Criminal not a capitalist

I sat through two hours of “The Magnificent Seven,” which featured hackneyed characters, a ridiculous plot and endless slapstick violence. I entertained myself by studying the horses. Then I read Katie Walsh’s review in The Spokesman-Review, wherein she pointed out that the film lacked “story, character development, motivation and all the things that make violence satisfying to watch.”

What an insightful reviewer, I thought. But then Walsh wrote about the bad guy, Bogue, whom she characterized as a tyrannical capitalist proclaiming the virtue of “free markets;” and later described the heroes as protecting citizens from “unfettered capitalism.” Whoa hoss.

For those who haven’t seen this movie, bad man Bogue and his private army commit mass murder for the purpose of stealing land from homesteaders. The heroes shoot up the bad guys to end Bogue’s depredations.

Walsh thinks Bogue engaged in free market capitalism, and the heroes ended capitalist marauding. However, capitalism is a system in which individuals are entitled to their own lives and property, free from aggression by criminals and government. Since Bogue massively violated rights, he was not a capitalist, just a criminal pretending to be a capitalist. This eludes Walsh.

Mark Humphrey

Deer Park