Jul
14
So last night I watched Michael Moore’s newest offering, Capitalism, A Love Story. Before I go any further, I know what hearing Mr. Moore’s name does to people, either they say “FUCK YEAH!” or “Dirty Commie.” He is not a moderate by any means, but then, he isn’t really a left-winger either. I had been meaning to watch it, and am really glad I got around to it. If you get a chance, it streams off of Netflix, so find your closest friend with said service and exploit them.
Anyway, simply put, it was a provocative movie. Mr. Moore has never been a big fan of big business, dating back to his first movie Roger and Me, when he tried to get an interview with the then CEO of General Motors Smith, who had shut down factories in Flint, Michigan, Moore’s home town. Incidentally, GM also started there, but that’s beside the point. So I watch this movie ,and the first half is a combination of showing how good the US had it in the middle of the last century, mainly because we had bombed our main competition (Germany and Japan) into oblivion. I’m not mad about that, they were evil regimes based on racism and abuse, and had no place in the modern world. But this movie got me thinking. One major point it made was how Ronald Reagan was nothing more than a spokesman for the banks, how he was essentially elected so banking and rich people could have a better life. Keep in mind that up until the 80’s, people considered rich (figure over $250000 a year) were being taxed at 90%, and still lived like kings. This left the idea of the American Dream open for anyone, because the playing field was relatively leveled due to regulation of various industries and the existence of unions and whatnot. Reagan broke these unions, starting with the air traffic controllers and moving through to auto workers and all that jazz. Also, did you know that pilots these days make less than $30,000 a year on average? AND they fly our planes.
Anyway, Moore spent most of the movie showing how capitalism is a good thing when controlled, and then was broken when the fatcats got their guy in power. Tax cuts and the idea of “home equity” to get you to buy yourself out of your house through loans and all that are all touchstones, and Jimmy Carter giving a speech in the late 70’s about how “what you have is more important than who you are” really struck a chord with me. Now, capitalism is a good theory, but really, the fact that it has become the overarching, controlling interest in our country, is really kind of messed up. Nowhere in our Constitution, Bill of Rights, or Declaration of Independence does it say that we must be a capitalist country. The only unalienable rights are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness, nowhere does this include getting paid. Sure, people will say that they changed it from profit to happiness, but that’s what the Declaration says, so I’m sticking to it. But the basis of what Mr. Moore was saying, through the movie, was that democracy must prevail. That is the basis of the United States, right? We all get one vote, despite what Citigroup wants
We need to get back to this democracy. No longer should there be CEO’s that make 450% (on average) of what the average wage is in the United States. FDR had a great idea for a Second Bill of Rights. This has to come back, and we must be the change we want to see. Obama is a nice start, but the banks have too much power right now to do anything. And really, I don’t have an answer other than abolishing everything and starting anew. I want your feedback too. Say something, because otherwise I look like a crazy guy who wants to bring socialism and evil to our glorious nation. I am the first guy to defend America, because she’s a beautiful place that’s given us all, if nothing else, the access to a computer and the leisure time to cruise sites like this. But give me a hand here. I want to do something, but I’m one man, albeit loud, and only have one vote.
Obama said a lot about change, and hasn’t done much, because he’s beholden to certain people. That’s no reason to dog on him. He’s doing what he can, I would hope. vBut even though we have all grown up in various forms of privilege, there are people who have worked their entire lives, and I mean like 45 years (longer than most of us have even been a twinkle in our parents’ eyes) who are having their homes taken away because of predatory lending. We have poison in the gulf, we have caving in mines, we have a broken economy and broken levies, because the business came first. Read that memo from Citigroup I linked to, and remember the word PLUTONOMY. We like it here, right? America doesn’t need a savior, we need SAVIORS.
Like Jimmy Carter said, we need to move past conspicuous consumption and understand what we truely need to survive. My friend Dan is walking the Appalachian Trail, and has less than 30 pounds on him at any given time. Do we need all this stuff we have?
So I’ve lost myself, but the basis of this is understanding that the man next to you, regardless of how he smells or what he’s driving or who he is, matters just as much as you do. Don’t fuck him (or her) over because it will make you that much better. Capitalism is not the answer, democracy is. Capitalism should be a child of democracy, and not the controlling interest. Tea Partiers are against big government and so am I, but the shitty fact of it all is that that’s what is going to save us. Let me know what you think.
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