Monday 9 February 2004

Pic of the day: Not quite our world. (Illustration photo from the the anime Star Ocean Ex. No connection otherwise.)

Dude, where's your PLANET?

Fictionwise.com, the e-book specialists, had an incredible rebate on political books in January, up to 100% on selected titles. Admittedly this was a "micropay rebate". This may not be obvious to first-time visitors, but "micropay" is their brand of e-cash. It means you have to pay but later you can buy other e-books for the same money; you get one book for free but you still have to pay for some book at some time.

Anyway, I bought Dude, where's my country? by Michael Moore. I guess Americans already know him as the author of Stupid white men. I didn't know that, and besides that book wasn't famous here in Norway. Neither is this one, and a good thing too.

***

First let me clarify my own political standing, for those who don't know me that well yet. Here in Norway we have an election system that encourages more diversity than in Great Britain and its former colonies. Currently the four largest parties are all around the same size; and the Prime Minister doesn't even come from any of them, but a smaller one again. This means politics here necessarily must be full of compromises. But for the individual voter, it also means it is easier to find a party that reflects some of your opinions without containing anything you disagree with intensely.

Even so, I don't like any of them. If our nation tethered on the brink of political disaster, I might vote. (I actually did in the latest referendum on EU membership, which I am happy to say we avoided, albeit narrowly. I'll probably do it again next time as well.) But normally I view politics from a safe distance. There is no political party, even here, which even remotely represents my view.

This does not mean I consider them all equal. In general, I regard socialist parties as more stupid than non-socialists, although sometimes a non-socialist party can still qualify for gross stupidity. The Norwegian "Progress Party" comes to mind. Despite not being socialist, its main agenda seems to be to promise gifts to everyone. (Well, except farmers, possibly. But then again they are rare already.) The main difference from socialists is that they don't promise higher taxes to cover the expenses, quite the opposite, tax cuts all the way baby. This is a stupidity that goes beyond socialism and into the field of pure mental retardation.

It follows from this that I don't have much sympathy for the Bush administration over in the USA either. Republicans is another matter. The Shrub that Walks is not a true Republican. For him, the party is only a vehicle to personal power and glory. This was revealed in all its skeletal gruesomeness by his attempt to slap an import tariff on steel. Republicans are the world's staunchest defenders of free trade; they would not have gone to such a step except in the most dire circumstances, as an act of retaliation. Bush cheerfully alienated a bunch of allied nations during what he claims is a wartime, just to try to swing the vote in some states and cities that are considered important in the election strategy. The sheer transparency of it probably was why the incident did not cause more harm. The sad fact is that European and Asian leaders are cutting the USA some slack for having such a dumb president, who was not even elected by majority vote.

Republicans, though, I don't dislike except the theocratic fringe, a.k.a. The "Christian Right" (or Wrong, as some pronounce it). I honestly believe, and I think it ought to be self-evident, that people who need to force their faith on others have failed to live it themselves. If their brand of religion was so good, there would be no need to force others to follow it. If they truly were satisfied with their own faith, they would say like the apostle Paul: "I wish to God that you all were as I am today, only without these chains." It is one of my favorite Bible quotes as well (and I don't even have actual chains).

Most of my online friends in America are staunch Democrats. Then again they're a pretty unconventional bunch.

***

Now that you know where I stand, let me continue. Moore raises some questions. The sad thing is that these questions are already pretty wild. Like questioning why bin Laden's relatives were allowed to flee the country immediately after the Fall of the Towers. The sheer fact that he could question this shows that he is hundreds of years out of sync. Even the prophets in the Old Testament pointed out that you shouldn't punish a father for his son's crime or the other way around. Even if they were only interrogated as witnesses, it is hard to believe that the questioning would be very nice during the emotionally charged months that followed. Certainly the bin Ladens did not seem to think so.

Moore then goes on with various insinuations that may have some connection to reality, but are really fringe speculations compared to the very real problems that the Bush period has caused. Perhaps he feels the real problems have been properly addressed elsewhere. Perhaps he picks up toward the end of the book. Whatever. If I attend a meeting (be it political, religious or business oriented), I give people only so much time. If, after half an hour, I still cannot decide whether the speaker is a comedian or plain loony, I won't hang around unless it's for love or money. Curiosity goes only so far.

Bush Jr is a tragedy of unqualified labor in the Oval Office at such a critical time. But thank God it's not Michael Moore who is there. Living proof that sometimes, being smart is just not enough. You also need to be wise, to see the difference between the big things and the small. This is sometimes called "common sense". Don't I wish.