I took some time out of my weekend to watch the documentary The Pursuit on Netflix. The documentary narrated by and which primarily follows the ideas of Arthur Brooks. Brooks is a professor and author who, until recently, headed the think tank, The American Enterprise institute.

The documentary initially follows the life of Brooks and some experiences throughout his youth and early career that eventually brought him to some pivotal questions that he would pursue throughout his life: what was the best system to bring people out of poverty and what made people really content with their lives?

Before he gets to the answers though, Brooks brings us back to when he was a young musician playing the French horn on tour in India. He recalled staying near the slums and the conditions that people were living in at the time. He found the squalor and poverty of the slums appalling but there was little a musician could do at the time, either way, the experience stuck with him.

We are then transported to the present day where he walks through the slum with a local entrepreneur and they discuss the transformation that has happened in the slums of India in the past 30 years. The conclusion is that India shifted from a central state planning model to a more free market capitalistic economy and that has helped turn former starving slums into centers of commerce where living standards have lifted billions of people out of poverty in the past few decades.

On to Europe

As Mr. Brooks story continues we follow him as he gets older and joins the Barcelona orchestra in Spain. Spain tends to be much more left wing than the US which he notes and while there he had the chance to experience this viewpoint himself.

Source: AEI

His experience with different people and various viewpoints shows here as he interviews marchers protesting against capitalism and corporatism. He seems to have strong convictions about his ideas that free market capitalism is really the best system for bringing people out of poverty but he does seem to take the time to listen to the other side intensely as opposed to many partisan public figures today.

He also notes the irony that in many rich countries, the system that has delivered well being to millions seems to be most under threat in those same countries today more than other places. This prompts a discussion with some US based Democratic Socialists who point to Scandinavian countries as those whose systems they would most like to emulate.

Brooks then moves on to Denmark and takes a look at daily life, work and taxes there. Although the system does a good job of taking general care of everyone, Brooks notes this would be very hard to implement in the US. One Danish commentator notes that there are certain cultural norms there that make it very unlikely that people would abuse the system, and that this helps keep people in line. Brooks also notes some comments on how the collective mindset of the Danish is at odds with the individualism in American culture. I found it interesting how some Danes shared some old sayings about how you were taught you were not special compared to anyone else and to keep your head down for the good of the whole.

To the US

Brooks then goes on to parts of the US including coal country in Kentucky. There he notes how the industry has left many behind but that many still have a yearning for work because it provides them a certain dignity that they feel is missing from their lives when they can’t find work.

Brooks also makes the claim that the country is not really right versus left but more about those who want a closed society versus those who want an open one. He doesn’t explore this topic in depth, presumably to avoid all the pitfalls that a discussion like that could lead to, but it didn’t win me over much to his argument either.

The film then takes a turn as Brooks explores more the dignity of work and why social programs may sap that dignity from many people if they continue to solely rely on it. One example of this is the DOE fund in New York City where ex cons start back working with basic duties like janitorial one’s and then presumably move into a skilled trade that can reintroduce them to the working world.

Conservatism With a Heart

What I found unique in this documentary was a conservative that seemed to have a real passion for the poor. Brooks notes the sensationalism of the media and how it may miss things like the facts that extreme poverty has fallen by 80% in the last 40 years, an amazing feet even more then you realize that the world population has continued to grow.

Source: ourworldindata.org

Brooks is known for this side of him which also shows in books he has written with names like The Conservative Heart and Love Your Enemies. One area, which is still a hot topic of concern which Brooks does not cover is how to tackle cronyism in government. Although the general theme is to highlight the role that capitalism has played in lifting living standards for the majority of the world population, where we go from here is not clear.

Faults like the inequality of wealth (not just income) need to be addressed because it isn’t a mutually exclusive situation between wealth and government, especially in the US. Brooks touches on these points and seems to brush them off by saying that the bottom cannot suffer at the expense of punishing the rich for being rich. In addition, current policies which help mostly rich world companies, such as lax environmental standards, will pay a disproportionate toll on the poor in developing countries in the future. Could this undo much of the progress we have seen thus far?

These are some of the pressing questions of the day looking forward. I think we do need reminders like this now and again to remind people, especially those espousing defunct left wing policies, that it is capitalism that has produced much of the abundance we see in the rich world. Going forward, the question is how to we utilize this knowledge and mitigate some of the adverse affects that getting richer can have on the wider world?

For those who were not aware of the progress being made in the fight against poverty elsewhere and are looking for a more informed, less overtly partisan viewpoint from the center-right, I recommend this documentary. Although I may not agree with everything mentioned, it may even prompt a look at one of his books. Take a look and let me know what you think.

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