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Readers
are lucky to have this book available to them given
that the publishers ReganBooks, i.e. HarperCollins,
i.e. Rupert Murdoch, demanded that 50% of it be changed
and when refused demanded repayment of $50,000 for
promising to reduce 50,000 printed copies to pulp.
That's American capitalism … something for nothing
and money for God's sake. Penguin Books showed enterprise
and came to the rescue. The rest they say is literary
history. Stupid White Men has sold more copies
than any other non-fiction book in USA this year.
In America Michael Moore, whose origins stem back
to Cork and Tipperary, like our own Brendan Behan,
gained fame and notoriety in equal dosage when he
became the best banned (author) in the land of the
semi-free. All this in the wake of Nine Eleven and
amidst the paranoia, anger and seething vengeance
against all who would dare oppose or criticise the
American dream-cum-nightmare.
But
as Moore observes 'In this new era of repression words
are now considered as dangerous as terrorists.' Nothing
new to us in Ireland who know all about suppression
of expression and political opinion.
You
won't need a spin doctorate to read through the lines
in this book. Moore has laid bare the harsh, undeniable
realities of a society that is controlled via state
and corporate police, via subliminal and overt media
influences, through legislative and attitudinal discrimination
and all done in the name of justice, freedom and opportunity
in the land of the semi-free. This is America, WASPs
and all. A land where every men (and woman) still
carries the stupid white man's burdens. Corrupt politicians
who sell political privilege for money. Brown envelopes
are big in America and the great and the good are
also corrupted by the blood red tide of greed and
ambition they know.
Moore
clinically unravels America's darkened soul and calls
on his readers to commit themselves to purging those
who would deny the awful truth that is the reality
of 21st century America. This is Bush's America. Ever
ready for war, determined to exact vengeance and desperate
for oil. This is the America of classroom massacres
and gaols bulging with black people. It is the land
of greed and money that spawns creatures like Michael
Jackson and Eminem. This is America where the Civil
War hasn't gone away you know. A land of dis-enfranchised
coloured people. A population of 200 million where
154 million did not vote for Bush. But Moore isn't
whinging about the state of America. He is exposing
its dark underbelly.
In
Stupid White Men he offers a valuable blueprint
for a better future for all. He explains how it can
be achieved. He urges action and he advocates people
self-empowerment. He is constructively radical. His
book should be adapted to British and Irish situations,
bought and distributed by the powers that be and to
all able-minded citizens free of charge. It's no alternative
for revolution but it could prevent one.
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