Ken's Labor Book Reviews From The Archives

"Downsize This! Random threats from an unarmed American." By Michael Moore, Crown. 1996. 277 pp. $21.

When Michael Moore gets angry, he gets funny. First, he told us about the destruction of his home town, Flint, Mich., by the profit-hungry General Motors Corp. in his hilarious documentary, "Roger and Me." Next, he attacked nationwide downsizing head-on in a brilliant TV series, "TV Nation." Now Moore is back with "Downsize This!," calling forth an unarmed militia to do battle with corporate America. Moore wants to know why there's so much fuss about social programs. Corporate welfare costs much more, but it's not an issue. So Moore is proposing issuing corporate welfare trading cards with pictures of top CEOs and descriptions of how they are bilking us all. But Moore's got something for everybody. Say you want to join in the action by exploiting your fellow Americans. You can invest with Moore in labor prisons housed in now empty factory buildings. They'll even produce the same kind of products they used to make with many of the same former workers. But the labor costs will be way down and your profits high. You also learn how to apply to foreign countries for aid to economically depressed areas of the U.S. Michael Moore truly has something for everybody. He even has advice for President Clinton. In the chapter "If Clinton Had Balls . . ." he argues that the electorate is not voting because there's little difference between the two parties. He urges the "Republicrats" to realize that the public wants a strong defense against corporate attacks. To this end he is forming his own unarmed militia, "Mike's Militia," to take over the Democratic Party and/or support third-party efforts, "descend on state and national capitals to push for legislation to control Corporate America . . . boycott all companies that downsize for profit," and more. You can contact Mike at his Web site, http://www.randomhouse.com/ or order "Roger and Me" and "The Best of TV Nation" from Dog Eat Dog Films, P.O. Box 831, Radio City Station, New York, N.Y. 10101. Each costs $19 and the proceeds will go to stop the other militias, not to Mike. --Ken Nash, Ed Fund's Rifkin Library

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