Last night, I watched Michael Moore’s latest documentary, Capitalism: A Love Story. For me, the film was extraordinary. I felt Moore brilliantly assembled and told a story that was moving, shocking, depressing, alarming, uplifting, and hopeful all at the same time. Best of all, I thought he did it without a political agenda. In fact, it was clear that the story was an American one, not a Republican or a Democratic one.
What impressed me the most about the film was my ability to relate to it. I can relate to witnessing the “fat cats” take more and more while the middle class gets less and less. I can relate to the middle class having to work harder while having their wages remain flat. I can relate to the destructive effects of high unemployment, plummeting home values, foreclosures, budget deficits, and greed. What amazes me the most is that the combined net worth of the top 1% is greater than the combined net worth of the bottom 95%. That is a massive amount of wealth and it literally isn’t possible to spend that much in a single lifetime.
How do we live in a country where a tiny sliver of people can have more money than they know what to do with while everybody else has to struggle to find work and provide for their families? At one point during this film, I was nearly in tears watching a couple lose the home that had been in their family for generations. That is wrong on every level. It is a sin of the worst kind. It is one thing to lose your home because you legitimately default on your obligations and another to lose your home because your mortgage was designed to make you default so your house could be stolen. How is that legal?
You know, if I won the lottery today, I wouldn’t change one thing about my lifestyle. I don’t need or want more stuff. I don’t want a plane, a boat, a better house, another house, a better car, another car, or a bunch of fancy and shiny things. Those are things. Things have no value to me. People do. If I had millions at my disposal, I would buy that house those good people lost and give it right back to them, debt free. I’d start a foundation dedicated to giving hard working people a boost when they need it while only asking them to pay it forward in return. I would camp outside the offices of Senators and Representatives in Washington, DC until they passed laws protecting the middle class.
Other aspects of the film bothered me. It bothers me that companies can take life insurance policies out on their employees and profit off their deaths. How is that legal? How can an employee’s family be left with hundreds of thousands of dollars in medical bills while the employer gets millions? Disgusting. Even more disgusting is that we, the insured, are referred to as “peasants”.
Even still, I was inspired. I think people are reaching their breaking point. I think people have finally had enough. People can take and take, but there comes a time when they take too much. That is what has happened in our country. The top 1% have taken too much and now they are taking our jobs, our homes, our towns, and the identity of our country. No more.
I believe in democracy. I believe in our country. But, I don’t believe in capitalism as it exists in America today. The accumulation of wealth over all else is a sin. As Moore pointed out, if Jesus were alive today, he would reject capitalism. He would say it is wrong. He would say it is a sin. We should be of service to each other. We should help the poor. We should build things, not wealth. Rich should have a different meaning. It should be rich in one’s family, rich in one’s work, and rich in one’s worldly contributions. (And, well, it is clear to me that is God’s definition.)
I encourage anyone reading this to watch Moore’s film. Our country is at stake. What would happen if the top 1% got all the money? How many communities would go bankrupt? How many cities would look like Detroit? What would our country be like with no jobs and no commerce? We all need to take action to stop that from happening. We can and must stop this. However, until we stop thinking as individuals and start thinking as Americans, nothing will change and eventually, America will be bankrupt.