Capitalism: A Love Story Page #3

to become the most famous

corporate spokesman of the 1950s.

lt's a transistor radio too.

Weighs only a few ounces.

You can slip it

right into your pocket.

Boraxo waterless hand cleaner

really cleans up for us.

Moore:

He had found his calling

and Wall Street

had found their man.

You see, the banks and corporations

had a simple plan:

to remake America to serve them.

But to pull it off would require

electing a spokesmodel

for president.

And on November 4th, 1980,

that's what we did.

...that l will faithfully execute

the office of President

of the United States.

Crowd:

Ronald Ronald Ronald...

Thank you.

Moore:

lt was an historic moment

because now corporate America

and Wall Street

were in almost complete control.

See that guy standing

next to the president?

You know, the one

that looks like a butler?

His name was Don Regan,

the Chairman of Merrill Lynch,

the richest and biggest

retail brokerage firm in the world.

He took the key position

of Treasury Secretary

so he could enact the tax cuts

that the rich wanted.

Regan then became

White House Chief of Staff

as the president started to fade.

Then they should give the president

what 43 governors have,

a line-item veto.

- And...

- ( applause )

- You're gonna have to speed it up.

- Oh.

Moore:
Who tells the president

to speed it up?

The man from Merrill Lynch,

that's who.

Things in America would never

be the same again.

The country would now be run

like a corporation.

We're going to turn the bull loose.

( cheering, applause )

Moore:
And four years later,

when Reagan ran for reelection,

it was all smiley faces

and happy talk.

l really feel that we're gonna

be better off in the long run.

We're on the upward swing

and the factories are working

much stronger than before.

We're back on top.

Moore:
Actually,

what Reagan presided over

was the wholesale dismantling

of our industrial infrastructure.

This was not done to save money

or remain competitive,

as companies back then

were already posting

record earnings in the billions.

No, it was done

for short-term profits...

and to destroy the unions.

Millions of people

were thrown out of work

and the remaining workers

were told to work twice as hard.

But wages for working people

remained frozen.

The richest Americans

had their top income tax rate

cut in half.

lnstead of being paid

a decent wage,

we were encouraged

to live on borrowed money

until our household debt

was nearly 100%/% of the GDP.

There was an explosion

of personal bankruptcies.

We found it necessary to lock up

millions of our citizens.

Sales of antidepressants

skyrocketed

as insurance

and pharmaceutical company greed

pushed the cost

of healthcare up and up.

All of this was great news

for the stock market

and for America's CEOs.

Moore:

Half of Flint was now receiving

some form

of government welfare.

During the end

of the Reagan years,

l made my first movie about

what had happened to the country

and specifically to my hometown

of Flint, Michigan,

the birthplace of General Motors.

GM was posting profits

of over $4 billion

while at the same time eliminating

tens of thousands of jobs.

l went to see GM's chief lobbyist

in Flint, Mr. Tom Kay,

to ask him why

this was happening.

General Motors wouldn't be doing

anybody any service

if it goes bankrupt.

lt has to do what it has to do

in order to stay competitive

in today's economic climate.

Moore:
Even if that means

eliminating 18,000 jobs?

Even if it means

eliminating 20,000 jobs.

- Or 30,000?

- Whatever.

- How about all the jobs here in Flint?

- lt could feasibly happen.

Moore:
And it did.

Nearly all the jobs were eliminated

and GM went bankrupt.

Perhaps more distressing was the fact

that the rest of America

was now starting to resemble

Flint, Michigan.

But there were some cities

that still took pride in their greatness.

Cleveland

Come on down

to Cleveland Town, everyone

Come and look

at both of our buildings

Here's the place where

there used to be industry

This train is carrying jobs

out of Cleveland

See the sun almost

three times a year

This guy has at least two DUls

Our economy's

based on LeBron James

Buy a house

for the price of a VCR

Our main export

is crippling depression

We're so retarded

that we think this is art

lt could be worse, though,

at least we're not Detroit

We're not Detroit.

Moore:

No, they're not Detroit.

For 20 years l tried

to warn GM and others

that this day was coming,

but to no avail.

Maybe now they'd listen.

So l went down to the headquarters

of General Motors

one last time to share

some of my ideas.

You don't have permission.

You can't film here.

Huh?

You don't have permission

from General Motors.

- You can't film here.

- l'm just going up to see the chairman.

No, sir.

No, sir.

You know, l've been doing this

for, like, 20 years.

l understand, sir.

And l have not been

let into this building for 20 years,

and l think it's about time

someone just let me in

and let me talk to them.

l've got some good ideas.

Man:

Go ahead.

lt's Michael Moore here

to see the chairman.

Repeat that.

lt's the filmmaker

Mr. Michael Moore.

He's here to see the chairman.

- Gentlemen.

- Yes.

You need to get prior permission.

You cannot film here, okay?

But if l can't go in and get permission,

what am l supposed to do?

l guess they're right.

Breaking up is hard to do.

Stop that. Don't do that.

Just go in the building.

Moore:
For 35 years,

GM made more money

than any other corporation.

But eventually,

Germany and Japan

rebuilt their car industry

and produced vehicles

that were safer than ours,

more fuel efficient

and rarely, if ever, broke down.

ln Germany, unions help hire and fire

the board of directors

so the workers have a say

in what's going on.

You see, the people

of Japan and Germany

fight to make sure that even

their conservative political leaders

don't destroy their middle class.

So where exactly

are we right now?

On the day that General Motors

declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy,

l went with my dad to visit

the AC Spark Plug plant

where he had worked

for over 30 years.

- So you worked actually right here.

- You'd have to go--

they had a ramp that took you

up over that, just beyond that...

- Just beyond that space there?

- Yeah.

- And then the factory was all over there?

- Yeah.

Moore:
The whole complex

is, like, two miles long.

l remember Mom bringing

us kids in to pick you up.

- 2:
30 every day.

- Yeah, uh-huh.

You'd walk out of there,

right over in there in fact.

And we'd be waiting

in the car for you

and we'd see you

come down the ramp.

We got real excited

every time we saw you.

l was there 33 1/2 years.

- 33 1/2 years?

- Uh-huh.

Moore:
What's your best memory here,

being here, working here?

My best memory?

l think the people.

They were a really good bunch.

- You liked the crowd you worked with?

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