The Big One Page #8

and they're doing 20 to life.

And what do you think

they're getting paid?

Virtually nothing.

Why don't we just close down

all the factories...

throw everyone out of work,

right?

A number of them

will obviously turn to crime...

because they'll be unemployed.

We can then ship them

back into the factory...

which can now be a prison...

and they can do their old job,

which they're trained to do...

and get paid

two dollars an hour...

and the company can make

a huge profit.

What a great idea! Huh?

Then the Dow can hit 10,000.

MOORE:
Yeah!

MAN:
But, you know,

it's kind of a new generation...

of media guides

coming in now, and...

MOORE:
Could we change

the name to media guide...

or something,

but not escort?

- Literary gigolo?

- Yeah. Ha ha!

MOORE:
Minneapolis is

the headquarters for Pillsbury,

which has been

using federal funds...

to send their doughboy

to the Third World.

[Speaking Spanish]

Pillsbury Doughboy!

[Speaking Spanish]

[Giggles]

MOORE:
This escort

would be the first...

to join me

as a partner in crime.

OK, now, one side of it

is coming up here on the left.

This is probably gonna be

our easiest way to approach it.

MOORE:
Huh?

- Hi, how you doing?

- You wanna shut that off?

- What's wrong?

- You wanna shut it off?

- Yeah, shut it off.

- What are you doing?

We'd like to talk to

the public relations woman.

You don't be taking film

through this building.

You have to have permission

from the building...

before you can do

anything in here.

All we want to ask is about

Pillsbury and $11 million...

GUARD:
I don't care.

Come with me.

All right.

Can we film out here?

MOORE:
I was allowed to ask

the chairman one question...

as long as I wrote it

on a yellow Post-It note.

OK, so here's the question:

"Why does Pillsbury need...

"$11 million in welfare

for the Doughboy?"

GUARD:
All right. What you

should do this afternoon...

is check in here and

they'll have some information.

- But I'll call. 330-5103.

- Yeah.

MOORE:
I left Pillsbury

confident they would take...

this Post-It note

to their leader...

and convince him to stop

accepting welfare checks...

You know I'm standing

at the station

Ready to go

Oh, big, old air-o-plane

I'm trusting you so

Get on up, big bird,

to my baby's love

Get on up, big bird,

to my baby's love

- Get on up

- Babe

- 'Cause I got to make it

- Babe

- Just get on up

- Babe

- 'Cause I got to make it

- Babe

Get on up

Michael Moore? Diane Mitchell

from Chicago Media.

MOORE:
Oh, hi.

Are you the new escort?

- Yes, I am.

- How you doin'?

Fine. How 'bout you?

They're ready for you.

They are? OK. All right.

Thanks for being here.

My pleasure, believe me.

Michael is like a floor sample

of what we can all be.

He's a wonderful

floor sample...

and he gives us courage,

you know?

And he says, you know...

"We can make a difference.

Each one of us can.

"And all we have to do

is stand up and stand together."

We're gonna roll

right over him

We're gonna roll

the union on

TERKEL:
One more. One more.

We're gonna roll

we're gonna roll

We're gonna roll

the union on

One more verse.

We're gonna roll

we're gonna roll

We're gonna roll

the union on

Hearing that song

of the Thirties...

of the Flint

sit-down strike...

of labor, the CIO...

I'm seated

next to Michael Moore.

Now, many of you

know who Michael Moore is.

And Michael Moore's new book

is called "Downsize This!

"Random Threats

from an Unarmed American."

And so,

just hearing this passage...

from this old Labor song

of the Thirties...

what thought

comes to your mind immediately?

I think of

my uncle Laverne, actually...

who was in that sit-down strike

60 years ago this winter, Studs.

And I think about, you know...

how all of us

gained from that...

and all other labor actions

that came after that.

How the standard of living,

how our health care...

social security, child labor...

All these things came

as a result of the struggle...

that those people

participated in.

And if they could see

what's going on now...

[Scoffs]

We come to the big subject.

We hear the phrase today...

"Since the evil empire

is gone...

"we have a new enemy

called terrorists."

And so you have a picture...

at the beginning of this book,

"Downsize This!"

Two photographs.

"What is terrorism?"

And it's almost... two photographs

almost identical.

Destroyed buildings.

The first one's

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma...

1995, after the bombing.

Down below...

Flint, Michigan, 1996.

And you can hardly tell

the difference.

They're two pieces

of destruction.

So the question is,

"What is terrorism?"

Well, obviously,

if you park a Ryder truck...

in front of a building

filled with explosives...

and blow up that building

and kill 168 people...

that's an act of terrorism.

There's no question about that.

But what do you call it,

Studs...

when you politely remove

the people...

from the building first

and then blow it up?

But in the ensuing years...

the people that used to work

in that building...

because their livelihood

has been stripped from them...

the people

that used work there...

a number of them will die.

They'll die from suicide.

They'll die from spousal abuse.

They'll die from

drugs and alcoholism.

All the social problems

that surround people...

when they become unemployed.

Those people are just as dead as

the people in Oklahoma City...

but we don't call the actions

of the company terrorism, do we?

We don't call

the company a murderer.

But I do consider this

an act of economic terrorism...

when at a time

you're making a record profit...

you would throw people

out of work...

just so you can

make a little bit more.

MOORE:
Back when

we were in Centralia...

we had promised

the workers at PayDay...

that when we got to Chicago,

we'd pay their owners a visit.

[Whistling]

I'll write it in for you.

OK.

We're just supposed

to take this...

to the chairman's office...

surprise.

You'd better check

with that girl in there...

- before you go anywhere.

- OK.

WOMAN:
Jim, they're not allowed

in here. Get them out.

MOORE:
Surprise.

It's PayDay, Friday.

MAN:
Wait a minute.

MOORE:
I got a check here for

65 cents to buy the last PayDay.

MAN:
But who said you guys

could come in here?

- We did.

- Who is Michael Moore?

That's me. I'm Michael Moore.

- Are you security?

- Yeah.

- Huh?

- Outside.

MOORE:
What?

We can't wait in here?

- No.

- No. Outside.

Oh, OK. All right.

WOMAN:
If you don't,

we'll call the police.

- Call the police?

- Yeah.

MAN:
You need to call

the police.

- You can just go outside.

- I'm bringing a present.

MAN:
Leave your present

outside the door.

You wanna get outside

the door, please? Huh?

Are they gonna call up?

GUARD:
They already did call.

You're not allowed in here.

Outside.

MAN:
Yeah, take him outside

the door and wait there.

MOORE:
All we wanted...

MAN:
The boss is coming

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes