What "Capitalism" Is Not

[Joanne98]

by TerranceDC

Fri Oct 2nd, 2009 at 01:40:14 PM EST

If I were to summarize message Michael Moore's new movie, Capitalism: A Love Story in one sentence, it might be this: Capitalism is not a form of government. That's the answer to the question posed at the beginning of the movie, via 1950s educational/propaganda films.

Capitalism is not a form of government. It is a tool we've allowed to be used as a weapon. We threw out the instructions and rules for its usage, and it became a weapon — much like a hammer can be used to build a house or smash a skull, depending on whether it's wielded by a carpenter or a psychopath.

Moore spends the rest of the movie showing us how we not only tossed out the rules, but junked every other tool in our collective toolbox, and left ourselves with the hammer. But everything is not a nail, and the hammer isn't suited to every aspect of the task in front of us. Moore gives us until the end of the movie to figure out what that seemingly abandoned task might be.

Capitalism is populated by people whose names we know and people whose names we don't — all characters in what Michael Moore has subtitled "a love story." We know the speeches of the former, and the stories of the latter, because we've watched those same stories unfold in our own communities in the last couple of years. The speeches were intended to arouse our passions, by retelling part the most recent chapter in the story of how we got here — the part that happened on Wall Street and in Washington.

Continued>>>
http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2009/10/2/134014/820

[Oregone]

1. "and it became a weapon"

But thats its natural course. Allowing the rich to own the means of production, and profit from the labor of others by doing nothing but being born rich, is the essence of capitalism. To think that it won't become a weapon is naive. It entrenches a small investor class and gives them the monetary and political power to do anything further to guarantee continued profits. Maybe its merely a weapon we tried to use as a tool.

[jobycom]

2. I've not seen it, but this review makes it sound more rational than the others I've heard.

Almost every reviewer says it accomplishes its goals of whipping the believers into a frenzy, but this is the first review I've seen actually try to explain Moore's intentions.

Thanks for posting. :thumbsup:

[ananda]

3. What America is not is capitalist.

It's a predatory corporate kleptocracy.

[valerief]

4. It's a Robber Baronocracy. nt

[Demeter]

5. Capitalism Is an Excellent Servant and a Terrible Master

and all technology can be abused and perverted.