Freedom Line Blog

Michael Moore has another movie coming out this year.  After bashing the 2nd Amendment and praising socialized medicine, Moore takes on what else … capitalism.

Judging by his recent trailer and his comments on YouTube, the movie looks like a tired rehash of past arguments for further redistribution of wealth and government intervention.

Moore will argue that the “market” is too powerful but the trailer includes clips from the bailout fiasco last year and other examples of corporate welfare.  Of course, this is not capitalism.  The last eight years have been an exercise in how the government distorts markets and rewards the politically powerful.

For example, corporate power last year allowed some companies, like AIG , to prosper and receive massive bailouts, while others were left to wither.  Capitalism doesn’t endorse multi-billion dollar transfers of capital from taxpayers to corporations, and I’m not sure why Moore thought the bailout was the perfect example of how the market is evil and corrupt.

On the contrary, the last 12 months have provided a brilliant example of how the government is corrupt.  The government distorted credit markets by keeping interest rates below the market rate and then encouraged reckless lending and borrowing.  Furthermore, the government compounded the problem when it rewarded large reckless lenders with bailouts from taxpayers.  Capitalism has suffered this past year, not government.  Government remains bigger and stronger than ever, poised to consume even larger portions of the market and take on new responsibilities.

Finally, in the comments section, Moore states that the rich “feed” off of the rest of us.  For someone who has made his fortune by practicing capitalism, it’s strange that he would describe himself as a vampire.  People, liberal and conservative, pay money to see his films and either agree or disagree with him, but few would deny that Moore has a talent for film-making; that is why he is rich.

I wish him the best of luck as he continues to pursue his profession, just as I wish the billions of other workers on the planet the best of luck pursuing their vocation.  For some reason, Moore thinks that there is some finite supply of money at the end of a rainbow that the rich and powerful have found and only occasionally share  with the rest.  But, Moore himself found no stash of money.  He created money and personal wealth through his own skill, just like any other talented worker.  And, consumers voluntarily saw his films because they saw some merit in his skill.

Let’s hope Mr. Moore includes some of the true virtues of the free market and capitalism when his film is finally released.

Here is the trailer: