Fahrenheit 11/9 was a bad movie. It didn’t get anywhere near my list of best anti-capitalist movies or my list of best recent movies. Despite its messiness, Michael Moore almost pulled it together at the end with a thoughtful monologue on the state of American politics in 2018. Almost. He interrupted the monologue for a disastrous non-sequitur: some loud-ass sirens and a message from Emma González on gun control. Whatever point Moore had been making was completely lost.
In its own way, this represents the role gun control plays in American politics. Compared to, say, health care, immigration, or climate change, it’s not an important issue. And hardly anyone bases their vote on it. However, it pops up at strange or suspicious times, such as when Hillary Clinton used it to pretend she’s politically to the left of Bernie Sanders.
But Democrats toss out big ideas on some of those other issues. Could they do the same for gun control? You know, like a ‘Green New Deal’ for gun control? German Lopez advocated for this idea in a recent Vox article. Let’s find out.
