"Is this the United States Congress, or the Board of Directors of Goldman Sachs!?"
Perhaps this subject is too big for one film to encapsulate, but Moore has a jolly good go. He is really taking on neo-liberalism rather than capitalism itself, as he continually advocates that America should follow the European and Japanese examples of more moderate, mixed-economy capitalism.
He misses the point entirely if he characterises these economies as fundamentally 'socialist', when they are merely more successful capitalist societies that integrate bits of socialism in order to keep the majority happier. They are not countries which guarantee full employment or affordable homes for all, as any British or Japanese citizen would be able to tell you.
However, Moore does capture some of the core injustices inherent in capitalism and particularly the neo-liberal economic model; he rightly dates the advance of this model to Reagan, though concedes that FDR's dream never comes to pass. The clip of FDR, outlining his never legislated 'Second Bill of Rights' is well selected and opens up some tantalising 'what-ifs', though clearly American individualism was always going to be too strong to succumb to his moderately socialist aims. Moore covers the causes of the economic crisis adequately and graphically shows how people lost their homes and jobs so that the bankers could continue to receive bonuses once their supposedly 'free market' businesses had been bailed out by the state.
The film is very insightful on how embedded Wall Street and the stock market are in terms of the running of the government; this 'elite' being disdainfully wary of the 'peasants' who could potentially overthrow them. Moore is not critical enough of the Democrats, however; excusing their eventual caving in and support for the bail-out of the banks, and implying that the mere election of the Obama is itself reason for believing that things will change. Whilst 33% of young people did indeed express faith in socialist ideas (only 4% less than backed capitalist ones), there is only one elected socialist senator, Bernie Sanders, whom Moore interviews. He undercuts his own 'hope' message by making the relevant observation that Tim Geithner was appointed by Obama after a failed stint as regulator within the Federal Reserve. Moore exposes the back-room deals and does concede some disillusionment with most of the elected politicians (Christopher Dodd, for example, is singled out). He makes the valid point that direct action from the people is the only way to establish any gains - giving some concrete examples where unionisation or occupation of foreclosed homes, has led to some redress against the capitalist system.
It is arguable whether the planet can afford for all to reap the benefits of FDR's dream; if it is ever to be enacted, consumerism itself must be drastically cut back. It is a self-evident truth that free market capitalism has failed not just the USA but the world, but it is far from clear that a rehashed Keynesian social democrat approach is a viable alternative.
Moore should have spent more time honing his central argument regarding alternatives instead of the toothless attempts to make citizens arrests of the bailed-out bankers; he could have made the point that these are in effect robbers of tax-payers' money much more succinctly.
BBC documentary maker Adam Curtis has perhaps been the best at capturing the gaping void at the heart of neo-liberalism, in series such as "The Century of the Self", "The Power of Nightmares" and "The Trap". With this film, Moore has a reasonable stab at nailing it, though occasionally undermines his own case by inconsistencies and inadequately checked facts. Same as ever then, but it is still good to see somebody at least trying to tackle the elephant in the room that is global capitalism and the stock market. When he is providing good evidence it is a scatching indictment of the capitalist virus.
Perhaps this subject is too big for one film to encapsulate, but Moore has a jolly good go. He is really taking on neo-liberalism rather than capitalism itself, as he continually advocates that America should follow the European and Japanese examples of more moderate, mixed-economy capitalism.
He misses the point entirely if he characterises these economies as fundamentally 'socialist', when they are merely more successful capitalist societies that integrate bits of socialism in order to keep the majority happier. They are not countries which guarantee full employment or affordable homes for all, as any British or Japanese citizen would be able to tell you.
However, Moore does capture some of the core injustices inherent in capitalism and particularly the neo-liberal economic model; he rightly dates the advance of this model to Reagan, though concedes that FDR's dream never comes to pass. The clip of FDR, outlining his never legislated 'Second Bill of Rights' is well selected and opens up some tantalising 'what-ifs', though clearly American individualism was always going to be too strong to succumb to his moderately socialist aims. Moore covers the causes of the economic crisis adequately and graphically shows how people lost their homes and jobs so that the bankers could continue to receive bonuses once their supposedly 'free market' businesses had been bailed out by the state.
The film is very insightful on how embedded Wall Street and the stock market are in terms of the running of the government; this 'elite' being disdainfully wary of the 'peasants' who could potentially overthrow them. Moore is not critical enough of the Democrats, however; excusing their eventual caving in and support for the bail-out of the banks, and implying that the mere election of the Obama is itself reason for believing that things will change. Whilst 33% of young people did indeed express faith in socialist ideas (only 4% less than backed capitalist ones), there is only one elected socialist senator, Bernie Sanders, whom Moore interviews. He undercuts his own 'hope' message by making the relevant observation that Tim Geithner was appointed by Obama after a failed stint as regulator within the Federal Reserve. Moore exposes the back-room deals and does concede some disillusionment with most of the elected politicians (Christopher Dodd, for example, is singled out). He makes the valid point that direct action from the people is the only way to establish any gains - giving some concrete examples where unionisation or occupation of foreclosed homes, has led to some redress against the capitalist system.
It is arguable whether the planet can afford for all to reap the benefits of FDR's dream; if it is ever to be enacted, consumerism itself must be drastically cut back. It is a self-evident truth that free market capitalism has failed not just the USA but the world, but it is far from clear that a rehashed Keynesian social democrat approach is a viable alternative.
Moore should have spent more time honing his central argument regarding alternatives instead of the toothless attempts to make citizens arrests of the bailed-out bankers; he could have made the point that these are in effect robbers of tax-payers' money much more succinctly.
BBC documentary maker Adam Curtis has perhaps been the best at capturing the gaping void at the heart of neo-liberalism, in series such as "The Century of the Self", "The Power of Nightmares" and "The Trap". With this film, Moore has a reasonable stab at nailing it, though occasionally undermines his own case by inconsistencies and inadequately checked facts. Same as ever then, but it is still good to see somebody at least trying to tackle the elephant in the room that is global capitalism and the stock market. When he is providing good evidence it is a scatching indictment of the capitalist virus.