Capitalism: A Love Story

This movie is absolutely wonderful. It is funny from the beginning to the end, yet "delightfully serious" at the same time (note the paradox). It is very unfortunate that this movie did not get the acclaim that it should have. More people should see it. It opens our minds and our hearts to the fact that capitalism is at the bottom of all this. Right in front of our eyes "capitalism" says that profit is more important than human need. How could this be? Is it more important for someone to make a profit or to give a needed operation to a sick child? Moore's attention to fundamental Judaic-Christian-Islamic values ultimately, that emphasize duties to one another and to "do things to the least of these" is noteworthy and refreshing. It is as if such fundamental spiritual wisdom has become lost. How unfortunate! It is a very moving film, especially toward the end when he has President Roosevelt give his famous Four Freedoms speech. In the mid 20th century, the US was such a moral leader. What happened? The movie could have been enhanced if Mr. Moore then spoke about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which to a large degree is a legacy of Roosevelt's Four Freedoms. The Universal Declaration, which includes rights to worship, rights to work, health care, adequate shelter, and security in old age, is now increasingly referred to as customary international law, which all nations must abide. In any event, this movie will definitely give us something to think about.

The short list of what can be considered documentary film classics has yet another wonderful addition by legendary filmmaker Michael Moore. It is a visual spanning of the history of corporate influence over our political leaders and how this has poisoned the entire establishment nearly beyond repair. I will never forget the segment of a presidential speech, showed roughly around the beginning of this film, of a man standing behind president Reagan who leans in and says angrily in his ear: "HURRY IT UP; WE DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!" The camera then freezes on Reagan's shocked face as the narrator simply asks, "Who speaks to the president like this?" It graphically shows you how much influence is measured by the corporations over our political leaders. This film in particular strikes higher notes than Moore's previous films in that it takes you back to the roots of earlier documentaries and brings out more ample and articulate forms of evidence in support of the general thesis. Capitalism: A Love Story seeks to expose the corruption of our varied form of greedy Capitalism, and to replace it with a more democratized base system, typically referred to as Leftist-Libertarianism or Libertarian-Socialism.

People in the United States generally speak of Socialism as something awful, pointing to Russia and China as examples of the dangers of far leftist thought. But if they would simply take the time to read into some of their literature of political theory, they would realize that there are branches within the movement which are infinitely distinct from those totalitarian nations. It is a category mistake to assume that socialism entails totalitarianism, as if what you see in Russia and China were totally across the board. To any of you interested in getting a thorough education on this subject, I would recommend you checking out the following books: Anarchism: From Theory to Practice Chomsky on Anarchism

Let me take the moment to give you TWO THINGS about this movie that made me take TWO STARS away from the five-star review it could of received...but first, let me make a disclaimer about Mr. Moore:

The last time I considered myself a "liberal" was for about a semester in college when I was interning under a "liberal" professor. Prior to that I was always conservative-minded...and pretty much still am, every college student goes through some sort of liberal phase. That being said, I think Michael Moore has always made great movies. Even though I don't agree with gun control, universal health care, or socialism, I still feel his films have provided an education on government and corporate corruption that a mass audience can enjoy while being enlightened. Moore's solutions are always a little too idealistic for my tastes, but I'm glad he has been there for 20+ years to be an agent of critical thinking to the general public.

That being said, here is what I DISLIKED about "Capitalism: A Love Story". (I am not going to talk about what I liked or agreed with in the film, because that was pretty much everything except for what I am about to mention).

First, I take a star away because this film seems to try to be anti-capitalism when it's real target is NOT capitalism but corruption WITHIN capitalism. Wal-Mart taking out life insurance policies on employees, privatized penal systems, and job-loss due to outsourcing are not default results of capitalism. These are examples of the greed and violation that occurs when capitalism leads to single entities having too much power. However, if it were not for capitalism, well, lets just say Michael Moore might have to show his movies after midnight in very private places to very select audiences.

Next, and this is the BIGGEST flaw of "Capitalism", I take a star away because of the severe [...]that Barrack Obama gets in the last third of this movie. I am not sure what the future holds for President Obama's legacy, but I do know that it is absolutely ludicrous to call a guy a saint before he has done a single thing. Also, take a look at guys like Paulson and Geitner...they still have jobs under Obama, don't they? In fact, aren't they more powerful under Obama? Read the news, day after day you'll see that Mr. Obama is putting more and more power in the hands of Wall Street cronies and the Federal Reserve.

I feel that Michael Moore is terribly mistaken in putting so much trust into the man who would be president. The reality is that Barrack Obama and the Democratic party are a different face to the same beast that employed George Bush and Bill Clinton. Powerful bankers, corrupt judges, lobbyists, greedy globalists...the presidents have carried out the bidding of these schmuck's since Kennedy was assassinated. Obama is no savior to the ailments of capitalism, he is just another sap who sold his soul to the evil machine.