World Issues Book Report

Book Report Adam H.G Part 1 Title: Stupid White Men Author: Michael Moore Date of Publication: 2001 Non-fiction This book did not really have a single location in which it took place, but most events, people and places are in the United States.

Part 2 This book did not really have a story line and so did not have a linear plot but was a book outlining the author’s opinions about the state of the world, and the U.S with different facts and figures to back up these opinions. He thinks the world is in a sad state of affairs and the power is not evenly distributed between gender, class, and race. Each chapter dealt with a different topic, so I thought I would summarize what each chapter was about. In every chapter Moore presents arguments and cites many different types of studies, census, and lists to back up his arguments. CHAPTER 1 -called, “A Very American Coup” -In this chapter Michael Moore compares the 2001 U.S federal election to that of a coup. In this chapter Moore also examines the different cabinet minister’s Bush appointed and their (sometimes shocking) conflicts of interest- I,e, secretary of interior has close connections to oil companies and declared endangered species act unconstitutional. -Introduces the way the U.S. government works and makes decisions that are covered more closely in the rest of the book CHAPTER 2 -Is called “Dear George” and is written in the form of a letter. -In this chapter Moore writes directly about George W. Bush, providing a background and history of the president and posing several questions for the president.

Examples of these questions: Ae you a felon? ( because Bush did have criminal charges against him when he was young) Are you an alcoholic and is this effecting you as commander in chief… ? Suspicions about the amount of drinking that Bush has done in his past life…. CHAPTER 3 -Is entitled “Dow Wow Wow.” -This chapter is about the economy of the United States and about the low wages most full time way earners are receiving.: In the u.s. economy, under Bush, we se that the rich are getting richer and poor are getting poorer-Also talks about the control corporations have gained over the United States. CHAPTER 4 -Called “Kill Whitey” -This chapter shows that racism against black people by white is alive and well in the u.s. that white people still control and hold power Moore blames white people for almost all the problems in the world. -He also compares statistics about crime of black and white people. -The chapter then also talks about race relations and “diversity” in the United States. CHAPTER 5 -Called “Idiot Nation” -This chapter, as you can probably guess, is about education in the United States. Focusing on literacy rates, this chapter gives facts about how many Americans read- how many Americans have a grade 4 education – and never read-. The chapter talks about how Americans seem to like uneducated politicians. -This article also talks about the sad state of America’s public schools ranging from elementary all the way to different Universities. CHAPTER 6 -Called “Nice Planet Nobody Home” -This chapter talks about different aspects of the environment like recycling, cars and pollution, global warming, water, chemicals and diseases, and finally electricity. Moore talks about how corporate greed is responsible as well as the fact that people don’t care

CHAPTER 7 -Entitled “The End of Men” -This article is about the diminishing amount of boys being born today. Moore explains that Mother Nature is punishing men and gives evidence as to why less and less men are being born.

CHAPTER 8 -Called “We’re Number One!” -This chapter deals with foreign policy and relations between the U.S and the rest of the world. Moore talks and compares the past to the present and about the cold war. -This article also has a very interesting list of areas where the u.s. is number one- for example; Among the top 20 industrialized nations-, the U.s is number one in the number of recorded rapes, number of billionaires , known executions of child offenders, oil consumption , lowest voter turnout . -In this chapter Moore also outlines plans for four different, troubled areas, in the world (Middle East, Northern Ireland, former Yugoslavia, and North Korea) and his idea to fix the problems occurring in these areas. CHAPTER 9 -Called “One Big Happy Prison.” -Talks about the legal system and police system and covered topics such as the war on drugs, sentencing, the death penalty, disproportionate number of visible minority people in jail CHAPTER 10 -Called “Democrats, DOA” -This chapter shows Moore’s lowly opinion of the Democrats. He provides many examples of Democrats acting just as Republican as Republicans and Moore comes to the conclusion the Democrats may be worse then Republicans because they claim to be the opposite but act the same. He presents many examples that seem to illustrate the there is not really a real two party system in the U.S because both parties are so similar. CHAPTER 11 -Entitled “The People’s Prayer.” -This article talks about the hypocrisy Moore sees in Republican policies on things such as abortion, stem cell research, or gay rights. He provides examples that Republicans may feel one way about an issue but when it begins to impact them they have a complete about-face in their views.

PART 2 I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Although many people may think that they will have a hard time enjoying this book because Michael Moore is not exactly the most popular guy around. Many people will prejudge the book as complete lies and BS but it is important to actually read the book. . I Everyone should read this book because if you agree with Moore you will find it entertaining and interesting, and if you don’t agree with Moore you will find it entertaining and it will enlighten you as to the other side of the arguments. Regardless of whether you agree with him or not, however, Moore is a great, engaging and entertaining writer. He is a very funny author who has a very witty sense of humor. Although you can tell he feels very strongly about all these topics he is able to write in a very joking and extremely sarcastic manner. Its hard to pinpoint single examples of humour because it is laced throughout the entire book but here are a few examples. Pg. 109- When talking about education and standardized testing “The people who really should be tested (besides the yammering pundits) are the so-called political leaders. Next time you see your state representative or congressman, give him this pop quiz- and remind him that any future pay raises will be based on how well he scores:” Moore, of course, gives a 10-question quiz about state of society and geography. Pg. 136- When talking about mad cow disease. “I, on the other hand, have unfortunately fallen off the chuck wagon, nibbling every now and then on poor Elsie. You’d think I would have learned my lesson back in the mid seventies when, instead of eating beef, I ate fire retardant.” Pg. 121“I’d like to begin this chapter by revealing what I believe is one of the greatest threats currently facing our environment. Me. That’s right-I’m a walking ecological nightmare.”

Pg. 2- When talking about the president “He is George W. Bush, ’President’ of the United States. The Thief-in-Chief. He also throws out many startling facts as very matter-of-factly which really adds to the feeling of disgust readers can feel Moore has for the United States. Pg. 223- When talking about Clinton’s “reforms” “most of us didn’t even know we were drinking 1942-level arsenic under Clinton.” Moore also creates very over exaggerated situations such as the following in which he asks for U.N action in the “Bush administration Junta” Pg.1 “I am a citizen of the United States of America. Our government has been overthrown. Our elected President has been exiled. Old white men wielding martinis and wearing dickies have occupied our nation’s capital.” Pg. 2 “I have sent a personal request to U.N Secretary General Kofi Annan to hear our plea. We are no longer able to govern ourselves or to hold free and fair elections. We need U.N observers, U.N troops, U.N. resolutions!” Pg. 58 “I don’t know what it is, but every time I see a white guy walking towards me, I tense up. My heart starts racing, and I immediately begin to look for an escape route and a means to defend myself. I kick myself for even being in this part of town after dark. Didn’t I notice the suspicious gangs of white people wearing their gang colors of Gap Turquoise or J. Crew Mauve.” Moore also gets his point across using a mix of very simple words, which makes him feel very close and personal with the reader, while still sounding very intelligent. Pg. 174- When talking about generous Cold War offers “And what was our response to this incredible, unprecedented offer?”

PART 3 I would recommend this book to everyone. It is a very entertaining book, regardless if whether you agree with Moore’s politics and opinions because of the way it is written. Every page has a little joke to make you chuckle somewhere. Whether you are liberal or conservative I think anyone can appreciate the way more writes. Also, in my opinion most, if not all of the facts presented in the book are and if is very shocking to read these facts

and very interesting the way Moore links facts to one another to prove his arguments. The facts are shocking and because the book is not straight reading keeps the book very easy to read. Moore acknowledges that he uses exaggerations and is extremely sarcastic in order to bring attention to important issues- the right wing use exaggerations as well- and even outright lie… however… because they have such control of the media they are not often called on their lies….

By saying what I learned in this book, I will obviously be saying some very controversial words either way. But as I stated before, I generally agree with most of Moore’s views and so this book provided many facts to back up ideas I already had such as…(of course if you have already branded Michael Moore a liar these facts will mean nothing to you) Pg.113 “Appropriation of school space, including scoreboards, rooftops, walls, and textbooks, for corporate logos and advertising is up 539%.” Pg. 54 “From 1979 until now, the richest 1 percent in the country have seen their wages increase 157 percent; those of you in the bottom 20% are actually making $100 less a year (adjusted for inflation) than you were at the dawn of the Reagan era.” I also learned several facts that I had no idea of such as… Pg. 211 “He (Clinton) has been able to kick ten million people off welfare-ten million out of fourteen million people.” Of course there were many more facts on both of these options, but I felt as though my presentation was long enough so… I recommend this book to everyone. People who agree with his views will love the book and its message, and people who think they know Micheal Moore may get a better opinion of him through actually reading one of his books. I also think that people should be not so quick to judge prominent people like Moore, without getting a good vision of who they are which would include reading his books which I don’t think a lot of people have done. Overall the book is also fun to read and interesting from all points of view to read.