Capitalism is dead. Or, at least Michael Moore says so - and it has nothing to do with ginning up controversy for his new film (in theaters now!).
Moore's new film, Capitalism: A Love Story, is more or less the same movie he's been making for years, just with a broader focus. Instead of harping on the greed and misdeeds of a single giant corporation, like GM, or of a portion of our economy, like health care, Moore is taking a step back to bash the system that made our nation what it is.
In the film, and the subsequent media and interview blitz, Moore has been decrying the times. Goldman Sachs is "public enemy number one," capitalism is anti-Christian and anti-democratic, and apparently he's even "embarrassed" about all the success his films have brought him. And, really, he kind of should be, in light of his latest work. Moore is an overweight blowhard fortunate enough to live in one of the few countries in which one can become a professional grouse; a walking, talking testament to the virtues of the American economy. And I say that as a fan. Really.
I know that, as a liberal, I'm supposed to take Moore's film as the HD Gospel, but I'm actually a bit alone in my staunch defense of the self-interest-driven market system that our nation pioneered. Most of my friends have nothing positive to say about our economic system, and I can understand their frustrations, but I do think they're being rather short-sighted.
It's important to remember, for all the wannabe socialists out there, that when Adam Smith first formulated his radical economic theories, they were just that. The rest of the Western world was still wallowing in Mercantilism and Colonialism, laughing at the mongrel Americans and their idea of the average man running not only the government (horror of horrors!) but the government's economy, too. In the short history of the USA, our little experiment has accrued more wealth in less time than any other nation in modern history. (Suck it, Brits.)
"I don't think capitalism is on its death bed at all," Dr. David Mitchel, director of the Bureau of Economic Research here at MSU, told me. "People in 1470 B.C. lived with about the same conditions as people who lived in 1470 A.D. Then you had Adam Smith, and that era, and then look at where we've come just in the last 200 years."
Yeah, turns out economists are pretty keen on capitalism, and every one of them I spoke with disagreed with most of what Moore (who is decidedly not an economist) had to say. Like, the idea that capitalism is essentially un-Christian.
Dr. John Schmalzbauer, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, believes early Christians "didn't really live in a world with a modern market economy, so it's sort of hard to say what Jesus would say about Wall Street." In other words, just because the first Christians were essentially communists doesn't necessarily mean Jesus would have opposed capitalism.
Moore does have a bit of a point - capitalism as it was, the pure theory formulated in the afterglow of French intellectualism, has ceased to exist. But the same thing can be said for our Republic, the automobile, Jesus Christ - things change. Government has encroached on capitalism's traditional turn, yeah, and we haven't had a legitimately free market since the first National Bank was founded in the 1860's.
To say that the ongoing global recession is a sign of some sort that we need to abandon the principles of our forefathers is ludicrous - throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Yes, we need more regulation in certain areas. Yes, we can experiment with socialist programs (like fire departments, schools, a military, police, or even universal health care). But that doesn't kill our capitalist system. It's our damned system to start with; we can do with it as we please. It doesn't make it dead. It makes it stronger.
Moore's new film, Capitalism: A Love Story, is more or less the same movie he's been making for years, just with a broader focus. Instead of harping on the greed and misdeeds of a single giant corporation, like GM, or of a portion of our economy, like health care, Moore is taking a step back to bash the system that made our nation what it is.
In the film, and the subsequent media and interview blitz, Moore has been decrying the times. Goldman Sachs is "public enemy number one," capitalism is anti-Christian and anti-democratic, and apparently he's even "embarrassed" about all the success his films have brought him. And, really, he kind of should be, in light of his latest work. Moore is an overweight blowhard fortunate enough to live in one of the few countries in which one can become a professional grouse; a walking, talking testament to the virtues of the American economy. And I say that as a fan. Really.
I know that, as a liberal, I'm supposed to take Moore's film as the HD Gospel, but I'm actually a bit alone in my staunch defense of the self-interest-driven market system that our nation pioneered. Most of my friends have nothing positive to say about our economic system, and I can understand their frustrations, but I do think they're being rather short-sighted.
It's important to remember, for all the wannabe socialists out there, that when Adam Smith first formulated his radical economic theories, they were just that. The rest of the Western world was still wallowing in Mercantilism and Colonialism, laughing at the mongrel Americans and their idea of the average man running not only the government (horror of horrors!) but the government's economy, too. In the short history of the USA, our little experiment has accrued more wealth in less time than any other nation in modern history. (Suck it, Brits.)
"I don't think capitalism is on its death bed at all," Dr. David Mitchel, director of the Bureau of Economic Research here at MSU, told me. "People in 1470 B.C. lived with about the same conditions as people who lived in 1470 A.D. Then you had Adam Smith, and that era, and then look at where we've come just in the last 200 years."
Yeah, turns out economists are pretty keen on capitalism, and every one of them I spoke with disagreed with most of what Moore (who is decidedly not an economist) had to say. Like, the idea that capitalism is essentially un-Christian.
Dr. John Schmalzbauer, Associate Professor of Religious Studies, believes early Christians "didn't really live in a world with a modern market economy, so it's sort of hard to say what Jesus would say about Wall Street." In other words, just because the first Christians were essentially communists doesn't necessarily mean Jesus would have opposed capitalism.
Moore does have a bit of a point - capitalism as it was, the pure theory formulated in the afterglow of French intellectualism, has ceased to exist. But the same thing can be said for our Republic, the automobile, Jesus Christ - things change. Government has encroached on capitalism's traditional turn, yeah, and we haven't had a legitimately free market since the first National Bank was founded in the 1860's.
To say that the ongoing global recession is a sign of some sort that we need to abandon the principles of our forefathers is ludicrous - throwing the baby out with the bathwater. Yes, we need more regulation in certain areas. Yes, we can experiment with socialist programs (like fire departments, schools, a military, police, or even universal health care). But that doesn't kill our capitalist system. It's our damned system to start with; we can do with it as we please. It doesn't make it dead. It makes it stronger.
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