The following is a quote from Michael Moore's top selling book, and book of the year (2002) 'Stupid White Men':
"In Britain, it seems that all the attention in recent years has been on the evils on Mad Cow - with little or no heed paid to the Mad Men! Just because you don't eat the Mad Men is no reason to ignore the serious safety issues here. British politicians and corporate executives are running amox, trying to catch up with the Unites States and show the world that your British SWM can go head to head with the best of any stupidity that the Americans can produce. You need only consider the state of the train system in Britain to see where following the American Way (in this case, of privatizing formerly well-run public entities) will get you.
There is nothing sadder than seeing leaders of other countries trying to mimic the leaders of our country. American decides to bomb some country - and your head of state joins right in. We accept a dumbed-down mass media - and your nightly newscasts soon start to resemble ours. We decide to eliminate the safety net from our poor, and your legislative bodies can't wait to start cutting numerous social services that have been in place for decades.
And that last one has been the real shock to this observer. To see you in your countries start to beat up those who are less fortunate, to make life more difficult for the m, I'm convinced that this will be unravelling of your soul. If you get a kick out of watching Americans open fire in their school and workplaces on a monthly basis, if you think it's progress to have infant mortality rates in your cities that are worse than Nairobi, if you'd like to live in a world with even less civil liberties than you now enjoy, just keeping following your path. You'll only end up being a Mini-Me-America, you'll get every invitation to join us in out attempts to exploit the poor in other countries so we can all have really cheap running shoes to wear! HOW CAN YOU PASS THIS UP?!
Well, maybe you can. Maybe there is still hope for you...."
But 10 years on since Michael Moore wrote the above, think about the words and how apt they have been ever since, and ask yourself is there still hope for us?
'Stupid White Men' by Michael Moore is published by Penguin Books
"In Britain, it seems that all the attention in recent years has been on the evils on Mad Cow - with little or no heed paid to the Mad Men! Just because you don't eat the Mad Men is no reason to ignore the serious safety issues here. British politicians and corporate executives are running amox, trying to catch up with the Unites States and show the world that your British SWM can go head to head with the best of any stupidity that the Americans can produce. You need only consider the state of the train system in Britain to see where following the American Way (in this case, of privatizing formerly well-run public entities) will get you.
There is nothing sadder than seeing leaders of other countries trying to mimic the leaders of our country. American decides to bomb some country - and your head of state joins right in. We accept a dumbed-down mass media - and your nightly newscasts soon start to resemble ours. We decide to eliminate the safety net from our poor, and your legislative bodies can't wait to start cutting numerous social services that have been in place for decades.
And that last one has been the real shock to this observer. To see you in your countries start to beat up those who are less fortunate, to make life more difficult for the m, I'm convinced that this will be unravelling of your soul. If you get a kick out of watching Americans open fire in their school and workplaces on a monthly basis, if you think it's progress to have infant mortality rates in your cities that are worse than Nairobi, if you'd like to live in a world with even less civil liberties than you now enjoy, just keeping following your path. You'll only end up being a Mini-Me-America, you'll get every invitation to join us in out attempts to exploit the poor in other countries so we can all have really cheap running shoes to wear! HOW CAN YOU PASS THIS UP?!
Well, maybe you can. Maybe there is still hope for you...."
But 10 years on since Michael Moore wrote the above, think about the words and how apt they have been ever since, and ask yourself is there still hope for us?
'Stupid White Men' by Michael Moore is published by Penguin Books
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