Michael Moore comments on the latest American shooting.

I have just been sent the following comments by Michael Moore. I think as an outsider it makes for interesting reading. While i know many americans will lampoon what he has to say it would be interesting to read what others outside the U.S think about what he has said.

"

With due respect to those who are asking me to comment on last night's tragic mass shooting at UCSB in Isla Vista, CA -- I no longer have anything to say about what is now part of normal American life. Everything I have to say about this, I said it 12 years ago: We are a people easily manipulated by fear which causes us to arm ourselves with a quarter BILLION guns in our homes that are often easily accessible to young people, burglars, the mentally ill and anyone who momentarily snaps. We are a nation founded in violence, grew our borders through violence, and allow men in power to use violence around the world to further our so-called American (corporate) "interests." The gun, not the eagle, is our true national symbol. While other countries have more violent pasts (Germany, Japan), more guns per capita in their homes (Canada [mostly hunting guns]), and the kids in most other countries watch the same violent movies and play the same violent video games that our kids play, no one even comes close to killing as many of its own citizens on a daily basis as we do -- and yet we don't seem to want to ask ourselves this simple question: "Why us? What is it about US?" Nearly all of our mass shootings are by angry or disturbed white males. None of them are committed by the majority gender, women. Hmmm, why is that? Even when 90% of the American public calls for stronger gun laws, Congress refuses -- and then we the people refuse to remove them from office. So the onus is on us, all of us. We won't pass the necessary laws, but more importantly we won't consider why this happens here all the time. When the NRA says, "Guns don't kill people -- people kill people," they've got it half-right. Except I would amend it to this: "Guns don't kill people -- Americans kill people." Enjoy the rest of your day, and rest assured this will all happen again very soon."

First he says....

I no longer have anything to say

And then goes on to rant for the next hour...
How is anyone surprised??
Did he rant about knives or cars as well?
With the way he thinks, he really should be looking to ban spoons!
(Edit)
With all of Mr. Moore's hatred towards the US, he still stays here and does not go to a "safer" country...
Why is that, is the best question.
No other country will listen to his whining and make him famous.

a reply to: g146541

Oh, derailing the topic so soon? Moore as a bad person, not liable to an opinion?

Ok, lets talk about knifes.

Every time in history of modern man, when goverment has taken guns away from it´s citizens there has been huge genocides by the goverment.

Ottoman Turky 1915-17 Armenians 1-1.5 Mil. 1866 Art. 166, Penal Code

Soviet Union 1929-53 Anti-Comm. 20 Million 1929 Art. 128, Penal Code

Nazi Germany & occupied Europe 1933-45 Jews, Anti-Nazis, Gypsies 13 Million 1928 Law on Firearms & Ammun/Weapons Law,

China 1948-52 AntiCommunists 20 Million 1935 Arts. 186 & 7 Penal Code. Pro-Reform

Guatemala 1960-81 Mayan Indians 100,000

Uganda 1971-79 Christians, Pol. Rivals 300,000

Cambodia 1975-79 Educated Persons 1 Million Penal Code

TOTAL VICTIMS: 55.9 MILLION

And Guns don´t kill people People and Goverments do.

originally posted by: ManFromEurope
a reply to: g146541

Oh, derailing the topic so soon? Moore as a bad person, not liable to an opinion?

Ok, lets talk about knifes.

The topic is...."Michael Moore comments on the latest American shooting."
I did comment on his comment and continuous idiocy.
I believe you are the one off topic.

It seems you are commenting on a posters reply.

originally posted by: dollukka
Every time in history of modern man, when goverment has taken guns away from it´s citizens there has been huge genocides by the goverment.

Ottoman Turky 1915-17 Armenians 1-1.5 Mil. 1866 Art. 166, Penal Code

Soviet Union 1929-53 Anti-Comm. 20 Million 1929 Art. 128, Penal Code

Nazi Germany & occupied Europe 1933-45 Jews, Anti-Nazis, Gypsies 13 Million 1928 Law on Firearms & Ammun/Weapons Law,

China 1948-52 AntiCommunists 20 Million 1935 Arts. 186 & 7 Penal Code. Pro-Reform

Guatemala 1960-81 Mayan Indians 100,000

Uganda 1971-79 Christians, Pol. Rivals 300,000

Cambodia 1975-79 Educated Persons 1 Million Penal Code

TOTAL VICTIMS: 55.9 MILLION

And Guns don´t kill people People and Goverments do.

Not true.

The australian government took guns away after the Port Arthur massacre and there was no government genocide.....so your opening sentence is not true.

a reply to: bellagirl

The australian government took guns away after the Port Arthur massacre and there was no government genocide.....so your opening sentence is not true.

No, they did not. They took away semi-automatic weapons. We all kept our scoped hunting rifles and can still buy them. We have lever action if we want them. We have DB shotguns. We are not an unarmed society.

P

originally posted by: dollukka
Every time in history of modern man, when goverment has taken guns away from it´s citizens there has been huge genocides by the goverment.

Ottoman Turky 1915-17 Armenians 1-1.5 Mil. 1866 Art. 166, Penal Code

Soviet Union 1929-53 Anti-Comm. 20 Million 1929 Art. 128, Penal Code

Nazi Germany & occupied Europe 1933-45 Jews, Anti-Nazis, Gypsies 13 Million 1928 Law on Firearms & Ammun/Weapons Law,

China 1948-52 AntiCommunists 20 Million 1935 Arts. 186 & 7 Penal Code. Pro-Reform

Guatemala 1960-81 Mayan Indians 100,000

Uganda 1971-79 Christians, Pol. Rivals 300,000

Cambodia 1975-79 Educated Persons 1 Million Penal Code

TOTAL VICTIMS: 55.9 MILLION

And Guns don´t kill people People and Goverments do.

One of the best replies yet! It does help if you are outside looking in.

P

a reply to: dollukka

That's the usual very very lazy set of stats from a pro gun site that links the two although fails to show any real linkage. The 1928 German law was prior to the Nazi party even being in government, the amendments made in 1938 extended them but not to any significant level and by that stage it was of little point.

Don't worry though, keep looking at the sites that help you justify something if it meets your belief.

a reply to: bellagirl
Because the US is the last great holdout, do you believe the average US citizen would allow this to happen to a country we are so strongly allied to?
Australia is not pre internet Cambodia.

a reply to: uncommitted

Thank you for your personal attack. Tells a lot about...

Don´t blaime guns, where you should put your attention is the lack of psychological tests to those who are seeking firearms license. Whole population is not a culprit when some delusional person starts a killing spree. Majority of gun owners understands the responsability which comes when you aquire a gun. And when guns are gang related nothing will change that, they will find guns no matter what.

How far back do these incidents go? I don't recall these kinds of mass shootings in the 60's or 70's (sorry, can't go earlier than that since I wasn't alive). It all seems to have started with postal workers shooting up post offices in the 80's. That's where the term "going postal" comes from. It wasn't until the turn of the century that kids started shooting up schools.

The point is, it's not gun control that's going to fix this problem. America has been armed for over 200 years. So what is it? I say, to a large degree, it's bad parenting. Second, there's too much news coverage providing 15 minutes of fame. Third, we used to put crazy people into institutions but now just give them meds which they forget to take.

Morning,

Why on Earth is anyone still listening to Micheal Moore?

-Peace-

a reply to: LogicalGraphitti

I tend to think much has to do with the change in our society the last few decades.

Just think about our society and how it interacts today compared to the past, how people live their lives and the standard of living.

a reply to: roadgravel

i tend to agree with you.

i think its a divided society in everything. you only need to look at politics these days and the sides have never been further apart.

opinions were respected before but they dont seem to be now.

but.....the thing is is its the same everywhere yet these mass shootings are predominately american.

originally posted by: pheonix358
a reply to: bellagirl

The australian government took guns away after the Port Arthur massacre and there was no government genocide.....so your opening sentence is not true.

No, they did not. They took away semi-automatic weapons. We all kept our scoped hunting rifles and can still buy them. We have lever action if we want them. We have DB shotguns. We are not an unarmed society.

P

i never said we were a totally unarmed society.

but....big difference. we have rules and regulations for buying, keeping and storeing weapons.

walk past 100 australians and you can almost bet your bottom dollar no one is armed. i can almost assure you that the same can't be said for america.

a reply to: Eryiedes

His voice is every bit as valid as yours and mine and everyone else's. You can choose not to listen to him but in my mind his question that society should be asking itself about why this happens is valid. Although not on the same scale and for what will probably transpire to be perpetrated for very dark reasons, Belgium had a random act of violence at the Jewish Museum yesterday. These acts are a reflection on ourselves -- us the populous and each accountable for our own actions. We have become this way and it is up to us to turn a different fork on the road humanity has been going down for a long time.

Too often, we read across these boards 'it is the government', 'it is guns', it is this or that at fault when the blame stops with us. We humans occupy this planet and share it with other species who often seem a lot more rational than us. We created this social mess and it is up to us to change it.

originally posted by: Eryiedes
Morning,

Why on Earth is anyone still listening to Micheal Moore?

-Peace-

because he tries to show that we can become better, to try and have more empathy and compassion toward each other, to keep up the fight against the vast stranglehold the wealthy have over our politics, our health, our media, our food and water, our energy, most every aspect of American life.....it's better than listening to someone that says "shut-up and take-it", "you are stupid and you don't count", and..... has as the only "remedy", to take more from the common man and those that can least afford it.....maybe that's why people still listen to him

take who has said it out of the picture. think about what has been said and not who has said it....thats all i am asking.

maybe thats one of the big problems these days. its rare to find people these days who take what they believe in and set it to one side and try to see the bigger picture.

a reply to: bellagirl

It is similar to the mentality of some brought up in the 'Internet' generation who take opinions from blogs and run with them as news 'facts'. These boards are full of people bending blog opinion into 'facts' that support their own narratives but are unable or unwilling to seek better information.