“People were human beings to him. But to you, a warped, frustrated old man, they’re cattle. Well in my book, my father died a much richer man than you’ll ever be!”
George Bailey
When George speaks of his father being ‘richer’ than Potter he is clearly referring to a kind of symbolic wealth, the kind Potter ‘can’t get [his] hands on’. But what exactly does this include, if not personal financial wealth, and what does this teach us about local, community led economics?
To George Bailey, one of the most important aspects of his father’s life was his commitment to the creation of houses, of homes, in contrast to Potter’s pure greed and his focus on the accumulation of money. This Bailey Snr. achieved through the Bailey Building & Loan company and by building ‘Bailey Park’. His work does not lead to personal financial riches, but to giving dignity and decency to ordinary people. As George asks, ‘is it too much to have them work and pay and live and die in a couple of decent rooms and a bath?’. The importance of the home is reinforced by George and his wife Mary’s decision to restore a broken down building in the town into a family home, it is a perfect example of the kind of riches Potter cannot have. The house holds value as an asset and it is a place of worth, a home, that holds character and memory; George and Mary’s relationship is inexorably tied to it. Frank Capra links George’s experiences of love and community to his house, a gift that George then gives back multiple times by providing loans to enable his community to own their own homes
These loans, which Potter sees only in transactional terms as bad investments, create additional ripples of value and worth. They empower people to develop their own businesses, identities, act as consumers and become ever greater assets to their community. For instance, Potter describes Ernie the cab driver in transactional terms when claiming that the car ‘sits around all day.’ Because Potter can only conceive of relationships as transactional, he is unable to understand the social bonds that underpin the community. Nor is he able to see that Ernie spends a lot of time sitting in his car waiting for George, offering a level of personal service that would be impossible if his only goal was maximising profit. In these moments he is not idle or ‘lazy’, he is helping George to perform his most essential duties.
What emerges from this analysis of the film is the idea that the ‘rich[ness]’ of Mr. Bailey’s life is the combination of community and economic freedom. Bedford Falls is not a place plagued by stagnation and poverty, or a ‘discontented lazy rabble’, as Potter imagines. Mr Bailey was ‘no businessman’, but by ‘getting a few people out of [Potter’s] slums’ he gives himself and the townspeople a sense of dignity in themselves and power against Potter. Capra demonstrates this by exploring the idea of consequence in the alternate reality. In the original reality Capra demonstrates the creative power of the community, either through business or through culture. George Bailey constantly puts money back into his local economy, an act he is empowered to do both because of his sense of duty and because he can ‘personally vouch for their characters’. He does this institutionally, through the Building & Loan, and casually, such as when he lends money to his friend, Violet. Furthermore, his actions allow his brother, Harry, and friend Sam Wainwright to go out into the world and make something of themselves. (Interestingly, both men end up having a significant impact on the war effort: Harry as a pilot and Sam as a businessman selling plastics to the military, which may say something about the director’s beliefs on the national benefits of strong local economies.) This economic expansion has a twin in societal and cultural growth. George Bailey’s actions facilitate the spread of ideas, like sending Harry to college, and arts, like the music and art that flows from his relationship with Mary. Bedford Falls shows that the value of community is not just some ephemeral, abstract thing, it has tangible economic, social and cultural benefits for all its members.
George Bailey’s social worth and economical value to the town is thrown into relief by the comparison between Bedford Falls and Pottersville. This is the version of the town that exists as an imagined world – if George Bailey had never existed. It is a terrible place. Dazzling but blinding, Pottersville shows the alienation and corruption that comes from Potter’s individualist approach. It is a reality characterised by three themes in the film: the prioritization of the artificial, the emergence of rampant consumerism, and overpowering loneliness. Pottersville is a tawdry place communicated visually by the proliferation of artificial light down the main street. These flash past us as Bailey runs, disorientated, down the road. Capra uses quick cuts and overwhelming sound design to show the horror of this world. The neon and bright bulbs create mocking facsimiles of authenticity: love is replaced by the artificial burlesque shows and promises of “Girls! Girls! Girls!”. The charm of the local bar in Bedford Falls, where the owner served drinks to his local clientele as they socialised, has been replaced by raucous and seedy joints where people drink to disguise their own misery. Bedford Falls is no longer lit-up by the moon – there is nothing left to lasso. Everything is a warped, cruel version of itself that looks very appealing at first glance, but is quite clearly rotten to the core. Another poison of Potter’s world is the conversion of community into commerce. This is best seen in the transformation of Ma Bailey house, George Bailey’s home, into a boarding house; even the most private and personal space has been turned into a place to make money under Potter’s regime. In this world, there is no community or intimacy, only transactions. The final element of the alternate reality is the pervasive loneliness. Ma Bailey has no family, and is left weathered and cruel by it. Ernie, the cab driver, has been abandoned by his wife and child and now lives alone in one of Potter’s slums. Martini, the bar owner, also lost his name and his bar, replaced by ‘Nick’s’. Then there is Mary, left alone in the town, leading a life as spinster. Without the community spirit provided by the Bailey’s and the Building & Loan, all opportunities for intimacy – familial, romantic, social – disappear. The dichotomy between Bedford Falls and Pottersville demonstrates two prospective avenues for the future of American society and economics in the post-war era. Capra rebukes Potter’s hyper-individualist approach, presenting it as a literal cautionary tale. In the film he reminds us of two important facts: one, we intuitively yearn for community, and are miserable without it, and two, achieving this is practical and viable, that community results in a sustainable reinforcing form of capitalism. Potter has it the wrong way round in his speech; he is the one that creates the ‘discontented … rabble’ whereas Mr Bailey’s ideology makes people “better citizens…better customers”.
When George returns from his vision of the alternate reality, his material circumstances have not changed, but his perspective has. His staircase is still broken, but now he pronounces his love for it. This reinforces the idea of community and community economics is realistic; it does not pretend to solve all of life’s problems, but to help when help is needed. In the final scene of the film George’s community comes together to help him recoup the missing money and we see the intangible bonds of community made real. These bonds mean they protect each other, give each other what they need without asking for anything in return (an echo of George’s numerous acts of selflessness). The money is piled into a large basket and each person’s contribution is vital but anonymous, similar to their voices as they join together to sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’. Capra takes this embracive spirit even further, as this ritual allows strangers to enter the community, demonstrated by the investigator tearing up his indictment of George before joining the choir, singing with gusto.
Despite the opulent wealth that Potter accrues, there is something intuitively wrong about his life. We may be envious of his money, but ultimately we come down on George’s side. Nearly 80 years later we still see the comfort in community and yearn for the kinds of riches George has; the film is still 20th on AFI’s Top 100 greatest American films and George Bailey is listed at #9 on AFI’s 100 Heroes list. In a key speech in the film he provides us with a realistic and aspirational view, to build a world based more on community and community economics. The Chilean architect Alejandro Aravena offers a contemporary view of housing and community economics with his ‘half-house’ idea. By designing a house which can be constructed in stages owners are able buy a property and improve their living spaces, adding rooms, verandas, and other features when they need to and can afford to. Many of these improvements can be completed by the owners with limited knowledge and experience. This approach fosters ownership, personalisation, and a sense of community. It is also economically sound, enabling many more affordable ‘half-houses’ to be constructed and purchased than with conventional housing models, providing a practical example of the Bailey’s ideology.
Different phases in the life of a half-house designed by Alejandro Aravena
The Archive of Free Thinking 
Leave a comment