New Michael Moore Film Calls Capitalism "Evil"

Michael Moore – alternately loved or loathed depending on one’s political leanings – has come out with a new documentary film, the conclusion of which goes against the very grain of the American lifestyle. The conclusion? That capitalism, second only to "democracy" in the Parthenon of American ideals, is "evil." Piecing together research, stories of tragedy and overstated irony, Moore’s "Capitalism: A Love Story," argues that the American financial system of capitalism benefits the wealthy and keeps the poor in their place.

Moore takes on some of the expected sources of American capitalism in the film, spending time examining banks, hedge funds, politicians and U.S. Treasury officials and making comparisons between "Wall Street" and "Main Street." Moore also condemns the country for making gambling illegal, yet allowing large financial institutions to make the largest gamble of all with the collective wealth of the country’s middle class. Says Moore, "Essentially we have a law which says gambling is illegal but we’ve allowed Wall Street to do this and they’ve played with people’s money and taken it into these crazy areas of derivatives. They need more than just regulation. We need to structure ourselves differently in order to create finance and money, support for jobs, businesses, etc., to keep a healthy economy going."

Moore intimates that he feels there is a grassroots pressure that may keep capitalism in check in the future, and that President Obama may aid in this movement. The conclusion of the movie is, in true Moore form, stated unequivocally: "Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil. You have to eliminate it and replace it with something that is good for all people and that something is democracy."