TRAILER: My New Movie Capitalism: A Love Story

Capitalism: A Love Story - In Theaters October 2nd

It's a crime story. But it's also a war story about class warfare. And a vampire movie, with the upper 1 percent feeding off the rest of us. And, of course, it's also a love story. Only it's about an abusive relationship.

It's not about an individual, like Roger Smith, or a corporation, or even an issue, like health care. This is the big enchilada. This is about the thing that dominates all our lives -- the economy. I made this movie as if it was going to be the last movie I was allowed to make.

Comments

[QolourCouture]

The last movie I watched was "Home alone ", but I will break my movie vacation and go so this for sure !

[Richard Keane]

Where is the coverage for the other documentary called Stock Shock

Stock Shock
" The Short Selling of the American Dream "

www.stockshockmovie.com

www.twitter.com/stockshockmovie

This movie is also about Wall Street Law Changes that cripples this country financially due to Greed and coruption.

Richard Keane, narrator Stock Shock

[DHubbard]

While waiting for Michael Moore's movie "Capitalism, A Love Story" to come out, I found this new movie about stock market corruption called "Stock Shock." I heard "Capitalism" is being well received at the Venice Film Fest.

In the meantime Stock Shock-The Movie"Stock Shock" follows several Sirius XM investors through their experience of watching their stock go from almost ten dollars a share---down to 5 cents/share. The movie suggests this might be due to flash trading, greedy hedge funds, "naked short selling" and other market manipulation by high rollers on Wall Street. I don't know if I'm a believer, but at least it gives a good review of how our stock markets are engineered.

[shedances]

An excellent blog, Michael Moore ~ & good for you in this latest film making endeavor! It really is an excellent idea for a documentary dealing with the taxpayer, the business behind Wall Street, our government & our beloved green stuff that we work so hard for day after day, year after year.

Can't wait to see it ~ the trailor was wonderful!

Thank you

[RobertHenryEller]

Mr. Moore:

Titling your movie "Capitalism: A Love Story" is a disservice to your fellow citizens.

Why? Because, it appears, at least from your trailer, that many, if not all, of your examples of "capitalism" are financial institutions.

While some basic financial services do serve capitalism, many of the activities through which these institutions have made much of their profits, particularly in recent years, and particularly in those activities that precipitated the financial crisis, have nothing to do with capitalism.

Capitalism is about deferring consumption while investing for a better future. Capitalism is about taking real business and investment risks for potential rewards. Capitalism is about exchanging value for value.

These companies were not deferring consumption while investing for a better future. They were speculating, not investing, on almost 100% borrowed money, or on other people's money. They were taking little risk. They let others take the risk, while they took the rewards. They gave no value for the value they took.

We all need to understand what capitalism really is, so that we, as citizens, can make well-informed decisions about how to protect real capitalism, which does increase our well being, and to discourage fake capitalism, promoted by fake capitalists, which hurts most of us and benefits only the fake capitalists.

Your movie, if it is as successful as your past films (and I'm a fan) will not help further this vital understanding.

[HikeMusa]

I beg to differ amigo. Capitalism has evolved & the dominant form of it is now finance capitalism. Capitalism has only survived because of state intervention, & that is the only way that it will continue to survive.
The capitalism of Adam Smith & David Ricardo-- laissez faire capitalism, I doubt if it has ever truly existed in its pure form. It needs manipulation by those in power, because whether we want to admit it or not, as Marx said it is not self sustaining. This is why other civilizations stayed away from it.
I think Moore is on point (at least judging by the trailer).

[RobertHenryEller]

HikeMusa:

Capitalism is capitalism.

It didn't evolve any more than Christianity evolved because George Bush thinks he's a Christian.

And just as many phony Christians (example: C Streeters) lie to themselves and others about being Christians, so do a lot of bankers and other financial professionals lie to themselves and others about being capitalists.

I don't think less of true Christians because of Bush.

I don't think less of Capitalism because of Goldman Sachs.

And just because Alan Greenspan completely misunderstood Ayn Rand, that doesn't make Rand guilty for Greenspan's sins.

And I'm not arguing against Michael Moore's take on the banks and the insurance companies. He is 100% spot on, and I'm right there in the choir.

I just don't think that Mr. Moore should have referred to them as Capitalists.

I don't think he would say that big pharmaceutical companies were actually in the business of health care.

And by the way: Adam Smith did not promote laissez faire capitalism. He believed that capitalism could and would be abused, and he was not for unregulated markets.

And those who purported followed Marx and stayed away from capitalism didn't exactly make out so well, did they?

And finance is supposed to be one of the tools of capitalism, not the other way around. Which, as you point out correctly, is indeed largely the way things are now.

[blackjedi47]

Blah blah blah, why blow protective smoke around this? How the hell would we know what real capitalism looks like if this isn't it? Billions of dollars gone into nothingness and people left wildly underserved and fundamentally robbed? We need some new ideas to protect. No more Bushism conservative nonsense. We need socialism in this country.

[RobertHenryEller]

Here's what real capitalism looks like:

Bill Gates/Microsoft
Larry Page/Sergei Brin/Google
Steve Jobs/Apple
Richard Branson/Virgin
Michael Dell

People and businesses that create value and deliver value in exchange for value.

I hope that helps you identify capitalism. I'm sure you can think of other examples yourself.

Real capitalism is, ironically, among the most important safeguards to real social well being. The "battle" between capitalism and socialism is as ginned up, phony and harmful as has been the United States war with Iraq.

Just as George Bush's "Christianity" is one I don't believe the God he professes to follow would recognize, so too would Adam Smith not recognize companies like AIG or Goldman Sachs as primarily capitalist operations.

I'm not apologizing, or making excuses, or trying to blow smoke. I'm trying to clear smoke.

We don't need "socialism" in this country. We do need to understand that there are public goods that benefit us all, among them universal health care and education. There is nothing about these things and real capitalism that prevents them from co-existing. In fact, they actually help each other, and all of us. One could even make the argument that they are co-dependent.

[dailyrev]

This could be his funniest film ever (I used to work at AIG and I know that befuddled security guard). But it's also a theme that social critics, even poets, have been warning us about for decades: http://dailyrevolution.net/?p=71566]

[jmpurser]

In the last 30 years I've gone from being a two time Reagan voter to a class warrior socialist. I hope the rest of the nation learns faster than I did.

[Jimboy17]

There's a transformation. Biodiversity holds the key to understanding economics. Just as the biosphere requires layers of organisms and species who operate in complex and different ways in different environments, so too does the econosphere require different strategies and systems for diverse settings. Capitalism provides essential ground for advanced technological development, and is useful in building large urban centers. It is a disaster for small to medium sized communities, which benefit more intensely from barter, collectivism, and small enterprise. Hence, Walmart doesn't belong in small towns, any more than one can expect a mom and pop bank to provide venture capital for an upstart technology firm. What we are suffering from economically is a basic lack of diversity and stratification which is the result of deregulation and conglomeration. Economy means "home" in its Greek root, and when there are no homes capable of consuming due to the collapse of the middle class and the brutalization of the working class, no wonder.

[chewie2008]

go get `em Mike.

[Baltotoast]

I sure hope there is more substance than in the trailer. What a cartoonish depiction of a serious crisis.

[LMPE]

I intend to be first in line to see it.

Unfortunately, millions of idiots still refuse to pay attention to Michael Moore's movie.

[Pansey]

Michael, your movie will make us laugh until we cry; and cry until we laugh. The average American citizen is disgusted and demoralized with life as we are now living it. I trust your movie will bring much needed discussion -- but will it bring needed change? I am appalled at the greed all around us.

[givesflack]

MR MOORE- A TRUE PATRIOT

[MikeTN]

At one time banks took in deposits in which they paid interest to the depositor. Those deposits were loaned to borrowers who paid interest. The difference was the banks profit. Banks have taken this simple idea and turned it into a monster that will (has) destroy our nation. The answer is to repeal the 1999 financial services modernization act and bring back the original provisions of the Glass-Stegal act which seperated commercial banks, investment banks and insurance companies

[Mike Barden]

Don't worry Michael. It won't be your last movie. The "publicans ain't in charge of Gitmo no more.

[noneIn2008]

The trailer addresses mercantilism not capitalism. The mercantilists and uber wealthy work with Washington to rob the daily working stiff blind and to drive small business into the ground. Small business is capitalism. The uber wealthy and mercantilists hate small business. They then use the mix up in terms to confuse the masses that capitalism causes the problems. It is the lack of capitalism. Want to see capitalism pulling the poor out, look to Vietnam and China. Want to see mercantilists at work, see Goldman Sachs, Phillip Morris, etc.

[HenryDavid]

Good point.

[johnsopinion]

I don't know about 'mercantilism' but I agree with your take on capitalism.
Favoritism has been the watch word for far too many years. But, small
businesses practice capitalism every day in spite of the 'big boys.' However,
they don't have the means to compete and pat the backs of Washington's
lobbyist puppets. It's an ego thing with the puppets. When you are 'sought
after' it tends to elevate one's view of oneself.

[beaupritchard]

Mercantilism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercantilism

[Anthony Moss]

No, because mercantilism is a defunct mode of proto-capitalism, which is primarily associated with colonialism and European expansionism. "Belief in mercantilism began to fade in the late 18th century, as the arguments of Adam Smith...won out. Today, mercantilism (as a whole) is rejected by economists..."

Small-businesses and wide-scale petty ownership is more reflective of distributivism. Capitalism is the problem. It must grow, concentrate power, out-compete and devour all obstacles to the ever-widening of the profit margin. Goldman Sachs, etc., are beautiful examples of the form late-modern capitalism takes once production-based economies are no longer profitable and financialization sophistry is the moneymaker. With all of this abstraction and voodou in haute finance (e.g., securitization, CD bundles, etc.) they have compromised the mechanics of the system itself, causing the whole damn thing to crash. Vietnam and China also experience this wealth concentration. Anti-unionism, lack of labor protections and rank exploitation are the order of the day there. True, millions are no longer hand-to-mouth agriculturalists, but this must be considered in light of the collapse of Communist collectivization projects and the marginalization of petty rural production on the global scene Peasants don't have the technical know-how and resources to make economies of scale and locate export-driven markets. They're undergoing the same painful process of proletarianization that Britain underwent in the 19th century and all industrialized economies that would follow its lead.

[HenryDavid]

Michael's at it again--a timely issue, relevant subject, confronting the guilty or their representatives, and even adding a special touch of humor in the process. He does good work, and we desperately need such people. Nothing coming out of Hollywood matches the importance of his films.

Perhaps he can next move on to the topics of "Lobbyists & PAC funds with the subsequent purchased legislation" and also "The list of Presidential pardons given at the end of their terms." There are so many important topics U.S. citizens need to be made aware of.

I will probably have to wait for the DVD, but it will be worth the wait.

[noneIn2008]

I'll buy the knock off copy or download a version so the profiteering capitalists are cut out.