Father Dick Preston of Flint, Michigan, is interviewed and he tells us in no uncertain terms that capitalism is wrong and should be eliminated: “Capitalism is a sin.” Wanting a second opinion, Moore interviewed another priest who declared that capitalism is “immoral… obscene… radical evil.”
Moore also offers examples of companies that are run democratically, where the CEO is taking home as much money as the person on the assembly line (and they’re making three or four times more than airline pilots). According to Moore, work in America is like a well established dictatorship. Most workers I know would agree. Although Capitalism: A Love Story condemns capitalism, its real message seems to be “we get what we settle for.” If enough of us little people put ourselves on the line in a fight for fairness, the big bullies are going to lose. He makes the point that the top 1% of Americans have more assets than the bottom 95%, but they only have 1% of the vote, while the rest of us have the other 99%. Pretty cool, huh? You and your best friend can outvote Bill Gates. Moore also presents incidents where people successfully fought back against banks and corporations, encouragement for us all.
Capitalism: A Love Story has a number of special features: “Sorry, House-Flippers and Banks—You’re Toast in Flint, MI,” “Congressman Cummings Dares to Speak the Unspeakable” (maybe capitalism is a bad thing), “NY Time Pulitzer Prize Winner Chris Hedges on the Killing Machine Known as Capitalism,” “The Rich Don’t Go to Heaven (There’s a Special Place Reserved for Them!)” (more conversation with Father Preston), and “What If, Just If, We Had Listened to Jimmy Carter in 1979?” (a July 15, 1979, Presidential address).
Bottom Line: Would I buy/rent Capitalism: A Love Story? Yes. It’s not completely objective, but it is entertaining and gives us something to think about other than a new car or iPod.
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