Before
heading out to church yesterday morning, I caught the last ninety minutes of Michael Moore’s
Capitalism: A Love Story,
which was rated R for some bizarre reason.
I
know a lot of people like to make fun of Moore, but I’m not one of
them. Yes, he’s a little over the top sometimes (like when he places crime
scene tape across the gates of AIG and then attempts a citizen's arrest of its
CEO), but I believe he takes on good causes, and he always starts me thinking.
In
the movie, Moore talks about Franklin D. Roosevelt’s proposed Second Bill of Rights,
which would have guaranteed every American a job with a living wage, among
other things.
Now,
this was the second time in two weeks I’d heard someone on television refer to
employment as a “right,” so my ears really perked up. (For the record, the
first time was during Michelle
Alexander’s televised lecture about
the need to revise our criminal justice system.)
Of
course, the ability to earn a living wage is important for most people for many
reasons. Yet, is this something the government is in a position to provide? How
would that work exactly? I really have to question this given Moore’s statement
that capitalism is “evil,” because without capitalism, how are jobs to be
created? Moore offers “democracy” as an antidote to capitalism, and I confess I
have no idea what the hell he’s talking about.
I
guess I’ve been an American too long, because I can’t see how there can be a
democracy, that is—government of the people, by the people, and for the people—without
capitalism. Socialism and democracy don’t go together, in my view, and
communism and democracy surely don’t go together. Perhaps there’s some other
economic system of which I’m unaware that goes neatly with a democracy?
And I have to say, I’m not seeing why capitalism, in its purest form, is evil. Merriam-Webster
defines capitalism as “an economic system characterized by private or corporate
ownership of capital goods, by
investments that are determined by private decision, and by prices, production,
and the distribution of goods that are determined mainly by competition in a free market.”
Now
I know there are lots of places for this ideal to be corrupted by human
failings, greed being at the top of the list, but is that a reason to throw the
baby out with the bath water?
So
let’s think about this again. Moore seems to believe that every American should
be guaranteed a job, but he thinks capitalism is evil. Maybe I’m missing
something, but how can everyone be guaranteed a job without (a) the government
providing it or (b) the government providing mucho incentive to private
business owners to provide it? And, as a tax payer, I’m not liking either of
these scenarios. While I have no problem with government jobs created to fulfill
a legitimate need, I can’t see anything but trouble when the government generates
work just so people can have jobs. Heck, that actually happens sometimes in the
private sector, and trust me, even there it ain’t pretty.
Why?
Because when you start guaranteeing employment aside from effort, any hope of a meritocracy goes
right out the window. Don’t believe me? Go talk to a few city workers about
their performance review process. Like I said, this is maddening enough when
you work for a private agency that’s poorly managed but that, theoretically at
least, has an actual incentive to be creative and innovative and interested in
the pursuit of excellence. At
least that dumb company will eventually go out of business, making way for entrepreneurs
who want to add value to the economy. But what’ll you have if the government is
the sole driver of commerce?
Let
me be clear. I’m absolutely no fan of unfettered capitalism run amok that
tramples over individual rights and human dignities in the process. Moore’s coverage
of the Republic
Windows and Doors shut-in really captured my imagination, and I agree with
the woman who wondered aloud how some people can sleep at night. Imagine firing
two-hundred and fifty workers with just three days’ notice (in violation of the WARN Act) and
claiming you have no money to pay for accrued but unused vacation time and
severance pay? It’s just wrong.
But
I’ll say it again. Perhaps I’ve been an American too long, because I don’t
think getting rid of capitalism is the answer. Do you?
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