(2004-07-12) Kunstler On Moore

James Howard Kunstler on Michael Moore. The grossly obese and slovenly Moore is a poster child for WalMart shoppers everywhere, for their childish addiction to cheap goodies and lack of impulse control. Like the public he represents, Moore has no cognizance of the larger problems behind the churn of recent events, for instance the public's own surrender of its allegience and personal sovereignty to giant corporations (BigCo) and the cheap blandishments they offer in return for slavish loyalty. All you get from Moore is shopper's remorse. He's never gotten over the fact that his hometown of Flint, Michigan, sold its soul to General Motors, and eventually got fucked for doing it... Moore is angry that the great paternalistic institutions of American life have stopped being good Daddies, and so his ire and paranoia eventually fasten on the chief big daddy of all, the President. The fact that George W Bush is a pure product of the Daddy class and its agencies feeds Moore's sense of betrayal - but doesn't lead to any more understanding of the public's predicament. For instance, Moore dwells on the attempt to run an oil pipeline through Afghanistan. Does he suppose the oil would only benefit a few fat cats driving Hummers around Houston Tx? I say Farenheit 9-11 foretells a lot because as conditions grow more desperate in post-PeakOil America we will see politics grow more delusional - especially grass roots politics.