Conspiracy Theory! I don't think this was Sanders' strategy. I think he felt he
was making the best of a bad bargain. And if the author had read anything about
the Clinton campaign, she'd have seen that it was based on the corporate
Democrats' assumption that they needed to attract white middle class Republican
leaning voters and that, in the end, their working class base would just go
along with whatever they do. And they haven't learned much since 2016, either.
Miriam
-----Original Message-----
From: blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
<blind-democracy-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Roger Loran Bailey
(Redacted sender "rogerbailey81" for DMARC)
Sent: Wednesday, October 17, 2018 12:41 PM
To: blind-democracy <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [blind-democracy] Michael Moore flays Trump in ‘Farenheight 11/9’
https://socialistaction.org/2018/10/16/michael-moore-flays-trump-in-farenheight-11-9/
Michael Moore flays Trump in ‘Farenheight 11/9’
/ 14 hours ago
Oct. 2018 Moore (Paul Morigi:Getty)
Michael Moore plugs ‘Farenheight 9/11’ (Paul Morigi / Getty Images)
By LISA LUINENBURG
Michael Moore’s new documentary film, “Farenheight 11/9” debuted in theaters
across the country on Sept. 21. The title of the film is a reference to the
date on which Trump was declared the winner of the U.S.
presidential election in 2016. And indeed, the first part of the film opens
with a recap of the 2016 presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary
Clinton.
Moore admits with pride that he campaigned for Clinton during the election.
Later in the film, Moore briefly interviews Bernie Sanders and then shows him
handing off the victory in the primary elections to Clinton. And although he
does show that some of the primary election results were doctored to go in
Clinton’s favor, Moore fails to mention that this was the strategy of the
Democratic Party all along—to rope those who are demanding major social
changes, and those leaning in favor of a socialist society, back into the heart
of the Democratic Party.
Moore does profile three mass social struggles during the film—the battle for
clean and safe drinking water in Flint, Mich., the recent wave of teacher’s
strikes in West Virginia, and the school shootings in Parkland that sparked the
mass school walkouts and protests against gun violence.
Although Socialist Action would differ with Moore’s analysis of the gun control
debates (see the article “Build a Movement Against the Violence of this
System!” published in socialistaction.org in April) this section of the movie
was, in my opinion, the best and most moving.
Moore interviewed key organizers in each of these social struggles and clearly
showed how Governor Rick Snyder and local corrupt government officials in Flint
had betrayed the people of that town and poisoned thousands of children with
lead, then covered up the test results. He even went so far as to show how
President Obama had downplayed the demands of the people of the town, repeating
the message that the water was safe to drink rather than addressing the actual
causes of the contamination.
Although Moore does include some criticisms in his film of former Democratic
presidents, such as Bill Clinton’s slashing of the welfare system in the 1990s,
there is no deeper analysis present. Moore mentions that over 100 million
people in the U.S. didn’t vote in the last presidential election, which is more
people than voted for either of the two main candidates. But there is no
discussion of how the two-party system is designed by the ruling class to keep
the capitalist system in power.
In fact, during the entire movie, there is no mention of capitalism, socialism,
or the class struggle today. While Moore does profile several candidates who
come from out of the mainstream, such as Democratic Party candidate Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez—a member of Democratic Socialists of America—there is no mention
of the candidates’ political affiliations and little discussion of their
platforms. There is no discussion of what an alternative to the two-party
system, or to capitalism itself, might look like.
Throughout the film, Moore highlights instead that it is Trump and his cronies
in big business and the Republican Party, not the capitalist system, that is
the root of the problems we are facing in the U.S.
today. He goes so far as to make references to Trump’s being a fascist, even
showing a clip of Hitler speaking to a crowd, taped over with Trump’s voice. He
interviews several experts on fascism, implying that Trump is turning the U.S.
into a fascist state and could easily become a dictator like so many others
around the world. But is this true?
In our analysis, we would say that Trump is not a fascist but rather a tool of
the ruling class who uses populist rhetoric and anti-immigrant scapegoating to
appeal to those on the extreme right, or to layers of the white working class.
Fascism is a tool that the ruling class uses to protect capitalism and crush
the opposition when it is at risk overthrown by mass movements of the working
class. As we know from history, if we were truly living under a fascist regime,
socialists and other targeted groups would be persecuted and killed.
Although we live in trying times, and Trump’s attacks on immigrants and other
layers of the working class should not be minimized, we are not currently
living under a fascist state (see Trotsky’s pamphlet “Facism:
What it is and How to Fight It” for a deeper analysis). Using the term
“fascist” without a deeper understanding of what this term means obscures the
real threats we face in the U.S. today.
Moore ends the film with the implication that we need more mass movements and
protests in the street to fight against Trump’s rule. And what is his solution
for the impending threat of Trump’s takeover of the U.S.? In a recent
promotional e-mail for his new film, Moore states, “I’m convinced that once a
nonvoter sees this film, they won’t be nonvoting this time around! … I want to
see a tsunami of Americans at the polls on November 6th! This movie is my
effort to help make that happen.”
Indeed, this is the main strategy of the Democratic Party today—to channel all
the righteous rage of working-class people, like those in Flint or the teachers
striking across the country, into a vote for another wing of the ruling class.
And we will undoubtedly see this happening in a big way during this year’s
elections in November. But this obscures the real root of all the attacks the
working class faces today—the capitalist system.
And in the end, it won’t matter if we vote for the Democratic candidate or the
Republican candidate in the next election. The results will be the same—ongoing
imperialist wars across the globe, continued cuts to social programs, and
deepening attacks against women, immigrants, LGBTQI people, and people of
color. The only way to win a better world—a socialist society—is to build an
independent party of the working class to fight for our interests, not the
interest of the rich and powerful.
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October 16, 2018 in Arts & Culture, Trump / U.S. Government.
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