Capitalism: A Love Story Page #2

Florida's up-and-coming

real estate whiz.

Here we go.

Moore:
He calls his

real estate company Condo Vultures.

( stuttering )

We have a very good sign.

You have the final notice

of eviction.

So you can see this person

was basically thrown out

by the police department.

Welcome.

Moore:

Peter deals exclusively

with clients who buy up

foreclosed homes

and then resell them at a profit.

lt's gonna be about

At the end of the day,

the only people who are buying

are primarily individuals

that we represent...

Today it's on the market

for $66,000.

...which are basically bottom feeders

who are going in there.

They have no compassion,

no sensitivity.

They're running purely off numbers

They're coming in all cash,

and they're looking to slit

any single seller's throat

regardless of what

their situation is.

So people always ask,

''What's 25c on the dollar?''

This is it.

This is what you're gonna get.

The vulture basically represents

a bottom feeder

that goes in there

and cleans off a carcass.

Because they're dealing with

so many different germs and situations,

they'll have to vomit on themselves

and there's some sort

of cleansing process that occurs.

The vultures

aren't actually killing,

they're the ones

doing the clean-up.

Which bank you want?

Bank of America?

What we do is we tap into data...

and boom, voila.

Here we got 3,400 foreclosing

by Bank of America.

Gotta love it.

As we collect data,

it's giving us

the insight into the battlefield,

almost like a drone that flies

over the battleground in Afghanistan

or in Pakistan or in lraq.

The current asking price is 355.

Again, it was purchased for 840.

A little bit of a discount.

You're gonna have two...

Our people are using

that data to be able to go in

and try to steal properties,

legally and ethically,

but take them at the bare-bone

bottom price.

lt's all about taking right now.

Look at the-- look at the roof--

completely gone and missing.

We haven't had a hurricane

in five years.

( laughing )

Welcome to the housing crash,

Miami style.

So this-- this is what capitalism is

and this is why the information

is so critical.

We go in there,

we alert them to it,

and if they like it, you know--

( imitates shotgun )

- Look at the window.

- Look at that.

Looks like the house

next door was on fire.

This is straight up capitalism.

- Fire damage.

- l wonder if somebody was living there...

zalewski:
Everybody's got

this desire to go in there

and take advantage

of others' misfortunes.

Somebody asked me,

''What's the difference between

you and a real vulture?''

l said, ''lt's very simple.

l don't vomit on myself.''

Our topic today:

What is capitalism?

Capitalism?

Well, why should there be

any question about it?

Hasn't it given us the highest

standard of living in the world?

We're free to try to make a profit,

to just get by, or to fail.

That's what capitalism is:

a system of free enterprise.

Now tell us what

''free enterprise'' means.

Moore:
l went to see

my friend Wally Shawn,

a playwright

and sometimes actor.

lnconceivable!

Moore:
But Wally also studied

history and politics

and even a little

elementary economics.

Free enterprise

is a form of words

that is intended

to conjure up in your mind

a little town with different shops.

And the guy who runs

the best shop

has the most customers.

Narrator:
There is the basis

of the capitalistic system:

the profit motive.

He's in business to make money.

Shawn:
The original

theory of capitalism

is that it's a very clever way

of society voting on what goods

it wants made.

What do you use this for?

That's-- l could use that

for practically everything l ever do.

You know, society votes.

They like the way this guy

makes ice cream.

But the other guy,

they don't like

his ice cream that much

and they don't buy it,

so it fades out.

lt's on me.

That is a good fit.

Shawn:
The basic law of life

is that if you have things,

you can easily get more things.

Very quickly, one guy can have

five times more

than anybody else.

- Free enterprise.

- Competition.

Woman:

The profit motive.

Moore:
My dad, an assembly-line

worker at General Motors,

bought and paid for our house

before l graduated

from kindergarten.

We had a new car

every three years.

We went to New York

every other summer.

That's me on Wall Street.

And that's me

directing my first movie

at the World's Fair.

We went to Catholic schools,

we lived a good life.

lf this was capitalism,

l loved it...

and so did everyone else.

During these years

a lot of people got rich

and they had to pay

a top tax rate of 90%/%.

Yep.

But they still got to live

like Bogie and Bacall.

And what did we do

with all their money?

We built damns, bridges,

interstate highways,

schools, hospitals.

We even sent a guy to the moon.

Things seemed to be going

in the right direction.

Dad had a secure job

and Mom could work

if she wanted,

but didn't have to.

Middle-class families only needed

one income to survive.

Our union family had

free health care and free dental.

The kids could go to college

without getting a loan from a bank.

Dad had four weeks

paid vacation every summer.

Most people had

a savings account and little debt.

And Dad's pension was set aside

where no one could touch it.

lt would be there for him

when he retired.

We got all of this because

our main industrial competition

had been reduced to rubble.

Here's what the German

car industry looked like.

And here's the Japanese

auto industry.

l guess you could say

it's easy to be number one

when you have no competition.

Yes, of course

not everything was perfect.

We didn't mind having to put up

with a little bit of this

and a little bit of that...

just as long as we could be

middle-class.

And we could count on our kids

having it better than we had it.

lt sounded like

a good deal to us.

Capitalism-- no one

ever had it so good.

And then, right when

we were in the middle

of this big love affair

with capitalism...

Announcer:
The ABC

Sunday Night Movie ''The Gambler''

will continue in its entirety

following this live report

from ABC News.

We are at a turning point

in our history.

Moore:

Along came Debbie Downer.

Too many of us now

tend to worship

self-indulgence

and consumption.

Human identity

is no longer defined

by what one does,

but by what one owns.

This is not a message

of happiness or reassurance,

but it is the truth

and it is a warning.

Moore:

Wow, what a bummer.

lt was time to bring

a new sheriff to town...

( horse whinnies )

...one who knew how to act

like a president.

He knew how to handle workers

who wanted a better wage.

( gunshot )

All right, mister, l guess you win.

Moore:

Or these annoying feminists

whining about their

Equal Rights Amendment.

Well, l can change that in a hurry.

Moore:
A man who knew

how to get the job done.

Ronald Reagan

came out of the B movies

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