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John Stossel and Michael Moore finding common ground?

by Stephen Gordon

John Stossel interviewed Sicko Michael Moore for an upcoming 20/20 episode about health care. The RealClearPolitics article was interesting, highlighting some of the things libertarians and leftists have in common and some of the real differences in thought processes between the two groups. Here's a shocker from Michael Moore:

Surprisingly, he did show an understanding of the importance of the libertarian philosophy to America. "John, your way of thinking actually was great for this country. I mean it; it helped to found the country. It helped build us into one of the greatest nations, perhaps the greatest nation, that the earth has ever seen. Limited government, pull yourself up by your bootstraps, every man for himself, forward movement, pioneer spirit. That's why a lot of people in these other countries really admire us, because there's this American get up and go."

Not that Moore really understands what liberty is all about, though. Otherwise he wouldn't spend so much energy fighting it.

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Comments

I wouldn't be too quick to judge Michael Moore. Sure, he currrently lives under some of the usual leftist assumptions, but he's a smart guy. He's pretty good at pointing out real problems, and also pretty good at shooting down even invalid "liberal" explanations for these problems.

"Bowling for Columbine" is an excellent example. If all you watch is the first twenty minutes, you might think he's about to advocate strict gun control. If all you watch is the last five, all you see is Moore engaged in his favorite activity: humiliating the wealthy and powerful. But if you actually sit through the whole thing, you discover that the major point of the film is to point out that the list of countries that have much lower levels of gun violence than America includes Canada, and that Canada has just as many privately held guns per capita as America does; clearly, to him, the "guns do it" explanation is not sufficient. His suggestion is that it isn't the guns, but a general, and uniquely American (at least in the West) culture of constant fear mongering.

I believe that some of the smarter leftists, particularly if ideas like ours manage to achieve popularity, are on the verge of refining their generally anti-capitalist and anti-liberty stance into a more specifically anti-corporatist stance. A general realignment is occurring, and many of us will likely find allies in people who were formerly very pro-state, and cease associating with many who once used, but have now abandoned, the rhetoric of liberty.

Of course, that's what this site is all about, right?

# posted at by Tarvok [TypeKey Profile Page]

Tarvok -- you are right -- and I'll take a chill pill.