John Nichols: Michael Moore on Leno: "Capitalism is Legalized Greed"

[marmar]

from The Nation:



Michael Moore on Leno: "Capitalism is Legalized Greed"
posted by John Nichols on 09/16/2009 @ 09:43am


Americans who didn't witness filmmaker Michael Moore's appearance Tuesday night on NBC's "The Jay Leno Show" missed one of those rare moments when the vast wasteland gives way to an oasis of realism.

Rarely since the days when author Gore Vidal regularly appeared on the "Tonight" show with Johnny Carson has a popular television program on a commercial broadcast channel provided such extended and respectful treatment to a scathing critique of the corrupt status quo.

Leno hailed Moore's new movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story," as "the best film he's done."

The talk-show host described "Capitalism: A Love Story" as "completely nonpartisan" -- and he's right: Moore goes after sold-out Democrats and sold-out Republicans -- before declaring: "I was stunned by it, and I think it is the most fair film."

Even more meaningful than Leno's review of a movie he had obviously watched and considered seriously was this exchange:

LENO: Now it's one year since Lehman Brothers collapsed. We've had all, OK, we've handed out... Is Wall Street any better? Have they learned anything?

MOORE: No, not at all. It's, it's probably worse. They're still doing these exotic derivatives. They're now trying to do it with life insurance. They've got all these crazy schemes. I mean, that's what I'm saying about capitalism, it's like a beast. And no matter how many strings or ropes you try and tie it down with that beast just wants more and more money. And it will go anywhere. It will try to gobble up as much as it can. The word 'enough' is the dirtiest word in capitalism, 'cuz there's no such thing as enough with these guys. And we haven't stopped them. We haven't passed the regulations that President Obama has suggested. I mean, I think he's really on top of this. And he said yesterday, he told Wall Street, 'That's it, boys. No more free ATM machine at the U.S. Department of Treasury.' And I think that's something we all support, right?

The audience responded with enthusiastic and sustained applause. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.thenation.com/blogs/thebeat/473687/michael_m...

[malaise]

1. Where can I find the video?

Rec

[marmar]

3. Hey malaise, here's a link......

www.michaelmoore.com


The video is on the homepage.

[malaise]

4. Thanks marmar

[jonnyblitz]

2. uh oh, DU's wingnuts aren't gonna like this!

[marmar]

5. I'm surprised the Michael Moore Hate Society hasn't made an appearance yet.

nt

[lib_wit_it]

6. I haven't been here long enough to see any of the anti-Moore posts. What are the arguments against

him? Personally, I've always liked him and his films, though, admittedly, I haven't followed every move he's made.

[marmar]

7. They attack him for making money off his movies then criticizing capitalism....

..... and that's he's a blowhard and so on. Really weak arguments.

[Prophet 451]

14. Some of us just don't care for his style

I like Moore's books but I've always found that in his films, the pressures of the medium mean he has to rush his point or not fully flesh out his argument. As a result, I don't much care for his films.

[Jennicut]

8. Or the Jay Leno one.

[SIMPLYB1980]

9. Last I checked greed was legal.

Not defending greed, I just don't see how you can make it illegal. I do believe that greed should be regulated.

[Echo In Light]

13. Heinous, repulsive and immoral, yes. True, though, legal. And when not, big $ buys off our Reps.

[NoPasaran]

10. I must have been on the phone when they made greed a crime

[The2ndWheel]

11. "And we haven't stopped them."

"We haven't passed the regulations that President Obama has suggested."

Why not?

"They've got all these crazy schemes. I mean, that's what I'm saying about capitalism, it's like a beast. And no matter how many strings or ropes you try and tie it down with that beast just wants more and more money. And it will go anywhere. It will try to gobble up as much as it can."

So what's the answer? Stopping them by passing regulations. What's the result? All those strings and ropes are snapped. Answer? Regulation. Result? Snapped strings. Answer? Regulation. Result? Snapped ropes. The never ending dance for power goes on like that for a few hundred thousand more rounds.

[RoccoR5955]

12. This is more proof that the capitalist system is doomed to failure.

MY main reason for this is that capitalism presumes that there are infinite resources on our planet, and we all know that there are finite resources. As resources get lower and lower, capitalism will fail.

[ljm2002]

15. Thanks, that was great!

The link to the video is in the Nation article so just click on the link in the OP and you'll find the video.

[Dreamer Tatum]

16. I guess he's got enough to live on now

Every single time I see someone bitch about capitalism, they're citing Lehman or some other group on Wall Street as the problem. That's a lot like saying foxes need to be stamped out because a couple of them got caught in the henhouse.

A more rational criticism of capitalism might be that people are allowed to speculate about speculating, rather than simply speculating. The derivatives meltdown owed a lot to the assumption (ie, speculation) that housing prices would go up forever and therefore never generate trading losses.

Likewise, people who had no business betting on the price of oil can create pecuniary externalities on all of us by a self-fulfilling prophecy. The only people who should be allowed to speculate on the price of oil are those who actually need the physical product.

But in any case, maybe Moore's accountant told him he's got enough to retire on, so off with capitalism's head now...

[Vidar]

17. Forty years ago, in a high school civics class, I challenged the

teacher who read "Selfishness is a virtue, because it gives incentive for the creation of wealth" aloud in class. She took me aside after class,quietly agreed with me, but explained that she would be fired for expressing that opinion. Three years later. She was.

[Joe Chi Minh]

18. Also, systematized, institutionalized and generalized. There ain't no escape -

or that's what they always thought.