My wife and I just returned from seeing Mike Moore's latest film, during which it is revealed at some point that employers have been taking out insurance policies on their employees in hopes that the employee will die and thus the contract pay off. These contracts are called Dead Peasant Insurance. Seriously, companies such as Wal-Mart, Walt Disney, and Procter & Gamble have been issuing these contracts, without the consent or knowlege of the employee, in order to use the gains to pay for retirement benefits and perks for top executives. I don't want to reveal too much from the movie as you should definitely see it, but I thought I would lead in with this as it has almost a Jonathon Swift, "A Modest Proposal" feel to it.
I'll wait a week to discuss the movie so as not to spoil it for anyone, and to see if I can attract anyone else to this crappy little blog of mine. However, and this isn't a spoiler as it has been pretty much discussed endlessly on talk shows and such, that Mike Moore leaves it open at the end of the film that he may not continue to produce films if people don't get involved. I had heard this prior to starting what is my crappy little blog, and I had also contributed to a few threads on CNN where I found so many people tired of a system that seems to truly represent so few (one spoilier here - in the film, Moore reveals a leaked Citigroup memo describing that America is no longer a true Democracy, but rather a Plutonomy wherein the top 1% control more wealth than do the bottom 95% combined. The memo goes on to describe how to maintain this, and what could possibly cause a shift in this dynamic).
I really don't have all that much more to blog at the moment without revealing more about the movie itself. There's definitely been a breakdown in the system, I think we are all pretty much aware of it, and the question is now - what the hell do we do about it?
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I can't wait to see this movie...whats sad is that Moore has gotten a bad rap, labeled as a "sensationalist" and the like. The people in power have even turned off people who would otherwise be championing for the topics in his documentaries. I have seen it first hand. They don't want to be blind followers, and in turn they are skeptical because Moore has been labeled as a left extremist. I think that underlines another important point, that rational and critical thinking, traditional American ideals, and honest debate are seen as extreme left, which really leads to a completely
ReplyDeletepolarized country.
There should be a national re-release of Roger and Me...it would be interesting considering the state of the auto industry now!
I can't wait to see the movie, I will give my thoughs when I do...
I haven't seen it either yet, but plan to. I have written extensively about us Americans as apathetic. You wrote on my Blog, WeThePeople, http://cdiamico.blogspot.com the question what can be done. Well you have done something by at least starting this Blog. I got started back in 2005 because I was so upset with President Bush and the Republican Party I once belonged to. I thought he was dishonest and wrote about it. In fact I have called for War Crime charges be brought up on Bush and Cheney.I wrote we had a "Coup de Etat" here and we were all sleeping at the time, just like we are now.
ReplyDeleteThe other things you can do is write and call your Representatives and your Senators frequently. I do both. I like my Rep. as she is the leader of the Progressive's in Congress, Lynn Woolsey, and is trying to get the Public Option approved for health insurance reform. But I also contact her when she does things which support the kind of change we need. We can also vote and get more voters registered. We can also not avoid discussing our concerns with neighbors and friends. It is important we continue the dialogue so that enough passions arise and people start to get involved to change the situation. If we don't complain about Executive comp being way out of line, then we get what we deserve. I have even written about former clients who were greedy in the health insurance industry. I haven't named them directly yet but have named their companies. So keep writing and posting on others Blog. You are doing a good thing.