Saving Capitalism

Director: Sari Gilman and Jacob Kornbluth
Year Released: 2017
Rating: 2.0

Berkeley professor Robert Reich - who also has decades of experience working for the U.S. government (notably under Bill Clinton as Secretary of Labor) - talks about problems we have with capitalism (duh), particularly with corporate greed ("crony capitalism") and how being active in the political process, via protesting and activism, is a good thing (if an uphill battle). While repetitive at times and saccharine at others (a cancer patient, a fast-food worker and a farmer get milked for sympathy points), Reich soberly lays out his arguments (which most Americans should already familiar with): corporations have too much power in Washington, the wealthy just get wealthier (via tax loopholes ... and litigation) and people who work full-time should be able to lead a comfortable life (economically speaking). There's a dinner scene with lobbyists that should have gotten more playing time - I want to hear their justifications for abhorrent behavior - because there isn't nearly enough of the 'other side' of the story (Man/Woman Up, scummy CEOs). He claims the free market isn't "immoral," but some people with their fingers in it definitely are - wouldn't a better title have been "Fixing Capitalism (Since the Likelihood of Scrapping It Altogether Is Presumably Impossible)?"