Michael Moore Capitailism a Love Story Review Essay

The film Capitalism: A Love Story is a documentary by Michael Moore which outlines the negative effects capitalism has on modern society. Moore points out that capitalism gives people the opportunity to make a lot of money and to have a high standard of living. However, for many workers, making an income to support a family can be quite impossible. At one time, you could find a secure job and live a good life, but capitalism has evolved into a system of greed where only the rich get richer, and the middle class get poorer with no chance to better themselves. This review will analyze the positive and negative impacts of capitalism shown in the film, as well as provide my comments as to why I enjoyed the film. Capitalism gives us the freedom to do what we want and to make what we want of ourselves. It gives one the opportunity to work as much or as little as one wants, and to have the ability to make more money than others. At one time, if you worked hard, you could make a lot of money, and you could purchase a house, cars and many material possessions for yourself and your family. One could argue that even today, with a good education and a secure job, one could enjoy the benefits of a good life. Thus, corporations provided jobs, infrastructure and security for its employees and subcontractors. However, corporations have evolved and will continue to evolve. In some cases, modern companies have evolved positively where they can profit and, at the same time, treat all employees including CEOs fairly. Some such businesses are run democratically by all the workers, who also own the company, because they have an equal say and vote in the running of the operation. These worker-owned companies, such as the bread company in California, provide a good income for all their workers. The employees share equally in the profits, and profit sharing is not dependent on the position one holds. One owner commented that the more hours one works toward the benefit of the company, the more one shares in the profit. Detrimentally, many corporations have evolved negatively where the CEOs are only concerned about filling their own personal pockets with increasing profits and not caring at all about the well-being of their employees. Michael Moore eagerly points out the negative impacts capitalism has on society. Capitalism no longer provides people with the long-term sustainability needed to support themselves and their families. A good example of this is when Moore speaks out about his hometown of Flint, Michigan, and the GM plant where most of the citizens worked. When the automotive company shut down, the workers lost their jobs, and they had nowhere to turn for money. Moore alluded the reason the plant shut down was for the CEOs’ benefit because they were trying to make more profit, while not giving a second thought for the welfare of the people of Flint. As a result, many families lost their homes, and Flint became an abandoned city. Capitalism does not care about the average person because it is a system where corporations compete for higher profits and more benefits for the rich CEOs. If the GM plant in Flint was planning to close, and there was any regard for its employees, why was there no effort made to retrain employees with skills needed for other jobs so that they could continue to support their families and debts? In fact, CEOs of large corporations lobby and influence government policies to permit special tax cuts and bonuses allowing corporate officials to make more money, and in return, greedy government officials also benefit by receiving corporate favours and benefits. Thus, Wall Street and government officials help fill each other’s bank accounts.