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This text is an essay by Michael Moore entitled « Why Doesn’t GM Sell Crack?”. It is taken from his political book Downsize This, published in 1996. Moore provides a mix of humour, satire and social commentary on unemployment, racism, domestic terrorism and other serious problems American citizens face today. Moore is an American writer, film producer and director. He is above all known for his documentaries films in which he denounces problems of the American society.

“Why Doesn’t GM Sell Crack?” is a satire against capitalism. Moore condemns the business world, the supremacy of profit. More precisely he denounces the consequences of downsizing on American society.

Firstly, we will outline the thesis and the argument of the author: if it's illegal for a private corporation to sell crack (a substance that ruins people's lives), then it should be equally illegal for a profitable corporation to lay off workers (which also ruins people's lives).

Secondly, we will give a commentary on the text. This comment will show the difficulties to implement Moore’s measures and will consider other alternatives to the problem of downsizing.




Moore blames businessmen for setting profit as a sovereign value. According to them, “profit is supreme”. A company does not have to worry about the social and human consequences of its activity because economics is not a matter of moral. The only purpose is to make profit for profit’s sake. A company mustlay off staff if this decision enables it to increase its profit.



Moore draws a parallel between downsizing and selling crack to emphasize the consequences of downsizing in people’s lives. Selling crack is illegal because it undermines people’s lives, it damages the community. That is why American citizens adopted laws which prohibit sale of crack.

As crack, downsizing affects the human fabric of the country. It ruins the whole society. Moreover, it turns one state or city of the country against another. That is why layoffs should be allowed only when a company is losing money. In the contrary case, i.e. when a company makes substantive profit, downsizing should be illegal.

Moore introduces five measures that United States should implement. 1) Closing a profitable factory and moving it overseas should be forbidden 2) Relocation inside the country should be prohibited. Such behaviours weaken the social cohesion because they pit one state against another. 3) A company which cannot keep its staff should be taxed entirely on its profit. 4) Executives and other staff should be treated equally. 5) Consumers and workers should have a representative in the Board of Directors.

jackspeese

This text is an essay by Michael Moore entitled « Why Doesn’t GM Sell Crack?”. It is taken from his political book Downsize This, published in 1996. Moore provides a mix of humour (il faut écrire “humor” pour les lecteurs américains), satire and social commentary on unemployment, racism, domestic terrorism and other serious problems American citizens face today. Moore is an American writer, film producer and director. He is above all known for his documentary films in which he denounces problems of American society.

“Why Doesn’t GM Sell Crack?” is a satire of capitalism. Moore condemns the business world, the supremacy of profit. More precisely, he denounces the consequences of downsizing on American society.

Firstly, we will outline the thesis and the argument of the author: if it's illegal for a private corporation to sell crack (a substance that ruins people's lives), then it should be equally illegal for a profitable corporation to lay off workers (which also ruins people's lives).

Secondly, we will give a commentary on the text. This comment will show the difficulties of implementing Moore’s measures and will consider other alternatives to the problem of downsizing.


Moore blames businessmen for setting profit as a sovereign value. According to them, “profit is supreme”. A company does not have to worry about the social and human consequences of its activity because economics is not a matter of morality. The only purpose is to make profit for profit’s sake. A company must lay off staff if this decision would enable it to increase its profit.


Moore draws a parallel between downsizing and selling crack to emphasize the consequences of downsizing in people’s lives. Selling crack is illegal because it undermines people’s lives, it damages the community. That is why American citizens adopted laws which prohibit the sale of crack.

As does the sale of crack, downsizing also affects the human fabric of the country. It ruins the whole society. Moreover, it turns one state or city in the country against another. That is why layoffs should be allowed only when a company is losing money. In the other case, i.e. when a company makes substantial profit, downsizing should be illegal.

Moore introduces five measures that United States should implement. 1) Closing a profitable factory and moving it overseas should be forbidden 2) Relocation inside the country should be prohibited. Such behaviours (behavior pour les lecteurs américains) weaken the social cohesion because they pit one state against another. 3) A company that cannot keep its staff should be taxed entirely on its profit. 4) Executives and other staff should be treated equally. 5) Consumers and workers should have a representative on the Board of Directors.