Announcing an extremely topical evening - a discussion and evaluation of capitalism. Criticism is popping up everywhere - from the cover of Newsweek to Michael Moore's new film. Is capitalism passe? Is socialism now cool?

We are back at Irish Rogue, conveniently located in the Theater District. We have the entire second floor (stairs in the back) for this private event.

In many ways our economy already resembles a European one. As boomers age and spending grows, we will become even more French. - Newsweek

Agenda

• 6 PM: Member Social
  
• 7 PM: Welcome
  
• 7:15 PM: Discussion Round I
  
• 8:15 PM: Discussion Round II
  
• 9:15 PM: Discussion Round III
  
• 10 PM: Late-Night Social
  

The bars were sponsored by liquor companies, the kitchen by Lufthansa. One room had marble walls, another, cashmere. Hundreds of guests plucked hors d'oeuvres from Plexiglas trays, but when I reached for a passing tray of pigs in blankets, the waitress tried to stop me. "These are for Michael," she said...

It's been observed that Moore, crusading leftist and now explicit anti-capitalist, has made piles of money from his movies. In a question-and-answer session after Monday night's screening, an audience member asked Moore if he wouldn't concede that U.S. capitalism was better than Soviet Communism. Moore replied that the question was "bullsh--" and refused to answer directly, saying that his movie was not about that but about "democracy versus greed." The hazard of being a professional polemicist, I suppose, is the risk of boxing oneself into intellectual corners. He couldn't tenably claim that the Soviet system was good for its people, but if he conceded that capitalism had a few things going for it he would have undercut the revolutionary rhetoric that is his bread and butter...

The fashionably dressed audience that filled Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall... burst into spontaneous applause four times during the movie, and gave Moore a standing ovation. While several of the film's suffering blue-collar subjects were Republican, in a post-screening show of hands, only three audience members identified as such. Moore introduced the Hackers of Peoria, who were live in the balcony, and the hall of New York liberals gave them a round of applause too...

The film tries to show that capitalism brought about the housing crisis, the recession, decaying cities and unemployment, and the bailout of financial firms at the expense of the middle class. At the end, Moore exhorts the audience to help him defeat the system, saying "please, speed it up." - Forbes

Hope You Can Join Us!

Be sure to view our Membership Policy (click on the About link). All RSVPs are required to have a personal photo; organizers are instructed to remove RSVPs without a picture.