GWU student gets Michael Moore to admit that we do not have true capitalism

Michael Moore speaks at George Washington University about his new film "Capitalism: A Love Story". Chad Swarthout, senior at GWU, asks a question about free market economics and the government's role in it, and Moore admits easily that the system we have now is not true capitalism

Apparently, Moore's motivation is "what little optimism he has left" in the very system that he admits is flawed and probably a direct cause of today's economic and political crises.

Moore fails to ever address the original question, so here it is again, Michael, in paraphrase:

Is a free market and a system of private property, which is essentially capitalism, really the problem? Or is it really the fact that we give too much power to the government in which big businesses have a heavy hand in?

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Michael Moore
• Capitalism a love story
• GWU
• Ron Paul
• free market
• corruption
• AIG
• GM
• Ford
• Barack Obama
• socialism
• communism
• corporatism
• fascism
• Universal healthcare
• UHC

[jefeller]

@thedocumentarian The government doesn't save something from exploding, physically and economically speaking, they in fact encourage products and economies to explode.

Competitive supply delivers better products to the demand. That's why free markets work better than command economies.

[jefeller]

@thedocumentarian I will work for a policy change towards free market public alternatives--toll roads, private (more competitive) water systems, list goes on. To make such changes without using public goods would be an ineffective use of my energies.

Free markets get you cleaner foods/better appliances than the low standards the government imposes because suppliers have to fight harder to get you the absolute best product. If you care about demand side, you should want supply to work harder 4 u.

[jefeller]

@thedocumentarian Political economy is a joke. Its just political philosophy with an economic stat when convenient.

Show me one example where a mostly free market needs intervention (besides policing when someone steals money or property)?

Real monopoly has only occurred historically with the assistance of the the largest monopoly of all: government. And as for unsafe conditions, that is impossible in a free market because supply needs demand as much as demand needs supply.

[jefeller]

@thedocumentarian Sorry, that's BS. If the common good is to eliminate gays or forcibly inject drugs to dumb you down, would you still support the common good?

The common good is the biggest lie ever imposed on mankind. What is more subjective?

It is created by those in power or those who seek it.

[jefeller]

@thedocumentarian Look, I'm just using the iPhone example as a metaphor of "big ideas".

Intervention doesn't kill capitalism, but it hurts the perfectly democratic system that allows you to vote with your dollars.

[jefeller]

@thedocumentarian Please don't compare me to an imperialist republican.

I'm first trying to show you that taxation is unethical, and then demonstrate why we need it. It might seem backwards to do this, but unless you first gain an understanding of Austrian school economics/philosophy, you can't fully understand capitalism.

You don't have all the facts, please don't be so close minded.

[thedocumentarian]

@takadi UL is a needle in a haystack. It really is. However, their private consumer reporting does not include the process of requiring private and public companies to have a set of standards for their goods and services. A private company cannot do that. Consumer reporting does not have the power to PREVENT something from exploding, physically and economically speaking.

It may have come off as conflated scenario but I also mention the role of the private market.

[takadi]

@thedocumentarian

UL approves such a large array of electronic appliances and items and its a private consumer reporting company. You have conflated all these functions as exclusively government roles. Even so called public good problems such as the internet where access is free is solved with advertising, keyword auctioning, etc.

[thedocumentarian]

@jefeller You're using personal biases to compare two different companies. At one point in our lifetimes, Nokia was the leader in cell phones. I believe it was 2003 when Nokia was at it's peak. Apple...was in the toilet at the time. Competition. If intervention really did destroy capitalism and "invention" since it's been applied for over 200 years, wouldn't Apple still be in the toilet? Of course not.

[thedocumentarian]

@jefeller For the common good of the American people! It's a constitutional declaration on behalf of the founding fathers. Jefferson, Madison, Morris, Adams and several others spoke on behalf of the American people and spoke of the necessity to promote the general welfare.

If you think that a forced redistribution of wealth is immoral, then you should protest against any public service that you use. Don't drive on roads, drink water, buy safe appliances, purchase food, etc. List goes on.