MovieChat Forums > Capitalism: A Love Story (2009) Discussion > Who is to blame: Stupid people or greedy...

Who is to blame: Stupid people or greedy people?

posted 13 years ago by RicemanDan
22 replies | jump to latest

The question that really rouses me from watching this film, is who is more to blame for the economic meltdown. The people who re-mortgaged and were too stupid to understand that borrowing what you can't afford to pay back is simply not a good option, or those who preyed off such stupidity to make money, yet only in the short-term, with an obvious impending back-lash from such pseudo-economics.

Can you have a democracy if the representation are mostly incapable of making simple correct/fundamental decisions? In the meltdowns case, the regulators for the banks seemed key. I found William Black (the ex bank-regulator) to be the most incisive and articulate in the film and feel that if more people like he were at the heart of the decision making regarding finance/wall-street, things could not have spiralled. I think his dam analogy was spot on as well.

It is a shame Moore is so biased, because, whilst he is clearly correct in the main assertions, they lose credibility with his doctrinaire approach (such as repeatedly asking bishops/men of the cloth about capitalism). Mention that large proportions of people are simply not equipped to make financial decisions/resist propaganda and come up with solutions to that.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] stevenackerman69 13 years ago

I think it is a combination of the two. First of all, the banks being too greedy and doing things for their own gain, and then the stupid people, who don't realize they shouldn't get in over their heads financially. I think people get stupid and don't act correctly because people in charge don't set a good example. It is like parenting. If the parenting is poor, your kids will run wild.

[–] Quanfa 13 years ago

With a fully socialist, state-run system you have no choice but to trust the government who's taking care of you. Regulation can keep people from tricking you, so in time you can be as stupid as you want to be. The dumber you get the easier it is for the fully trusted government to keep screwing you more and more. Stupid people thrive in this environment because no one thrives, if that makes any sense.

With a fully capitalist, government hands-off system you can't trust anybody because everyone is trying to make a buck by any means necessary. Stupid people are taken advantage of by smart people and if they're not it's only because the smart person chose not to. People are just a number on a piece of paper and you don't mean squat to anybody. Greedy people thrive in this environment, at least until it's their turn to get screwed by someone!

I guess the way this whole thing is supposed to work is that we the people are supposed to run our own affairs, help each other voluntarily and not screw each other over; and while the lazy people suffer by their own inaction, the motivated people thrive. The government's job is to make sure nothing gets out of hand, that the people are still getting a fair shake and not getting completely cleaned out by greedy money men. But there lies the problem. Everyone has a different definition of what fair is. And until that gets solved, all the politics in the world won't fix America.

[–] gabby_bm 13 years ago

I don't think it's necessarily stupidity or greed as both carry their own rewards and repercussions. I think it's a matter of ignorance and irresponsibility coupled with skewed ethics.

"Atlas Shrugged- Part 2"- Coming in 2012! --The saga continues!

[–] umberto_scalli 13 years ago

This is the era where money is made from money, not from work. People were told they'd be suckers if they didn't take the cheap money and invest it in the property bubble. Others were given fraudulent loans. It was greed all around, not stupidity. They had to give out these loans to keep up with the demand drawn from the system as capital has taken more from labour. Most people get their money from labour.

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] YankeeDood 13 years ago

I'd say it's both and the leaders of corporations want the "little" people to be dumb so they won't interfere with their plans for dominance.

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[–] hardwood53 13 years ago

We saw that the quality of education in this country has dropped drastically. Stupidity is the result of Social Engineering. Dumb is by design. It is important to be part of your child's education, join the PTA, volunteer to be a Teachers Assistant. Question the curriculum. The only way to keep this from happening again is to educate ourselves , keep up with the issues, and get enthusiastically involved. By enthusiastic, I also mean be a pain to those who would force conformity on you. Too many people use credit to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like.

[–] marcos_ho 13 years ago

[quote]Stupidity is the result of Social Engineering. Dumb is by design.[quote]
that is a very astute observation with which I agree 100%. This said, ignorance is also based on laziness and that clearly comes from parents. I teach at the university and this year the level of our students hit a new low. I asked them to evaluate my teaching during the last session and one of the questions was: "on a scale from 1 to 5, evaluate your personal investment in this class". The average was 3.5. What is astonishing is that noone did any homework. They think that coming to class is all they need to learn computers. If that's not laziness, i don't know what is.

[–] probo_ 13 years ago

They just needed to find someone who was desperate enough to take a loan with ridiculous mortage on it, and sure enough if you look really hard you will find many of these desperate people who will take this loan. Then they start betting and insuring the loan and whatever it was that they did.

I'll blame the corporate guys a lot more because beggars can't be choosers, but when you got a *beep* of money and you still want more, and are probably aware of the implications of what you do and still ruin the economy for almost the entire world - then you suck.

[–] gobucks0302111 13 years ago

Wall Street and mortgage companies purposely set these plans up to fail. People were not only duped but more so exploited for financial gain. Crony capitalism at work.

[–] marcos_ho 13 years ago

I do not see the difference between the two groups. The "stupid" people were as greedy as the "greedy". It's incredible how people keep accusing the banks by saying "when you have problems, you accept public money. When you have profit, you don't spread the wealth". These "poor" folk are doing the same: if their investments go well, they get rich. If they lose their money, oh, then it's somebody's fault and they just got duped.

I'm not a Republican but personal responsibility (the real one) is high in my values.

[–] muthusamygabe 13 years ago

Who to blame? Stupid Greedy People, Smart Crooked Bankers, Corrupt Bribed Politicians

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] gods_outlaw43 11 years ago

The Jesuits Of Rome are To Blame '...What will those so-called giants think of their matchless shrewdness and ability, when not a single Senator or member of Congress will be chosen, if he be not submitted to our holy father the Pope? What a sad figure those Protestant Yankees will cut when we will not only elect the President, but fill and command the armies, man the navies, and hold the keys of the public treasury?.'