Michael Moore on Jay Leno
I watched this last night and was very confused by Michael Moore's position (this is not the first time!). He was talking about his new movie Capitalism: a Love Story. Put aside your feelings about Michael Moore as a liberal or a crazy or a great harbinger of our society's ills or whatever for a second, and watch this clip:
Okay, am I missing something here?? I mean, I agree with a lot of what he says: greed is rampant, the government should not be handing out our money as favors, etc. But his basic premise seems to be that capitalism needs to be replaced. With what? "Not socialism" he says. But ummmmm...it sure as heck sounds like he's talking about socialism! I'm sorry, but I don't think that democracy inherently="fairness and equality" particularly in the example that he uses (dividing up a pie among 10 people and one person takes 9 slices and the rest need to divide up the last slice)--that sort of one piece per person analogy sounds like socialism to me! He says that he thinks it's okay that people make money and be successful, but is he implying that there should be a cap on success?? I am just confused. Let's get rid of this broken capitalist system and see what the vacuum creates? Sounds like a GREAT idea there, Mike!
I think that this is my inherent problem with Michael Moore. He asks some extremely valid questions with his films, questions that need to be asked (although I don't always enjoy his pompous bluster and guerrilla stylings). But here's the thing: I spend 2 hours watching questions be asked, and I walk away with no solutions. Moore strikes me as a loud lazy version of a couch potato: he complains a lot, but he never gets off his butt and does anything about it. Yeah, he makes movies, but he does it with the attitude of "hey, I've revealed this giant problem. The fact that the rest of the world doesn't do SOMETHING about it is a personal insult to my vision." What something do you want us to do, Mike? "Uhhhhh, well.....uhhhhh...SOMETHING, dammit! And step on it!" That's like someone pointing out all your flaws then walking away. It's not helpful, and it doesn't create change, just dissension.
So what am I missing here?
Click to viewOkay, am I missing something here?? I mean, I agree with a lot of what he says: greed is rampant, the government should not be handing out our money as favors, etc. But his basic premise seems to be that capitalism needs to be replaced. With what? "Not socialism" he says. But ummmmm...it sure as heck sounds like he's talking about socialism! I'm sorry, but I don't think that democracy inherently="fairness and equality" particularly in the example that he uses (dividing up a pie among 10 people and one person takes 9 slices and the rest need to divide up the last slice)--that sort of one piece per person analogy sounds like socialism to me! He says that he thinks it's okay that people make money and be successful, but is he implying that there should be a cap on success?? I am just confused. Let's get rid of this broken capitalist system and see what the vacuum creates? Sounds like a GREAT idea there, Mike!
I think that this is my inherent problem with Michael Moore. He asks some extremely valid questions with his films, questions that need to be asked (although I don't always enjoy his pompous bluster and guerrilla stylings). But here's the thing: I spend 2 hours watching questions be asked, and I walk away with no solutions. Moore strikes me as a loud lazy version of a couch potato: he complains a lot, but he never gets off his butt and does anything about it. Yeah, he makes movies, but he does it with the attitude of "hey, I've revealed this giant problem. The fact that the rest of the world doesn't do SOMETHING about it is a personal insult to my vision." What something do you want us to do, Mike? "Uhhhhh, well.....uhhhhh...SOMETHING, dammit! And step on it!" That's like someone pointing out all your flaws then walking away. It's not helpful, and it doesn't create change, just dissension.
So what am I missing here?