Posted on 10/01/2009 6:33:51 PM PDT by sickoflibs
A friend recently invited me to a private screening of Michael Moore's new film, Capitalism: A Love Story.
The September 16 invite, not surprisingly, leaned in a certain direction:
Moore takes us into the homes of ordinary people whose lives have been turned upside down; and he goes looking for explanations in Washington, DC and elsewhere. What he finds are the all-too-familiar symptoms of a love affair gone astray: lies, abuse, betrayal and 14,000 jobs being lost every day. Capitalism: A Love Story is Michael Moore's ultimate quest to answer the question he's posed throughout his illustrious filmmaking career: Who are we and why do we behave the way that we do?
Considering Moore was going to be there for a Q&A after (moderated by Arianna Huffington), I quickly signed on. Now before painting a picture of Moore's new film, let me be honest: my belief set is essentially libertarian ("Government out of my bedroom and my pocketbook"). Not only do government solutions not excite me, they scare the living blank out of me. Remember when George Bush declared, "I've abandoned free-market principles to save the free-market system to make sure the economy doesn't collapse"? He might as well of said, "Hide your money, kids — 'cause I'm coming to take it!"
Oh sure, in theory I would like to see everyone with their own homestead, money in their pocket for regular shopping frenzies, and no health worries despite eating at Burger King 24/7, but arriving at those goals is not exactly doable unless government robs Peter to pay Paul and/or starts up the printing press.
(Excerpt) Read more at mises.org ...
If you realize both parties in Washington think our money is theirs and you trust them to do the wrong thing, this list is for you.
If you think there is a Santa Claus who is going to get elected in Washington and cut a few taxes and spend a few trillion and jump start the economy, and get our lost money back, this list is not for you.
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He was on MSNBC this week, attacked Bush's bailouts (fine) but then praised Obama's;
He will, of course, eschew any dirty money he makes from any “profits” from this endeavor.
I mean if capitalism is evil, then all the results from it are tainted and from the Devil himself.
I’ve been waiting for a Freeper to see this movie , but not give Moore a capitalistic profit in doing so to report to us if Moore covers:
The Community Investment Act
Chris Dodd
Barney Frank
Fannie/Freedie/Ginnie programs
Bush and McCain warning of the Fannie dangers
Maxine Waters, and others, covering up about Franklin Raines and the problems with Fannie/Freddie
Raines, Gorlick and Obama’s payoffs from Fannie (McCain and Bush too, let’s be fair)
If the movie does not cover this, it’s a fraud.
Moore goes all the way back to Reagan to blame the end of america, a Clinton-Gore 1992 trick.
Todays Republicans brought this on themselves. I have no sympathy for them now.
Sicko is still on ShowTime and free online. I have seen it about 50 times in parts. I find it really comical. Unfortunately too many people are idiots that believe things they want to believe. I think that as I watch Sicko, Most AAs love Moore, he is singing their tune. God is federal government under democrats.
Moore was on MSNBC and praised Obama bailouts and blamed GWBs.
I hope this movie is a big bomb.
I thought that fat sack of crap ate himself!!!!!!!
Great review. Thanks.
“What is his solution? Tugging o your idealistic heartstrings of course! Moore ends his film with recently uncovered video of FDR talking to America on January 11, 1944. Looking into the camera, a weary FDR proposed what he called a second Bill of Rights — an economic Bill of Rights for all — regardless of station, race, or creed — that included
the right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
the right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
the right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
the right of every family to a decent home;
the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
the right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
and the right to a good education.”
The big windbag should read “Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal”; Ayn Rand addresses the “economic bill of rights” in the chapter “Rights of Man” and easily shows why such a bill is absurd and never going to happen.
Excerpt
“So too with Michael Moore, who despite boasting about not owning stock has set up a private foundation to invest his money and shelter it from taxes. This foundation owns nearly $400,000 in corporate stocks and bonds, including pharmaceutical and medical companies like Pfizer, Merck, and Eli Lilly. And even as he attacks HMOs in his recent movie Sicko, Moore owns shares in two HMOs. His portfolio also contains oil company stocks, and he has even owned stock in Halliburton, the left’s corporate Darth Vader. Nor does this ample portfolio go to funding activist causes: “For a man who by 2002 had a net worth in eight figures, he gave away a modest $36,000 through the foundation, much of it to his friends in the film business or tony cultural organizations that later provided him with venues to promote his books and films.” Teddy Kennedy, John Kerry, George Soros, Hillary Clinton, Ralph Nader –– as Schweitzer documents, all these scolds of capitalist greed and champions of the down-trodden have done very well manipulating the system to increase their own power and privilege so that their money doesn’t end up in the government’s hands to finance the social justice schemes they loudly champion.
On racial issues too, these progressives may talk like angels, but they live like men. For all their professed love of “people of color” and anguish over racism, few of America’s most visible liberals actually live around or hire minorities –– even Cornel West, Princeton professor and wannabe rap star, lives in Newton, whose black population is about two percent, meaning Professor West is unlikely to be hanging out with the brothers in the backyard. When the Clintons came to Washington, they could have sent a powerful message of support for D.C. public schools by enrolling Chelsea in a neighborhood school like Jefferson or Hine. But of course, they enrolled her instead in the super-elite Sidwell Friends. Chomsky, who claims to be fond of fraternizing with the working class and “‘those considered to be riff-raff,’” as he puts it, has no intentions of actually living near any of them. About the time forced busing was imposed on the Boston area, Chomsky moved to the tony suburb of Lexington, buying a house worth nearly a million dollars. He also owns a vacation home in Wellfleet, worth $1.2. “Radical” author Howard Zinn “owns two homes in expensive lily-white Wellfleet and a third in multicultural Auburndale (minority population 3.3 percent).”
Like all rich people, rich liberals understandably want to live around and have their children associate with other rich people. But they at least can prove their commitment to diversity with their hiring choices, an opportunity on which most of them pass, including Congressional Democrats, who hire black employees at the same rate as Republicans do. Michael Moore has loudly chastised Hollywood for not hiring enough blacks. Yet Schweitzer’s survey of the 134 people who have worked on his films show a grand total of three black employees. Comedian Al Franken has criticized Republicans for being indifferent to black unemployment. But of “112 people whom Franken either hired directly or had a strong influence in determining whether they would work on a project,” only one was black. Another hectoring liberal, Barbara Streisand, has hired one black producer out of sixty-three producers and directors she’s employed since 1983. Even for a documentary she produced about gang violence in Washington, D.C., the producers and the director were white.”
April 2, 2006
Words and Deeds
How the Left cants.
by Bruce Thornton
Private Papers
Reviewed By Victor Hanson
http://victorhanson.com/articles///thornton040206PF.html
Capitalism did not lose jobs. People who are against capitalism did.
I never give Michael Moore a chance to make any filthy profits on account of my spending. I feel good about that.
“Looking into the camera, a weary FDR proposed what he called a second Bill of Rights — an economic Bill of Rights for all — regardless of station, race, or creed — that included
the right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;
the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
the right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;
the right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;
the right of every family to a decent home;
the right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
the right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
and the right to a good education.”
I read that and honestly, I have never seen it before in this context. What struck me though was:
Americans all have those rights already, it is there for us to take if we want it. It is called the pursuit of happiness. Many of the rights they list have been bastardized by the government rendering this so called second bill of rights a mute point already.
A useful and renumerative job. We all hold the opportunity in our own hands for this. We all have the ability to change jobs, careers, etc. or even start our own businesses. We already have this right, if only we choose to pursue it.
The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products. Government has already bastardized this through regulation, government farms, and subsidy.
To trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad. Take one look at what they intend to do to healthcare and tell me how this fits into this right. It doesn’t. Look at the G-20 and explain to me how they don’t have a monopoly on the financial systems. The G-20 banking systems are a global monopoly and it is sick right now. All the eggs are in one basket.
So many holes to shoot in their second bill of rights and how they have destroyed their own utopia...
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