I saw Capitalism - A Love Story this weekend and, as usual, was blown away by the insight, courage and incredibly intelligent and passionate film-making abilities of Michael Moore. My criteria for 'hero' status is reserved for a person who has a devotion to a passion that is for the greater good and takes the courageous actions required to accomplish his/her goals. Some of my heros are John Muir, Jonas Salk, Dr. Kevorkian, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Harriet Tubman. There are others also, but these are just some examples. What I admire so much about this particular movie is his emphasis on Christianity and what Jesus really meant. It has made me so angry that the religious right and many other politically connected so-called Christians have coopted Christianity to support the evils of capitalism with regard to how we lead our lives and how we care for each other. The Christianity I was taught did not involve taking as much as I can whenever I can and not care about its impact on other people. There was a time when capitalists were the ones who started businesses, supported innovation and created jobs for many people. Now, as he pointed out, the richest people have become rich basically by gambling - they are not creating anything, building anything or inventing anything. In fact, those who do build have sent so many jobs overseas so that the company does not need to pay their workers a reasonable wage with reasonable benefits, thus the middle class is being destroyed. He also showed how we bailed out the banks, AIG, and investment firms, but the little guy loses everything and gets foreclosed on for bad luck and maybe bad decisions. I hope everyone goes to see this movie and joins Michael Moore in some way to make people realize that they are being manipulated to support policies and activities that are not in their or their country's best interest.
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