they paid for their campaigns? Out of their own pocket and from the pockets of like minded individuals that supported them. Why should MY money be used by someone I don't agree with for them to campaign?
who think the constitution is just a foot print for the 2nd amendment. LOL.
but it is the last resort to keep the other rights in place.
"I've been a little down lately, because it seems too many people are in a state of learned helplessness and don't want to participate in our democracy if it involves stepping away from the computer."
If you feel bad about your efforts, please don't attempt to demean those of others.
We participate in our own way.
It would be too easy to go off toxic on you right here.
And...you really have no idea what people are doing, do you?
You should know, and if you don't, here it is - your work and input is valued.
But the incrementally small baby steps we make in the progressive direction are a culmination of everybody's input.
Nobody relies on those who take their politics to Main St. on a daily basis to get everything done.
Some, like you, are more active for whatever their motivation might be.
If the results aren't there yet, you can always do more, but nobody will think less of you if you don't.
1)Sorry if your house lost value, its not the banks fault they are not to blame and should not be forced change your mortgage because of it.
If you can't afford something why should you be allowed to have it? If I can't make my car payments should I be able to keep it? If you can't afford your home get something you can, used trailers are cheap.
2)If the Gov wants to start a health insurance co I have no problem with it except constitutional ones, IF it is not mandatory and it pays for itself, no tax money into it. Sort of like the USPS it pays for itself and the only tax money it gets is to pay for franking privileges. And they loosen restrictions on the other companies to let them sell where they choose and to offer the policies that cover what they want.
3)I covered my point of view in another comment.
4)If a state wants to start a bank fine, it should not be mandated that they do so by the Feds.
5)For the oil worst case I've heard lists 40years before there starts to be shortages, but that does not include any new discoveries or the oil fields replenishing themselves. Yes it does happen. Here are a couple of interesting reads.
http://www.oralchelation.com/faq/wsj4.htm
http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/Theory/Su...
About the only other thing is 4) about unions, sorry but the owners of the company determine how it is run, if the employees want to unionize thats fine, but the company should not be forced to listen to them. If they all want to strike fine, if the company wants to consider the strikers as having quit and hire others to do their jobs also fine.
... if it weren't for the fact that then push comes to shove, you are the first ones calling for the whaaambulance.
I thought states made the call when it came to property value....
make the call when they want to decide how much you should pay in taxes on your property, the market determines the actual value.
How about a show of hands for people that did as Mike asked?
Anyone?
I don't live there any more so don't look to me for that kind of support as I not only have no horse in that race but am not planning on ever returning if I can help it.
He left one out:
We need to take back our right to make laws for ourselves. This is enjoyed through local and state referenda, but the procedures and privileges vary widely and are very often ignored by legislatures or, in the case of California, result in statutes which are unconstitutional and/or outrageous.
There are creative solutions to these problems. The people, en-mass, do have a collective wisdom and a responsibility for their own future, but are without the tools to shape it.
Calling congress is the easy way out and does little to nothing. It's time we had the right to make the rules.
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