Moore's condemnation of capitalism is wrong

Though Michael Moore seems to have missed it, in the past 10 years corporations have made enormous strides in promoting workplace democracy, patent-free innovation, and the financial independence of women in developing nations.

Moore's new movie, "Capitalism: A Love Story," profiles hardworking Middle American families financially ruined by the brutal tactics of the auto, insurance, and financial industries and sets out to prove his extreme claim that "capitalism is evil." He's wrong.

While capitalism certainly has its faults, the fact that many big corporations went bankrupt shows that the free market did not reward unscrupulous practices. There is, in fact, a large slice of the economy thriving in the recession, and these firms are based on democracy and generosity.

During the past 20 years, team-based work environments have dethroned the Industrial Age hierarchy as the management structure of choice.

One example of the change: Harvard Business Review contributor Ricardo Semler saved his manufacturing plant from bankruptcy by replacing middle management with autonomous, employee-run teams.

Teams at his plant, Semco, set their own salaries, schedule their own hours and are offered finance classes so they can understand Semco's transparent record books. Semler found that devolving power to employees made them happier — and happier workers were more productive.

The overwhelmingly positive reaction to this new worker-empowered management style led Fortune magazine to publish an annual list of the "100 Best Companies to Work For."

The Container Store earned a top spot on the list when reports rolled in of employees saying things such as, "It's rare to find a company with the same values, philosophy, and foundation principles. Going to work is like going to a family reunion every day." Research shows that this enthusiasm is a cash cow: Members of the 100 Best routinely outperform their autocratic counterparts. Indeed, American automakers' refusal to adopt team-oriented practices is often cited as the reason they could not outsell their foreign competitors.

Given that American automakers needed a bailout, Moore's movie seems more like a documentary of capitalism's authoritarian losers rather than its democratic winners.

Business is booming for companies like Tom's Shoes, which donates a pair of shoes to needy children for each pair purchased. Psychological studies reveal a symbiotic relationship between capitalism and charity: Donations to charity increase when matched with the purchase of "luxury" products.