But try telling that to the millions of Americans who blindly chant in favor of all things capitalist even as that same system is stealing from them daily through inflation, political corruption and decreased political influence as more and more of their political representatives are bought and paid for by the wealthy.
To make matters worse it would seem that capitalists are the worst offenders of their own stated principles. Capitalism preaches a sort of survival of the fittest mantra; in the dog-eat-dog world of the marketplace only the best companies will survive. But when things go bad economically and you think these Reaganite Freidman loyalists are going to stands up and sing the praises of the unencumbered marketplace à ?? see how the invisible hand selected against the weaker of the fold and the market is stronger for it à ?? these capitalists surprise us all and do a 180 by asking for public assistance. We've seen this over and over again with the most recent example of the four trillion dollar bank bailout being the undisputed worst. It would seem that the capitalists are okay with government intervention as long as it's the government handing out welfare checks to Fortune 500 companies.
Further irony can be found in the fact that mega-multinational-corporations à ?? the new base of operations for the ultra-wealthy as they provide a convenient cover for these people to trade their money for influence à ?? are constantly crying to their political front-men about unfair competition from foreign competitors less encumbered with state regulations and labor costs. As a result our government has a multi-layered web of tariffs, import restrictions and trade agreements so thick that it's almost impossible to sell a piece of imported rock candy much less an automobile without first quadrupling cost. So what ever happened to à ??only the strong survive'?
And finely, consistently the people (politicians and industry leaders) that scream the loudest for a hands-off government, i.e. no regulation, are the ones that again violate their own principles of fair competition by completely eliminating it via colluding with existing competitors and restricting entry into the marketplace of new competitors through adversarial legislation. Again it seems that government intervention is fine with the capitalists as long as it is helping them break their own stated rules.
The conclusion: it's all a bunch of lies. Capitalism does not equal democracy; in fact it is down right hurt by it and so actively pursues its demise. Capitalist are not in favor of competition or unregulated markets, they just want to be able to preach those things while they pay their political cronies to break down barriers for them and build up others for their rivals.
I hope Mr. Moore's new film is a raving success and further I hope it begins the process of this nation taking an honest and critical look at its economic framework and the system of abject poverty and injustice for the majority that has grown up around it. With the taste of the economic events of the last eighteen months still on our lips this might be the perfect time to broach the subject of a different way and a Michael Moore film with its hard-hitting analysis wrapped in comical overtones might be just what we need to open the conversation; but let's leave the discussions of good and evil to the theologians.(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
