Capitalism: A Review

Today I went to see the latest production by filmmaker Michael Moore called "Capitalism: A Love Story" This is the first Moore film I have seen in its entirety. Honestly, I've never been interested in his movies because he struck me as just some slob who complains too much. Notice I refrained from using the word "fat" because, being overweight myself, I'm not one to cast stones. But for some reason this movie struck me as different because of what people have been saying about it. So I figured it was worth seeing. And I wasn't disappointed. Moore is much more talented as a filmmaker than I thought, and the subject matter he chose is fascinating to look at because it has touched the lives of so many people.

As I see it, the basic premise of the movie is: the USA is run by huge financial corporations that have politicians (from BOTH parties) in their back pockets and judges paid off, capitalism is the means by which they can legally accomplish their goals and rob people blind, and that we are in fact living in a plutocracy, which is basically rule by the wealthy. George Carlin called it "the Big Club", and you ain't in it.

Have you ever heard of "Dead Peasant Insurance"? Neither have I, until I saw this movie. It's appalling, and one can even question its moral legitimacy. They are corporate-owned life insurance policies purchased on their rank-and-file employees. When an employee dies, the corporation collects. What this means is that the corporation has a vested interest in the death of its workers! An example from the film that stood out is a small town Wal-Mart cake decorator. She was a severe asthmatic and had a fatal attack one evening. The corporation collected $87,000 on the "dead peasant". Her husband and two children got...nothing from Wal-Mart. Be sure to check the link above, and look for the link that will give you a list of corporations that have taken out life insurance policies on their employees. Your company might be one of them. If it is, I suggest you get a lawyer.

The movie had a religious dimension as well, something that resonates with me. Moore showed old documentary footage that said that capitalism is in accordance with God's law, making it sound like capitalism is ordered by God himself. That's debatable. Moore pointed out that Jesus didn't lead a hedge fund or exchange stock. No, he didn't. Truth be known, the Bible can be used to legitimize ANY economic system. But as I see it, there are no Biblically-mandated systems of economics. However, greed and taking advantage of the poor are constantly denounced by the prophetic tradition and by Jesus himself. Jesus owned no property, had no house, and lived off of the generosity of the people of the villages he visited. He was itinerant, preaching and healing in the lonely places, a name given to the camps of the sick and destitute-- camps that were located outside of the villages. Bethany was one such place, the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. It was a slum and is to this day.

Moore believes that financial institutions are getting away with murder, and capitalism is enabling them to do it. Congress is in on the act, as well as the President. Of course, the blame was put on George W. Bush because of the backroom bailout plan of the banks crafted by his Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, who was CEO of... Goldman Sachs (ding ding!!). But hold the phone!! There was a second Wall Street bailout, crafted by current Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, former president of... Federal Reserve Bank of New York (ding ding!!). Moore pointed this out, but did not place any blame on Barack Obama. Double standard, yes?

The mantra throughout the movie was "Capitalism is evil". I wouldn't say that. I would say that capitalism, like any other economic system, can be used by greedy people as a vehicle to amass wealth for themselves at the expense of others. The final scene of the movie showed Moore wrapping yellow crime scene tape in front of the New York Stock Exchange building on Wall Street. If he really wanted to be consistent, however, he would have done the same thing at the White House and the Capitol building. Of course he could never do that and embarrass his favorite President. But there can be no doubt that it's Wall Street that's pulling the strings of their puppet politicians and law enforcement officials.

Overall, it was an enjoyable movie. Entertaining, funny at times, bitingly sarcastic, it kept my attention. Much of it was convincing enough; parts of it were a bit of a stretch. I know that there are always two sides (and maybe more) to a story. I'm curious to see the impact of this film. As a Milwaukee newspaper film critic said (paraphrasing), "It's a movie that even Fox News viewers will enjoy." And I would include the Tea Party-Goers as well!

Oh, and speaking of Tea Party-Goers, I understand their anger at our current array of politicians. But they ought to make sure they direct some of that anger at Wall Street as well. I haven't seen any, but in all fairness, I might have missed it. The media outlets only show the anti-Obama signs, some of which also contain pictures of a bucket of KFC, a slab of ribs, and a slice of watermelon (there aren't any racist stereotypes coming from these people, are there?). Let's see to it that the "credit" goes where it is due-- Washington D.C. AND Wall Street.

In this spirit, may I recommend a book? It's called Life, Inc.: How The World Became a Corporation and How to Take It Back by Douglas Rushkoff. It isn't just politicians who dance to corporate strings leading up to ivory towers. We do too!! Perhaps Moore didn't go far enough?