Very rarely will I describe a film as mandatory viewing, but this will be one of those occasions. The documentary Poverty, Inc. is one of the most informative and interesting films I've seen, and it should be viewed by everyone, especially those involved in academia, students and teachers alike.
I had wanted to see the film for some time, and while it was originally released on Amazon about a year ago, I was finally able to catch it on its recent addition to Netflix. Poverty, Inc. examines the business of international aid and how poor countries stay poor because American and world organizations think they are being helpful by donating to the impoverished. While everyone wants to feel good about helping the needy in third-world countries, many don't realize the harm they are causing by perpetually giving free aid. And, it turns out, being a do-gooder is a profitable business...for the rich and well connected.
Donating shoes means cobblers don't start businesses. Donating clothing means farmers don't grow cotton and factories don't employ textile workers. Donating eggs means people don't raise their own livestock and sell their produce. These and many other examples are vividly portrayed by real people in the film. When we continue to give to these countries, many interviewees plead, they become reliant on outside donations and never take care of themselves.
Celebrities and politicians go on television and proclaim that charity will end hunger, the film shows. But they are actually the ones keeping those less fortunate in those circumstances. Certainly, when a disaster occurs, we should provide whatever we feel is necessary. But it is the long-term subsidies that ruin the lives of the very people we want to help. Charity should be specific, targeted, and most important, temporary.
Poverty, Inc. does an excellent job of laying out the real-world consequences of trying to help others because it makes the giver feel good, with obliviousness toward the actual results of the giving. If we truly want to lift people out of poverty, offer them ideas for starting their own businesses, growing their own crops, developing their own schools. And then leave them alone. They will thank us for it.
Check out this powerful film on Netflix, and share it with your classrooms.
I had wanted to see the film for some time, and while it was originally released on Amazon about a year ago, I was finally able to catch it on its recent addition to Netflix. Poverty, Inc. examines the business of international aid and how poor countries stay poor because American and world organizations think they are being helpful by donating to the impoverished. While everyone wants to feel good about helping the needy in third-world countries, many don't realize the harm they are causing by perpetually giving free aid. And, it turns out, being a do-gooder is a profitable business...for the rich and well connected.
Donating shoes means cobblers don't start businesses. Donating clothing means farmers don't grow cotton and factories don't employ textile workers. Donating eggs means people don't raise their own livestock and sell their produce. These and many other examples are vividly portrayed by real people in the film. When we continue to give to these countries, many interviewees plead, they become reliant on outside donations and never take care of themselves.
Celebrities and politicians go on television and proclaim that charity will end hunger, the film shows. But they are actually the ones keeping those less fortunate in those circumstances. Certainly, when a disaster occurs, we should provide whatever we feel is necessary. But it is the long-term subsidies that ruin the lives of the very people we want to help. Charity should be specific, targeted, and most important, temporary.
Poverty, Inc. does an excellent job of laying out the real-world consequences of trying to help others because it makes the giver feel good, with obliviousness toward the actual results of the giving. If we truly want to lift people out of poverty, offer them ideas for starting their own businesses, growing their own crops, developing their own schools. And then leave them alone. They will thank us for it.
Check out this powerful film on Netflix, and share it with your classrooms.