Free Movie Review On The Failure Of Capitalism In A Democracy

Annotated Bibliography

Capitalism: A Love Story – Documentary.
Filmmaker: Michael Moore
Initial release: October 2, 2009 (USA)
Director: Michael Moore
Running time: 127 minutes
Music composed by: Jeff Gibbs
Production companies: Dog Eat Dog Films, The Weinstein Company
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgcdtOcfqfc
Michael Moore has made a name for himself in making films (documentaries in particular) that addresses the major issues facing the underdog in the USA, and exposing hidden agendas201. He created this particular documentary in the light of the 2008 crash of Wall Street and the foreclosure of homes, the bank bailout, and the worker revolts.
The documentary covers a wide spectrum of what has been happening in the USA over the many decades, but in particular with regard to capitalism. It pays particular attention to the failure of not only capitalism, but also the failure of government to provide solutions to the struggling poor. There is an ever-growing gap between the poor and the rich. As established in the movie it is also about destroying your competition in order for the USA to gain the upper hand, even if it means destroying people in the process.
Looking deeper into the documentary, one sees how the US government manipulates free markets in order for them to gain and keep the upper hand. It went as far as baling out the banks, and the foreclosure of family homes. People lost their jobs as companies folded. One such company was General Motors that eliminated jobs in order to remain competitive, but ended in bankruptcy with all employees out of jobs.
https://zabalazabooks.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/leaflet_a_brief_history_of_capitalism.pdf
According to this excerpt, the ordinary work force as well as factory workers of the 1700 did resist capitalism at a very high cost. The Class War Federation indicates that this is what started the capitalism proper. Governments adopting this economic system have been known to follow suit with what happened in the UK – the fierce brutality against the resistance to the system.

Anthony Faiola

“The End Of American Capitalism?”Washington Post Friday, October 10, 2008 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/09/AR2008100903425_pf.html
This article by Anthony Faiola was published in the Washington Post following the great crash of 2008. The article addresses the issues that arose from the partial banking nationalization of the Bush administration. An involvement of government on the financial system would mean that the question arises whether the free market would continue to exist. The article reveals the US government, as a global economic model, has been compromised by the easy credit, downfall for the housing market, and the Wall Street crash that “infected the global financial system.” This has led to disrespect for the kind of capitalist model presented to the world by the USA.

Jim Heskett

“What is the Role of Government Vis-à-Vis Capitalism?”
Harvard Business School. Working Knowledge; The Thinking that Leads. 04 Nov 2009.
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6304.html
In this article, Jim Heskett discusses the role of government in a capitalistic society, as well as how it might serve the public. He makes use of Bruce Scott’s The Concept of Capitalism to draw attention to the role of government in capitalism. He highlights Scott’s “two systems of government” that refers to capitalism and democracy. It is especially the reference to the fact that, even though there is a democracy (where people can decide), there is “no assurance that it is for the people.” Heskett also highlights Scott’s description of the role of government in “preserving both capitalism and democracy.”

Harvey J. Kaye

FDR's Second Bill of Rights: 'Necessitous Men are not Free Men'
Jan 11, 2011
http://www.nextnewdeal.net/fdrs-second-bill-rights-necessitous-men-are-not-free-men

Harvey J. Kaye discusses the Second Bill of Rights, which was put forward by

President Roosevelt just before his death in 1944. The president at the time realized that he was swimming against a tide in Congress, but he went ahead, believing that the voices of the people would carry it through. Unfortunately, his death came before he could see the rejection of the Bill.
The current situation (since 2008) in the USA might very well have been averted, had Congress adopted this Bill of Rights. The Bill gave rights to the average person to the point of leveling the playing fields between the uber rich and the poor, If not leveling, at least narrowing the gap. This is possibly the biggest reason why it was rejected and why FDR knew it would be rejected.

Fred Moseley

The U.S. economic crisis: Causes and solutions
International Socialist Review. Issue #64.
http://isreview.org/issue/64/us-economic-crisis Issue #64: Features
Fred Moseley writes about the US economic crisis (in the article with the sale title). He reflects on the crisis that started in the home mortgage markets and spread to other financial institutions. The reason was that less people were obtaining financing from banks, which led to losses and finally to bank bailouts. The major cause was that banks were no longer making profits from lending. It worked hand in hand with the unemployment rate in the USA. According to Moseley, the rate of profit declines and the only way the capitalist market could respond was to expect higher output from workers, with increase of “downsizing.” The main reasons for the bailouts were that by 2009, many of the companies, especially the mortgage companies were faced with bankruptcy. Reasons for the bank and the mortgage companies’ bailouts were to avoid the total collapse of the US financial systems. The editor’s note at the end of the article says it all – that is, what eventually happened in the USA. It would be time for the entire world to redress the state of the economics of the world and make the effort of allowing Socialism to work properly, as capitalism is definitely not working. Moseley could have taken a stronger stand for this to be addressed.

Scott, Bruce R.

The Political Economy of Capitalism
Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 07-037, December 2006.
http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/07-037.pdf
Even though this is a Working Paper, it is important to look at he thoughts Bruce R Scott, shared regarding capitalism. The title is an indication already that there is very little distinction between politics and the capitalist economy. He helps with the understanding of what capitalism is. Most of all he pints to the fact that capitalism is in fact a political economy.
The USA in particular follows a system, as described by Scott, which deals with the markets (free markets) that “coordinate decentralized decision making through a price mechanism to bring supply and demand into equilibrium.” Here again it is a matter of offering the best product and thus eliminating the competition.

Scott, Bruce R

Capitalism: Its Origins and Evolution as a System of Governance.
Springer, 2011, 27-65
Jim Heskett quoted extensively from this chapter, but it is important to look at what he highlighted from the chapter. One of the things that are important to highlight again is the fact that capitalism is seen as (according to Scott) as “an indirect system of governance for economics relationships.” What Scott means by that is the fact that capitalism is a system that includes the political authorities and institutions as well. If one clears out the cobwebs of conspiracy theories, you will find that much of it is true when it comes to the USA. Government controls even the “market frameworks” and that means that capitalism is part of what Hekett also highlights as a “system of political economy and not just one of economics.” It is for this reason that Scott comments on the works of North and Friedman in that he believes that they “miss the idea of societal governance through human agency in capitalism” because their focus is more on trading than on production. If there is no equilibrium in this regard, the purpose of capitalism is defeated.

Works Cited

Capitalism: A Love Story – Documentary. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rgcdtOcfqfc
https://zabalazabooks.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/leaflet_a_brief_history_of_capitalism.pdf
Faiola, Anthony. The End Of American Capitalism? Washington Post. Friday, October 10, 2008. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/09/AR2008100903425_pf.html
Heskett, Jim (James). What is the Role of Government Vis-à-Vis Capitalism? Harvard Business School. Working Knowledge; The Thinking that Leads. 04 Nov 2009. http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6304.html
Kaye, Harvey J. FDR's Second Bill of Rights: 'Necessitous Men are not Free Men'
Jan 11, 2011, http://www.nextnewdeal.net/fdrs-second-bill-rights-necessitous-men-are-not-free-men
Moseley, Fred. The U.S. economic crisis: Causes and solutions. International Socialist Review. Issue #64. http://isreview.org/issue/64/us-economic-crisis
Scott, Bruce R. The Political Economy of Capitalism. Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 07-037, December 2006.
http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/07-037.pdf
Scott, Bruce R. Capitalism: Its Origins and Evolution as a System of Governance.
Springer, 2011, 27-65