Ha! Capitalism.

The Speech

I have lived under the roof of my house since I was three years old. That's 14 years. 14 years of memories, 14 years of not only life, laughter, love, but 14 years of grief, heartache and disappointments that have made me who I am today. After 14 years, it is not just a house..it is my home.

We imagine you also have a place you hold close to your heart and would have a difficult time saying goodbye to. I want you to keep that special place in mind for this next bit, because our special place is our homes.

Now picture this.

Seven black cars enter your street and park in front of not only yours, but your neighbour's homes. Out of each exit 3 to 6 men, obviously being paid by the hour from the government and make their way towards your front door.

You're feeling anxious, apprehensive, and unsure what to do with the situation forced upon you. This is unknown territory and unheard of as far as you know.

They're at your front door now and bang on it without remorse, disregarding formalities and immediately displaying their behaviour as aggressive and dominant. They are not there for morning tea, they are there to make you leave.

When you don't answer, they go and knock your back door down nonchalantly, as if it were an everyday occurrence and kick you out.

This, is capitalism, and this happened to a family of 4 in Lexington, Carolina.

Just because you weren't there and you weren't the victim of this attack, does not mean it is not your problem/responsibility and that you should not care. You say you care, but that isn't enough anymore.

Capitalism should a be a topic that is discussed on the regular and done something about, not a brief 5 minute conversation of how you feel bad for this family and that family and say you wish you could do more. You excuse yourself by stating how you're only one person and can't do any damage towards a parasite as large as this.

Capitalism burst through the door of this family's home over a decade ago, and it apparently wasn't a good enough wake up call for humanity . But the fact that not enough people are doing something about it today screams something else.. louder than the sound of kicking a door down.

A documentary which represents the most disturbing portrayal of capitalism is Capitalism: A Love Story. However, the issue is that people generally don't like film's that have disturbing portrayals, which lead to a lack of people watching because they find it difficult for many reasons, including not wanting to be confronted by something so vulgar and feel guilty for doing little to fix it. The reason I know this is because I've done it myself, and so have you.

This documentary portrays the government, who should be trusting and caring of its citizens but also provide the leadership a country needs to thrive, as an abusive power with greed for money and dictating large businesses, effectively controlling the lives of its people without shame. And rather than talking about it once and disregarding it the next day, we should actively engage with this topic and find solutions to battle it and make society a better place. Not for you, not for us, but for the children of the future. We don't want our legacy to be doing nothing when innocent people are being preyed on and taken advantage of when we have a choice to change it.

Michael Moore, the director of, who explicitly details the harsh and unforgiving effects of capitalism in society through his documentary once said something.

"Capitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil. You have to eliminate it and replace it with something that is good for all people. And that something is democracy."

Moore has a personal connection with capitalism, since his father worked for General Motors, a major car manufacturing conglomerate. His father used to take him to work, and even after the demolishment of the factory, Moore remembers specific places he has memories of and an emotional attachment to even today. However, his father was let go as well as the entire workforce of GM when it became bankrupt. We'll give you one guess as to why.

"There's the people who have it all and there's the people who have nothing." 

This was spoken by a man who lost his family home, he looked both desolate and despondent, after putting the last of his possessions in the back of the truck. 

At this moment, sitting in your seats, you may not feel you are affected by capitalism, but it exists and is most likely happening right now. As an Australian, with the documentary being set in America affecting millions of Americans, I don't feel that this topic is on the top of my list and an issue that I prioritise. However, I am strongly convinced about the effects of capitalism on innocent people, who are forced to leave their homes from viewing the documentary. 

The film reveals how greedy systems such as the government are, who are supposed to protect their country and provide them with a safe environment. Through watching this documentary, the harsh, poisonous, and ravenous reality of capitalism unveils an evil economic system in which 99% of society received little to nothing and gives back to the 1% who are wealthy. We are most likely in the same boat and feel the same. 

Helpless. 

Knowing we can do better to help the world resolve this crisis but aren't sure how to. What we do know is that capitalism has no benefit to society whatsoever.

In order to reduce capitalism it is essential we expose ourselves to more text types that offer the negatives of capitalism in different forms, especially non fictional texts. For example, watching a non-fictional documentary that offers knowledge about this issue such as 'Capitalism: A Love Story' is much more effective compared to films that are fictional such as 'The Great Gatsby.' 

It is important that the perspective from which the text is written is from someone who is invested in making capitalism a thing of the past. For example, in the documentary Moore includes rarely seen footage of Franklin. D. Roosevelt discussing his hope for the creation of a second Bill of Rights for workers, guaranteeing the right to a living wage, access to health care and education.

We don't expect a teenager like you, who has not experienced the effects of capitalism and has most likely not witnessed such tragedy, to be able to solve capitalism in a day, week, or a month. 

That would be unrealistic. 

But just because you are sitting here today as a student and not a person of high authority, does not mean you are not capable of a igniting change to reduce capitalism now and in the future.

 Perhaps even researching more about capitalism so it remains in your mind on a daily basis or having a conversation with your friends to raise awareness on this issue can help. 

We need to stop procrastinating and actually help these people who are affected by capitalism.

Hopefully through the exposure of different text types which explore the issues of capitalism, you will be more educated about this issue to educate those around you.

So you see, there are many forms of capitalism. There are also many solutions. One of them starts with people facing the music and watching documentaries such as this one, because in order for their to be change, you must be willing to do what is needed, you must be willing to go outside of your comfort zone, and BE uncomfortable. 

Even if you might be unwilling to admit it, change doesn't happen unless you want to be heard, and to be heard you need to know your facts, which you won't if you let societal issues such as this remain on the back burner of your mind while countless people suffer from the mistakes humanity is making.

What do you want our legacy to be?