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Is Michael Moore smart?

By | October 6, 2009, 3:00 AM PDT

Entertaining…absolutely! But smart? In this fascinating review of his new film “Capitalism: A Love Story”, the impressively credentialed editorial team from CBS MoneyWatch.com previews the film and shares their thoughts.

Watch closely as Eric Schurenberg, Jill Schlesinger, Nelson Wang, Rich Eisenberg and Jack Otter debate the film’s merits and remember some of the films great laughs. However, for the most part, these obsessed journalists must let you know that Moore’s work is one-sided, misleading in some cases and filled conspiracy theories that distract from the true story. So….is Moore smart? Maybe smart in the way he makes you laugh and the way he’s getting the the dialog going but when it comes to a financial education these journalist believe you deserve better.

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Vince Thompson

About Vince Thompson

Vince Thompson was a contributing editor for SmartPlanet from 2009 to 2010.

Vince Thompson

Vince Thompson

Contributing Editor, People

Vince Thompson is a digital revenue consultant, author, speaker and host of the popular BNET show Dog and Pony. His firm Middleshift LLC helps Internet companies build revenue by creating advertising solutions and scaling sales efforts. He is based in Los Angeles.

Follow him on Twitter.

Vince Thompson

Vince Thompson

Vince Thompson is the managing partner of Middleshift LLC, a digital revenue consultancy specializing in helping media companies sell online advertising.

Within the scope of his consultancy Vince works with a number or startups as well as major media companies and in many cases holds stock in those companies as well.

Vince is also the founder of Media2Watch LLC, parent company of Girl2Watch.com, a consumer content company that profiles up and coming actors and the shows they are going to be in and them connects them with audiences.

If at the time he writes an article or post he has a business relationship or investment related to the company or person featured, Vince will disclose his involvement. He writes for SmartPlanet and is not an employee of CBS.

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0 Votes
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I believe you missed the point
The point of the film was not to have a deep financial tutorial. Remember, even the experts could not explain derivatives, etc.

The theme of the film is "less greed-driven capitalism and more democracy is what we need".

This film shows that our financial and government system is badly skewed on the side of big money. The film is targeted to the average family person and shows how more and more is being taken from us, and how our lives are becoming worse because of unchecked greed.

It's balanced, slamming both Democrats and Republicans alike. It also showed how little our government seems to care about its citizens.

After the movie, the audience clapped.

Posted by dwsimpso
6th Oct 2009
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After the movie, the audience clapped....
all two of them.
Posted by adornoe@...
6th Oct 2009
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Michael Moore is a horse's butt
No integrity. It is fine to stand by one's beliefs but to lie further a position is wrong. Doesn't matter if it political, personal or financial.

There is FAR too much wrong on the left and the right with more than enough fact to horrify the sane person.
Posted by Keeping Current
6th Oct 2009
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
"It's balanced, slamming both Democrats and Republicans alike. It also showed how little our government seems to care about its citizens."

But if it also contains misleading statements, the good intentions are for naught because it's amazingly conceited of anybody to think they can lie to us for "our own good".
Posted by MikeTheCat2010
6th Oct 2009
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
"But if it also contains misleading statements, the good intentions are for naught because it's amazingly conceited of anybody to think they can lie to us for "our own good"."

how do you justify all the lies that the politicians say. "jet fuel burns hot enough to melt steal" "operation Iraqi freedom is a defensive operation", "the federal reserve will help solve our financial problems"
Posted by ZachG
6th Oct 2009
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Smart, Dumb, It's credibility that counts. Is MM credible? better question
His davinci code method of linking unrelated facts has me turning away soon as I see his name association. Micheal Moore means Lias, Mixed with half truths and conspiracy theories presented as facts.
Posted by invmgr@...
6th Oct 2009
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Missed the point?!?
Less "greed driven capitalism"?!? Evidently you badly need the Econ101 Tutorial.
Capitalism is, by definition, profit driven.
Even chains like Whole Foods, recently in trouble with the Left for not whole-heartedly endorsing the Obamanation's plan to subsudize health care for illegal immigrants, who make it a point of pride to treat their employees *exceptionally* well could not exist if there was not some service or product that someone else was willing to buy at a mark up.
MM is an excellent capitalist and shamelessly good self promoter who could never have made his bucks if there were not foolish poorly educated people willing to buy into the victimhood conspiracy theory lifestyle.
He should set a good example and give both of the people who watched his piece of claptrap their money back, so they can start saving now for the day when 'free' health care starts costing them an arm, a leg and untreated cancer because they are too aged to justify spending the money for treatment.
Posted by Clandaddy
6th Oct 2009
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
Michael Moore is a propagandist, and as such, uses a variety of filmic devices to alter reality to conform with his political agenda, which is anti-Capitalist and anti-America. For example, in "Bowling for Colombine", he took two different speeches by Charleton Heston that occured on two different days in two different locations, and edited them together to make it appear that Mr. Heston said something that he did not, in fact say. This is but one small example of how Mr. Moore alters the truth to suit his agenda. Most of his fans do not know or care to know how these films are assembled; they are "true believers" who have made Moore rich.

In his personal life, Mr. Moore is a consumate hypocrit. He does not hire union members to work for him; he treats his staff poorly and pays them as little as possible. He is boorish and abusive to those who he considers "beneath" him, such as restaurant and airline workers, and employees of companies that hire him to make speeches. And, he invests his millions heavily and often successfully in the very same companies and industries he disparages in his films. He is the worst kind of capitalist.

In short, he has made millions from the capitalist system which he denounces in his current film, and in one way or another, in all of his films. Like many leftists, he takes advantage of our freedoms and the opportunities that capitalism affords to make big bucks off the system while denouncing it. Since he is an extreme leftist, and his films push an extreme left-wing agenda, there's no news here as far as the mainstream media are concerned. Just good, wholesome, America-hating, anti-Capitalist propaganda.
Posted by mazzman
6th Oct 2009
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
He appears to be very smart indeed. He knows how to package a story in a way that will appeal to his target audience and make him a pile of money. In the course of appealing to that audience, he will play fast and loose with the truth, showing that he knows his audience wants to see. They are hearing what they want to hear or don't know the subject well enough to tell the difference. He now has competition from Ben Stein with his grouping of half truths seeming to lead to a conclusion that is utterly false. The true believers will leave thinking they have seen proof positive that what they want to believe is true. Thinking people, with some actual knowledge of the subject will know better. Given the current state of education in this country, they are not so common.
Posted by ssco00
6th Oct 2009
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Truth?
Ask someone who lost their life savings to the thieves if Moore is telling the truth. When the
American dollar and economy goes down the toilet in 2010 and you have to ask WHERE
DID ALL THE BAIL OUT MONEY GO, then say that Moore was lying. The message is that
there are a lot of liars, thieves and corruption in America, more than in any other country in
the world, and that is a fact.
Posted by bigpicture
6th Oct 2009
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
yea, what we need to do is take all control from capitolism (which is
driven by buying and selling power of people) who's sole interest is to
make money. And give it to politicians... who never have a sole
interest and if they did it's to put themselves into a higher position
of power. THATS what we need to do. Thats what democracy is about.
Posted by shadfurman
6th Oct 2009
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Financial education vs. Moore
I think the journalists missed the point. Moore is not arguing about financial systems. He's arguing with the politicization of the financial system, turning the capitalistic system into an -ism.

Whenever any set of principles morphs into an -ism it tends to feed on itself, exclude other ideas, reject change, and (most important) seek to become the master of people rather than a servant.

In the end the economy is constructed by people and needs to serve people. When you turn it into an -ism its excesses (monopoly, dehumanization) start to strangle it. I think we saw that in this decade.

Surprisingly, the best antidote to this was created by Republicans over a century ago. It was called progressivism. It wasn't an ideology, but simply a desire to get a handle on things, make necessary reforms, and tame the beast so it would serve other than its masters.
Posted by DanaBlankenhorn
6th Oct 2009
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
Of course, Michael Moore is smart. As for distortions, he has a standing $ 10,000 offer for anyone who finds a mistatement of fact in any of his movies. That's facts only... conclusions drawn from those facts are fungible. Oh, and by the way, were is the Moneyline special that details the cause and effects of the financial meltdown. Oh, and where is the Moneyline special warning us of the inpending financial implosion. How is the view from the cheap seats, Moneyline?
Posted by jterhar
7th Oct 2009
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
besides, Moore IS a capitalist. People say its ok that Moore lies
cause politicians lie. People say it's ok Moore lies cause cooperations lie. How does more lying (or Moore lying) make it ok,
or truthful? Two lies do NOT make a right or truth. Micheal Moore
won an academy for documentary that wasn't even remotely accurate.
I've seen all the countering evidence, interviews with the people he
abused, he's really sick. He IS a greedy capitalist of the worst
kind. Praying on the FUD of the American people and making money
that he keeps himself. If he truly cared he'd give back. Sure he
couldn't give as much as eeeeviiil capitalists Bill Gates or Warren
Buffet, but he doesn't give anything. It probably is better if
politicians spend trillions of dollars that isn't even theirs on
"fixing" problems with tactics that are at best questionable and
unproven.

If you believe capitalists are evil then you'd better crawl in a
hole and kill yourself, cause unless you living on an omish farm...
your a capitalist. And corporate capitalists provide you your
houses, cars, jobs, food, televisions, television programing, and
more. Those things don't make themselves, even communist China is capitalist, they price compete in our free market, that makes them capitalist. In the sense that Moore has made millions off of
uneducated, bigoted, fear and loathing Americans. In that sense he's
smart. I think it's obvious that he has a mental disorder.
Posted by shadfurman
7th Oct 2009
0 Votes
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
Liberals NEVER give money back, or, as a rule, give much of anything to charity or the causes they espouse (especially rich liberal politicians. See: Al Gore). They want to MAKE you give YOUR money! That's why they're liberals. (see the studies: Conservatives have a Much higher level of giving and support to charity and environmental causes.

Hunting and fishing taxes support ALL of the wildlife conservation and management programs: Billions of dollars worth a year. Libs don't give a dime, except to radical environmental organizations who invariably pursue agendas that hurt people and make things worse: see California, happening now, water shut off to central valley farmers who provide 12% of America's food, by ONE federal judge (shopped/picked by the enviros) to "protect" a 2-inch smelt/minnow. That farmland is now a desert and thousands of people, mostly the "poor" that libs are always SO concerned about, are out of work. The farms are being sold for pennies on the dollar (which may be the actual goal in all of this), and Your grocery bills are going higher. And the government is just now undertaking a "study" to see how they can "fix" the problen that they created in the first place.

Sound familiar?

Minnows (or anything) before people, the liberal environmentalist creed.
Posted by mazzman
7th Oct 2009
0 Votes
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
as a propagandist, yes he is. as an economist, not really
Posted by stilt21
7th Oct 2009
0 Votes
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
Yes, because he knows how to make money by making us look stupid for putting up with the greed. Seems like we worship greed in this country.
Posted by ITOdeed
7th Oct 2009
0 Votes
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
Michael Moore is smart at promoting Michael Moore. If he truly cared about the subjects he raises he would not put himself in front of the camera so often. And he would find a more balanced and less antagonistic way to present the material.

Some of what he has done has horrific enough issues on its own. Others he shows a rather one sided view.
Posted by Marketing@...
7th Oct 2009
0 Votes
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
Smart Planet does not seem to attract very smart readers as most of the
18 comments I read have spelling mistakes, wrong words, incomplete
sentences or bad grammar. It makes taking the comments seriously very
difficult.
Posted by misceng
8th Oct 2009
0 Votes
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
Misceng takes Smart Planet to task for it's readers poor spelling.
Don't blame them. Blame our pathetic educational system. I'm 60years
old and have been watching the spelling, grammar and usage go to hell
for the last 30 years. Even college graduates have no control of the
English language any more. Every day I find a large number of such
mistakes when i read the newspaper. And the content has allegedly been
edited. When schools don't teach proper English and our publications
are rife with such mistakes, the language is doomed.
Posted by eddzpc@...
8th Oct 2009
0 Votes
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
Also the box in which I am typing is so tiny, that it allows typos,
like the lower case 'i' in the middle of my own message above to go
into the final message before being noticed.There is no comparison
between typos and language proficiency.
Posted by eddzpc@...
8th Oct 2009
0 Votes
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200 plus years ago . . .
. . . a very smart American made this comment . . . "I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered. The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs."

This is an attributed quote from the 3rd U.S. president, Thomas Jefferson, (1743 - 1826).

Michael Moore, as well as this "movie critiquing" panel of "money experts", should do well to understand and embrace such clear foresight with their own alacrity.

Our current form of banking, including so called investments, is a sham built on greed and continues with impunity. It keeps the social divide insurmountable and hopeless to many of those that "have not". True democracy as the founding fathers brought from concept to reality should not and never belong in the hands of so few such as banking families and the governments that solely support them.

Michael Moore is indeed an entertainer first and foremost but conspiracy is not just a word but a reality in our every day lives.

Posted by sheevalazar
8th Oct 2009
0 Votes
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Michael Moore is a stupid communist
who live off the riches of capitalism.
Posted by katrillionaire@...
10th Oct 2009
0 Votes
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Is he smart tactically or strategically?
Michael Moore shows an extremely keen, tactical intelligence that allows him to get ahead of 99% of us in America. But what he has utterly failed to do is take a strategic look at where he is going.

One does not have to be a keen student of history to understand where our nation is heading. No nation has ever prospered by squashing the creative forces of its people. Turning control of our lives over to someone else, especially bureaucrats, is a guaranteed recipe for stagnation and eventual financial collapse. As Milton Friedman put it when being questioned by the Senate about 14 years ago, 'Socialism has been tried for over 5000 years and it has never succeeded'.

Minimizing government interference in our affairs (Laissez Faire) best guarantees the continued growth of our society. Embedding individuals with a strong sense of property rights and respect for others, not dictating 'politically correct' patterns of behavior, empowers people to not abuse the freedom that we need in order to grow. The best mechanism for doing so is to promote religious beliefs that have a bedrock core belief a system of rewards and punishments in the afterlife for how we treat our fellow human beings in this life. Michael Moore's 'all people go to heaven' beliefs means we can get away with just about anything in this world (i.e., have utter disrespect for our fellow human beings) and not have to account for it in the afterlife.

What he promotes will destroy any society or nation. In this regard, Michael Moore's strategic intelligence is dismal at best.
Posted by flpierson@...
13th Oct 2009
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
mr. moore is a leftist pig who stretches the facts and ignores reality. He's certainly no 'journal;ist' since he is so skewed to the left he just may fall over.
Posted by atomicswine
10th Nov 2009
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
Michael Moore is the ONLY person who has the BALLS to say what he is saying. I do not CARE if he is Einstein or not! Critics (mostly if not all from the RIGHT) will pick apart every word. Unfortunately, it takes away fro the tme they should be spending dissecting Sarah Palin!
Posted by daveuTMG
19th Nov 2009
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RE: Is Michael Moore smart?
Michael Moore is smart and may stretch the truth a bit to shine a light on a possible systemic problem. Mostly, the scare tactics are a good marketing tool.

Unfortunately, I think that most people miss the main message that he puts forth. People tend make up their minds on what he says without researching the question. It's our civic duty to question our leaders no matter who they are based on well researched information and not on the idealistic rumors or personal biases. If only more of us would take it upon ourselves to investigate these accusations and put the tough questions to those in power, we would not be in the sinking ship we are in now.

Before you criticize Michael Moore or anyone else, you should at least take the time to put forth an informed argument for or against the topic.

We need more informed democracy, less rumors and less capitalistic governance. Those who do not question and who follow blindly are more dangerous than any leader or criminal. They are the ones who provide the power to abuse. It may sound cliche, but it is true in every sense that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Posted by abyssmal_shade@...
20th Nov 2009
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