On Oct. 2, 2009, market capitalism will take on another face -- and a challenge from the freewheeling director Michael Moore.
"Capitalism: A Love Story," is the title of his latest flick.
"It will be the perfect date movie," Moore said in an announcement. "It's got it all -- lust, passion, romance and 14,000 jobs being eliminated every day. It's a forbidden love, one that dare not speak its name. Heck, let's just say it: It's capitalism."
The date of the release comes exactly a year and a day after the Senate approved a $700 billion bailout of the nation's major banks.
According to Variety, it depicts "the disastrous impact that corporate dominance and out-of-control profit motives have on the lives of Americans and citizens of the world."
Moore previous solicited Wall Street whistleblowers online in an effort to collect material for the film.
"Be a hero and help me expose the biggest swindle in American history," Moore said.
Moore has had box office successes with earlier films, including his expose of the health insurance industry, "Sicko," and his drama about the events behind the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, "Fahrenheit 911."
-John Byrne
Strange isn't it? That these family value thugs can feel so much remorse when they get caught cheating on their wives. But their conscience never flinches when it comes to cheating on their constituents with their lobbyist mistresses.
The problem with his movies is that he shows the truth, but if you've been paying attention, you already know the truth. So, why go watch a movie about something you already know sucks; it'll just make you mad.
At the rate that this relationship is progressing "Capitalism" may be more of a gang rape porn flick than a love story. Not a PG plot.
Yeah some of us know this stuff but I would guess there are a lot of American's who still don't get that the FEDERAL RESERVE is a private bank who's stated documented first goal has been and is the making of money.
Understand what you're saying Rick, but far too many Americans DON'T know the full truth thanks to a compliant corporate media.
Overall, in my opinion, the American people aren't mad ENOUGH.
We give the French a lot of crap, but where you have to give them credit is that they just don't tolerate stuff like this. They would have blocked the country to a standstill and broken out with the guillotine by now, until every last Madoff-wannabe on Wall St stopped with the thieving.
And those Goldman Sachs guys? Please. That company is not "too big to fail", it's too big to EXIST. They've had their grubby little hand in every market crash since the friggin' 1920's. Screw them.
And why did he make the movie? To make money?
I guess socialism works then right?
Idiot.
Agreed - American's aren't mad enough and the French have it right - they will block entire expressway systems en masse to get the gub'ment to do the right thing. I am still wondering why there hasn't been anyone going to jail yet over the mortgage fraud that started to kick this off and expose everything else. They should be tried as traitors of this country. How many lives have they ruined (in the millions)? My mother's trust is completely gone, now I take care of her, and I am glad I am able to, until I am next on the unemployment list. I have written and talked to my Senators, but they don't seem mad enough either - oh yeah, that's right, they are considered "rich" and aren't really affected....
yeah, he makes money with the movies, far from living rich tho - he gets a lot of sponsorship for these movies and uses a lot of the monies to lobby congress away from the hog trough.
The land of Sheeple... and if you rant on it, you are considered a Nut. I'd rather be a Nut than have a Screw Loose....
I don't begrudge someone who makes his/her money honestly.
And if you want to rail against socialism, what do you have to say about corporate welfare?
If Moore educates people to watch out for and stop the assholes who have turned our country into shit, I'll gladly give him my money. As every good capitalist always likes to say, "let the market decide." Seems the market has liked what Moore has put out. Let's see, what did he make on his last film? $25 million, I think, on a $9 million budget and it was only in (briefly) 1,100 theaters which is a quarter of the number of venues Transformers is currently in.
And let's remember, he made $25 million on a DOCUMENTARY. Pretty impressive. Pretty smart.
Moore ALWAYS misses the mark. Farenheit 9-11 could have blown the lid off but he stopped short.
The problem is not capitalism. Capitalism works but we got too much government regulation involved. We have not had true capitalism here for quite a while.
Will Moore blow the lid off the Fed? That will remain to be seen.
What does Socialism have to do with movies? Scandinavia and many European countries have a mature and thriving movie industry. Ever hear of Ingmar Bergman? Perhaps a visit to the next international film festival in your area would be in order. And, I'm going to embrace Socialism when it comes to America, as it must.
Another skewed rant coming from socialist anti-American loud mouth Michael Moore. Why is he always so angry when he's got millions of dollars and thousands of followers who believe whatever crap he says? He doesn't live with the people he supposedly sympathizes with, he's a wealthy New York liberal living in some of the most expensive real estate in the USA. He hates America and shows this with every film. He really hates gun owners. After "Sicko" came out Dr. Sanjay Gupta trashed the movie. This is the same Dr. Sanjay Gupta that Obama wanted to be Surgeon General. Lots of "sheeple" as you say will rush out and see this nonsense, but it's no more realistic than the perverse nonsense of that Austrian wacko Bruno Cohen, or whatever his name is.
7 out of 10 Republicans would vote for Palin in 2012. Hang in there, Sarah, many love you and want you to go all the way.
#6 - Yeah...Michael Moore is in it for the money. Idiot.
#11 - 7 out of 10 Republicans would vote for a bag of lint if it could wave the flag and bitch about Roe v. Wade.
I was a railroad conductor in 1955 and the engineer I worked with was a very old man and he raved about the evils of the Federal Reserve. No one payed much attention to our sorrow.
"And why did he make the movie? To make money?
I guess socialism works then right?
Idiot."
I suppose money might be his ultimate motive. Or maybe not...if that were true, then he would probably be more in line with the motives of Wal-street and would have taken a different line of work. It takes a real cynic to see cynicism everywhere.
I don't really find making a living offensive. You sound like one of those critics who would prefer a iconoclastic music artist receive no public demand or who would, as in this case, hope a documentary filmmaker have such limited success as to ensure him/her relative poverty.
Donno why you would attack someone, the consequent end of whose work is towards the good and a transition to a socialist system... but ok. I personally would prefer to reserve my attacks to those who would ultimately effect greater suffering rather than less.
The movie should be called corporatism!
I am a capitalist. I make good sandwiches. And I look my customers in the eye everyday and have a good relationship. My venders provide good quality products, and we have good relationships. I use a lot of services people who repair my heating system, coolers, etc. I love the process, its great!
The rise of corporations is the problem.
Too much government regulation?
The Central Banking system in the US has had no Congressional Regulation since Christmas Eve, 1913. Learn some history before you shit out of your mouth again spouting Corporate Welfare & Foreign Banker talking points.
Ok, guys and gals. Let's think for a moment. It seems like the problem with internet comments is that they are very knee-jerk and not very well thought out. Not mine.
Capitalism. Economic system in which most trade and industry are privately controlled with profit as a motive for producing goods and services. This idea requires the product to be a good one, or people won't buy your shit, and you won't make your profit. (very simplified, and leaves out an important factor, which is monopoly regulation. The answer to monopoly regulation is not an entirely easy one, but we should definitely not cop out and hand the monopoly control over to the gov't. That has proven to be ineffective.) Capitalism sounds like a damn good idea to me based on that. And hey, wait! What if I can get gov't officials in my pocket and have them pass legislation in the favor of my corporation or industry? (such as lax pollution standards for power production facilities or subsidies for oil companies or LACK of regulation of complex and inherently volatile and RISKY financial instruments that should be either outlawed or highly overseen.) Wait, once that happens, it is no longer capitalism, is it?!
Therein lies the flaw of Moore's new movie and most of the comments against capitalism I have seen here. We don't have capitalism, people. It is not socialism either. Things are just not as easy as they need to be for everyone with limited time on their hands to understand.
Don't rail against capitalism until you know what it is, and whether or not it really is the problem here. Capitalism does not equal zero regulation and industries running amok to achieve monopolies and total control of the populace or their buying decisions. Come on. I'll definitely be sending Moore a letter and some educational materials. He needs em
Take care, everyone. The state of the union is perilous
FYI - We haven't had free markets since 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created!!! The bubble was created by regulation of interest rates and the money supply. After 9/11, George Bush wanted his war on iraq more than anything and needed a pacified public to willingly sit back and let the illegal war take place. So we run up the nation's credit card charging the war to future generations, distract the people with mass consumption funded through artificially low interest rates and easy credit.
This housing bubble created by free markets?? NO! We have government intervention in the housing markets via Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac purchasing and guaranteeing a majority of mortgages. This creates moral hazard as the banks originating the mortgages are not assuming the risk.
The securitization scheme whereby wall street banks re-package a large pool of mortgages into an investment security, and the rating agencies rate them AAA, was allowed to happen due to government intervention in the early 1970's which prevented any competitition in the rating agency industry. There were plenty of analysts who correctly called the mortgage bubble, such as Egan Jones (rating agency) but they were prevented from entering this market until 2008.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=misesmedia&view=videos&sort=v
Don't be duped by a plan for global regulation. This current international dialogue reminds me of Woodrow Wilson. He ran a campaign (I recommend reading his book "The New Freedom" on attacking the trusts to free the common man. That his form of government intervention would help the common man. What did he do instead?? He created the Federal Reserve which cartelized the money trust, enthroning wall street. He also created the federal income tax which was sold as a tax only on the wealthiest 2% of the country. What we end up with is a regressive tax system weighing on the backs of the working class. Big government goes hand in hand with big business.
Krueger
I'm sure Sarah gone all the way plenty of times already. We don't need her to do it again.
I hope it doesn't present a scenario of "it's either capitalism or socialism, there is no middle ground".
Pure socialism is just as fucked up as pure capitalism. In pure socialism, office politics replaces greed, nepotism and corruption follow just as surely as they do with pure capitalism. In pure socialism, the guy that lives on the big house on the beach is just the most corrupt schmoozer.
History is clear: the best form of government involves a combination of capitalism and socialism. The capitalists keep the bureaucrats from getting out of control and the bureaucrats prevent plutocrats from gaining political control. It's close to what we nearly acheived in America in the 1950's and lost completely in the 1980's.
The essential functions should be public: health insurance, energy, utilities, telecom, perhaps a few more. The things we all need for sustenance.
But the last thing you want is for the government to be in the business of building cars, refrigerators, coffee mugs, everything. Innovation would die along with the hope of many who wish to excel in life. For the non-essentials, a well-regulated free enterprise system is best.
I used to love capitalism. It let me participate in my own exploitation. Now that
I've had counseling, I've given that up, and feel that economics doesn't have to
depend on exploitation, even though that's what 99% of it is, at present.
Just like Lenny Bruce said; "People all over are turning away from religion, and going back to God."
Can't wait to see the film. Michael Moore is a saint, or should be.
We could have more connecting the dots by Moore instead of his usual capitalism vs socialism. I agree, you need a mix of the two, but there has to be rules and checks and balances. The corporatism has gone out of control and owns Congress and the Presidency.
Moore is a hero who continues to advocate for democracy, and fairness despite his wealth, and with his wealth. He is, unlike Freddie, a real American, humanitarian, human being. And he got balls made of titanium.
"7 out of 10 Republicans would vote for Palin in 2012. Hang in there, Sarah, many love you and want you to go all the way."
Umm, if you extrapolate those statistics, at least 6 out of that 7 would vote for her solely because they want to "do" her, not because she has any ability or qualifications to govern or lead anything. So, yes, let's put her back on the public stage to respond to real questions, alongside people with a real ability to speak somewhat intellectually. I welcome that day, it will be great fun.
Michael Moore is no hero. He makes this garbage to make money, because there are fools who believe everything he says. He makes out straight out lie that can be disproven on the spot. With all its problems, Capitalism has advance the human race more than any other system in the history of human kind. Communism, Socialism only hinders human advancement. It is sort of like a union when you cannot get fired. Lazy people get lazier and the productive, hardworkers see no point in working more, because they have nothing to gain.
Moore is not for diversity of for democracy. It is his view or the highway. All for diversity, for a the films Michael Moore has made, out of 160 crew members, he has hired one minority. Obviously, diversity is great for everyone else.
"Capitalism works but we got too much government regulation involved."
Uh yeah...that's it. Too much regulation. Good thinkin'.
Can you really get that stupid just by listening to the radio or do you have to get an injection of something every now and then?
Michale Moore used to be someone I trusted and believed in.
His humor, wit and compassion are delightful and at times during the Bush years were inspirational.
But his kid gloves treatment of Obama and his band of fascist Democrats has been beyond disappointing.
Forgiving or ignoring virtually all of the Obama pro war moves, escalations, surges, mercenary use, and his pro torture efforts, Moore has shown us his true colors.
He is just another tool of the establishment used to keep us fenced in in our two party prison.
Have we heard anything from MM on the disgusting capitulation to big pharma and big insurance by Dems on health care? No.
Michale Moore is like Bill Maher. A fake liberal feeding at the trough slamming Republicans while his real purpose is to keep people from moving any further left than the limits of the Democratic party. Give it up Mike! You are nothing but fodder for the Bill O"Reilly crowd in the mass media theater of deceit and irrelevant gossip.
You want to make a difference MM? Get on board with the audit the Fed bills in the House and Senate.....the ones being supported by rookies and small timers (who have not been bought by corporate interests) in both parties. Those bills are being killed by the establishment slime in both parties right now.
"Michael Moore is no hero. He makes this garbage to make money, because there are fools who believe everything he says."
And you guys have never succeeded in pointing out one thing that you claim he's lying about. What lies? What did he lie about in any of his movies?
He makes money with his films. That doesn't mean he makes the films for the sole purpose of making money. It costs money to make a film. It takes money to be heard over the corporate mouthpieces, like Fox Noise and the shills in Congress. He makes these films primarily to educate people. In a lot of cases, he's not presenting people with new information. He's just assembling a lot of information that most people have already forgotten a weak, a month, or a year after they first learned about it. He assembles it into a narrative so that people don't have to gather it themselves and try to figure out the connections.
So, again, if you're going to call him a liar, back it up with something. Failure to do so makes you the liar.
Michael Moore, typical capitalist pig.
In fact I'm already anticipating the sequel; Socialism: A Horror Story.
Our country has been raped and pillaged by the wall street gang, the likes of Goldman Sachs for decades. The public, and their elected representatives always look the other way. ALWAYS. A couple show trials and wait till the next round of fraud a 6th grader could detect, and a 9th grader could prosecute successfully.
When will enough be enough folks? What, is American Idol on? Survivor? Laugh In? Got better things to do besides taking to the streets? Like begging for pennies on a street corner right?
Anyone tired of working for decades, scrimping, saving, and going without, and then having your "nest egg" swindled away by crooks? You know, like Enron's lawyers, Arthur Anderson's unindicted "Books Verifiers" and thousands of other "connected" slimebags with 8 figure salaries, and armies of lobbyists. The ones paid huge bonuses to steal your money, and get to lie to congress about what they knew and when they knew it?
Remember, WaMu's former CEO is still walking around living in luxury.
90% of America deserves to be homeless. Half of them don't even vote. Why don't you all just donate your earthly possessions to "the mission" and grap a shopping cart, and start your retirement early. The foxes, and their lobbyists own the gate keepers.
http://www.RepublicansAreADisease.com
I hope he covers the history of the Federal Reserve System in our Country.
Orangutan.
Remember Fahrenheit 911?
He took us all down every possible garden path, EXCEPT for the inside job possibilities. And he strongly opposed any idea of an inside job, and was more or less silent on the need for investigations at the time.
He did a great job for the establishment by keeping liberals from going too far off the reservation.
This money movie will identify all sorts of villains and point them out with typical MM humor and irreverence. He will confuse people by not talking about the real power and history of the Fed. He will protect the Fed and the status quo by getting people all worked up about other bright shiny objects.
All you ignorant Republickers listen up! The only time in American history when the working class had enough to eat and could attend decent schools and afford to have medical care, was during the time of the New Deal. It was a time of massive regulation on corporations, banksters, and insurance criminals. The criminal Christo/Republickin politicians have systematically taken apart those regulations since the day the traitor Reagan took office and ended with Chimpy McFlightsuit repealing the regulation against banksters and insurance assholes comingling business. Regulate everything economic! Duties and tarrifs to protect our industries and labor force, Usury laws, Food regulations against tropical 3rd world diseases from gooks and beaners shitting in our food supply, Banks severely regulated along with insurance co.s. Prohibitive taxes on anyone making over a million a year. All Good for America. The maximum income tax rate for those making over a million in 1960 was 93% and America was strong, rich, our goods were in demand all over the world, and we were the shining beacon of freedom. Regulation! the more we have on the criminally rich, the stronger and more free our country is! Get it through your head, you are never going to Heaven and you are never going to be rich! Your maximum income level was decided for you while you were still in grade school, and your belief in superstitious nonsense was programmed into you by a cult. Now get with the program and start helping to make a better nation and world.
M --- Profit is fine.
Greed at the expense of others (CEO's making 1000's of times more than the average worker -when they get fired) ... that is PURE GREED at the expense of the nation and fellow citizens.
But I suspect you are part of the problem and would not object to greed.
Hoping to someday win the GREED LOTTERY.
Sicko
Can't really blame all for this basic failure so...
1) Socialism is not communism. A media-driven meme gladly promoted by the right.
2) Socialism focuses on regulating the private interest in pursuit of social justice.
3) Both the Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution say we are a Democracy. There is NO mention of the required economic system. A strict Constructionist might more accurately argue that we are a socialist Country and always have been...
The US has been and always will be a Socialist country. We as a Country always suffer the farther we go towards the Capitalist OR Communist Manifesto.
"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."
- Form a Union
- Establish Justice
- Insure domestic tranquility
- Provide common defense
- Promote General Welfare
- Secure the blessings of liberty
Nothing about "no government oversight over my private property..." I know there are more details therein that people can argue over ... but, funny how the right wing nuts look only at Common Defense. Establish Justice is higher in order ..
I'm sick of Michael Moores patronising garbage, he was right about iraq and the "war on terror" but his economics are totally backwards, in no way can you describe the US's system as capitalism, even before the big bank take over it was never free market capitalism, Haliberton being handed no bid contract IS NOT capitalism .
I would love to see a true competitive system but the republitrash hate that. Everyone should be on their own when they graduate high school. No inheritances, no mommy's money carrying you through college. No daddy pulling strings to get a big Wall street job for junior. No buying houses or cars or other big ticket items by mommy and daddy. No trust funds, no farms or businesses handed to kiddies with no strings attached.
If we had a system where each person got what they earned and were not carried by their parents then I would say go for it. But I have not heard any of the republitrash, phony libertarians or pseudo conservatives propose that. They want big inheritances and other free rides for the rich frat boy trash to continue. They are not prepared to make it on their own and want protection. There are no conservatives anymore and the libertarians are all nut cases. They like laws and rules, they just want them all in their favor.
This theoretical pure capitalism which has been thrown about on this forum is a fairy tale. There is no such thing. The people who preach capitalism mean favoritism for big money. Without regulation the big money capitalists are thieves no different from the Mafia.
America's economic model is defined by nepotism and corruption. And that's how the nepotists like it. Everything for the descendents of a few. Nothing for anyone else. It works for a while. But just like the real estate bubble broke suddenly, corruption one day consumes its own and the nepotists get weak and can't hold the candle. A hundred years does not define history. A thousand years is just a beginning. And America ain't a thousand years old yet. China is over six thousand years old. Hard lessons are going to get learned on every side of the little pond.
I find it sad that folks don't the history of American economic development isn't one of Laissez-faire capitalism but the tradition of the American System which was not like today's British model of global corporations dictating to a nation economic policy ala the British Imperialism but rather what made this country an economic super power is the fact that we acted in the past more the Chinese are acting today i.e. mercantilist, dirigist, and protectionist.
Constitutional economics not laissez-faire which is illegal under the US constitution. Laissez-faire say no intervention in the economy by government i.e. private control of money, no regulation of commerce, and free trade but the Constitution gives Congress power to control the value of money (National Banking), regulated commerce (mercantilism), place tariffs (protectionism), and promote the general welfare (dirigism).
Laissez-faure is unconstitutional and it's time to the return to the American System so google the term. Sovereignty resides in the nation-state not the so-called free market.
Sure, a lot of us understand what's going on with the economic unsystem, But what about the average voter? The guy losing his job to some slave laborer in Asia, or being unable to afford medicine, or watching his war wounded son or daughter limp around the neighborhood, or losing his house to the bank or watching his crooked congressman sniffing around the toilets for romance? Yes Virginia, this is capitalism, albeit in the latter stages of metastisization, but capitalism it is, and it isn't good.
Thank you once again Mr. Moore.
anders, no question and what about the massive military spending supporting millions of jobs directly and indirectly and then there is government r and d- its called welfare capitalism here in Canada. Nobody wants the nanny state but what the republicans and others do not get is that with out massive government intervention in the capitalist economy it will implode.- just the nature of the beast. AND keep it going MM.
@M
"I guess socialism works then right?"I would love to see your kind get the full brunt this "capitalist heaven".
as far as your "Idiot" comment, it take one to know one.
It doesn't matter who says what. Someone complains. The problem is that "WE THE PEOPLE" don't unite for OUR RIGHTS! Look around the world, we are the only ones that complain about the problem, but do nothing to fix it. WE HAVE THE POWER. But we "trust" others to do something about it. Today, you have to have a PhD in everything to understand what is going on. When is the last time you fought for something you thought was right? I did, and lost my job, lost medical insurance for my wife, and have no money for child support. But I stood up for what I believed in. Moore fights his way, what's yours?
The wheel keeps turning even though we get our money from the govenment. The wheel stops when we have no govnment to give us the money. John 2009