Elections

I saw for the first time Fahrenheit 9/11. I really enjoy Michael Moore’s films, although Bowling for Colombine stroke me much more than this one. The later one exposed a reality that I was just slightly aware of while many of the facts contained in Fahrenheit were already known through the European press.

What shocked most of the people, I think, was how Moore tried to expose the bad character of President Bush, and his inability to lead the destinies of the most powerful country in the world, or of any other country. In politics it is not very polite to point out personal characteristics, although in arts and humor it is, and that can explain why some people had a hard time digesting the crude message. There are some genius moments such as the reading of the “patriot act” to the congressmen, or the attempt to recruit their sons for the army. I totally support the making of more films like this.

The American elections have emptied this film a bit, and raise the motivation for a totally new film. In what way do the Americans think they have improved since the first election (where Bush actually lost)? Why is democracy so underdeveloped, giving a green light to criminal actions such as Iraq war? A dangerous lesson came with this process: in the present state, politicians from democracies are able to commit incredible crimes based on lies, and they can publicly admit it without taking any responsibility.

I suggest reading Fahrenheit 451 from Ray Bradbury, the inspiration for the title of Moore’s film.

Last week an Iraqi friend here in the UK, was asking people if she should vote for the Iraq elections. The reasons not to vote were many: many persons appear on more than one list, most of the names on the list are really not well known from the public, or just the simple statement shared by most of her (non fundamentalist) family, “there are no elections under occupation”.
My argument was that the vote was the simplest part of the democracy and in itself is a good thing, not legitimating a puppet government. If persons who do not vote by conscience are mixing themselves with those who didn’t care to vote, who preferred to stay at home because they don’t value democracy enough, then the process will have no point at all, and good opportunity of passing a message was lost. She thought of writing her motives into the paper, making a null vote, but according to the procedure null votes are spoiled, and most of null votes are from persons who don’t know how to vote properly. I say, if you don’t trust the system, or if you feel that you are not informed enough, vote blank. Blanks are counted to decide if a second turn should take place, and that is the most explicit message you can give to the whole process. Saramago stayed in the air for a moment…