Henry F. Potter (Wikpedia doesnt say what the F stands for but I imagine its Fucker) is the villain of our tale, and thus our philosophy. He isn't just capitalism, he's late stage capitalism. Does anyone doubt that Mr. Potter would be buying stock in Google, Microsoft and Apple because of their collusion on the Gulf of America in a criminal conspiracy against the people of the United States of America and should be charged accordingly? He would invest in Blackwater, Blackrock, Goldman Sachs, Blood Diamonds, Tesla, Space X....the more evil the capital, the more he wants it. He is described as a "robber baron" but to me he is more than that. He is the face and the very personification of capitalism. The actor who played him was well known as a voice for the Christmas Carol but Ebenezer Scrooge was a humbug skeptic who saw no use in humanity; there was redemption possible there.
Can you imagine the length of the chains for Mr. Potter?
The wonderful thing about It's a Wonderful Life is that it also is alternate universe fiction; and Monotheistic at that. There are two timelines highlighted well and clearly.
The Baileyverse - Baileyism and FDR Social Democracy and Community all exist and America is the American Dream. This is Hollywood reality. Its a reality where you can imagine Captain America and Superman and the Forces of Good triumphing on a regular basis over the forces of evil.
The Potterverse - A slightly dystopian (at that time) mirror of the existing universe of what the world could be turned into where one man owned a whole town and trashed it for maximum enshittification and profit simply because he could. This is our current reality. The Satanic Tech Alliance, as well as Big Finance, The Military Industrial Complex and Big Housing all love this part of the movie and would happily use AI to edit it so that Mr. Potter won at the end.
Do you remember the rich asshole in Moulin Rouge, who pays for the "Spectacular Spectacular" and demands that the evil Raja win because rich people deserve to win? That's the Potterverse. The Potterverse is so pervasive in our minds that unless you are already a dedicated anticapitalist, the Baileyverse seems like pie in the sky. Bear in mind that of course there is a third category of people who believe that the Gubbamint could make everything better and that it would swoop in and solve everyone's problems and arrest mean old Mr. Potter and put him in jail for making a profit.
Socialists and Communists are a big fan of the Gubbamint universe and let's even pretend in their magical fantasy that instead of making it so George was never born, Mr. Potter wasn't and George was the mayor of the town. George, one must remember, at the beginning of the movie is very much an optimistic capitalist; he wants to go see the world and get rich; the typical American Dream. Of course the truly delightfully subversive nature of the movie is that it shows a different American Dream is possible; where everyone owns a home in a clean safe small town where Capitalists can do their filthy thing but have rules and regulations and boundaries.
Here is the problem with the Gubbamintverse....democracy which is VERY strong in the film even if the word democracy or elections are never mentioned. This is variations on the AMERICAN dream, and you cannot have America without accountability of the elite; and simply put most examples of these gubbamints are at the point of a gun. Having a bunch of thugs from out of town pointing guns at people changes the genre of the film entirely.
It doesn't fit. It doesn't belong.
Long term, if America's will is broken to accept Autocracy, it won't be America anymore. It might call itself that, but the spirit of the thing will in no way resemble the ideal. To those opposed to the Empire of course, this is just deserts; but...I don't know about you but I find such people unpleasant to talk to and why would I want to or ally with them or allow them to affect dialog or my own thinking?
Such people, like Maga, have no part in a civilized society much less civilized debate.
But does Mr. Potter? I personally don't think he does, but I can't be everywhere nor am I a god. I believe I could enact a society that forbids Mr. Potter to exist or be a citizen or have rights and still be Its a Wonderful Life; but I have a very powerful fertile imagination and others simply can't. And we want to actually affect change, in a positive way, not just find a pipe dream for whichever dictator (including a hypothetical me in this situation).
It doesn't work.
But that's the wonderful thing about Baileyism. IT does. It allows regulated capitalism and simply bypasses it in a cultural fashion. It doesn't require pointing guns at people, it just sets up a Building and Loan protected by the pittances of people paying in to it to barely withstand the forces of Mr Potter like an acorn until it grows and grows and grows and stops them.
Remember the actual Acorn and how the nazis destroyed it? And how? By taking over the gubbamint. If you have democracy, you will have conservatives like ants at a picnic. And unless people are willing to suddenly find my ideas appealing, conservatism is never going to be outlawed. But if you dont conservative proof your society, you are doomed.
The PURPOSE of Baileyism is to resist the Potters of the world, and do so in a way that lets a community thrive and grow. Imagine a world where there wasn't just a Building and Loan but every shop in town was designed to keep Potter Out. Imagine if instead of being Boomers, the next generation had been anti capitalist and learned the lessons of the movie to protect themselves from Potter Jr and Potter the III and Republicans.
