Movies

What is the price that America pays for its love of capitalism In Michael Moores film, Capitalism A Love Affair illustrates the lives of ordinary people in America suffering from starvation, finding a job and a home, and a living in a wealthy nation. The perception of balance always applies even in the system of capitalism. Corporate dominance does have disastrous impacts over the lives of ordinary Americans. In the film, Moores exemplifies the countrys love affair with the capitalist system, i.e. Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, and the downside of this system specifically where airline pilots are underpaid, corporations profiting from the death of their workers, and interest-rate-gouged citizens paid to move their own stuffs so that the bank can resell their home.

The documentary highlights Fahrenheit 911 where Moore demonstrates how innocent people suffer from the hands of greedy few and the negative effects corruption in their living. In the film, 250 people who were laid off from their company (without their earnings) decided to strike back and stage a sit-in. They remain at the plant, day after day, unwilling to leave without their pay. From this incidence, they become empowered in exchange that they will never get back to their jobs, friends at work, trust, income, and a sense of security. Their camaraderie enables them to unite and strike back.
 
In a typical capitalist set-up, huge banks and hedge funds dominate the economic arena of a country where only a few is benefited and many are deprived. Thousands of experience professionals are being laid off to maintain large profits of private companiesinvestorscapitalist. Moore also illustrates the uncomfortably close relationship between banks and politicians in the United States. This only indirectly implies that policy making and regulation are most likely changed and favored among the few on Wall street than many on the Main street.

In an interview made by Moore with a priest says that capitalism is an anti-Christian in a way on which it only favors the few and fails to protect the many. The two hour movie concludes capitalism is a necessary evil and regulating an evil is hardly difficult. The film tracks a group of factory workers who stage a sit-in at a Chicago glass factory when their proprietor stop paying their salaries and who eventually prevail over the bank. Also, a lending company repossesses the home of a group of citizens with the aid of police, forcing them to leave their home. With these undersized examples, the film shows the negative impacts of capitalism among the ordinary and small people not only in the United States but also around the globe (with capitalism as their primary system of their economy). Among the negative effects of capitalism are financial crisis (i.e. economic depression experienced in the United States in the first quarter of 2009), the problem of power, and the problem of restraint. The insecurity of illusion among capitalist countries creates an imbalance of power and of financial stability between well-off and underprivileged people. The level of satisfaction between the high class and low class society in the United States differ in terms of types of food they eat, recreational activities they wanted, and (generally) the type of living they lived. On the macro level, the economic status in a free enterprise like capitalism would be healthy and growing. But looking into the situations of the people working in private companies such as laborers, contractors, and professionals, they received less than what their employers paid for, plus deductions from taxes and other payables taken from their salaries. In general, the economy is growing in a capitalist country but also has drawbacks among the lives of non-capitalist. In my personal view, capitalism is an unjust system that should be abandoned. I agree with Michael Moores argument for which living in a capitalist environment creates pressure on people working for their family, competition among capitalist and non-capitalist, and inequality among different classes of people.

The strong grip of capitalist to the people holding an office in the government generates a problem in a capitalist-based set-up like the United States. There exist the problem of power for which the politicians only runs for an office not because they really want to govern but for the reasons that they can avail the privilege of controlling the actions, affect the income and property of other persons, to hold power, influence, and wealth of the government through corruption. The link between government officials and capitalist do have major implications to the policies created and regulated in the society. Specifically, this will dictate what business establishments will be permitted, types of jobs that would be available to the people, rate of salaries, and lastly, the economic growth of the country.

In a situation where only a few firms shares a typical industry like oil, prices of their products as well as the wages of their employees is highly affected by the policies implemented by the government. The monopoly of these products affect (if not) all the goods and services in the country. Oil as a requisite in transportation have an effect on the prices of wet goods such as rice, meat, vegetables, of dry goods such as clothings and appliances, and services like shipping. As a result, the underprivileged people are again affected with the unjust prices that these firms place in their products.

Moore suggested that the economy of the United States does not work at its highest efficiency where incentives do not reward to the employees but rewards the capitalist instead in terms of profit. The government does not have control among capitalist but do have the power (only) to regulate them. Capitalist evidently control the decisions affecting the wealth and livelihood of others.

Some of the most effective and remembered scenarios in the film is where Moore illustrates how President Ronald Reagan dismantled the United States industrial infrastructure. Also, the recent trillion dollar bailout for multinational banks and corporations, i.e. AIG was shown in the film. The exponential increase in size and intensity among corporate scandals such as SL crisis, subprime mortgages,Bear Stearns, Lehman, Enron,and AIG proves social pathology  an epidemic of self-serving materialism that corrupts the economic system of the country. These scenarios are compounded with depredations cause by excessive profiteering and consumerism for which, does not follows our ethical and religious teachings.  

Moore explains how capitalism could be an anti-American and anti-Christian. In the long run, capitalism is self-destructive. Among the mega market-players who targeted the political system of the country to buy favorable legislation, multi-national corporations who influences and instigate policies by throwing billions of dollars into the policy makerslegislators. In effect, our government most of the times only served these corporate than the majority of the Americans. The current health care system is one example where insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, and industry lobbyists hold control to the policies and regulations regarding to medical health care system of the country. In the current health care system, doctors are poorly paid, some patients are mistreated, poor services and facilities are rendered. Around 963 million dollars are spent by these major players to the members of the Congress for guaranteed policies that will profit them. Consequently, no significant health care reform was made in the past decade.  Moore stresses the importance of health care as leveled to the importance of education in a country. He also stresses the necessity for a major health reform operating at a lower cost, produces better health statistics and covers every American citizen in the country. In comparison to other countries like England, its National Health services provides healthcare to every citizen of England free of charge.
 
Few courses of policy have been undertaken more seriously and with a greater sense of guiltiness. In the case of the United States, one can scarcely imagine its Federal government to act which, on the record, has produced more beneficent results in practice in which less pride has been taken. Specifically, in the case of health care system, all measures have (until recently) been characterized as emergency legislation. Medical insurance, therapies, and consultation fees are being commissioned by the government officials. Most of the Americans consult to a doctor only when they experienced severe pain in their illnesses and most of the times are not treated successfully.

The role of decentralized decision in countries with high living standards like the United States is admirably illustrated by the Scandinavian countries. In the case of the United Kingdom, the depth of the commitment of British workers to some form of central planning is not open to question nor is the sincerity of their leaders. No other country than Britain (not even in Russia), was capitalism more thoroughly defeated as an idea among a voting majority of the people. It soon became evident that the rate at which industries would be taken into public ownership would be determined primarily by public administrative considerations. An increasing appreciation of the level and complexity of the administrative modernization required not only slowed the pace of nationalization but also, it would appear, tempered the enthusiasm of British socialists for the policy itself.

Capitalism is not the only system that will carry the economy of the United States. In any economic system one country utilizes, there are upsides and downsides of each of these systems (e.g. socialism, utilitarianism, and communism). One country must carefully analyze and evaluate which system will be more advantageous in their environment considering their kind of living, customs and traditions, and how their people will respond.