Michael Moore Idiot Nation Summary

In the essay “Idiot Nation”, Michael Moore employs his informal style to express his views on the education system in America and how we as a nation are ‘dummying down.’ He directs readers to contemplate how they utilize their mental energy and capacity. He also displays how the nation essentially is fostering this lack of knowledge and educational advancement. He seems to be making the point that we as a nation are not utilizing our brains as we should. We are less informed and less intelligent than many other nations. He is embarrassed and believes we as a nation should be embarrassed as well. He writes that the American people need to discover truths by themselves and that people need to grow their knowledge with imperative information …show more content…
At times he is direct - calling the President/Republicans idiots, etc. Other times his is more covert - more bombers over education. When he is directly Republican bashing, it turns into an all-out blood bath of insults. It is obvious when he blows up on the George W. Bush administration, and when more specifically Bush himself. When he decides to be covert, it is like sliding a small knife in between a person’s ribs. When he is covert it is a surprise that the Republicans have elected members to high ranking positions who by appearance know nothing about the job that they must commit to. Also he criticizes the Republican view for their focus on corporations/big business at the expense of education and the general population in the middle and lower class. The Republicans from his view are very intent on trickling down the money from the top (corporations) to the bottom (schools and the poor). With the state of the nation we are in, the schooling system is going down the toilet because the Republicans make the decision that a new bomber is more important than increasing educational funds. These are the same politicians that harper about how bad the schooling system is, but they will not give the schools anymore funding than the minimum budget they have. He has a strictly negative view of corporations' influences on kids in schools yet, he chooses to leave out how corporate support does bring goods …show more content…
He uses numbers to grab the readers' attention, to shock, to appall, to move the reader to a greater awareness of his view/belief. A fantastic example of when he places facts to emphasize his point is when he is writing about illiteracy and hits the readers with three shocking facts in a row. He wrote about that people do not really read the newspaper anymore, they spend way more time watching television, and that there are people who can’t read or write above a fourth grade level. These facts all show the trend where America is headed with their dependence on the television for their sole source of entertainment. Those facts just drive home the point that America cannot get any smarter if people waste their lives away watching television instead of advancing themselves in some way intellectually. He hopes to persuade the reader with the facts and figures, as well as with the Expert Opinions. If all of his jaw dropping facts cannot convince the readers to see his view, he employs the use of quoting experts, whether in context or not to sway the readers to see his side. This is a powerful tool in this essay because if readers are on the fence about what to believe, the use of expert opinions may be enough to tip the scales towards his