I spent Thursday through Saturday night at the UNITE HERE Midwest convention in Detroit, joining Noel Beasley, the co-manager of the 45,000-strong organization, for workshops on how to use Iraq for Sale. Every so often in life, we get back much more than we give. This was certainly the case in Detroit. The 300 or so people at the convention are from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and Missouri. They are the elected leaders of locals from those states. Each of them has a story about life in today’s corporatocracy that would have curled my hair, if I’d had any. While we showed them the long and twenty minute versions of the film and listened to them tell us they’ll use the film to make change this fall, they taught me about life in America today.
These folks have heart and soul and smarts. (For a view of the soul, see the photo of the choir decked out for Motown.) About fifteen percent have relatives who either have or do serve in the armed forces in Iraq. Many had been the targets of recruitment by Halliburton and others to work in Iraq so they were very familiar with the lies and the reality. They commented on the recruiting ads and pushes that promise high wages for no risk, because you’ll work far behind the lines. But as one Vietnam veteran commented, in this war there are no lines, so how can you work behind them?
And they made a connection to the war profiteers in the film with their own lives. Their friends and neighbors often don’t have jobs or are underemployed. They are the poor or the working poor who have been left behind by this supposedly terrific American economy. They therefore understand why people join the army to get ahead, because often you have two choices: make money illegally or join the army. So for them, there is a draft. And for them, there is a real pull to work for contractors who offer big money with little risk, or so they say.
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</table>In their own workplaces, these folks who make $9 or $10 an hour, see how companies use permanent temporary workers in the same way the Rumsfeld Pentagon uses military contractors. Permanent temporary workers are not part of the head count of a company and are not eligible for benefits and certainly not for union membership. So the working poor suffer, without representation or recourse. And in Iraq, Mr. Rumsfeld hired 100,000 or so contractors so that he could say that the military headcount is low even though the costs are actually higher than if we had the military doing much of that work. But like his domestic counterparts, Mr. Rumsfeld can lay any blame or legal trouble at the door of Halliburton, who in turn uses the cloak of the Pentagon to avoid its own culpability for wounding or killing workers through negligence.
Thanks to the joint board of UNITE HERE Midwest. They understand the true impact of Iraq for Sale far better than even those of us who made it do. They “connect the dots†because the dots are their lives. We’ll probably have at least 100 showings of Iraq for Sale between now and the election just by our friends at UNITE HERE Midwest. They know how to get their colleagues and friends to watch the film, talk about it and learn. That’s why we do what we do at Brave New Films. We make movies that provide organizing tools for people to bring about social change.
Carmen, I agree that there are diehard rights that will not have anything to do with a liberal movie, regardless of who is hosting it. Nothing will change their minds, and I think we are wasting our time if we are focused on that group.
However, I know here in the southeast at least, there is starting to be a shift in consciousness. There are many, many people just beginning to have some doubt and would probably get a lot out of seeing the movie. And their growing doubt may encourage them to go to a screening that several months ago they would have scoffed at, especially if a neighbor, aquaintance or coworker invited them. There seems to be at least a cautious acceptance of anti- current administration speak (I no longer feel like I am going to get flogged for voicing a liberal opinion anyway). There is certainly still a majority sitting on the right, but more and more are stealing glances toward the left in my state. (Yay!)
Anyway, I do believe that at least in some areas, a peer screening will be very effective for those who are just beginning to doubt what FOX is telling them.
Peace- Julie
Response to Carmen:
You are correct. Everyone needs to have an open mind these days. This is actually happening, so your fears of preaching to the choir are less warranted now than ever before.
I am (almost) the farthest thing from a liberal voter. I run a manufacturing business, that I want to pass on to my children, or another willing and able operator. I am anti-income tax, estate tax, national health care plan, and a bunch of other typical liberal causes.
That being said, the current administration must be stopped. They have gone off the deep end, having no respect for the rule of law, the duty to their fellow citizens that their office demands, and personal integrity. The common denominator of their activities is simple greed. In my opinion, these are the darkest days in this country since the US Civil War.
There are a lot of people that voted for Bush/Cheney that feel betrayed and downright furious at the crap we are expected to go along with. I am fearful of what the crop of Democrats will do when they get into office (redistributing income, restricting freedoms, etc.) but at this point, I feel it cannot possibly be any worse than what the Republicans have already done. What once was known as the GOP has earned the label POG: Party Of Greed.
I am scheduled to see the Iraq for Sale movie this weekend, and I am taking the whole family (the kids cannot vote yet), because those who are ignorant of history are doomed to repeat it. Every citizen should want to see this, but not every one will agree with the statements and conclusions. That is OK; we can agree to respectfully disagree.
I think there are a largely underestimated number of conservative independents out there that will grit their teeth, vote the Democratic ticket (at the national level anyway) and pray for the best. This movie may help them feel that this is what needs to be done.
I should have voted for Kerry. Thanks for reading this post.
I agree that we have to connect a few dots (but not many) in order to see what actions we need to take after seeing this movie. If you look to the extras on the DVD about the Committee Votes we see that the Democrat Senators created and voted for bills to stop the profiteering. The Republicans voted as a unit to block any effort to cut off the hemmoraging (sp?) money. Clearly with the midterm election coming up on November 7, 2006 we need to do everything we can (like get in and volunteer time and money if you have any to the Democrat campaign offices) to get Republicans out of office and Democrats in.
If Democrats retake the US Senate and House there will be a great deal of accountability for the republicans - their chickens will all come home to roost at one time. We can stop the profiteering and this unjustified and illegal war all at the same time. Plus, the Democrats are strong on supporting our soldiers and will do the utmost to get them out safely.
Meanwhile the profiteers have been filling the campaign coffers of the Republicans - so check out Bill Moyer's recent documentary on Abramoff (sp?), Tom DeLay and the Washington K St. scandals. The Republican finance and corruption is ongoing - that needs to be stopped too.
If that isn't enough to get you going I don't know what will!
Keep up the good work,
Hal N.
I have been watching the clips, reading the commentary, thinking about the genuine patriotism of the movie's makers, supporters, and more.
In considering hosting a screening, though, a few things occur to me that I'd like to see discussed. I would like a reasoned explanation for the strategy of personal distribution.
In brief:
- If I invite my "friends and neighbors," as we are asked to do, I will be showing them more of what they already know. They will not be voting for the Republican party candidates, movie or no movie. That's who my friends and neighbors are.
-If, in wishing to attract people who might need a bit of new information, who have some doubts about the current "government," who might be convinced by the movie's evidence to vote against it, I rent a place to screen the film, or I persuade a church or organization to lend me its facilities, who and what name will appear on the announcement/invitation? A known liberal organization. A church known for its liberal membership. Those are most apt to lend their space, and the kiss of death to attracting anyone but people who don't need convincing.
Am I understood? It would be another example of preaching to the choir. I do not pretend I have a better idea, and I commend everyone working in good faith on this impressive project. And, I do not wish to rain on a parade that should go on, effective in its stated mission, or not -- because in these dark times, we all need to be able to turn to right and left and see the bit of light carried by our fellow travelers, and know we can at least wring our hands together and provide comfort.
But, hope? I don't know. My mother used to become wordless and turn purple when she heard the name "Nixon." It wasn't so many years later, and I saw her go purple and wordless again at the mention of the name "Reagan." I find myself reacting the same way, now.
I do not see any force in this idea beyond an opportunity for us to share our horror and righteous indignation, and miss entirely the way we do not encounter the unconvinced (I recall the day after Reagan won, having it dawn on me that my shock at his election was outrageously naive. That I did not know anyone who voted for him did not mean he would lose. It only meant I did not share my life with not-like-minded people).
In a way this is a feel-right movie, it seems. But being right and being able to do something about the wrong, are two different things.
If I have missed something about the potential power of this film and its citizen-distributors, I would like to be corrected, so would welcome responses to my post.
Thank you.