Where to Invade Next

Not as hard-hitting as some of Michael Moore's other documentaries, Where to Invade Next still reverberates with conscientious humble social democratic charm, as he invades Europe and Tunisia in search of reforms to bring back home.

He makes it clear early on that he's looking for flowers, not weeds, so the film generally overlooks postmodern day European civil unrest, to its advantage, its progressive assemblage of socioeconomic, sociopolitical, and sociocultural innovations blossoming within the cheeky comedic collage, modest comparisons with corresponding realities in the U.S understated in their unsettling disparities.

Some of the bewildering institutional civilities he shares include the lunch breaks and vacation times enjoyed by many Italian workers, the healthy options available daily at an average school cafeteria in France, conversations with the thrivingly productive German middle-class, interviews with facilitators of learning in Finland who have managed to create the world's no.1 educational system by eliminating homework, the accessibility of Slovenian higher education, differing attitudes regarding the treatment of convicts in Norway, the decriminalization of marijuana in Portugal, and the ways in which women are making significant and progressive impacts in Iceland and Tunisia.

He points out how Iceland prosecuted members of its financial sector after the 2008 crisis.

How the elimination of private schools brings people together throughout life by encouraging the growth of friendships between persons from different economic backgrounds by having them attend school with one another where they playfully learn that they're really not that different from an early age.

How the only financial institution in Iceland to survive the economic crisis was run by women.

How Italian managers and owners don't mind paying their workers more because they care about the health and quality of their lives.

How German workers often make up significant portions of German boards of directors because their culture recognizes the impacts workers make and genuinely respects them as a humanistic economic competence.

How Norway took the punishment out of its rehabilitation centres (prisons) to teach its inmates how to live a respectable life rather than resolutely humiliating them for living a problematic one.

After viewing a film about rehabilitative techniques years ago, and trying to understand why a culture wouldn't punish violent criminals severely, it occurred to me that if you live a desperate life, surrounded by desperate people who can't find good jobs and have been scraping by living meagre paycheque to paycheque for years, pissed-off because they never get anywhere, filled with anger, while watching images of how wonderful it is to be wealthy on television and in films regularly, that violence becomes normal, that if you've never known calm or respect of friendship and you have to push back all the time to avoid being abused, then a criminal justice system that serves to punish you severely if your actions become criminal only serves to replicate the miserable situation you were pushing back against to begin with, replaying the role of the oppressor, and one which suddenly treats you with respect, teaches you to be calm, respectful, and to make friends, does a better job at preparing you to be civil, a break from the ubiquitous bedlam, especially if society doesn't dismissively exclude you after your release.

And takes steps to reduce the poverty that creates such desperation by sincerely caring for its fellow citizens as part of its civil responsibilities.

One of my favourite features from Where to Invade Next is Moore's interview style, his questions, where he warmly asks various people from different countries where their cultures came up with the ideas for their reforms and they continuously answer, the United States of America.

The United States is therefore making Europe and Tunisia much nicer places to live, where people aren't excluded for having a conscience and can enjoy a productive work/life balance.

Perhaps it's time, as Moore consistently suggests, to bring some of these ideas back home?

Donald Trump will not bring these ideas home; it's superhighly doubtful anyways.

His public persona has been crafted by firing people, he's openly racist, has no political experience, and reacts abrasively to criticism.

Is this the person you want controlling the world's largest military?

No, no it is not.

Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders will also fight ISIL and make terrorists pay.

They'll also likely take steps to truly make the United States the greatest country in the world again, the country Michael Moore hopes it can be, a great country for someone from any cultural background, a great country, for everyone.

You shouldn't have to be excessively wealthy to have a voice, to take a vacation, to speak freely, if you live in a democratic country that values human rights.

Thinking as in individual is important. It's important to develop your own specific way of living to gain inner-strength and learn to confidently express yourself.

But thinking as a member of a group is important as well. If you truly want reform, if you want to bring the things Michael Moore presents in Where to Invade Next back home to the United States, you need to think collectively and take collective action.

A collective composed of strong individuals can achieve great things with someone like Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders at the helm.

High-paying jobs and 40 hour work weeks are not bad things. Having more time to spend with your family is not a bad thing. Vacation time to relax during the Summer is wonderful. Atmospheres of mutual respect promote well-being.

In the greatest country in the world, these things should be omnipresent, these things, should be everywhere, not simply reserved for an exclusive elite, some of whom oddly don't care about the plight of their fellow citizens, but readily available for each and every American.

Why not seek to enjoy your life outside of work, even at work, when a working day isn't that serious?

Why be at each other's throats constantly?

That's no way to individually live.

That's no way to collectively progress.

You do have to work hard at work, your company has to turn a profit.

But when 95% of that profit is shared with 4% of the workforce, that's odd.

Especially as the cost of living increases.

Love Michael Moore's films; hope we don't have to wait 6 years for the next one.

He really does care you know.

As do Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.