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More stars and gripes

15 comments on More stars and gripes

More stars and gripes
: And Michael Moore is dissing his — our — country in Die Zeit, translated thanks to Mediankritik:

Millions of us here in the USA are trying with all our might to prevent the Bush regime from doing even more damage around the globe. For us it is urgently critical that you Germans resist Bush and you should know that we desperately greet any such resistance. …

I can assure you that not all of America has gone crazy. I am writing to you so that you know that I am in no way alone but instead am standing in the middle of a new American majority. Many millions of American citizens think as I do or I think as they do….

Should such an ignorant people lead the world? How did it come to this in the first place? 82 percent of us don’t even have a passport! Just a handful can speak a language other than English (and we don’t even speak that very well.) …

Ok, come on you Germans, you really know better! You are well-read. Your media also reports on things south of the Alps. You travel. You value education. And in the past year you took over the moral leadership in the question of war or peace….

Last month, I revealed that Michael Moore is bigger in Germany than in America; he is Germany’s Jerry Lewis, only harder to bear.

15 responses to “More stars and gripes”

  1. Anthony Avatar
    Anthony

    Where exactly is the diss, Jeff? Most Americans don’t have passports and the majority don’t take foreign languages seriously (especially not to the extent that exists in Europe). I see these as valid criticisms. I know, as an American, that we aren’t perfect. We can always do better. Why not take this opportunity to work on building a better America?

  2. Andrea Harris Avatar
    Andrea Harris

    It is a dis because, like you, Moore assumes that Americans who don’t have passports and don’t learn how to speak a second language are doing so because they are “ignorant.” I would be blunt about what I think of this attitude but Mr. Jarvis has his kids read his blog so I will be circumspect, and merely point out that the most common reason for not having a passport is because one only needs it to leave the country (or rather, to get back in after leaving it) and the people without passports simply have no plans to do so at this point in time. They may have no money to travel to other countries (we aren’t all as rich as Moore), or they may simply have other things they’d rather do. It may be that Americans have no desire to go to another country where they would be treated like a boob because of the kind efforts of people like Mr. Moore.
    As for the idea that Americans “don’t take foreign languages seriously,” I don’t even know what that means. Every time I go to the bookstore the foreign-language dictionary section is packed with instruction books in hundreds of languages. We have more than a few people in this country who speak more than one language. There are plenty of high school and college students taking French, German, Spanish — whatever foreign languages are offered at their high school or university. You and Michael Moore seem to be operating under a stereotype. And then you claim everyone else needs to improve. Well, (small hardware component) you and Moore.
    By the way, I took 1) German, 2) French, and 3) Italian in high school. I checked my high school web page and the teachers I had in both my German and French classes are still there. The foreign language program at Gables High seems to be flourishing. Wouldn’t they be out of jobs if no one in America “took foreign languages seriously?” (Full disclosure: when I was in high school computers ran on punch cards and the word “internet” had yet to be invented.)

  3. PhotoDude Avatar
    PhotoDude

    I think while Mr. Moore is busy flying all over thw world on a paid-promotional tour for his book, riding in limos, and appearing on most major media outlets, he’s forgotten the vast majority of American’s don’t lead such a lifestyle.
    In addition, there are millions of unemployed Americans, manufacturing workers now making a fraction of their former income, for whom it would be farcical to consider a trip to Germany. They don’t go overseas, their jobs do.
    These are the people Michael Moore used to stand up for. Now he seems so out of touch as to not realize most Americans don’t earn enough to summer in Europe. He seems to think we *choose* not to. And therefore are closeminded and ignorant.
    Projection is an ugly thing.

  4. Jettison Avatar
    Jettison

    Well, what if I don’t want to travel through the world? Does that make me “stupid” or something? Of course not, yet that’s Moore’s assumption.
    I’ve heard it from everyone I know who travels, don’t bother… because America’s the best in the World.

  5. Bernard Avatar
    Bernard

    In typical self-delusional/aggrandizing style, his Emminence speaks:
    “I am writing to you so that you know I am in no way alone but instead am standing in the middle of a new American majority. Many millions of American citizens think as I do or I think as they do… Should such an ignorant people lead the world?”
    The answer, Mr Moore, is thankfully a most definite No!

  6. Jim Avatar
    Jim

    With regard to the allegation that 82% of Americans don’t even have a passport (I have no idea whether it’s true or not, and Mr. Moore seems to have too much respect for the truth to profane it with his presence very often), there’s rather a simple explanation. America is a big country. I live in Silicon Valley. I can travel nearly three thousand miles without ever leaving the United States or even its airspace. I have to travel more than five hundred miles to get to the nearest foreign country (Mexico, and close to a thousand to get to the next nearest (Canada). That’s not true of any location in Europe west of Russia, except perhaps for Iceland an Greenland.

  7. Lorenzo Avatar
    Lorenzo

    According to the State department 7.3 million passports are issued every year(http://travel.state.gov/passport_statistics.html). That’s roughly 3% of the US population obtaining passports every year. OK so there is some leakage through death and and lost passports and such but that nevertheless means that every 5 to 6 years 15% of the US population gets issued with a passport or to put it bluntly no way do 85% of you lot not have passports. The State department has also issued a 136 million passports since 1974. Again even if you account for leakage that still means that the stupid white man’s stats don’t add up. No I’m afraid that it is another example of Mr. Moore inventing a convenient statistic.
    It is also pretty interesting to think about why most Europeans have passports given the State Department’s numbers since they demonstrate that quite a lot of American’s have passports. The fact is most Europeans live within 100miles of a foreign country and they NEED passports to do what would be domestic travel in the USA. It will be interesting to see how many of us bother to get a passport now that we can travel within Schengen with only an i.d. card.
    In anycase have you ever tried to speak a language other than German in Germany? I assure you that the Germans that Moore so admires only speak German, are utterly ignorant of the outside world and only travel to places where they can eat isbein and drink bear with other Germans. Michael does not know this because he only meets the (mostly) left wing elite on his all expence paid travels on behalf of Warner Bros.

  8. Reid Avatar
    Reid

    Yes, Lorenzo, this is the “grass is always greener over there” syndrome. People such as Moore are unhappy where they are and, they assume that there is some place “over there” where the people think as they do and, they will be accepted and even admired. Pathetic, isn’t it?

  9. Brian Avatar
    Brian

    A Yank can travel through all of North and a lot of Central America without a passport. British Virgin Islands to Alaska, or Yucatan to Baffin Bay, is about 5,000 or so miles, which is quite a lot of territory.

  10. Wim Avatar
    Wim

    In secondary school in Europe I studied (in that order) Dutch, French, English, German, Latin and Greek. Also took a little Italian. Then I came to the US.
    Today, do my linguistic abilities make me superior in Michael Moore’s world? Hardly. People from small European countries NEED to know foreign languages, particularly English; most Americans have no practical use for other tongues. Commerce worldwide is conducted in English; today even major French companies conduct all in-house communications in English.
    Moore’s condemnations are familiar, though; in his years as a Communist spy Whittaker Chambers showed exactly the same disdain. (Chambers’ conversation with Nadya Ulanovsky, cited in Sam Tanenhaus “Whittaker Chambers”, p. 84)

  11. Catherine Avatar
    Catherine

    I think most people above said it best. As I said in my other post on this subject, I have been all over Europe and Asia, but I have rarely met someone in my travels who has been to the U.S. However, I don’t think that the Spanish locals in Grenada are stupid for assuming I live in a home with a white picket fence and a dog. I also don’t laugh at the average Japanese people who have never seen a Caucasian in person and find it exciting.
    The average person !ANYWHERE! cannot afford a junior year abroad, never mind airfare, hotel, etc., for a week’s vacation. They may not live in a metropolitan area either where you are more likely to mix with different cultures. The advantaged Europeans can hop on a rail or even drive a few hours to visit another country. Most of my friend’s relatives in Europe who visit here don’t speak English. Most don’t realize you cannot drive to Disney World for the afternoon from New York. Again, this does not make them stupid.
    When did it become a mark of superiority to have more stamps than the next guy in your passport? It’s the thing to brag about like going to an Ivy League school (“last year I danced with Indians in Peru, you haven’t? You REALLY should!”). I am the only one in my family who has widely traveled around the world other than my dad (in the Army) and that is only because I have had the opportunity (friends abroad for jobs or school I could stay with for free), disposable income as a single person and a generous boss who gave me more than a few thousand miles for expensive airfare to Japan, for example, to visit a friend there. Actually, I had a wealthy Japanese co-worker who insisted on paying for a weekend in Kyoto (including bullet train) that I could not afford while I was there (“you MUST see Kyoto,” he said). This does not make me superior, but it makes more than a few people act like assholes to people who cannot afford the opportunities I have been given.
    American dollars to donuts, Michael Moore did not write this article in German, nor would he be able to translate it if he had to read it. He’s the ultimate hypocrite.

  12. Catherine Avatar
    Catherine

    By the way, most of the snobs I know (American and European) who brag about their travels have never been outside the North East corridor of the U.S. They have never seen the breath taking beauty of Utah (I nearly cried the first time I road a bike through Moab – it was so amazing because it was like being in the presence of God), Montana, Mendocino in California, Asheville, NC or the Black Hills of S. Dakota. All gorgeous and rich in history.
    My next trip? Charleston, S. Carolina for a long weekend. Next fishing trip? The Sierra’s in May with a friend and her dad. I will leave my passport at home.

  13. M. Simon Avatar
    M. Simon

    M&M is dreaming if he thinks he is in the middle of a new American majority.
    America is moving away from Moore, not towards him.
    I look forward to Nov 2004 when M&M and his ilk will be standing alone. Crying in their beer that they never saw it coming. Of course not. The liberal media is “protecting” the liberals from defeat.

  14. gijoe Avatar
    gijoe

    this guy is an idiot and people that do not agree with him should stop blogging him to give him credit.

  15. Aine Avatar
    Aine

    Quite frankly, I can’t get angry at Moore for what he’s been saying, even though most of it consists of broad generalizations (and like labelling, most people don’t fit the generalization/stereotype/label). I can’t get any angrier with Moore than I can get at American media with their “freedom fries” and other assorted idiotic ideas…
    Ignorance is nothing to be ashamed of, unless of course, you believe the rhetoric of the “superiority of America” to any other nation on earth, and I don’t. We’re no better and in some respects, much worse than other countries in keeping our citizens informed as to what goes on in the world… indeed, decisions are made everyday in the newsrooms as to what will make it on the air or in print, and whose toes we’ll want to avoid stepping on.
    Ignorance is a case of not knowing any better or never having been taught any differently. A long hard look at the disparities among the different state school systems, and indeed, even the differences between urban and rural schools would be an eye-opener for much of mainstream America.
    As far as languages go, they will live and die as people choose. Introducing Latin and Greek into our school systems no more revived those as living languages than other foreign language classes keep those alive in America. It is people who choose whether a language will continue to be spoken, not institutions. Some of the commenters here said they took more than one language class in school, but how many of them speak those languages on a daily basis and integrate such languages in their day to day lives?