Those who wonder why American businesses have to deal with so many regulatory commissions should consider the recent history of Argentina. After decades of near-socialism and an ugly period of military dictatorship, the country gave unfettered capitalism a try when President Carlos Menem encouraged local factory owners to ride the global economic bubble of the '90s. When the bubble burst, politicians and businessmen cashed out and sent their money overseas, leaving behind staggering unemployment. In response, workers across the country formed collectives and stormed into abandoned factories, hoping to restart the economy.
Canadian journalists Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein, both of whom routinely speak out against globalization, traveled to Argentina to shoot the documentary The Take, a record of what happens when the citizens of a civilized, well-resourced country refuse to let their leaders drag them down to Third World status. It's almost literally a David and Goliath scenario, as the workers arm themselves with slingshots to stave off the landlords. The Goliaths are legion, though, from former owners who want their plants back to a rejuvenated Menem, who runs for president again on the promise that he'll restore private ownership and return the country to the high-living state of his first term.
The Take starts off well, but Lewis and Klein are hobbled by their desire to show a viable alternative to the conventional wisdom regarding 21st-century industrialism, and the story remains more complex than a simple "don't let the fat cats back in the door" morality play. At times, The Take allows glimpses of the bigger picture, which includes the generational clash of Peronists, who have faith in the former nobility of Argentina under Juan and Eva Peron, and the anarchists, who believe they can run the schools and clinics better than the plutocrats. But Lewis and Klein keep butting in, narrating the workers' actions in awed tones.
It would have been more honest—if not as ideologically useful—to contrast the surface narrative of capitalists trying to reclaim what they tossed aside with more minutiae on how the co-ops work. At one point, a worker/owner notes that he won't be able to take long coffee breaks on the boss' dime anymore, while another wonders how the decision to pay everyone the same will hold up once the people who had nothing to do with the factory takeovers come around looking for jobs. The Take tells a compelling story of courageous, industrious people, but it begs for a second act.