Moore on Capitalism

I headed

to the CBD after work at the beginning of the week to take in a screening of Michael Moore's latest cinematic gem, thanks to the Australian chapter of Democrats Abroad. The film, Capitalism: A Love Story, is a good one. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll furrow your brow and clench your jaw in anger. This is because, while we were all privy to the ins and outs of the money wizards and their doings last year, there are some things that we don't know. Really.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhydyxRjujU&hl=en&fs=1&]

Moore presents certain historical facts as a backdrop to the current economic state, and thus is able to produce a narrative of an economic rise and subsequent, and necessary, fall that could have been avoided. And we all know what happened. Somewhere along some line it became common practice to disregard the people's best interest. It's easier to hook a person who is in poverty. They won't fight back or raise their voices lest The Man come down with a heavy hand. Or so some might think.

There are those who remind us that, even though our voices might feel small, they can sound big. One of those voices manifests itself in films. Capitalism: A Love Story very necessarily tells the story of our current economic state. It tells us about the people that put us there and the back-room deals that have kept us there. But it also reminds us who we are. And that, if we so choose, we have a voice to use. Just like the voices the Chicago factory workers used to protest their sudden layoff without pay. The family who forced their way back into the home they had been evicted from.

One of the features of the film that resonates the most is the people and these stories. Pushed to the limits of their bank accounts, where do they turn? What must the feeling be, knowing that the people who put them in that situation were nowhere near struggling for their next meal? Moore reminds us by turning the camera on the fighters or those who are finally sick of taking it, that it's we, the people, who have the power. The power of a vote. The power of a voice. And he reminds us, though he doesn't need to, that we rocked that power last November.

Now while it'd be pretty easy to blame the banks and the last few presidents and the rich people alone, that's not entirely fair, as the film manages to point out. Was it only capitalism spun out of control? Not necessarily. Perhaps it's what capitalism breeds.

About a year ago, I edited a chapter to be submitted to a book about narcissism. We discussed some of the broader issues she raised in the chapter about narcissism, which mainly touched upon the acquisition of goods. Part of that discussion was about narcissism being some of the cause of the economic situation. Gotta have that house. Gotta show everyone that I've made it even though I can't afford it. I'll just use credit. I've done it, though I don't own property. I've got student loans I'd rather not think about and credit card debt because of careless spending when I didn't know any better. Or, rather, when I knew better but that didn't matter. I wanted the watch. And the music. And that other watch. And the clothes. Spend, spend, spend. We're all complicit in this. Unfortunately, some of that

is innocuous. The pursuit of the "American Dream" isn't illegal. Short-sighted and without merit, perhaps, but not illegal.

These are the things on my mind after having seen Moore's latest. So see it. Talk to friends about it. Argue with friends about it. And maybe now we can do a little collective learning from the past and present.