(no subject)
May. 14th, 2010 10:30 amMoira and I watched Michael Moore's Capitalism: A Love Story last night.
There were a few things that struck me as a little bit off as we watched, and I had to pause the DVD to inject my own commentary from time to time. But when it was over, I commented to Moira that movies like this help me understand a little bit better why someone would want to be an anarchist. I certainly feel more and more lately like neither major political party here in the states is really doing many of the right things. That said, damn, but I wish I could vote for Marcy Kaptur, who told people facing eviction "So I say to the American people, you be squatters in your own homes. Don't you leave." I'm also going to investigate Bernie Sanders, a socialist and current senator from Vermont. I need to have a more concrete understanding of socialism so I can talk more cogently about the topic when it comes up.
Some people say that as you get older, you settle down. For my part, the older I get and the more I see, the more firmly socially liberal I get. I don't have a good enough understanding of economics to have a really solid opinion on macro-economics, though I'm certainly for universal health coverage. I vote Democrat on a national level because I don't believe any other vote would mean anything. Seeing all the politics in the movie, though, made me think more about trying to get out and vote locally. I believe that if a third party is going to get anywhere, they need to start by getting some local offices and building a base from there. I should look into when local elections happen and whether you can vote absentee and start being a more active voter. Elections during the middle of a work day are absurd; they make it so difficult for people to vote. Shouldn't these things be made as easy, as inviting, as possible?
Anyway, there was some good music in there too. I went and found the chords for Jesus Christ by Woody Guthrie and have played through it a few times. It's a really simple one, and it's stuck in my head.
There were a few things that struck me as a little bit off as we watched, and I had to pause the DVD to inject my own commentary from time to time. But when it was over, I commented to Moira that movies like this help me understand a little bit better why someone would want to be an anarchist. I certainly feel more and more lately like neither major political party here in the states is really doing many of the right things. That said, damn, but I wish I could vote for Marcy Kaptur, who told people facing eviction "So I say to the American people, you be squatters in your own homes. Don't you leave." I'm also going to investigate Bernie Sanders, a socialist and current senator from Vermont. I need to have a more concrete understanding of socialism so I can talk more cogently about the topic when it comes up.
Some people say that as you get older, you settle down. For my part, the older I get and the more I see, the more firmly socially liberal I get. I don't have a good enough understanding of economics to have a really solid opinion on macro-economics, though I'm certainly for universal health coverage. I vote Democrat on a national level because I don't believe any other vote would mean anything. Seeing all the politics in the movie, though, made me think more about trying to get out and vote locally. I believe that if a third party is going to get anywhere, they need to start by getting some local offices and building a base from there. I should look into when local elections happen and whether you can vote absentee and start being a more active voter. Elections during the middle of a work day are absurd; they make it so difficult for people to vote. Shouldn't these things be made as easy, as inviting, as possible?
Anyway, there was some good music in there too. I went and found the chords for Jesus Christ by Woody Guthrie and have played through it a few times. It's a really simple one, and it's stuck in my head.