9/24/2009 8:04:19 AM
did capitalism fail or did the people in charge of it just make some horrible decisions? I don't think the system failed as much as the people inside of it did
9/24/2009 8:20:38 AM
Michael Moore has good intentions, but he sure makes a good attempt at destroying his message through his general douchebaggery. When I see clips from the film of him standing in front of some financial building with a microphone saying something like, "ATTENTION WALL STREET BANKERS, GIVE US BACK OUR MONEY," I just roll my eyes. There are much more powerful ways to get your message across and doing things like that do nothing but annoy people.
9/24/2009 8:33:44 AM
So all the money he's made from this evil capitalist system by putting out shitty movies and this elitist rich 1 percent that he's no doubt a part of...it sure does seem hypocritical that a man who has made a very good living exploiting consumers at the box office for personal gain would slam the system that keeps his fat ass fed.
9/24/2009 8:53:32 AM
Michael Moore is the Rush Limbaugh of the left, except probably with less influence. I pretty much shut down when people mention him as a news source.]
9/24/2009 9:03:27 AM
FAR less influenceregardless of some people saying he skews both sides, Jon Stewart is the Rush Limbaugh of the left
9/24/2009 9:15:11 AM
9/24/2009 9:19:47 AM
9/24/2009 9:20:13 AM
9/24/2009 9:23:07 AM
Rush Limbaugh is a media figure who talks about politics. This is about all he has in common with anyone on the left. I don't think there is a person on the left who has a tenth of his influence, and who applies the same modus operandi (fear-mongering, exploiting ignorance, creating division for division's sake).
9/24/2009 9:25:19 AM
9/24/2009 9:31:27 AM
9/24/2009 9:32:32 AM
^ not really. Obviously some human or humans must control the process. So the question is: who and how many. Regulations attempt to wrench complete control away from a secretive powerful-few that run the big companies and spread control and information sharing out to a larger group of people and interests
9/24/2009 9:38:17 AM
Actually, it indicates that less interference is no better (or worse) than more interference.
9/24/2009 9:38:59 AM
this review of the film (or.... largely of Michael Moore himself), by a liberal in a liberal publication, pretty much nails why I already planning on seeing this. After seeing Bowling and Fahrenheit 9/11, I didn't feel like seeing Sicko or any new Moore filmshttp://www.salon.com/ent/movies/review/2009/09/23/capitalism_a_love_story/
9/24/2009 9:49:30 AM
9/24/2009 9:51:24 AM
I still like Michael Moore. I think the quality of his movies has been declining since "Bowling for Columbine", but thats probably because his more recent movies have been more straight-forward message films. If you watch Columbine, you will see that it isn't a straight-forward "guns are bad" movie. Its an exploration into American culture that actually doesn't draw many straight conclusions and leaves a lot of the thinking up to the viewer. I have not seen Moore's latest movie, but it looks like it will be a one-dimensional, "capitalism is bad", picture. That's kinda sad. I think the financial crisis is at least as complicated as America's relationship with guns and deserves a more consideration than a few stunts and slogans. That being said, I will probably still go watch the film (I actually own all of MM's documentaries I think...and I'm considering buying Canadian Bacon just to round out the collection!).[Edited on September 24, 2009 at 9:53 AM. Reason : ``]
9/24/2009 9:52:24 AM
^ Moore's entertaining--I actually enjoyed Roger and Me. You just have to set your far-left bullshit filter to maximum.
9/24/2009 9:59:55 AM
9/24/2009 11:37:26 AM
9/24/2009 11:48:02 AM
9/24/2009 11:55:27 AM
9/24/2009 12:16:54 PM
That Salon.com review basically expanded on what I said in my first reply.
9/24/2009 1:06:57 PM
I like his investigative style.He runs up on people, and they get caught off-guard, and accidentally tell the truth. Like, they just blurt it out. It's the best.I think this movie is going to be even-handed (in that it bashes all of DC), and I think there is a specific kind of capitalism that he is attacking (you know, the kind that made it appropriate to charge 37 percent interest on a credit card). I don't see much wrong with that.
9/24/2009 1:30:44 PM
9/24/2009 1:50:37 PM
9/24/2009 1:55:13 PM
Any human system will inevitably fail eventually, hopefully Moore makes this clear before bashing Capitalism to death.
9/24/2009 2:06:34 PM
9/24/2009 2:22:08 PM
I hated Fahrenheit 911, but really liked Sicko. I will be giving this new film a chance.
9/24/2009 2:25:17 PM
I can understand your logic bridg, but I feel that it is wrong. Banks certainly dont want your house, not in this market. Plus your scenerio is VERY small and NOT the main reason people are getting kicked out of thier house, esp due to CORPORATE GREED that caused all this apparently. hahaha The ONLY reason they are getting kicked out is bc they arent making the payments.
9/24/2009 2:40:23 PM
i think a more apt example is push AR mortgages on people who can't afford them and/or don't really know what they're getting into.[Edited on September 24, 2009 at 2:44 PM. Reason : redundant]
9/24/2009 2:44:06 PM
9/24/2009 2:46:53 PM
I think sarijoul is on to something.But we can't discount the government's role. The government encouraged those banks to make those loans.I'd say another instance in corporate greed would be when they wrote loans to people who they knew couldn't cover them, and then bundled up the bad loans and sold them like they were actually worth something.Or when sometime around the mid-90s they started pushing second mortgages on to people as just a new way to manage money. I remember seeing commercials that were like, "Want a new kitchen? The money just may be in your house!" And I thought it was so cool that you could get free money to remodel your house. HA!Second mortgages used to be a last, last resort. Like, the kid's about to start college, I just got sick and lost my job, and my wife's gambling habit cost us our savings... But somewhere along the line, banks (and their advertisers) started pushing this notion that it was actually smart money management to get a second (or third) mortgage. Come on, that's deceptive and greedy.
9/24/2009 3:08:57 PM
9/24/2009 3:13:32 PM
^exactly. dont forget the insurance companies who had to back these mortgages too. A big cluster fuck that was started from the VERY top.Now back to coorporate greed bridg. It was the individual who decided on what home to buy or whether they wanted to cash out thier equity to buy something they wanted. Im not sure how you guys get back to coorporate greed. I suppose you guys hold McDonalds greed accountable for the obese who eat there constantly? Its along the same reasoning, except you dont have 50 documents to sign when you order a big mac making sure you know what you are getting into.
9/24/2009 3:20:28 PM
9/24/2009 3:23:31 PM
^I do agree with you to an extent. And for the most part these lenders were pushed to make these riskier loans. Most were quickly sold to our govt through fannie/freddy. Or packaged into investments bc of the rising housing bubble.I do see your point. But it was was borrower that picks out thier dream house, is informed of thier payments, borrowing amount, and what type of loan they are signing up for and sign to this fact several several times. Then to claim they didnt know ANYTHING about their loan. The individual and the bank were both counting on the housing prices to increase, this obviously is a great situation for both involved, it lowers risk to the lender and increases "wealth" in the borrower. However, again, some individuals took thier equity out to increase their lifestyle beyong their means....again hoping the growth of thier own equity would pay for it. I do agree that some companies did not act appropriately, but still feel the overwelming majority of the bad decisions were on the individuals. And I really have a problem with the statement that coorporate greed is forcing these people out of their home. I think greed would be correct, but it wasnt coorporate imo.[Edited on September 24, 2009 at 3:32 PM. Reason : .][Edited on September 24, 2009 at 3:34 PM. Reason : geez, I am really shitty at english.]
9/24/2009 3:32:26 PM
I once had a roomate who worked at Citigroup presenting mortgages to customers. He's told me that mortgages are simply beyond the understanding of most people, and even the ones who've done their homework have often been misinformed. He used to try to educate people about the fine-print, but getting them to seriously consider the entirety of the agreements they signed was like pulling teeth. They just wanted to know the monthly payment and interest rate, and his bosses encouraged him not to tell people when they couldn't reasonably afford a loan.[/ancedotal]
9/24/2009 3:33:11 PM
Companies that made bad loans should have gone belly up and there should not have been any bail outs. That is how the private sector should work. You run a business well, you succeed. You run it poorly then you fail. No government safety net.
9/24/2009 4:04:37 PM
^yep. And the people who cannot afford thier house should lose it.
9/24/2009 4:06:25 PM
... and then the economy tumbles ... complete finacial collapse ... frome resession to depression ... soup lines ... total business failures ... homelessness ... poverty ...But at least no one will have to lose their ideological stance ... And their longheld theories can remain intact ... Victory ...
9/24/2009 4:23:04 PM
Depressions require actions to be taken by the Government, actions which reasonable people understand to be stupid nowadays. As such, allowing everything on wallstreet to collapse would have caused a severe recession, more severe than we have had, but if I understand the general theory nowadays, the recession would end about the same time as this one is going to end, only without $10 trillion in public debt. Life is tradeoffs. Is a less severe recession really worth all this public debt and public ownership?
9/24/2009 4:28:36 PM
9/24/2009 4:55:50 PM
9/24/2009 4:56:04 PM
How did capitalism fail?Companies who made poor decisions failed......Companies who made good decisions did not fail....Thats capitalism 101. Sorry, Businesses must fail in capitalism.....thats how we get better.
9/24/2009 4:58:13 PM
9/24/2009 5:18:05 PM
It's tough to rate a depression that didn't happen, but I think you are deluded. This was not just a Savings and Loan scandal. The biggest financial and industrial institutions in the world - from B of A, to GM and AIG - were going down. It might be ideologially "right" that they should be allowed to fail, but it would have been a nightmare - but since it didn't happen everyone can cling to their values (without them having to be tested, thank God).
9/24/2009 5:32:05 PM
9/24/2009 7:45:53 PM
sounds like good ol class warfare to me. keep up the good work, MM
9/24/2009 10:00:59 PM
9/24/2009 10:06:29 PM