RKO Radio Pictures
Like many Americans, one of our favorite films to watch this time of year is Frank Capra’s 1946 It’s a Wonderful Life. Outside of being a holiday classic, it is consistently ranked as one of the greatest movies ever made.
For this week’s Closer Look and before we break for the holidays, we wanted to share some thoughts we have about the film. Specifically, we’ll focus on the striking parallels we see between the film and American society today, as well as the broader lessons the story teaches us about business, community, and human connection.
*As a warning, there are mentions of suicide ahead.
It’s a Wonderful Life is set in the fictional town of Bedford Falls, New York in the 1930s and 40s. The protagonist, George Bailey, dreamed of exploring, going to college, and becoming a world-class architect. After his father’s death, however, he abandoned those dreams and made other personal sacrifices to head his family’s business, Bailey Bros. Building and Loan Association. Meanwhile, the antagonist is Henry F. Potter. Described as the “richest and meanest man in the county,” he owns many parts of the town, with the notable exception of the Building and Loan.
The main conflict of the story takes place on Christmas Eve in 1945. Uncle Billy, a relative of George who works at the Building and Loan alongside him, goes to Mr. Potter’s bank to deposit $8,000 on behalf of the company, but inadvertently gives the cash to Mr. Potter himself, who says nothing of it. As fate would have it, that very day, a bank examiner has come to the Building and Loan to audit their books. George and Uncle Billy try in vain to retrace Uncle Billy’s steps to find the lost $8,000, knowing that bankruptcy and jail lie ahead.
In his grief, George goes to a bridge and contemplates dying by suicide, but is “saved” by his guardian angel, Clarence. After George expresses a wish to have never been born, Clarence shows him what life would be like in the town if that were the case. In the alternate reality, Bedford Falls was renamed “Pottersville,” suggesting that Mr. Potter assumed complete control of the town. The friendly mom-and-pop stores that lined the main street of town have been replaced with strip clubs, saloons, pawn shops, and more. George’s family and friends are either completely different (and not in a good way) or not alive. No one trusts each other, and the strong cohesion of the once familial town is all but gone. George becomes so distraught that he eventually pleads to live again, and his wish is granted. He rushes home, only to find that the community rallied around him to donate more than enough to make up for the missing $8,000.
There’s much more to the story, but that’s the gist of it. If you haven’t already seen the film, we highly recommend it!
Perhaps the biggest parallel that we can draw between the film and American society today is through the character of Mr. Potter. Mr. Potter is the quintessential oligarch. If he were around in 2025, it’s easy to imagine him seated with Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg in the second row at Trump’s inauguration this past January. In the same way that he controls the town’s bank, bus line, department stores, and real estate outside of the Building and Loan’s holdings, billionaire oligarchs today control (or lead companies that control) everything that touches our lives—from the media, retail, technology, transportation, healthcare, housing, and more. Also, in the same way that we see Mr. Potter having a direct relationship with a congressman and heading the draft board during World War II, the ultra-wealthy in America today have politicians’ ears more than anyone else. We’ve also witnessed how those with deep pockets enjoy the privilege of serving in government themselves in the Trump administration.
Another way that Mr. Potter behaves like our modern-day oligarchs is the way that he approaches business. Mr. Potter sees no other purpose to business besides making money. He accuses the Baileys of running a “charity ward” instead of a business, and his rent collector calls them “chumps” for not squeezing more of a profit from their housing development. It’s just like what we talked about last week with the billionaire executives of private equity firms. They see their sole purpose as making money for their shareholders, even if this means letting companies go under, thousands of workers losing their jobs, and the quality of products and services declining. And in the same way that lying, stealing, and manipulation are all fair game for Mr. Potter to pad his bottom line, tactics like union busting, paying poverty wages, tax avoidance, and more are fair game to today’s oligarchs. In short, for them, money and profits are all that matter, everything and everyone else be damned.
The vision of Pottersville was meant to serve as a warning, but instead has become the reality for many parts of the country. It’s not a coincidence that economic inequality is at its highest level in a century at the same time that we are suffering a loneliness epidemic and perform poorly on a host of social metrics like crime, life expectancy, mental illness, trust, and social mobility. And just like no one in Pottersville was better off with so much wealth and power being concentrated in the hands of one person, no one in America today is better off with a handful of billionaires calling all the shots—and that includes wealthy people themselves. You need only skim some of Donald Trump’s rants on social media to understand that all the wealth, power, and influence in the world can’t guarantee happiness and is actually harmful to your psyche.
We think the central lesson of the film is summed up neatly in a monologue that George delivers at a board meeting of the Building and Loan shortly after the death of his father, after Mr. Potter moves to dissolve the institution:
“Now, hold on, Mr. Potter. You’re right when you say my father was no businessman. I know that…But he did help a few people get out of your slums, Mr. Potter. And what’s wrong with that? Why…here, you’re all businessmen here. Doesn’t it make them better citizens? Doesn’t it make them better customers? You, you said, what’d you say just a minute ago? They had to wait and save their money before they even thought of a decent home. Wait?! Wait for what? Until their children grow up and leave them? Until they’re so old and broken-down that they…Do you know how long it takes a working man to save five thousand dollars? Just remember this, Mr. Potter, that this rabble you’re talking about, they do most of the working and paying and living and dying in this community. Well, is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath? Anyway, my father didn’t think so. People were human beings to him, but to you, a warped, frustrated old man, they’re cattle. Well, in my book he died a much richer man than you’ll ever be.”
Even 80 years after the film’s release, it is still difficult for a working person to save $5,000—let alone the $90,000 inflation-adjusted sum that $5,000 from 1946 would be worth today.
George’s monologue reminds us that there’s more, or should be more, to doing business than merely turning a profit. It also reminds us that doing well in business and doing good for your friends and community are not mutually exclusive. You can pay your workers well, treat your customers with dignity and respect, and care for the environment…and still turn a decent profit. George Bailey wasn’t wealthy like Mr. Potter, but he was by no means poor. Mr. Potter was even envious of George’s business acumen. Companies in the mid 20th century used to operate under this “stakeholder” business model, and it’s not an accident that inequality was at its lowest point in America during this period. The experience of one of our members, John Driscoll, shows that this is actually the best way to ensure business success in the long run. You can read all about John’s story in the book that he co-authored, Pay the People! Why Fair Pay is Good for Business and Great for America.
George’s monologue teaches us what it really means to be rich. We are a group of millionaires who together have more money than we can ever possibly spend down in our lifetimes. When we’re nearing death, our money and possessions will mean little to us. But what will matter to us is our relationships with our family and friends, and whether we did something meaningful to make America a better place for future generations. Which is exactly why we’re working together as Patriotic Millionaires and using our wealth and influence to build an economy that works for everyone, not just oligarchs like Mr. Potter.