I tried to sit down and finally watch Capitalism: A Love Story today before my Netflix free-trial runs out tomorrow (this is the life of a girl living on a tight budget). I started shifting in my seat 20 minutes in and by the half-way point I needed to hit stop. It somewhat reminded me of when I was watching the remake of The Thing just a week or so ago; it was excessive and I didn't enjoy it.
This isn't to say that Capitalism is a completely useless movie. In watching Moore, I think he is genuinely curious about what's going on with our country. And I think he does a decent job of trying to dig up the simple truths. However, I think he too often uncovers that the truths that presently govern our society are not simple -- rather, they are highly complicated. I think this frustrates him, and so he takes it out by producing things that forcefully try to hammer in his viewpoints into others' minds.
Why are the systems on which our society functions so complicated? Because people have been working on these systems for thousands of years. It makes sense that the longer something keeps rolling, the more layers it will have, sort of how like a snowball turns into an avalanche.
There's a reason for adding layers, too. The people at the top of the "food chain" don't want people they consider not savvy or capable to thrive alongside them. Now that the limit of our resources is hanging over our heads like a dark cloud, our way of living has become a competition for who gets what. The logic is simple: Say I have discovered a potion that vegetates my yard to six times the production but I don't have the time to pluck all the tomatoes. You come by and offer to pluck my tomatoes as long as you get to keep some. I figure this is a great idea. Then, one day, I make a tomato plucking machine. I realize I can replace you, and now I get to keep all my tomatoes. You are now worthless to me. But you still demand my tomatoes. Why should you get any?
Competition, personal innovation and selfishness play their roles, but we have gotten to where we are as a species because the ability to work together in a mutually beneficial manner allows us to prosper beyond our wildest dreams. A single brain is somewhat intelligent, but a collection of billions of brains, each with unique ideas, especially when each is afforded the same opportunities, has the potential to change the world in a vastly greater manner then one man who wants to horde his accomplishments. Pure capitalism is gross, as are most forms of government, but capitalism shines a light on the selfishness of humanity, a trait that really has little benefit to the species as a whole. After all... we have one tiny rock... in the grand scheme of it all, are a few tomatoes that important?
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