In Michael Moore’s introduction to the novel, Stupid White Men, Moore talks about the state of the American nation during the twenty first century. Moore believes that the nation is falling apart because it is being overrun by the “stupid white men” who are controlling it. He equates all the corruption and downfall that is occurring throughout the United States with the election of former president George W. Bush. In this introduction he covers numerous controversial issues, which range from the economy and society to politics and the environment. Although much of what Moore says is exaggerated and one sided, many of his statements are true. Moore is correct in stating that the nation is falling downhill; however, he is wrong in saying that Bush is the only cause in America’s decline.
Moore blames everything that goes wrong in America on the "stolen" presidential election of 2000. Moore says that Bush did not win the election; Americans just gave him the presidency even though he did not receive the most votes. He states that the voting ballots are unusable and that people’s voices and opinions do not count anymore in America. However, this is not true. Bush did not steal the election because although he did not receive the majority vote, he did receive the most votes from the electoral college, which are the votes that count in presidential elections. Bush is not the cause of all that is wrong in America; however, he has contributed to some of it with his policies and cutbacks. Moore states that Americans have no health care. This is true because Bush did nothing to reform the corruption of the health care insurance companies. His new policies for health care just cut funding and left many Americans with no medic...
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...nd the Dow hitting a record low. The economy may just be going through a normal cycle, but the decline was certainly propelled by Bush being in office. Many people felt unsure with him as president and, therefore, felt unsafe about how he ran the economy. This caused many people to pull out of the stock market, which caused businesses to fail.
Michael Moore's introduction to Stupid White Men may not be completely factual, but he certainly has a point. Twenty first century America is going downhill and people are just sitting around watching it fall. Bush did not receive the majority vote in the 2000 election, but he did not cause all that is wrong in America. He contributed to some factors that caused America to decline, while other factors were beyond his control. America will have its ups and downs, and some presidents just contribute to the downs.
After nearly a decade of optimism and prosperity, the United States took a turn for the worse on October 29, 1929, the day the stock market crashed, better known as Black Tuesday and the official beginning of the Great Depression. The downfall of the economy during the presidency of Herbert Hoover led to much comparison when his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, took office. Although both presidents had their share of negative feedback, it is evident that Hoover’s inaction towards the crisis and Roosevelt’s later eccentric methods to simulate the economy would place FDR in the positive limelight of fixing the nation in one of its worst times. Herbert Hoover was sworn into office when the economic status of the country stood at its highest and the nation was accustomed to a prosperous way of living. When the stock market plummeted and took its toll on the citizens from coast to coast, it was out of his control.
Over the past few years the white working class has become docile in means of what Sara Palin describes as “Real America”, a thriving class of individuals who pride themselves on worth ethic. However, the article takes the more known impression of this group of Americans by providing the historical upbringing of the “white trash” as it first appeared in print in 1821; similarly, to how Outing Whiteness,
America is a façade hidden behind its notorious past, with an even more troubling present. The land of the free, home of the brave, and one nation claimed to be united under the presence of an omnipotent power, but is it really? America profits off of the so-called dream that is sold to the hopeful and broken. This nation has been riddled with violence, persecution, hatred, and a false sense of togetherness. Racism was not the beginning, it was the ending result of a power struggle between those who wanted control and those who had it. The systematic enslavement and dehumanization of blacks resulted in the concept of a racial caste division, creating the idea of us vs. them (Wacquant, 2002). The Jim Crow laws, prisons, and the creation of ghettos
This essay “Idiot Nation” is seen as a voice for the people. The author Michael Moore is communicating what the people think to the government. He gives for examples of how to take action. This only emphasizes his argument.
The article “Reality or Rhetoric? Barack Obama and Post- racial America” (Love and Tosolt 4) focuses on the impact that Obama’s election had on racial segregation in the country of the United States of America. The article seeks to identify whether or not President Obama’s ascent to the presidency is the beginning of a new post- racial era. The argument raised is divided into two portions. The first argument for discussion raised is that the acceptance of Obama as the president shows tremendous progress in the fight against racism. The other discussion point raised argues that it simply provides a different outlook to the public on the matter of racism and that no action of change has truly occurred. The article analyses the basic reaction of people of various backgrounds, races, age, gender, and professional interests. The article highlights the dynamics and main elements of each respondent. This approach provides an understanding of the aspect of racism and its interpretation from a vast variety of various individuals with
Presidents and other people of high power have the ability to do many things that some may disagree with and walk away with very minimal consequences. In the movie Fahrenheit 9/11, Michael Moore, shows how George W. Bush manipulates his power to fool the American people and enter into an unnecessary war. “There are some who feel like that if they attack us that we may decide to leave prematurely. They don 't understand what they are talking about if that 's the case... There are some who feel… that they can attack us there. My answer is bring 'em on.” Bush creates a sense of fear among the American people that the nation is under attack, but is very patriotic and confident to the point that Americans will trust him. Moore shows that the war is pointless and invading Iraq does not make sense. In the film, Moore goes around D.C. and asks senators and other officials of congress to sign their child up for the war and none of them signed the forms. That clearly shows that members of the government do not support and want their children in a
In conclusion, Moore provides many facts that tend to show that President George W. Bush utilizes the Power Elite Theory. We feel that Bush is proven guilty in many ways of exemplifying the Power Elite Theory. We think he feels that the power that goes along with the elite class is of great importance, and that he uses this power in ways that seem unfair to the public eye. An example of this is the “convenient” involvement’s that the Carlyle Group and the Halliburton Corporation have in the war in Iraq. Overall, Moore shows in the film how easily a greater power, when abused, can take advantage of the United States’ citizens.
Prior to the attack on 9/11, the United States was rebounding from a recession. For seven months before the attack, there had been a minor recession due to the effects of the dot-com crash of 2000 (Greenspan 5). The recession stemmed from a bursting bubble, coupled with declining consumer confidence and predatory lending (New). The bursting bubble referred to the
Economic problems have plagued our nations for years now. There is one man who can save us all from destruction, or so he thinks, and that man is Michael Moore. In his movie Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore goes all over the country trying to find the people responsible for all the economic turmoil. He tells the stories of normal citizens that are affected by these problems and through these stories he tries to convince the audience that the bankers and big businesses are cruel and evil, and need to pay for their crimes. These large corporations have done many unethical acts such as taking out life insurance policies on employees and infiltrating the government to pass their agenda. Moore also goes onto talk about how FDR wanted to create a new bill of rights to protect the working American citizen. To get his point across, Moore goes to the affected people to tell the story about corporations taking life insurance policies on their employees.
People were buying thousands of shares of stock for as little as 10% down. Then people lost ten times as much as they put in.For the economy to function properly,
Elias Boudinot’s speech “An Address to the Whites” was first given in the First Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, in May 1826. The speech sought white American support of the Cherokees in further assimilation into white society and for aid in this endeavour, as well as making a case for coexistence in an effort to protect the Cherokee Nation. Specifically, the “Address to the Whites” was part of Boudinot’s fundraising campaign for a Cherokee assembly and newspaper. Boudinot himself was Cherokee, though he had been taken from America and educated by missionaries at the Foreign Mission School in Cornwall. This upbringing gave Boudinot a unique perspective on the issue of the Cherokee position
In the first article, “Hiding from Reality”, Bob Herbert talks about the reality of the state of the United States. He feels that America is in sad shape. Herbert states that from the economy, jobs, and public schools, the country is definitely in a decline. Herbert also feels that our country is in denial about how bad things really are. Unemployment rates are at their highest and that with our country going to war with no money to fund them, it is just another reason American’s are in a downward spiral. No one is sure if we can ever recover from the recession of 2009, and Herbert makes it very clear he doesn’t see an end to the suffering American’s are feeling anytime soon. Everyone from service employees, to state and local government agencies are feeling the effects of the recession. Every program and employee is feeling the cut backs. Taxes are being raised and employee’s benefits are being cut...
What caused the Great Recession that lasted from December 2007 to June 2009 in the United States? The United States a country with abundance of resources from jobs, education, money and power went from one day of economic balance to the next suffering major dimensions crisis. According to the Economic Policy Institute, it all began in 2007 from the credit crisis, which resulted in an 8 trillion dollar housing bubble (n.d.). This said by Economist analysts to attributed to the collapse in the United States. Even today, strong debates continue over major issues caused by the Great Recession in part over the accommodative federal monetary and fiscal policy (Economic Policy Institute, 2013). The Great Recession of 2007 – 2009 enlarges the longest financial crisis since the Great Depression of 1929 – 1932 that damaged the economy.
...epression can not be contributed to any single reason. There were a multitude of reasons for the collapse of the Stock Market. The Great Depression was felt worldwide. The American economy was the greatest during that time and many nations relied on us.
...d gas and with the increase in oil prices, more money is being taken away from the people. It is evident that although we may be entering into a recession on different terms than the one before, the United States is still in danger of once again becoming a victim of another Great Depression.