SC steve colbert (late show dated 17 December 2015
MM Michael Moores
This film where to invade next is all solutions, its like you walk out of the film going oh thats what we need to do
SC please welcome oscar winning director michael moore .. good to see you though i am guessing not everyone feels that way when they see you heading towards them with a camera
MM-that is sadly true , there's nothing to worry about, i am non-violent, i am just here for the truth
SC that's all - you are just here to set them free in other words ..your new movie - "where to invade next" seems more hopeful than your other movies -please explain
MM it is hopeful because i have been thinking we have spent the last decade and a half invading other countries and it didnt work out too well, ...so what if we started invading countries and didnt kill anybody, didnt want their oil, we just wanted some good ideas..i thought why dont i invade italy - why doesnt pentagon just go to travel agency and pick better places to go to for the troops such as south of france. tuscany ...
MM I go to most of Europe and bits of africa ...so I go italy where you have 7 to 8 weeks paid vacation, for every worker,,, I go to germany where all university is free . americans can come to germany universities for entirely free
SC i assume you have to spekenzie deutch ?
MM NOO! in countries like slovenia they have 100 course studies that are taught entirely in english -you can come here go to university for frree and take all your classes in english
SC how do they pay for this? because europe has enormous debt in their countries
MM they put their money into education and their people - they think it is a public good for their students to be able to have experiences with students from other countries - so they have a more diverse experience if there are young people from the united states, mexico, argentina whatever they have a better education having these other students there
SC you dont seem angry in this film - you dont seem to be holding anyones feet to the fire - are you losing your edge?
MM ha ha good question
SC you seem astonished at times
MM Yes i feel astonished when I am standing there with this italian couplle telling me that it is the law that when they get married their honeymoon is a paid vacation,,, in these other countries it is so crazy they set things up to take care of their people
but they only spend a few per cent on their military whereas we spend up to 60% on our military
SC i am going to stand up for US military spending - the europeans can have a low military budget because we have an enormous military budget- they are under the aegis of american military protection
MM i think they think what protects them is an educated population, people that are well
taken care of , mothers get paid maternity leave for up to a year
SC they have big trouble over there : they have racism, economic troubles, they dont treat their immigrants very well
MM I say that in the movie but I am there to pick the flowers not the weeds.. i mean if a documentary film maker from austria came here to make a documentary on the genius of the apple iphone or silicon valley you wouldnt say to him how come you havent pointed out there have been 300 mass shootings just this yearl whats thats got to do with the iphone?--so its kind of like yes they have their problems but I am there to shop you how they have taken actually a lot of originally american ideas and they treat their people better ..they have even ended the war on drugs in Portugal ?
SC actually we have a clip on that - this astonished me and you seem gobsmacked too talking 2 policemen in portugal on the decriminalisation of all drugs
MM its my understanding you dont arrest people fir using driugs any more
policemen- no
MM heroin, pot, meths .. nothing - if i told you i have cocaine in my pocket - you wouldnt do anything
poliicemen no
SC so whats it meant for portungal? whats the fallout been socially?
MM what it means is that they havent arrested a single person for possession of drugs in the last 15 years ... and the drug problem has gone down, drug related crime has gone down
its had this incredible impact - you (SC( interviewed a general recently where he said we have to resolve this problem because we have locked up too many people,, and then they cant vote in this country-- in europe after you have been to prison you can vote- while in the usa in 35 states once you have been to prison you cant vote,,, and that means in states like florida one third of all black men cannot vote EVER
SC seems like you have got your edge back a little bit.. the reason I ask is: do you think this film where to invade next is a liberal film or conservative film or ...
MM I dont care, really, if they come great
SC who do you want to see your movie?
MM I want the american people to see this - first i would call it liberal or conseravtive , i call it comedy I have made a satire its a film about the untied states but i dont shoot an single frame in the united states its all shot in other countries to show things they have that we could have
SC You were out by Trump Tower yesterday with a poster saying we're all muslims = you are saying that campaigns that are based on fear and divisiveness need to come to an end..
MM they are so unnerved and unhinged by the fact that we have had 2 terms of a president whose middle name is Hossain, gay people can get married now, states are decriminalizing marujuana- i mean this is the direction the country is going
SC can i defend the appeal of Donald Trump, although i may not agree with what Donald Trump says, but i can defend the appeal of the way he says it because so often we look at the problems of our country and people say what is it we can do? and people throw up their hands?...at least Donald says here's something we can do ... it may be a dumb idea, an unconstitutional idea, it may be a pure business idea not based on rights and liberty -- but it is an idea, an answer, people want an answer- are there answers in this film that we havent thought of?
MM YES this film is all answers, like no problems all solutions, its like you walk out of the film going oh thats what we need to do
SC well i cant wait to see it ...where to invade next opens ny and los angeles for few days on dec 23 and then nation wide in february