Capitalism, Free Enterprise & Greed

Money, money, money, money, money, money, money.

Dough, cash, bucks, scratch, dollars, pesos, script, moolah, marigolds, macaroni, bacon, bread, greenbacks, coin, smackers, C-notes, yards, Benjamins, sawbuck, double sawbuck, fin, cabbage, clams, bills, and wad, whatever you call it and by now you know it, I'm writing about money. We all want it but so few of us get it, have it, and keep it.

Obtaining more money is the most common, yet, elusive dream we have. We all dream about having more money, spending more money, saving more money, and winning money. I dare say, especially with the older crowd, those of you over 40-years-old and especially those of you who are working on your second marriages, that love is second to money on our wish list with sex a distant third.

You don't believe me? Go take your own unofficial poll and unless you're polling a bunch of romantics or a bunch of sexual perverts, money wins every time. Whoever said you can't buy love with money is wrong. Money will buy plenty of love just ask Donald Trump, Hugh Hefner, and Michael Douglas. Seriously, what young woman would date those old geezers, if they weren't rich and loaded with money. Moreover, we all know you can buy sex with money, just ask any prostitute or call girl and any John.

Yet, without money, you can't romance that sweet, young thing that has caught your eye. Without money, you can't take her out to the movies or to dinner or whisk her away for a fabulous weekend somewhere tropical. Without money, you can't buy her that big diamond engagement ring, put a down payment on that dream house that she loves, and buy her a new car that she has to have to go to bed with your sorry ass.

Without having money in your pocket and money in the bank, in our society of unabashed green greed, political power, and influential influence, all encouraged by how much money you are willing to contribute to political campaigns and grease the greedy hands of politicians, sorry, I mean, public servants, you're nothing and no one. Without money, you're one of the millions of the invisible and silent middle class, who are too busy watching television and stuffing themselves fat with food than being involved in the process of trying to change the unfairness of our caste system. If only the power of the middle class banded together to boycott everything, especially the high cost of gas and oil, food prices, and prescription drugs, we'd be a much happier group.

Only, I can't write a review/essay about money without paying homage to those who have made this country, hated the world over, I mean, of course, what it is today with their unprecedented greed, sorry, I meant to write, wealth. Had John D. Rockefeller of Standard Oil lived today, he'd be worth an estimated 200 billion dollars. Sure, he'd be really old and creepy looking, but I'm sure another Anna Nicole Smith look-a-like would find him and his money very attractive and irresistible enough to want to marry him.

If Andrew Carnegie of Pittsburg Steel was still hanging around today, he'd be worth an estimated 120 billion dollars. If Cornelius Vanderbilt of steamships and railroads fame still lived, he'd be worth more than 100 billion in today's dollars. John Jacob Astor made his fortune in the fur trade and if he lived today, he'd be worth 85 billion dollars.

Then, there's our more modern day billionaires, Bill Gates III of Microsoft is worth an estimated 60 billion dollars. They say, by the time Mr. Gates reaches the age of 65, he may be the world's first trillionaire. Now, that's a lot of Windows, Word for Windows, and Excel spreadsheet software. I wish I had the opportunity to plunk down a thousand dollars, as my personal investment, when he started his company. With the spiraling upward market valuation, all the stock splits, and dividends reinvested, it'd be worth a million dollars today.

Next on the list is Larry Ellison of Oracle worth an estimated 55 billion dollars. Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway is worth an estimated 50 to 60 billion dollars. Paul Allen co-founder of Microsoft is worth an estimated 30 billion dollars. Had Sam Walton of Wal-Mart survived and was still around today, his fortune intact and not divided between his heirs, his wealth today would be more than 100 billion dollars.

I report their wealth as estimations because the paper value fluctuates so much with the market condition. One day it's up and the next day it's down. Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, along with Carlos Slim Helu from Mexico, continue to change places, depending upon what's happening in the world market place, and had Mr. Buffet not donated 40 billion to Bill and Melinda's foundation, that is dedicated to improving world health and educating children, he'd be worth closer to 100 billion dollars today. Their gains and losses are all paper gains and losses, anyway, which is why it's so difficult to estimate their wealth.

These people, all white Caucasian older men by the way, except for Carlos, are what free enterprise is all about, white Caucasian older men. Unless you're a woman or a minority, go ahead, stand tall, puff out your chest and take a big breath of polluted air, while digging deep in your pocket for an extra sixty dollars to fill your tank with gas this week.

"Easy there, if breathing in dirty air doesn't kill you, that coughing, gagging, and hacking will, once you see your gasoline bills this summer."

Only, as an American, I don't feel especially free or enterprising. Certainly, working paycheck to paycheck, I don't feel particularly greedy. What I don't feel is invested in the financial security of this country. I feel disenfranchised and not part of the success that includes so few and rejects so many.

Matter of fact, now that I think about it, when it comes to money and making money, I'm worse off now than I was ten years ago, twenty years ago, even. That's such a sad state of affairs. Isn't it? What have I worked for all these years? If I feel anything, I feel used, abused, and beaten down. God bless America, but the rich get richer in this country and the disparity between the top wealthy one percent and the rest of us has broadened the gap, since you know who took office and I'm not talking about President Obama, that's for sure.

No longer will one paycheck per household carry a family. It's imperative that both spouses work full-time. No longer can everyone afford a house. What is guaranteed is that all of us will be in serious debt with all of us teetering on the edge of financial disaster should we suffer any small emergency.

If student loans don't sink us, then credit card debt will. Now, the new one that's pushing families into bankruptcy is adjustable rate mortgages. Who was the greedy genius that came up with that idea? As the banks all propose and want you to believe that it's for the customers' convenience, adjustable rate mortgages certainly wasn't for the benefit of the average consumer.

Let's face it, our country is not about freedom of choice or democracy, it's about money and either you got it or you don't. Chances are you're like the rest of us. You don't got it. If you had money, you wouldn't be sitting here reading this review/essay, you'd be in the Caribbean getting tanned, getting drunk, and getting laid.

To relax and get away from my job and the stresses of not having enough money to pay my bills, I'll watch a movie. I have that Netflix home delivery and for twenty bucks a month, I receive an unlimited amount of movies to watch. Only, to make matters worse, to rub my face in what I don't have and wish I had, there have been lots of movies lately about money.

"Greed is good. What's worth doing is worth doing for money," said Michael Douglas, as Gordon Gekko, in the movie Wall Street.

Other than at Fort Knox or at the Bush Ranch or at Oprah's Harpo Studios, where better to make a movie about money than on Wall Street?

"The richest one percent of this country owns half our country's wealth, five trillion dollars," said Gordon Gekko. "One third of that comes from hard work, two thirds comes from inheritance, interest on interest accumulating to widows and idiot sons and what I do, stock and real estate speculation. It's bullshit. You got ninety percent of the American public out there with little or no net worth."

Now, the movie Wall Street was made in 1987, more than twenty years ago. Unfortunately, instead of getting better, the gap between the rich and the middle class has widened and worsened. The United States is quickly becoming another third world country. The world has more sick, more hungry, and more homeless people than it has ever had before and the United States is keeping pace with third world countries with too many of its citizens falling below the poverty line.

I remember after I watched Wall Street, I was depressed when Michael Douglas, as Gordon Gekko, said that about ninety percent of the American public has little or no net worth. It's true and I'm one of them, I thought, as I sat in the movie theatre stunned by my dismal future. That was a kick in the butt and a wakeup call.

Twenty years later, my financial lot in life has not improved, actually, it's worsened, with the high prices for gasoline for my car, outrageous fuel prices for my home, and food prices at the supermarket rising every time I buy food, things have gotten worse, much worse. Our meager salaries, with employment benefits disappearing every year and health insurance becoming more costly, have not kept up with inflation. Moreover, I now know that, when I retire and am on a fixed income, my lot in life will be far worse than it is now. Believe it or not, with things getting worse instead of better, with prices going up instead of coming down, and with salaries flat lined, these may be the best times. Wow, that's a sad reality.

I'll be like all the rest of those senior citizens who now must choose between buying their medication, heating their homes, or eating. God bless America. We are the absolute country of unprecedented greed. We should change our motto from E Pluribus Unum, out of many, one, and In God We Trust, to The Rich Get Richer and In Greed We Trust.

The average price for a home in Boston is nearly as bad as the price of a home in New York or California. This is nuts. When will it end? When will the middle class receive relief? How can this continue? What's next?

Nonetheless, movies are usually my escape from all the bullshit in the world. As soon as I sit in my easy chair and turn on the national news, the greed of the greedy with their mega million dollar, undeserved bonuses hits me in the face like a bucket of cold water. Yet, although, even the movies about money are usually entertaining, with some that are funny, nonetheless, their messages are clear. Without money you are nobody and powerless, and the movie Trading Places is an example of that dismal reality.

Who could forget Trading Places with Dan Aykroyd playing Louis Winthorpe, III and Eddie Murphy playing Billy Ray Valentine? That was a very funny movie. Okay, Jamie Lee Curtis, too, showing her fabulous boobs was good to see; she did have an amazing rack, but the whole theme of that movie was about money.

"Mother always said you were greedy," said Randolph Duke.

"She meant it as a compliment," said Mortimer Duke.

Even though it was a parody and I took it as the satire that it was, that movie gave me insight to what those, who are successfully wealthy, think of the rest of us, who aren't. They don't like us very much. They think that we are chumps and suckers, while they are slick and successful. We drink beer, while they sip champagne. We dine at McDonalds, while they eat at fancy restaurants. We shop at Wal-Mart, while they have their clothes custom made. We drive Korean economy cars and they drive German luxury sedans.

Do you remember the movie The Sting with Robert Redford, Paul Newman, and Robert Shaw? That was another great movie that was all about greed and the love of money. That was one of the few movies that I watched that I didn't guess the ending and I commend them for that and for entertaining me like that back in 1973. Nonetheless, even though the message was clear, especially back then in the 1930's, the period of this movie, when times were still very tough, right after the crash of the stock market in 1929, the writer and director painted a depressing and desperate time that hasn't change with the prosperity of eighty years. If anything, it's gotten worse.

Then, there was Boiler Room with Bed Affleck. That was a disturbing movie about money. Ocean's Eleven with the original Rat Pack, Frank Sinatra, Joey Bishop, Peter Lawford, and Dean Martin. Honorably mentioned, of course, are the new Ocean's Eleven, Twelve, and Thirteen with Brad Pitt, and George Clooney. The new Ocean's Eleven was good but, as typical, not the sequels.

Glengarry Glen Ross with Al Pacino playing Ricky Roma and Jack Lemmon playing Shelley Levene took Death of a Salesmen to modern day levels. Then, there was American Psycho with Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, who was corrupted by the selfish evils of society, is an excellent movie on the subject of greed and money, as well as It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World with Buddy Hackett and Mickey Rooney, and The Treasure of the Sierra Madres with Humphrey Bogart. If you haven't watched any of these movies or if you haven't watched them in a while, I recommend them all to you.

Back then, in 1948 when the The Treasure of the Sierra Madres was made, the censors made sure that the main character didn't profit. He died. Just as it is in reality, our movies of today not only show the bad guy profiting, winning, and getting away with big fortunes but also they send the message that money is what it's all about. Our standards have changed with the times, unfortunately, not for the better and, now without censorship to buffer reality, explains why so many of us require alcohol, Prozac and other anti-depressants to get through the day.

Lastly, rounding out the money movies is Martin Scorsese's masterpiece Casino with Robert De Niro, Sharon Stone, and Joe Pesci. Casino was a great movie that was underrated by the critics. Sharon Stone did a fabulous job of acting and DeNiro and Pesci played their greedy parts to Oscar levels. Casino is one of my favorite movies of all time. I love Sharon Stone, only watching casino made me realize that I could never have someone in my life that looked like her, unless I had lots of money, which is what this review/essay is all about, money.

Yet, a movie doesn't have to have a theme of money to make money and those movies that have grossed the most are movies not about reality but more about fantasy. Do you know what the number one top grossing movie was of all time? I'll give you a hint. It was a love story with a ship, albeit a sinking ship and an iceberg, that is, until the same director made the movie Avatar that grossed even more money.

The Titanic earned 1.8 billion dollars. It's mind boggling. No other movie comes close to earning those revenues and only Avatar has surpassed that amount with 2.6 billion dollars. The only three other billion dollar earners were The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at 1.1 billion in second place and in third place was Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest a bit over a billion dollars, and The Dark Knight barely breaking the billion dollar mark. In fifth place was Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone with nearly one billion dollars and in sixth place was Pirates of the Caribbean: At the World's End with nearly one billion dollars, as well.

The curious and telling thing about movies is that in the top 50 highest grossing movies, they are all fantasy or animated movies. What does that tell you? It tells me that people want to escape reality. Real life is so bad that people will pay their money for a ticket to escape reality for two hours. There's a lot of money in movies.

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