> Nice gesture, Chuck, and smart, to shift from
> attacking the film to asking for a better way to get
> the message across.
Well, I can't say much more about the film until I've actually seen it. I think that a discussion about what we can do is a bit more interesting than talking about Moore's film. Most of us here already agree that there needs to be some kind of universal health care in the U.S. We're the choir, but as radicals (I think most of us here are rad left), what can we do to make the immediate reform of universal health care happen and what can we do to push for something more radical.
> I'm not as impressed with the success of the
> anti-globalization actions as you are. Although they
> were part of a major global reaction, which has yet to
> bear fruit, I dont know that they in any way dented
> the specific impacts and agenda of the WTO. Correct
> me if I'm wrong.
We disagree. I see the anti-globalization movement as having been successful, although there is more work to be done.
I think most analysts agree that the movement seriously torpedoed the WTO.
> The problem, as Doug points out, is that there is no
> significant radical Left in America. Lacking that,
> lacking an organized base, there's not much you can do
> except mount individual, local issue awareness
> campaigns.
I also disagree about this conclusion and I think that since most people agree with you, that this conclusion becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I've run the Infoshop.org website for the past 12 years. It's a major resource for radicals around the world, especially the U.S. I've gotten emails from radicals in all corners of the U.S. You could also look at where radical events and protests are happening: all over.
I will agree that this base is unorganized. The numbers are out there, but we aren't organizing them, either because of resource issues or because some of us conclude that organizing is hopeless.
> That means picketing and leafletting places
> like Walmart, with no or too expensive health plans,
> and the insurance companies. With enough people, and
> persistance, you might embarass these companies into
> doing something, or at least sow the grounds for
> political action in your local community, or even at
> the state level.
Yeah, you could do these things, but why not try for something bigger?
We have the resources to do something bigger. Just look at what Michael Moore is doing with his movie. Look at what activists have done against McDonalds and Wal-mart. How about the activists who have been imprisoned because of the campaign against Huntington Life Sciences?
How about all of the radical geeks who have been coding free software? Microsoft is sweating bullets. It looks like Firefox is going to dominate Internet Explorer in Europe.
> The other target, right now, is the Democratic
> presidential hopefuls who are gingerly beginning to
> mention health care in their speeches. Of course,
> they're talking about the wrong kind of health care --
> the present insurance company-based kind -- just
> extended to more people. But their mistake is your
> opportunity.
Yeah, the Democrats have reached new lows of patheticism. It even boggles my mind. They have an open playing field to push for something more radical and they are fucking cowards.
> Whatever you do now is made easier by Moore's film,
> which has made many, many more people aware of the
> issue than a week ago. As always, if you can find an
> actual demographic group strongly harmed by lack of
> health care, you have a much better chance of building
> a sustainable organization and getting results. Along
> the way, you will be sowing a general awareness of the
> limits of profit-based approches to the provision of
> goods and services. Less than a revolution, but not a
> bad result!
I want a revolution, but I could use some health care next week.
Chuck