Rating: 
Summary: Doing his part to [upset] the wingnuts
Review: This book is hilarious. I particularly like the chapter where he tries to get Bob Dornan commited, a riot. This book is a bit dated by now, but most of it still applies, unfortunately. His writing on corporate welfare and the way our government gives out 'payoffs for layoffs' to rich corporations is on point. Nothing has changed.Moore sticks it to democrats and republicans in this book, (he opts for the term "republicrats") but his brand of humor and truth really seems to get on conservatives' last nerve. ...which is all the better. You can see some of their silly reactionary replies here. Like Ryan Setliff from Lynchburg, VA who titles his review "For those who think a Job is a Right." He says: "They hold to a Marxist view that a job and economic security is an inherent right." Well, what's so humorous about this is not only the idea that Ryan would seemingly rather live in a country where the people can't get jobs and are economically insecure, but that it turns out that a job and economic security *ARE* actually basic and fundamental human rights. Under the leadership of Eleanor Roosevelt, The "Universal Declaration of Human Rights" was adopted by the United Nations in 1948 and ratified by the United States. This document is basically the standard on which basic human rights are measured throughout the world, and it declares what we as individuals, and our governments, shall strive for in the modern world. Let's take a look at Article 23 of the UDHR shall we?: (1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment. (2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work. (3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection. (4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests. Well, it seems that "Everyone has the right to work". :-D
Ryan is obviously full of [it]. The right to a job and economic security *ARE* in fact basic human rights, as is the right to organize in unions. Now, let's look at Article 25...: (1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control. (2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection. Man, Ryan's probably boiling while reading this. ...but I bet he'd kill or mame to protect this one: Article 17:
(1) Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as in association with others. Yep, those others are all [garbage], but this one is right on. Nobody better touch my stuff! ...I read the book I laughed. I read these spastic sputtering reviews, I laughed again. Do the same! Josh
Rating: 
Summary: Good but not Michael Moore's best
Review: Downsize This! is a good read, however I didn't enjoy it as much as I enjoyed Roger & Me (yes, book vs. film, apples and oranges) or Stupid White Men. Michael tells the truth and it hurts sometimes. His hyperbole and anger in this book made me uncomfortable at times. I have learned from Michael's email bulletins that when his rhetoric is most painful I am likely misinterpreting satire for venom. It was helpful to remind myself of this at times when reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: A very entertaining read.
Review: I use to be a Republican until I read Downsize this. I never realized how corrupt my party was. At first I was skeptical; "Great, another left-wing liberal". But when you open it up and begin to read your jaw drops. I spent the whole day online to see if what Michael Moore was saying was true, and to my horror it was true. I learned that both party's were corrupt, and you will to if you read this book. Check out his films "Roger & Me", and "The Big One". They will astonish
Rating:
Summary: A very entertaining read.
Review: I used to be a Republican until I read Downsize this. I never realized how corrupt my party was. At first I was skeptical; "Great, another left-wing liberal". But when you open it up and begin to read your jaw drops. I spent the whole day online to see if what Michael Moore was saying was true, and to my horror it was true. I learned that both party's were corrupt, and you will to if you read this book. Check out his films "Roger & Me", and "The Big One". They will astonish
Rating:
Summary: Michael Moore is as American as you can get!
Review: pa·tri·ot·ic (ptr-tk) adj. --- Feeling, expressing, or inspired by love for one's country. source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition - Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Look it up in any dictionary and you will get a similar definition. Notice it doesn't say anything about staying silent and never openly showing dissent towards your government. That's because our country was founded on the belief that we have the freedom of expression along with other freedoms... Anyway, for those who actually want to READ the book, here are some of my thoughts on it. Michael Moore, for those unfamiliar, is a one of todays most outspoken mainstream progressives. A die-hard supporter of Nader and the Green party, Moore is most well known for TV Nation and the indie movie "Roger and Me." In "Downsize This," Moore takes on the both Democrats and Republicans in hilarious essays that will make you laugh while you growing angry. He also takes on that bane of Democracy: Large, rich corporations. The best essay in the book is "Would Pat Buchanan Take a Check From Satan?" In it, Moore takes an old political trick from Buchanan's days with Nixon and uses it against Mr. Buchanan. According to Moore, Buchanan cashed checks from "The John Wayne Gacy Fan Club," (famous serial killer) and "Abortionists for Buchanan." Pat still hasn't cashed the Satan one yet. Look for Moore's new book - "Stupid White Men...." It was nearly banned and destroyed because he dared criticize the President.
Rating:
Summary: Gave me the giggles...
Review: Satire is really a lost art form, but Michael Moore revives it with this book. My wife gave me this book for my birthday last year. I had such a great time reading this book. He really does a great job skewering the people who deserve it and does an even better job of showing how the actions of corporate America affect the little guy (like me!). I'm really looking forward to his next book.
Rating: 
Summary: Moore Is Un-American
Review: Michael Moore is anti-America. HE HATES THIS COUNTRY! DON'T READ HIS ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA. If he likes being a communist so much why doesn't he go and live in Russia.
Rating:
Summary: Flat Out Hilarious
Review: Michael Moore is the man! And if you haven't figured that out yet, go rent Roger and Me, watch it, then read this book. Less heartbreaking and depressing than the movie, Downsize This is a powerful hodgepodge of knee-slapping anecdotes which you just hope every crooked CEO will be forced to read.
Rating:
Summary: Just to help fix the sillly 1 star reviews
Review: Andy Rooney said it - "The only thing wrong with socialism is that it doesn't work. The only thing right about capitalism is that it does". Michael Moore tries to make sense of this problem in this witty book. Right-wingers will hate it because he makes them out to be the careless jerks they are.
Rating:
Summary: For those who think a Job is a Right...
Review: This is more of the same pro-union, left-wing musings from people who have no basic grasp of macroeconomics. They think we can legislate and tax ourselves into prosperity. They hold to a Marxist view that a job and economic security is an inherent right. While the author is vehemently opposed to corporate efforts at organizing the law for the purposes of "legal plunder," he is all to willing to support such an effort if it is to the benefit of the labor unions and the "oppressed working class." If you want to put corporate welfare in its proper perspective, read "Business and the Fight for a Free Society," by Theodore J. Forstmann and Edward H. Crane, from the Cato Institute, which is available online. It explains why so many businesses are statists these days...
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