WHY BROTHER (Living As One)

Mike, the eternal optimist, tends to think that a right-winger is a liberal with a wallet and not enough information. He has supported this view with so much passion and talent that I have believed him and incorporated the idea… at the very time I consciously thought I didn’t.

Here is how he elaborated on that in an inspired article he wrote for USA Today at the time when he was hired to report for them about the RNC :

I've often found that if I go down the list of "liberal" issues with people who say they're Republican, they are quite liberal and not in sync with the Republicans who run the country. Most don't want America to be the world's police officer and prefer peace to war. They applaud civil rights, believe all Americans should have health insurance and think assault weapons should be banned. Though they may personally oppose abortion, they usually don't think the government has the right to tell a woman what to do with her body.

There's a name for these Republicans: RINOs or Republican In Name Only. They possess a liberal, open mind and don't believe in creating a worse life for anyone else.




I believed him… I believed it…

I believed it because it was him, that’s quite possible. But through this childlike faith in humanity, Mike was also simply voicing the basic Christian worldview : the fundamental goodness of man and evil as mistake or ignorance. A creed going back as far as Socrates, who used to teach that ignorance was evil and, besides, died according to a logic similar to the one that led to the crucifixion…

Whatever…

I wasn’t born yesterday, and I’m no longer what you could call young. And still, I have believed in a right-winger… It was the first time in my life. It was like falling in love.

I think I saw him like a battlefield. He looked torn between slumber, fear and refusal – and lucidity, honesty and genuine morality.

Genuine morality…

My friend the Moore-disliker was smart enough to understand and creative enough to be an artist, but he slowly drifted toward power, shallowness and cynicism. When I saw his repetition-based humor turn to Rovian propaganda and his desire to appease the disputes turn to an order to follow his views, my friend the Moore-disliker began to dislike me. When I meant time, fidelity and loyalty, my friend the Moore-disliker began to keep silent. And when I told him not to sink in slumber, fear and refusal with the rest of the desolate Bored Crowd, my friend the Moore-disliker told me * I * had betrayed him and he gave me the Darwin boot for that.

He did it with the hubris of Roger Smith and the arrogance of George Bush. He did it because I had posted ONE thing he didn’t like. Like Bush, he didn’t need to say what. Like Bush, it was with him or against him. Like Bush, he was right without discussion. Like Bush, it was because nothing else mattered whatsoever. And like Bush, none of this fuss was real and he lied to divert the attention from his own guilt.

OK… So Bush murdered thousands, and my friend the Moore-disliker only temporarily shot my soul and my brain. But if the degrees in damage can’t compare, what about the natures ? He behaved coldly. He knew what he was doing, and he did it just for oil, I mean, just to get rid of something that was getting in his chit-chat. Who cares if it meant the deaths of so many young people, I mean, hurting a true heart. Fascism is basically considering the other as a thing. You can do anything to a thing. During the process, my friend the fascist had carefully pointed out, in his indirect, scornful way, that posters on a board should be regarded as 99% pixels.

And that’s how he’s acting now, for what you do to the others, you’re doing to yourself. He rarely posts, but when he does, his messages are of a worldly teenager or an obsessional robot. He keeps posting variations on ONE sentence from Mike he “doesn’t forgive him”, presumably aimed at underlining that my ONE post was a crime, or, more likely, simply at pissing me off. Well… OK, it pisses me off. So what, my friend the lame fascist ?

Bah. A lame fascist who’s only posting on a board is more lame than fascist. And I’ve seen this one make right choices before. It wasn’t a dream. It wasn’t a dream, but it’s a game. It’s always a game. The game used to be a personal Mission. Now it’s Bush’s Crusade. We’re choosing all the time between love and ego, ideal and power, heaven and abyss. It’s a game, but it’s the absolute game.

For the fact is that, in a 99% pixels world, spiritual slumber is far superior. Easier, handier. Better survival, especially after you’ve created the paranoid place where you will need to survive. Everybody plays the game, but most bet and win or lose counterfeit money. And the frustration drives them mad. Writers like Bret Easton Ellis have described the bridges that lead from boredom to immorality. Movies like “The Corporation” have followed the paths that lead from economic rationality to spiritual madness.

Is there such a difference between individual and collective choices ? On earth as it is in Heaven, says the Lord’s Prayer…

Mike is a son of the Age of Reason, the Age of Enlightenment. He is driven by a stubborn, visionary faith in man’s good will and common sense, a deep, overwhelming conviction that any man will automatically choose the right path if only given the knowledge.

Here is an excerpt of his Acceptance Speech in 2004 at Cannes :

"I have a sneaking suspicion that you've ensured that the American people will see this film.

You've put a huge light on this, you've taken truth out of the closet. A Republican President once said, 'If you just give people the truth the Republic will be saved.' That was Abraham Lincoln, a different kind of Republican than George Bush."




That’s why he advocates education. Why he lays greater stress on information in education. Why he has worked for 12 years as a journalist. Why the absurdity of Bush’s re-election made him stay in bed for three days. And also, why he got out of bed after three days…

Well, life goes on. My ex-brother can always switch from Bush to Lincoln, and I’m getting out of bed every day, like Mike.

Forgiveness ? Acceptance ? Why bother ?

Why, brother ?

Ah. An important precision. I deleted my ONE post while under the shock. But I never brothered to re-read it as it was demanded. One Volk, one Reich, one Post… Things. It is just not my country, 99 % dude.

HATE

The Moore haters. The Moore dislikers. The Bush voters. Stay away from them. All of them. They are what they voted for.

LOVE

I LOVE MICHAEL MOORE

The most significant reasons why I love Michael Moore are already all there, all mixed together. They lay in the symbols and even the archetypes people pick up to describe him. He’s been referred to as Steinbeck, Falstaff, a prophet, David against Goliath, the king’s jester, the Statue of Liberty, one of the presidents carved in Mount Rushmore.

Steinbeck stands for America’s deeply buried, long lost, but never forgotten socialist dream. He’s the one who wrote “The grapes of wrath”. I love Michael Moore for his anger and his “never say die”, “don’t take no for an answer” attitude.

Falstaff is Shakespeare’s symbol of free thinking, generous and merry individualism. I love Michael Moore for his “wake up”, “think for yourself” urge and message.

Prophets carry the words of God. I love Michael Moore because God has never been on the stinking rich and corrupt man’s side, but on the grieving, poor, dying for nothing little guy’s side.

David fought Goliath even though Goliath seemed so mighty and more powerful than him, because he knew righteousness would prevail over a mere show of strength. I love Michael Moore for speaking up the truth against tyranny, no matter how many libels, threats and apparent dangers he endures for that.

The king’s jester stands for the voice of reason in a buffoon’s clothes summoning the real but powerful fool. I love Michael Moore for supplying this Middle Ages well known antidote to tyranny, since we live under tyranny and in the Middle Ages.

The Statue of Liberty is the symbol of freedom. I love Michael Moore for being free of fear, free of hate, free of lies, free of greed, free of censorship, free of self-censorship. I love Michael Moore for being free.

Mount Rushmore is where the Presidents who served their country best go. I love Michael Moore for serving his country’s true ideals, and showing the real presidents their way back home.

I love Michael Moore for his dissent, his intelligence, his independence, his importance, the threat he represents to the Leviathan. I love Michael Moore because he’s great, big, FAT, and his enemies are mean, petty and starving… for enlightenment.

I love Michael Moore because he’s a good man.

There are still things left to say about Moore. For, unfortunately for his bashers, Moore’s greatest asset is that Moore is Moore. You can’t reduce him to archetypes, so great as they are, because Moore is to become an archetype unto himself. I’m talking about his downright originality. He’s popular without being a populist. He manages to be far left and very moderate at the same time. He manages to be both very moderate and uncompromising. He tells the truth by asking questions. He asks questions by telling the truth.

He’s a punk rocker who became mainstream and made the world listen to the reasons to destroy. He’s become as universal and influential as any fake puppet star, while carrying a powerful and important message, which hasn’t been seen since the Beatles. He’s a UFO in the world of arts, who, by mixing showmanship and intellect, humor and emotion, facts and opinions, gives a new meaning to the word “artist”, a renowned meaning to the artist’s mission, and a complex meaning to the word “truth”.

I love Michael Moore. Did I say because ?

DO I HAVE TO BE A STUPID WHITE MAN ?

Once again kusturica provides the food for thought... Thanks brother ! It had been too long...

I'm a white bastard

I was born with a silver spoon in my mouth.

I've never had to try hard for anything. It was all handed to me.

I've never been fired from a job for my appearance. I've gotten every job I've applied for even though I wasn't necessarily qualified. I've never been accused of stealing by an employer. After all, I'm white. Let's not forget that I'm a white male. Heterosexual to boot.

I've never been harassed by ignorant people who didn't understand me. I've never been threatened with physical violence by those people, nor feared for my life because of their nonexistant threats.

My upbringing was practically utopian. My parents had no vices and never fought. I was never physically or emotionally abused by anyone with any authority over me.

I have been spoiled from a young age with affection from women, primarily because of my whiteness and my position in life. It makes me very happy and fullfilled.

I have always been able to afford my rent.

I love to rub these facts in the faces of those less fortunate. I hate most non white people, and I don't think much of women or homosexuals. They deserve their lot in life, and their struggles aren't that bad anyway, so what are they complaining about?

I vote Republican every time.

I've never stood up for, nor helped in any way, anyone less fortunate than me.

I'm a real white bastard, and I find this so inspiring that I always have plenty to say about it.

I already answered this on kust's blog, but I believe that this half-self-portrait has a structure profound and meaningful enough to deserve a wider acknowledgement.

Up to "I have always been able to afford my rent", it's a common core curriculum shared by all stupid white men, and it could harmoniously be inserted in "Stupid White Men" as a counter-point to "Kill Whitey" :

White people scare the crap out of me. This may be hard for you to understand-- considering that I am white-but then again, my color gives me a certain insight. For instance, I find myself pretty scary a lot of the time, so I know what I'm talking about. You can take my word for it: if you find yourself suddenly surrounded by white people, you better watch out. Anything can happen.

But what really happens... in kust's piece at least, is that at this point there is a fork, a switch-over : a refusal to bear the stupid white man's burden for him. The guilt is given back to whom it may concern.

Maybe it's only due to my presently serious state of mind, but to me it's more than a joke. In the "Kill Whitey" chapter, all those who fit the dominant pattern are automatically sinners and must atone for the color of their skin in various ways helpfully provided by the author.

That's what Mike does. This part is autobiographical. That’s what the people from sorryeverybody.com did after the election. Self-whipping is part of the American left’s culture, and rebelling against this attitude is healthy and no joke at all. Is it fair that the innocent should bear the cross for the guilty ? Well, it happens all the time at any rate. That’s the way of the world. That’s one of the most hidden and unfathomable laws of the world. And the wilful, lucid and permanent bearing of the cross by a few innocent men is what saves the world. But can holiness be demanded ?

No. Not because it’s asking too much. Because the average Joe couldn’t bear the guilt without feeling guilty. That’s what kust expresses when he says “real” and “bastard” instead of, in an undifferentiated way, “stupid” and “man”. That’s what Mike expresses when he writes : my color gives me a certain insight. For instance, I find myself pretty scary a lot of the time.

But, contrary to what one might think, both of them don’t fundamentally disagree. Actually, at the beginning, the “Stupid White Men” are clearly Bushco : How did all this happen? Three little words: Stupid White Men. And the book closes on what can be regarded as a genuine absolution : You own the store. The bad guys are just a bunch of silly, stupid white men. And there's a helluva lot more of us than there are of them. Use your power. You deserve better.

Like kust, Mike knows undeserved guilt bears no fruit and that’s why “Kill Whitey” is not the final word to “Stupid White Men”. But he also knows that no one is innocent and that responsibility is but a tensional axis between guilt and innocence, and so he blurs the image of the culprit just the time for you to understand you’ve got to take your share – you too are someone’s whitey – we’re all on the same boat – let’s kill our inner whitey, again and again. Which takes us far away from the miserable accusation of racism and self-hatred often cast by the anti-Moore fuckwits.

A DREAM

Tonight I dreamed that I was shopping and Mike was walking up to me. I told him : "You're not the one they say you are". His mouth formed an O and he kissed me, at length, in a sensual way.

Then I was in front of the glass door of a store, loaded with my bags, trying to get in. The door half-opened, but the store was closed. So I dumped my bags and pushed, shouting : "Open up !", but the store remained closed. Shelves of shoes could be seen inside.

That's all I can remember.

I think Mike needs my site.