Poor Michael Moore.
He must have missed his nap and became cranky again.
His latest wailing is titled Capitalism: A love Story.
Now, anyone choosing to go and see this um, I really don’t know what to call it, this finger painting of a film, might think they were actually going to see a movie about capitalism.
Sadly, they would be mistaken and may never realize they had been deceived yet again.
Moore utilizes one of the oldest forms of intellectual and emotional trickery in order to sway his audience into accepting his stunted and immature worldview.
It’s called “re-definition” and is classified as one of the informal fallacies in logic.
(actually, Moores’ works are riddled with so many logical fallacies it’s difficult to keep up)
It’s like “re-defining” honesty as the act of lying to other people.
With Capitalism: A love Story, Moore looks out into the world and captures on film what he sees… the corruption, the examples of greed on Wall Street, the people struggling financially, the catholic priests referring to capitalism as an “evil” needing to be eradicated etc. etc.
He arouses in his audience emotions of anger, sadness, and frustration while implying all along that the cause of all this misery and suffering is, of course, capitalism. (What Moore is seeing when he looks out into the world IS NOT capitalism I assure you!)
This film is not only an injustice to capitalism but an egregious insult to every innocent person who may seek deeper understanding in these confusing times and who may unwittingly accept the premise that capitalism is evil.
This is exactly the same technique the nazi’s used in order to get the people of Germany to accept the idea that the Jews were the cause of all their problems and had to be “eradicated”!
Insane.
But, don’t blame Michael Moore too much.
I really don’t think he knows what he is doing.
Just like any child who is throwing a fit, he mainly seeks attention and lots of money to buy his ice cream cones and video games while not caring a bit how wealth is created and what the laws of cause and effect have to do with anything.
A world where fantasy dominates and reality is never allowed to intrude.
In an ironic statement that reflects one of the benefits and requirements of a capitalist society he states:
“I’m a millionaire, I’m a multi-millionaire, I’m filthy rich. You know why I’m a multi-millionaire? ‘Cause multi-millions like what I do. That’s pretty good, isn’t it? There’s millions that believe in what I do. Pretty cool, huh?” (As quoted in the Arcata Eye (3 March 2002)
Well Mr. Moore, I guess you can have your cake, and lot’s of it, and eat it too!
Michael Moore’s personal ramblings aside, the question is how do such films as his even make it out of the playground and into the mainstream of public discourse.
Apparently Mr. Moore has some pretty powerful “capitalists” backing his work.
One such backer is media magnate and chairman of Liberty Media John Malone, a “champion of unfettered free markets.”
Why would Mr. Malone financially support a film that proposes to eradicate the very system he claims to be a champion of? (lest you be confused, “unfettered free markets” are another capitalist principle)
Why indeed?
Could this be a late in life attack of guilt for having achieved so much success in his life?
Doubtful.
Or maybe Mr. Malone just wants to “eradicate capitalism” to make sure no one else is allowed to rise to such a successful level as he lest they become a competitive threat to his vast empire?
Who knows and who cares the reason, however sad or pathetic.
Know this dear readers, the society we live in today is any thing BUT Capitalism!
We live in some kind of gross mutation of politics and religion combined with socialism, fascism, cronyism and a few ism’s that defy any known label.
There are some principles of capitalism still at work in the world thankfully, but if the ideas proposed in films like this are followed the world we live in will dis-integrate into nothing but a miserable existence for all and one not seen since the “dark ages” of humankind.
Capitalism IS the solution to all these issues brought out in the film, not the cause!
I will let the great author and philosopher Ayn Rand describe for you WHAT capitalism really is.
“Capitalism is a social system based on the recognition of individual rights, including property rights, in which all property is privately owned.
The recognition of individual rights entails the banishment of physical force from human relationships: basically, rights can be violated only by means of force. In a capitalist society, no man or group may initiate the use of physical force against others. The only function of the government, in such a society, is the task of protecting man’s rights, i.e., the task of protecting him from physical force; the government acts as the agent of man’s right of self-defense, and may use force only in retaliation and only against those who initiate its use; thus the government is the means of placing the retaliatory use of force under objective control.”
“What Is Capitalism?” Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 19
And further…
“If a detailed, factual study were made of all those instances in the history of American industry which have been used by the statists as an indictment of free enterprise and as an argument in favor of a government-controlled economy, it would be found that the actions blamed on businessmen were caused, necessitated, and made possible only by government intervention in business. The evils, popularly ascribed to big industrialists, were not the result of an unregulated industry, but of government power over industry. The villain in the picture was not the businessman, but the legislator, not free enterprise, but government controls.”
“Notes on the History of American Free Enterprise,”
Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, 102.
So if you do choose to see this new creation of Michael Moore etal, stop and ask yourself this important question.
If not capitalism, then what?
Fortunately there is an alternative to our current state of affairs that retains all the foundational principles of capitalism while removing the malignant mutations we see all around us.
Join us next time as we explore this new and exciting alternative to Capitalism: A Love Story.
So again, thank you Mikey Moore… you can go back to beddy bye now that you have your blanky of attention and your belly is full.
Sweet dreams little boy.
®Jim Rizen 2009
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