Why might you ask?
Why not?
Did you know there was almost a Second Bill of Rights? Do you know why there isn't or even what those rights would have given us? Without cheating and reading the Wikipedia article I linked.
Did you know that the company you work for might get more out of your death than your own family? That in the inner circles of your company this practice is rudely called Dead Peasant Policies? How about that it's been going on for a very long time and it's not small businesses doing it, but rather the large ones? And apparently even if you quit or are fired, they can still collect when you die.
How about the fact that if your house gets foreclosed upon, you don't have to leave? Ohio Rep. Marcy Kaptur took to the House floor telling the American People to make them prove they now own your home.Demand the bank to produce the original mortgage note. Nine times out of ten they won't be able to find it. "So I say to the American people, you be squatters in your own homes. Don't you leave." That there have actually been people "squatting" in the homes they have been asked/told to leave and yet after a time, the bank has just given up on trying to make them leave.
I have to say I learned a lot of things while I watched this movie. Things I think we as Americans ought to know. Granted, Michael Moore might not be the greatest of teachers, but at least he's a starting point. At least the things that were covered in the documentary got me and others to really start thinking and curious. What's great is the haven't-been-seen-in-decades archives of FDR's State of the Union Address that introduced the Second Bill of Rights. Little bits and pieces of evidence and of course the tug-on-your-heartstrings footage of people just like us.
Which is why -- although you can bet many will try -- Capitalism: A Love Story can't be dismissed as a left-wing tirade. Its condemnation of the status quo is too grounded in real stories and real suffering, its targets too evenly spread across the political spectrum. Indeed, Jay Leno, America's designated Everyman, was so moved by the film he insisted that Moore appear on the second night of his new show, and told his audience that the film was "completely nonpartisan... I was stunned by it, and I think it is the most fair film" Moore has done.
Of course, like Arianna Huffington points out in the above snippet of article (full version here) the most important question of all: "What can I do?"
You can of course Bear Witness over at The Huffington Post, but really what is that going to do for where you live?
That's a good question, one myself I have no answer for. Maybe you'll have better luck and share it with others. Of course no matter what one or all of us do, if we really want our country to be great we have got to stand together on all things. Not just when our tallest buildings get hit by terrorists. The ones who are hurting us won't take just one of us seriously. Look at what has happened to Michael Moore. For 20 years he's been trying to get into that building. If we rally and LEGALLY do things to get their attention that we do not plan on living in a country where only 1% of it has wealth while the other 99% suffer, starve and work hard. Equal rights, share the wealth, etc.
But please, what ever you choose to do, do it in a safe legal and mature way. Don't destroy private property, don't ruin something that someone worked hard for even if you believe they didn't actually work for it. All that says is that those who aren't part of that 1% are not smart or deserving of the wealth. Kill them with "kindness" people.
Now, because life has its ups and downs, it's time for a few good laughs and other articles.
I don't know how much of a people watcher any of you are, but I've been known to take a good look around me from time to time no matter where I might be. My favorite place to do this is the local Wal-mart. Why? Because all sorts of people wander into Wal-Mart! And now three guys have created a web-site showing us the "creame ah la creame" of the people who dare come out. Of course this is all about what the people have control over....you know, like their clothes and is worth a few pages look. People of Wal-Mart
Songs to Torture and Intimidate by....and you have to admit...that for some of these, just hearing them once is torture!
And you thought your summer job was bad or weird...meet some celebrities who started like the rest of us.
And in case anyone is wondering, I have been working on that story again. Once again I am recreating it as I discovered something important. My protagonist had no objective. How sad is that to realize???? LOL! But I am glad I discovered my grievous mistake before I tried to send any manuscripts out.
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