Capitalism: A Love Story
Capitalism: A Love Story is a scathing documentary-style film presented by director Michael Moore. The film takes a hard look at corporate and financial America and the power these systems have over the democratic processes of the American government. In light of the 2008 American financial “meltdown”, Moore does not view capitalism as merely currently problematic, but a blatant evil that emphasizes greed, corruption, and immorality. This paper offers a brief review of the film and considers Moore’s views in relation to other scholarly views on the topic.
The overarching position of the film is made clear within only a few minutes of the opening credits. The film begins with a comparison between the United States and ancient Rome. This …show more content…
By the final year of George W. Bush’s tenure, capitalism was being criticized as a system of greed, exploitation and failure.
From this point on in the film, Moore considers some specific problems related to capitalism. For example, he notes the serious exploitation of workers in an effort to maximize profits. He further argues that today’s students can graduate from college with a student loan of up to $100,000 or more. The best and brightest American students end up working in the financial district. He also spends a great deal of time examining subprime loans and derivatives, which are ultimately complicated betting schemes designed to counter any serious examination of their …show more content…
Moore sees the changes in capitalism that have occurred during and since the Regan administration as highly problematic. These changes have seen the rise of Wall Street and Corporate America in controlling fundamentally democratic institutions. However, Moore’s ultimate goal is unclear. Should capitalism be replaced with socialism or simply reformed? There are few that disagree reforms are needed, given the increasingly negative role corporations have played in relation to greed and a lack of
The overarching position of the film is made clear within only a few minutes of the opening credits. The film begins with a comparison between the United States and ancient Rome. This …show more content…
By the final year of George W. Bush’s tenure, capitalism was being criticized as a system of greed, exploitation and failure.
From this point on in the film, Moore considers some specific problems related to capitalism. For example, he notes the serious exploitation of workers in an effort to maximize profits. He further argues that today’s students can graduate from college with a student loan of up to $100,000 or more. The best and brightest American students end up working in the financial district. He also spends a great deal of time examining subprime loans and derivatives, which are ultimately complicated betting schemes designed to counter any serious examination of their …show more content…
Moore sees the changes in capitalism that have occurred during and since the Regan administration as highly problematic. These changes have seen the rise of Wall Street and Corporate America in controlling fundamentally democratic institutions. However, Moore’s ultimate goal is unclear. Should capitalism be replaced with socialism or simply reformed? There are few that disagree reforms are needed, given the increasingly negative role corporations have played in relation to greed and a lack of