Capitalism: A Fright Story

Last evening I had the privilege of watching Capitalism: A Love Story courtesy of my friend, a theater manager. There is more to say about this film than I have time here. But first I can certainly recommend this film to anyone. While there are criticisms which can be made here and there, the main message of the film is so important and so compelling as to counterbalance any flaws. And the several references to Christianity are quite effective. Very often the Bible has been used to support capitalism, which is crazy when you think about it. Here, bishops of the church speak against capitalism in a forceful way.

I was surprised by how serious the film was, although I shouldn't have been given the subject matter. There was the famous Michael Moore humor in evidence, but there were long stretches of non-uplifting depictions of people in trouble.

Yet, is not this exactly what we need to counter propaganda resurgent in this country? There is a message that the crisis is over, the stock market is "rebounding" and so forth. We have heard all this blather before. Remember, it was just at the time we were told the economy was "sound" and "robust" that the most serious crimes of speculation and exploitation were occurring.

To summarize, the new Moore film is engaging, engrossing, and ultimately -- yes! -- inspiring. You will be glad you went.

Resuming

Unfortunately, various duties have kept me away from this blog in recent months. However, I have been thinking about the blog and what is most appropriate to write about next.

The Protestant church continues in a certain state of confusion and even turmoil in many ways, with continuing slow declines in membership and participation in many places. This decline, naturally, affects music, and usually not for the better.

In conversations with friends I am developing ideas about how to support musicians in a time of crisis. I hope to have more to say about this in the relatively near future.


All the best,

The Concerned Church Musician