Review of Where to Invade Next (2015) by Clarisesamuels — 26 Feb 2017

In this 2015 film, Michael Moore returns with social commentary, parody, ironic humor and a complete disregard for fashion, and as always, he is courageous and brazen in his own eccentric and heartfelt way. In this endeavor, he is embarking on a global tour to see what other countries are doing right to help their own citizens within the framework of socialist institutions. For the fanged, venom-dripping ultraconservative anti-socialists of the United States, all copies of this film would be rounded up on an American Kristallnacht and burned in a heap. But for liberals, Michael Moore is more like a compassionate yet sharp-witted angel, a savvy truth-seeker who is determined to change the world. His choice of weapons is, as always, the documentary.

Moore is an optimist, and he admittedly gives us the best face of how socialism works in countries that are decidedly more enlightened than the United States. Americans fiercely believe that they live in the greatest country in the world, and indeed, as a military, industrial, and technological giant, this is a fact. But when it comes to being an enlightened government that takes care of its people and puts "the pursuit of happiness" for average citizens above all else, the USA has fallen flat on its face and shows no signs of ever making itself "great again." Moore investigates a series of philosophically enlightened principles as they are employed abroad. Surprisingly, when foreigners were asked where they got some of these socialist philosophies that would be deemed wild and crazy by American right-wing conservatives, the answer was, "it's an American idea," or "it's in the American Constitution.".

So, what does Moore discover on his world tour? These are facts, although obviously, there are problems and pitfalls while every government struggles to keep up with rising costs, especially with respect to health care. In Italy, as well as the European Union, all workers get a minimum of four weeks vacation. Italians get time off for maternity leave and even get "honeymoon leave." All Italian workers receive a bonus for a thirteenth month of pay (presumably so that they have enough money to go on vacation). In France, school cafeterias serve nutritious 4-course meals prepared by a trained chef and regulated by municipal supervision. French schoolchildren receive sex education to be taught not just about birth control methods but to be taught responsibility and respect toward others in intimate relationships. In Finland where their students are now the highest performing in the world, they use unconventional educational theories--no homework, no standardized tests, a shorter school day, and an emphasis on play and the joy of learning. In Slovenia, university education is free, even for foreigners from the States, who can take the entire curriculum in English. Germany is outstanding for labor rights, where the individual happiness of every worker is paramount. In the German schools, Holocaust education is mandatory, and children are taught that they have to take responsibility for their history and to learn from it. In Portugal, street drugs have been decriminalized and the emphasis is on treatment, not on punishment and imprisonment. They now have a much lowered level of drug abuse and drug-related death in Portugal. Criticized at first internationally for their decision to decriminalize drugs, Portugal is now pointed to as a model for best practices. In Norway, the humane prison system, even for society's greatest offenders (serial murderers, rapists), is focused on rehabilitation and good quality of life for the prisoners. The main "punishment" is to restrict their freedom and keep them away from society. In Tunisia, it took a revolution to overthrow a dictator and implement full women’s rights in the Tunisian Constitution of 2014, which includes easy access to women's health and abortion clinics. In Iceland, after a revolutionary day in 1975 when all women went on strike, Icelandic women became prominent in government. The first woman president in the world to be democratically elected took office in Iceland in 1980, and Iceland is considered to be the most feminist country in the world. After the Icelandic bank failure of 2008, Iceland became the only country to send its bankers to jail. Iceland's economy has since recovered. Moore also does a quick review of the 1989 end of the Cold War, when German citizens took to the Berlin Wall with ice picks and helped to knock it down.

So, is the United States of America still the greatest country in the world? Philosophically speaking, not by a long shot. And President Trump's somewhat misguided vision of greatness, along with poor presidential advisers like Steve Bannon, is only going to make matters worse.