Where to Invade Next (2015) was directed by Michael Moore who is also the star of the film. This movie should win an Oscar for most misleading title. It's not about previous, present, or future invasions of other countries by the U.S. (That would make for an even longer film.)
Moore "invades" several countries in Europe (also Tunisia in North Africa) to find out what they do better than we do. In his own shambling, disordered way, he get access to people and places that are truly interesting. A high-security prison in Norway, a factory in Italy, the Finnish Minister of Education, etc.
In each case, he finds something really positive about the country, and then considers how we could apply it to the U.S. For example, in Portugal, using "illicit" drugs isn't against the law. No one is in prison in Portugal because he or she is a user. Moore contrasts that
to our situation in the U.S., where hundreds of thousands of people are incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses.
The list goes on and on--free college education in Slovenia, gourmet school lunches in France, no school homework in Germany, etc.
In many cases, people point out to Moore that they derived their progressive ideas from the United States. They are using these progressive ideas, but we have forgotten them.
Moore sidesteps actual military invasion. (He touches on U.S. military spending for just a few seconds in a two-hour movie.) And, as he himself admits in the film, he has cherry-picked the best practices from each of the countries.
Moore makes the important argument that in these progressive country, taxes are "higher." Then he makes the serious counter-argument: taxes are more than income taxes. Yes, income taxes are higher in other countries, but in the U.S. we are "taxed" by having to pay for higher education, having to pay for health insurance, having to pay for childcare, and so forth. Good point.
I don't think this is a great Michael Moore movie. However, once you can get past the misleading title, you can learn quite a bit from the film. For example, when drug use was decriminalized in Portugal, drug use went down!
We saw the movie at the excellent Little Theatre in Rochester, NY. It will work well on the small screen. It's worth seeking out if you're a Moore fan, or a progressive who could conceive of a prison where knives are freely available. Otherwise, you probably won't like it.
Moore "invades" several countries in Europe (also Tunisia in North Africa) to find out what they do better than we do. In his own shambling, disordered way, he get access to people and places that are truly interesting. A high-security prison in Norway, a factory in Italy, the Finnish Minister of Education, etc.
In each case, he finds something really positive about the country, and then considers how we could apply it to the U.S. For example, in Portugal, using "illicit" drugs isn't against the law. No one is in prison in Portugal because he or she is a user. Moore contrasts that
to our situation in the U.S., where hundreds of thousands of people are incarcerated for non-violent drug offenses.
The list goes on and on--free college education in Slovenia, gourmet school lunches in France, no school homework in Germany, etc.
In many cases, people point out to Moore that they derived their progressive ideas from the United States. They are using these progressive ideas, but we have forgotten them.
Moore sidesteps actual military invasion. (He touches on U.S. military spending for just a few seconds in a two-hour movie.) And, as he himself admits in the film, he has cherry-picked the best practices from each of the countries.
Moore makes the important argument that in these progressive country, taxes are "higher." Then he makes the serious counter-argument: taxes are more than income taxes. Yes, income taxes are higher in other countries, but in the U.S. we are "taxed" by having to pay for higher education, having to pay for health insurance, having to pay for childcare, and so forth. Good point.
I don't think this is a great Michael Moore movie. However, once you can get past the misleading title, you can learn quite a bit from the film. For example, when drug use was decriminalized in Portugal, drug use went down!
We saw the movie at the excellent Little Theatre in Rochester, NY. It will work well on the small screen. It's worth seeking out if you're a Moore fan, or a progressive who could conceive of a prison where knives are freely available. Otherwise, you probably won't like it.