Politics & Michael Moore

I treat politics like I treat mathematics; with little or no attention. When something political occurs, I tend to not understand it. I've tried, but it all seems very mundane. I do vote, and make the decision based on what the particular individual believes in and wants to achieve, as well as the party's objectives as a whole. But that's where my political involvement ends.

I do, however, enjoy watching documentaries about politics, especially anything by Michael Moore. I've seen Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, and most recently, Capitalism: A Love Story. Well let me tell you, the latter was quite the eye-opener.

The film centers on the late-2000s financial crisis and the recovery stimulus, while putting forward an indictment of the current economic order in the United States and capitalism in general. Topics covered include Wall Street's "casino mentality", for-profit prisons, Goldman Sachs' influence in Washington, D.C., the poverty-level wages of many workers, the large wave of home foreclosures, corporate-owned life insurance, and the consequences of "runaway greed".  The film also features a religious component where Moore examines whether or not capitalism is a sin and if Jesus would be a capitalist.

Before watching it I hadn't formed any opinions about the American bailout crisis, nor did I know how widespread income-earning issues were. Michael Moore isn't necessarily correct on all points he discusses -- and I realize I should probably form my own opinions rather than adopt his -- but he sure made me think differently about a lot of things. What's most funny about him is that he's just trying to get the facts out there about the horrible things mega-companies can and are doing, and they really hate him for it. They are scared of the Hollywood movie-man who wants to out them to the world. Ha.

I will tell you one thing, after watching the film and assuming I now understand what capitalism is, I sure don't believe in it. Everyone should be able to earn enough money to live decently, not just the rich! Obama might just be the one to fix all that, but we'll have to see what the future holds.

Anyway, you won't waste your time with this one if you have two extra hours to kill sometime.

Pi for the day: 3.141592653589793238462643383279502884197169