less is moore

just saw moore's new flick "capitalism: a love story." of course, there were plenty of laughs and alot of truth in it. his general argument was pretty good, and all in all, it's worth seeing. but. but. but.

how can somebody make a two hour film on american capitalism and not once mention war? why is it that we send our army all over the world? and why is it that our corporations have gone all over the world? no mention of sweatshops, mineshafts, child slavery. our economic system is reliant on the world's resources. therefore, it is reliant on our ability to dominate other nations militarily. to make a film about our economy and not even mention this is criminal. it is an insult to the millions that have been killed all over the world due to american foreign policy.

in fact, american militarism needs to be mentioned on a number of levels. as i just stated, war allows us to steal resources. furthermore, much of our domestic economy is based on war production. no mention of this.

no mention was made of how environmentally destructive american capitalism is. nothing about air pollution, the obesity epidemic (would that have hit too close to home?) the food industry, skyrocketing cancer rates, and a depraved popular culture. the film narrowly focuses on the decline of america's industrial economy. but, what if an industrial economy works? is that sustainable? is building a weapon or car any better if the guy building the weapon or car makes a decent wage? yes, it is sad when people get the shaft, and yes, we want to see people make a living wage, have health insurance, and a decent place to live. but, isn't there more than that? what of the deeper questions?

again, moore displays his usual intellectual dishonesty. he tells us how bad the guys running the economic regulatory agencies are, but he doesn't mention that obama hired all of them. he rants against the 700 billion dollar bailout, but fails to directly mention that obama strongly supported the bailout. this is incredible, as anyone without advanced dementia will surely remember this. but, the facts on obama would fly in the good vs evil, great/bad man theories of history that moore, self proclaimed socialist or not, seems to live by. so, obama was a key figure in the bailout goes unmentioned, but a few words obama spoke in favor of striking factory workers in chicago becomes a central part of the film. it was bank of america that was refusing to pay those workers, the same bank of america that gained 25 billion from the bailout obama supported. if obama was such an advocate of workers, why didn't he go after corporate power before they got the 700 billion? moore does nothing to inform us on this issue. in fact, he presents obama as a messiah like figure, shows women weeping after his victory, and people carrying on as if their favorite football team had just won the superbowl. of course, they were allowed to party, but what a joyful celebration over a capitalist politician ascending to the presidency has to do with socialism is beyond me.

earlier in the film, moore had blamed the reagan era for the beginning of the decline of american capitalism. has moore heard of something known as the great depression? now, i'm no fan of reagan, and he did help to make this country worse, but let's remember that he was the president of the 1980's, not the 1780's. slavery, the mexican american war, the slaughter of the indigenous, the persecution of the wobblies, socialists, anarchists, and the labor movement in general, corporate collusion with nazi germany, the use of strike breakers, pinkerton goons on strikers, none of this was mentioned. moore mentions socialism, but never tells us of our wonderful history of great radicals, and of a once proud american labor movement, crushed by governemt repression. not once did he reference eugene debs, emma goldman, mother jones, malcolm x, or a plethora of others who spoke and acted eloquently and bravely against american capitalism.

so much was left unmentioned. no mention of racism, war, sexism, nationalism, anti-immigrant sentiment. yes, there were plenty of laughs. yes, it was well made. yes, it beats the new tyler perry film.

but, what it could have been.

he has a heart.

if he only had a brain.

then, perhaps he would get over the rainbow.

as it is, michael moore's feet remain firmly on the ground.