Through a series of examples, the film provides insight into the story of what is happening inside capitalism, telling how taxpayer money flows into non-bank financial institutions, thereby revealing the root causes of financial turmoil.
First of all, let's cut into today's theme from the title of the film.
What is "love"?
What does "love" refer to in the documentary "Capitalism: A Love Story" about the financial crisis?
Michael Moore explains it this way: “From coast to coast, from Texas ranches to Manhattan mansions—everywhere, we can find real-life melodrama like love stories. It’s full of deceit, humiliation, and betrayal. 14,000 jobs are lost every day, where do they go? Just like a love story, the crisis of love is not love itself; the crisis of the economy is not a problem of the economy itself. People's love for money leads to This is a crazy, exaggerated, ironic move. In the face of capitalism, we suffer, we are sluggish, we are distressed. Want to love but dare not love, hate but can't hate - so capitalism, It’s just a love story of wishful thinking.”
(Michael Moore)
There are many movies and TV shows based on this theme, but a documentary can be made into a satirical, funny, real and emotional, and it can also arouse the anger of the people and arouse people’s deep-seated There are really not many movies to think about.
In the film, Michael Moore is like a struggling "clown" who belongs to a part of the people, but resists in a comical and weak way, resists those Wall Street tycoons who manipulate money games, and resists those who seem to be A liar who uses legitimate means to sway.
"Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil ,
"
Is capitalism really evil?
Capitalism is not evil, but evil itself is the endless greed of people.
The creation of capitalism is progress and development. Its purpose is for the well-being of the people, but capitalism has an Achilles' heel, its expansive nature.
The once infinite expansion of the Western capitalist powers is a good illustration of this. Whether it is territorial expansion or the constant pursuit of financial capital, in the final analysis it is the result of greed.
And this cannot be entirely blamed on people themselves. When the economy is infinitely improving, people are easily lost by the bubbled economic situation, and make blind measures, which lead to the final collapse (the outbreak of the financial crisis).
And when people have gone through hardships and cleaned up the mess, they will further accumulate capital and lay a solid foundation for the next financial crisis.
So what does socialism look like?
There are only five socialist countries left today:
the People's Republic of China, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Lao People's Democratic Republic, and the Republic of Cuba.
As far as development is concerned, except for China, other countries have not seen much improvement. In addition to the relatively obvious promotion effect of the demographic dividend factor, the decisive role for China to achieve its current achievements is a wise economic system. The result of allowing multiple ownerships to coexist. The implication is that capitalism is allowed to expand in socialist countries, and those countries that do not do this are relatively slow to develop. And this is also a good proof of the previous point of view, the evil is not capitalism, but human greed.
Well, after capitalism has gone through financial crises again and again, it was people like Roosevelt and Obama who came out to clean up the mess after an intense, exciting and bankrupt "gambling". After that, what ushered in was not the dawn, but a bigger "gamble" that seemed to be dawn. In this "gambling", the losers are the people, and the winners are those who manipulate the game. The 1% owns 99% of the wealth.
In the aftermath of the crisis, in addition to the harrowing disasters and the unfortunate peoples, there was a tendency for capitalism to move closer to socialism. In 2008, before Obama was elected president, people trumpeted that Obama is socialism. The United States, which has been fighting against socialism for decades, has given birth to a "socialist" president with the efforts of the people. People cheered and surrounded , moved to tears.
In various media, we can see fierce debates on national issues in capitalist countries and regions, and we can see the fierce competition for referendums, which is like a political show, which is full of fun. The people have lost the right to speak in the economy, and the power of one person, one vote for everyone is like the last straw, the straw that changes the whole environment. This is why referendum policy is so important to Western societies.
What makes people indifferent? Is it capital?
Here I want to throw out a personal point of view.
The author believes that it is a fusion of runaway businessmen and intellectual scholars.
Merchants themselves are not terrible, they make money in business and rely on labor in exchange for returns.
Knowledge scholars are not to be feared. Curiosity drives continuous research, and research results can benefit the people.
But why is the fusion of runaway businessmen and intellectuals so terrifying?
They can even cause devastating disasters.
Businessmen continue to accumulate capital due to their interests, and scholars' research has formed a systematic and persuasive rapid development of finance, economics, information technology, etc. These theoretical frameworks have even become the "Bible" in the minds of scholars. Greatly assisting the expansion of capitalism, businessmen continue to exploit the loopholes in laws and institutions to "legitimize" their behavior. The morality and bottom line are missing, and the "heart" it deserves is lost.
The progress of science and technology has greatly promoted the development and progress of human civilization. The pursuit and absolute worship of knowledge by scholars and scientists can easily make them irrational. Their combination often makes this disaster a game, and Neglect, or even feel the misfortune of millions of people at all.
Shouldn't we pursue knowledge and wealth?
Of course not.
The greatness of knowledge is that it can make our minds more rational, let us better understand the world, understand the world, not be controlled by others, and not be a mob.
Keep a "heart" and keep reminding yourself that morality and the most basic bottom line must never be lost.
The author hopes that today's entrepreneurs are moving in the right direction. Judging from the lessons of history, the extreme wealth of a small number of people will eventually lead to disasters, and common prosperity should be our goal.
The purpose of writing this article, on the one hand, is to clarify the author's clues, and on the other hand, I hope to arouse your thinking.
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