Capitalism: A Love Story Page #6

Okay, so 78%/% of the people

we expected to die died.

But the problem with that

is three of them were suicides.

And you can't count

on that every year.

Moore:
Can you think

of any other situation

were you'd actually want

people to die?

Combatants in war, l guess.

Wow, when do you want

people to die?

l-l don't know.

War situations,

terrorism situations.

Drug trials, perhaps.

l don't know.

l don't know.

That's an odd question.

Moore:
l didn't understand

how any of this could be legal.

After all, there's a reason

that there's a law

prohibiting me from taking out

a fire insurance policy on your house

because l have a vested interest

in your house burning down.

Since Attorney Myers had been

researching this for years,

l asked him which companies

were profiting

from these insurance policies.

l don't know,

you don't know,

because there's no place

you can go and find out

whether your company

is a purchaser

- of these types of products.

- Which ones do you know?

The ones that we know

that have slipped out are

Bank of America, Citibank,

Wal-Mart, Winn-Dixie,

Proctor & Gamble,

McDonnell Douglas, Hershey,

Nestl , AT&T,

Southwestern Bell,

Ameritech, American Express--

- This is blue chip you're talking about.

- Yeah.

These aren't fly-by-night companies

trying to do a scam here

so they can collect a check

if one of their employees dies.

There are probably

several million Americans

who are covered by one of these policies

or have been at some point.

There's a lot of it out there.

Moore:

This is Paul Smith.

He used to be what is known

as a loyal employee.

Smith:
l worked for Wal-Mart

for 18 years and l gave them 110%/%.

l mean, l loved that company.

And as it turned out,

Wal-Mart took out

over 350,000

life insurance policies

on rank and file associates.

These weren't executives.

These were people like my wife,

a cake decorator for 18 months.

That's the type of people they were taking

insurance policies out on.

Moore:
Paul's wife LaDonna

left her job at the Wal-Mart bakery

so she could be a stay-at-home mom

for her two kids.

Smith:

She had asthma real real bad.

She went into

the emergency room one night

and a nurse comes out and says,

''Are you Mr. Smith?''

And l said, ''Yes.''

And she said, ''We don't think

your wife's gonna make it.''

Moore:

LaDonna slipped into a coma

from which she would

never awaken.

Her family rushed to the hospital,

even though there was nothing

they could do to help.

There was a wall here

and LaDonna's in the room

on the other side of the wall.

And Jessica kept saying,

''Where is she?''

And l said, ''She's right on

the other side of that wall.''

And Jessica said,

''Can we cut a hole in the wall

so that we can see her?''

And that just sticks with me.

Do you remember that?

Smith:
We had to stay in there with her,

and so we'd write letters to her.

''My dear wife, l miss you more

than any words can possibly say.

You are my life.

You always see beauty

in the simplest things.

l've always admired you for that.

l wish l could have told you that more.

l want you to come back

to me soon.

l still have a lot left to learn

from you, baby doll.

Your loving husband, Paul.''

You okay, Wesley?

She was 26 years old.

LaDonna:
You're silly.

You're silly.

Myers:
The younger a person is,

the higher the benefit is

because they're expected

to live longer.

Women are also expected

to live longer than men.

So the most valuable employee

to the company

if they're dead,

is a young woman.

Moore:

LaDonna's death earned

one of the richest corporations

in the world

an extra $81,000.

l was faced with over $100,000

worth of medical bills

and a $6,000 funeral

and Wal-Mart didn't offer a penny

to help with that.

l did trust them.

And never in a million years

would l have ever thought

that somewhere

on a profit statement,

''Dead associate, $81,000.''

Wal-Mart doesn't care about you.

When someone passes away,

they shouldn't get

something out of it.

Myers:
The common denominator

to each form of coverage

is that when the employee dies,

the employer gets paid

the insurance benefits.

They're often referred to

as ''dead peasant insurance.''

Moore:
Dead peasants?

Why'd they use such a creepy name?

Myers:
lt's very creepy.

l don't know what it means either.

Dead is clear.

That's the worker who's passed away,

so they're dead.

Peasant, l don't know why

they chose that word.

l don't know if it has

some historical significance

or that's just the way they view

the relative value

of the employees' lives.

Dead peasants?

Yeah, amongst themselves

that's what they call it.

lt's insulting to refer

to my husband like that.

( sniffles )

Moore:

lt turned out that Amegy Bank

had a second

dead peasant policy on Dan,

bringing their total take

to nearly $5 million.

- ls capitalism a sin?

- Father Dick Preston: Yes.

- ls capitalism a sin?

- Father Dick Preston: Yes.

Capitalism for me and for many of us

at this present moment is an evil.

lt's contrary to all that's good.

lt's contrary to the common good.

lt's contrary to compassion.

lt's contrary to

all of the major religions.

Capitalism is precisely

what the holy books,

our holy books in particular,

remind us is unjust

and in some form and fashion,

God will come down

and eradicate somehow.

Moore:

This was Father Dick Preston,

the priest from Flint

who married my wife and me.

Preston:

Capitalism is wrong,

and therefore

has to be eliminated.

Moore:

Eliminated?

That might be a little harsh,

so l decided to go

and talk to the priest

that married my sister

and brother-in-law.

l'm sure he would have

a more balanced approach

when it came to capitalism.

lt is immoral, it is obscene,

it is outrageous.

You know...

it is really radical evil.

lt's radically evil.

Moore:
Wow, does their boss know

that they're talking like this?

l thought it best to go

and check this out with the bishop.

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton:

The system doesn't seem to be

providing for the well being

of all the people.

And that's what makes it

almost in its very nature

something contrary

to Jesus who said,

''Blessed are the poor,

woe to the rich.''

That's right out

of St. Luke's gospel.

Moore:
How have we put up

with this system for so long?

l mean, it's--

they talk about--

The system has built into it

what we call propaganda.

l'm in awe of propaganda--

the ability to convince people

who are victimized

by this very system

to support the system

and see it as good.

We know that American capitalism

is morally right

because its chief elements--

private ownership,

the profit motive

and the competitive market--

are wholesome and good.

They are compatible with God's laws

and the teachings of the Bible.

Moore:
For as long

as l can remember,

l've been told that competition

and profit are good things.

( distorted )

They are compatible with God's laws

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