Capitalism A Love Story

Capitalism A Love Story is an unrelenting attack on the monstrous institution that has brought the world to its knees for the benefit of a plutonomy. In his typical provocative fashion, director Michael Moore details the history of capitalism, exposes its flaws and examines the recent financial crisis.

The documentary film begins with an advisory that it may not be suitable for people with weak hearts and that children must be accompanied by adults. It is then followed by a comparison of the US and the mighty - and fallen – Roman Empire, setting the tone nicely for the next two hours.

Moore shows the footage of a family who could not pay their mortgage loan, barricading themselves in their own house while the authorities smash their door down to evict them. A real estate dealer describes how he makes profits off the people losing their homes and says smugly that the difference between him and a vulture is that ‘he does not vomit on himself.’

Having gotten Catholic priests to condemn the evils of capitalism, Moore produces what is for me, the most hilarious part in the film. In ‘What would Jesus do?’, a dying man is brought to Jesus, only to be told by the Messiah that ‘I cannot heal him’. As the crowd looks on in stunned disbelief, Jesus explains, ‘You have a preexisting condition.’ A sly dig at the insurance companies in the US, and brilliantly executed.

In ultra-entrepreneurial America, you can securitize anything, and this is aptly illustrated with something called the ‘Dead Peasants’ insurance. Companies are free to take insurance policies on their employees without their consent. In short, an employee is of more value to his company dead than alive. Only a heartless capitalist i.e., Wall Street banker, would not be moved as two bereaved families recount how they could not get their departed loved ones’ companies to pay even a single cent to cover the outstanding medical bills and funeral fees.

Moore’s next efforts to portray the evils of capitalism are as entertaining as they are outrageous. He goes to AIG and attempts to make a ‘citizen’s arrest’ of its executives. He cordons off the US Stock Exchange Building with tape because it is a ‘crime scene’. He asks people on Wall Street what a derivative is, but is largely ignored. At last he manages to find a finance manager and a professor at Harvard University to explain it to him, only to find that they are just as lost as everybody else.

'Come out and step to the side. There is nothing to worry about.
Federal prison is a nice place...'

Former US President George W. Bush is not spared in Moore’s condemnation of the administration that has been colluding with Wall Street for the past 30 years. He speaks to two state representatives about the politics that have led to the recent US$700 billion taxpayers’ bailout of the failed financial sector. He takes aim at financial regulators, politicians and bankers who have benefited themselves via a tripartite arrangement of backroom politics, pseudo-regulations and lack of business ethics. There is an expose of Citibank’s memo to three of its wealthiest investors, conveying their fear that 99% of the country, who own less wealth than the top 1% can be a threat because they have 99% of the votes.

Besides lambasting the corrupt capitalist system, Moore also suggests solutions to the problem. There should be more workers cooperatives in America - people who manage a company should be its workers. Democracy should be in the hands of the people, and should not be a privilege granted to a select few. The scenes of an entire neighborhood acting in defiance to the law to help a family who has been driven from their home by their bank is inspiring. So is the sit-in in Republic Windows and Doors in Chicago, that has prompted even President Obama to give his support to the workers.

Academics, the politically-correct, pseudo-intellectuals, oligarchs, and their ilk will criticize Moore for being one-sided, childish and strident. But there is no denying that Michael Moore’s loud and emotive displays and his willingness to play to the choir strengthens his arguments rather than diminishes his credibility. Although Moore may be too idealistic in his support for President Obama and his belief that the democracy will replace capitalism, hope, and hope for change, are precisely what the world needs now.

Capitalism A Love Story is definitely worth spending your last $10 on. Don’t waste money on trash like My Girlfriend is an Agent, and 2012. Capitalism A Love Story is the real deal and if you have brains and self-respect you should watch it.



Ratings: 4.5 out of 5.