poverty, inc documentary transcriptpoverty, inc documentary transcript

Poverty, Inc. explores the unintended harmful impacts of what it calls the global poverty industry- the system of international charities and foreign aid that purportedly aim to alleviate poverty.

Poverty, Inc. points out the flaws in certain forms of aid and how organizations and governments can fix them. 0 Likes. By the way, this isnt strictly a developing world issue either. If a local governor of a state is trying to infringe on somebodys property and an American steps in, it makes a big difference. This isnt to say that the organic industry is flawless; the government labelling regulations is fraught with problems, but this is a beautiful example of the responsive, democratic nature of the market economy. Directors Michael Matheson Miller Starring Instead of using informal terms like man, dude, or lady, call a gentleman sir and a woman maam. The purpose here is to remind that person, even if only in a small way, of his or her dignity, worth, and potential. So again, instead of placing your charity in a silo and saying, Here is the money I give to charity, what if we thought about infusing our whole behavior in the economy with that same principle, with that same sense of responsibility to promote human dignity in all that you do. There might be a number of wonderful and sincere people at Dominion Farms. If you were to end subsidies today cold turkey, the stock market would crash. In our democratic system, a great way to affect political change is through petitioning. Directors Michael Matheson Miller Starring Last month, 61 NGOs signed "An Open Letter to the USDA and USAID on planned peanut shipment to Haiti" and begun an internet firestorm. by . This is a classic mistake. But what lowering tariffs does is it allows smaller companies like this one to compete for market share.

It is a difficult time for Africans in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria, and Yemen. You cant love a cause (although our English limitation of having only one word for love confuses things); you can only truly love a human being. Poverty, Inc. labels this system of aid the global poverty industry, and it distributed over $134 billion (USD) in official development assistance in 2013 alone. Is the organization approaching relinquishment in that way by encouraging desperate parents and connecting them with opportunities? I spent a month in China and you can feel that it isnt truly free. The general rule of thumb is to apply your unique talents in a way that helps others develop theirs. Its going to be hard to change this system we call international development. But incrementally, it can be done. A country like the U.S.a superpower that is trying to hold onto its powerbenefits by making countries slightly destabilized but at the same time under control, and thats why we dont mind subsidizing dictators in the name of our geopolitical strategy, because we know what to expect. Thats down from 35 percent in 1990. If were only satisfied with quick and easy solutions, thats an indicator that were might be more interested in our own sense of satisfaction than we are in actual progress. WebThe End of Poverty directed by Philippe Diaz, fl. This is where we from the POVERTY, INC. team like to hang out and the film is demonstrating the hunger for this type of dialogue. Maybe you are passionate about orphans and you want to do something to empower parents to keep their families together. We think of left and right on a plane, but really its more like an almost closed circuit.

They cant get past the protection money theyre paying to police officers or the bribes theyre paying to get a piece of paper pushed from one desk to another to get a drivers license. But when were talking about helping people move out of abject poverty, it may very well not be the most important thing. The other problem with microfinance is has to do with the Western bias for smallness when it comes to the developing world (not so when it comes to the Wests own business activities).

No doubt. Why? That is the reality for most people in the world when it comes to operating a business or just having a home or anything. WebStatistical Techniques in Business and Economics 15th Edition ISBN: 9780073401805 (2 more) Douglas A. Lind, Samuel A. Wathen, William G. Marchal 1,236 solutions Information Technology Project Management: Providing Measurable Organizational Value 5th Edition ISBN: 9781118898208 Jack T. Marchewka 346 solutions American Government We are in the midst of the fastest period of poverty reduction the world has ever seen, Laurence Chandy and Geoffrey Gertz observed in Yale Global in 2011. Theres a certainty there where we know we can get that oil. "We are held captive by the donor community.". poverty, inc documentary transcript. Because all of them profit from the way things are currently set up. One thing we have to do when we talk about foreign aid and charities is we have to totally separate them. Because the supply is not governed by natural supply-and-demand system dynamics (there are some good rationales for this insulation by the way), something has to be done with the surplus. We dont really need everybody starting their own company. One thing I took from making this documentary, through our many interviews, was the energy that fills a person up when people are looking at them not in terms of their lack as a poor person but in terms of their potentiality and creative capacity, as somebody who is working hard, as a proud parent. Watch FRONTLINE's documentary on three children and their families navigating poverty against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic. The film challenges current perceptions of global charity and promotes entrepreneurship as an effective alternative to alleviating world poverty. WebStatistical Techniques in Business and Economics 15th Edition ISBN: 9780073401805 (2 more) Douglas A. Lind, Samuel A. Wathen, William G. Marchal 1,236 solutions Information Technology Project Management: Providing Measurable Organizational Value 5th Edition ISBN: 9781118898208 Jack T. Marchewka 346 solutions American Government Entrepreneurship is very hard. According to recent estimates, in 2013, 10.7 percent of the worlds population lived on less than US$1.90 a day, compared to 12.4 percent in 2012. : This is actually a series of eight documentaries about poverty that are available for streaming on the PBS website. And nobody wants to stand up and say, We have to end foreign aid and agricultural subsidies, because then you are against the poor and you are against the American farmer. We know we can launch drones from that base. No. De Soto interviewed the survivors and family members, and he found that every person who lit himself or herself on fire had similar circumstances.

Theres a good documentary called Life and Debt that gives you an up-close look at the power dynamics at the WTO. 1980 ; produced by Philippe Diaz, fl. And from this, gradually, hopefully, a renewed sense of self, a sense of hope. If Olga had received a formal education but did not have those institutions of justice, she would not have been able to flourish the way she did. What is the nature of the activity being invested in? Variety's chief international film critic Peter Debruge (@AskDebruge) reviewed Poverty, Inc. at the International Documentary Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) in November.

Its a human moral imperative. The first person who self immolated was a gentleman named Muhammad Bouazizi. Another rule of thumb when it comes to donating your time: learning is action. The documentary Poverty, Inc. has become so influential that it is now part of many courses at the university level. Its very difficult. Web20K views 4 years ago Poverty, Inc. is a 2014 feature-length documentary film by Michael Matheson Miller. On an organizational level, were not practitioners, were filmmakers; our role is to listen to voices, organize them, and amplify them. WebDrawing on perspectives gathered from over 150 interviews shot over 4 years in 20 countries, Poverty, Inc. explores the hidden side of doing good. These are such complex systems. Thats an important point. Who are the SMEs hiring? More languages and international shipping coming soon. There were about 40 practitioners from all over the world, all flown in by Save the Children, and the unanimous consensus is that volunteering in orphanages is bad for kids. Poverty, Inc.will make its DVD and Video On Demand release on March 1st, and we are delighted to announce that the Spanish dubbing and subtitling will be included in all purchases of the film. The good news is that at universities we apply critical thinking to the information we receive (or we are supposed to). Poverty is the state of being extremely poor, and having a deficiency in essential needs. Web20K views 4 years ago Poverty, Inc. is a 2014 feature-length documentary film by Michael Matheson Miller. The question is why do people keep on doing it? WebPoverty, Inc. is a 91-minute documentary inquiry into the nature of human flourishing and the effects of the multibillion dollar poverty industrial complex erected to promote it. the demand, more producers flocked to the marketplace to meet that demand with an increased supply. Poverty, Inc. points out the flaws in certain forms of aid and how organizations and governments can fix them. This monetization practice is connected to agricultural subsidies. First, theres the issue of screening and security for the kids against abuse and people with bad intentions. Personally Im no longer convinced that it is indeed a hard and fast prerequisite for integral human development. Thomas Aquinas is equally worth reading. Surrender of a child by a family should be the absolute last resort. Here we provide videos, podcasts, and transcripts from a few of our post-screening discussions. This is one of the areas where an appropriate level of Western influence can truly help. Thats down from 35 percent in 1990. Within a healthy ecosystem, people like Olga are able to rise above their lack of formal education and flourish. You vote every day with your purchases and donations, in your conversations, in the letters you write, in the Tweets you post. Again, there is no single solution, but the beauty of the market economy (and here I include private donations to nonprofits) is that it is a type of democracy. I am cautiously hopeful that Chinas people will end uphopefully not in revolution, because that is very bloodygradually overthrowing their totalitarian strangle-hold. WebFeed Future Poverty. The film challenges current perceptions of global charity and promotes entrepreneurship as an effective alternative to alleviating world poverty. Yes, big institutionscompanies, NGOs, and governements alikecan fall prey to all kinds of problems from bureaucracy to simply falling out of touch with the people they serve. Its the fact that competitive basketball has been replaced by cronyism. Access to financial services (not just credit but savings, checking, microinsurance, etc.) Im an eternal optimist, but to be an eternal optimist, you have to believe in incremental progress and you cant believe in utopia. WebPoverty, Inc. is a 91-minute documentary inquiry into the nature of human flourishing and the effects of the multibillion dollar poverty industrial complex erected to promote it. Doing preproduction for the film back in the Fall of 2011, I was reaching out to Haitians in my community back in Michigan to learn more about the country before visiting and to hear some stories. Maybe you just want to follow up with us so we can stay engaged going forward. We have to be realistic about how long that will take. Remember, choosing to not volunteer within the traditional volunteering model is not the same thing as doing nothing. I think its exciting. They need that fuel from you. Another powerful and more clear cut example of FDI gone wrong is captured in the film Eviction, which we awarded with a $10,000 Grand Prize in the PovertyCure Film Festival we ran in 2013 in New York City. Poverty, Inc. is a 91-minute documentary inquiry into the nature of human flourishing and the effects of the multibillion dollar poverty industrial complex erected to promote it. Soft violence is the violence that goes hand-in-hand with bribery and corruption, where you are constantly paying bribes in the developing world just to not have violence done against you, to just keep the peace, protection money. World Premiere of Poverty, Inc. in Spanish, The feedback and accountability function of pricing. We often think of development prerequisites in terms of infrastructure, education, health, etc. 2003-2018, Matthew Stillman, 1967- and Richard Castro, fl. Maybe it is somebody at another university, maybe its somebody in government, maybe its a politician. First, those who are putting their lives on the line to address it should be commended for their initiative; just as important, they should arm themselves with principles gleaned from the past. One organization I know works with orphans and children in Nepal. She invited us after hours and brought a few of her Haitian friends to her restaurant to have a round table discussion. We have advanced technologymini-drones for examplethat might have been able to buy local food from these farmers and then bring it to people in crisis zones; in such a situation, at least those farmers unaffected by the earthquake would not have their labor go to waste as their food rots. The communist government of Cambodia, in the name of the common good, sold land illegally (i.e. ", Student honored with sustainability award for POVERTY, INC. thought leadership. It was interesting to see the reaction to the Nepal earthquake compared with that to the Haiti earthquake a few years ago. WebDrawing on perspectives gathered from over 150 interviews shot over 4 years in 20 countries, Poverty, Inc. explores the hidden side of doing good. It was the exchange of food for money that froze. But are we overlooking struggling human beings right in front of us? Web20K views 4 years ago Poverty, Inc. is a 2014 feature-length documentary film by Michael Matheson Miller. That is what we are going to do. Instead of saying, You know what, we have a very important role to play in getting people access to financial services, which is something that we all need and take for granted often.. WebPoverty is complex. We need to capture and amplify the perspectives of every day people. International Justice Mission is doing work here, as is the U.S. Department of Justice. As a donor, you have tremendous power, even if its just a small amount of money that you are giving. In business, this means instead of siloing our charitable work in a department of a corporation called CSR, instead we encourage companies to have a vertically integrated ethos of what they believe in all activities and through the entire value chain, from their suppliers of the raw materials all the way to the consumers. The moment winners and losers are chosen by politicians and regulators, the people have lost their voice. As Etienne Gilson writes, Piety is no substitute for technique. Too often we are content to grade ourselves on a very lenient curve because we have good intentions. We exercise our will to be charitable upon other people who become faceless and nameless, somebody in a commercial. There is an active revolving door between government and business. One reason we didnt focus on education involves our attempt to focus on sides of the story that havent been told before. For Olga, the important thing was the opportunity to operate in an ecosystem that allowed her to apply herself. Is the organization willing to be transparent with you, to talk plainly about failures and lessons learned as well as successes, or do the representatives get defensive when you ask too many questions? On a personal level, yes. Poverty, Inc.has been honored with the $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award presented by the Atlas Network. But in most cases, the West buys out the game before it really begins. Any organization or system is only as good as the people who make it up. But lets consider a few illustrative examples. We'd like to add a Haitian voice to the discussion. Instead, in these situations, we continue to ship all of our own agriculture in and we multiply the negative impact of the crisis.

Its not an issue of poor representation inside a courtroom; theyre not even getting to that stage. Poverty, Inc.co-producer Mark R. Weber discusses orphans, microfinance, fair trade, social entrepreneurship, and other lessons learned making Poverty, Inc.at the Jubilee Professional conference in Pittsburgh. The underlying inspiration is to address the fact that we often treat poor people like the objects of our charity, the objects of our pity or of our compassion, instead of engaging them as the subjects and protagonists of their own story of development. This is especially true in more centralized states and its especially true in finance. January 19, 2023. This is a highly simplified example of course, the point of which is to demonstrate the dangers of regulatory capture, which is most easily executed when political power is concentrated in the hands of a few people in a fixed geographical area. You saw in the film some of the misunderstandings in the orphan care and adoption realm. Be wary of behemoth institutions both public and private; no matter how many well-intentioned people work there, the tendency of such large operations is to begin prescribing solutions for categories of people instead of engaging each individual in his or her own story. Poverty, Inc. is a 91-minute documentary inquiry into the nature of human flourishing and the effects of the multibillion dollar poverty industrial complex erected to promote it. So this is a place people of seemingly divergent political persuasions can hang out. The screening was followed by an in-depth question and answer session between DRI Director William Easterly, filmmakers Michael Matheson Miller and Mark Weber, and the audience. I think thats where we can use our influence for good. 1980 ; produced by Philippe Diaz, fl. Even with an education, perhaps especially with an education, people dont feel they can truly thrive because the ecosystem is still broken. It means decrying big companies that curry special favor from governments. For a while, microfinance being hailed as a potential panacea, the thing that was going to cure the world.

There's no such thing as a good orphanage. Read More . If so, let us know what you thought and how many people you've told about it! Our screenings managers from Causumentary are here to help! For instance, you are a white kid from Grand Rapids and you get caught with an ounce of marijuana a couple of times, you might get a couple of fines, maybe a day in jail; youre a black kid from the other side of the tracks, same exact crime but because you cant afford the fee to have your first offenses expunged from your record, youre put in jail for years due to mandatory minimums in our system that supersede a judges discretion. Rather than latching on to new silver bullets, we invite you to join us in embracing the complexity and engaging in a more nuanced dialogue. We shouldnt think that it is off mission to support larger companies that are doing good things, pending that they do have an infused sense of their work and are not simply exploiting their employees and robbing them to create products of little to no real value. The film has won the $2500 Grand Prize at the Anthem Libertarian Film Festival (beating out Atlas Shrugged III and Dinesh DSouzas America) and then gone on to play in the Workers Unite labor union film festival and and in Michael Moores festival where he praised it as one of his special picks. Once you see it, Moore wrote, youll never see poverty and the Third World the same again., Again, the rally point is the shared concern bringing disparate groups together is concern about the consolidation of power. We know we can get what we need from you because you need us. As a development economist, I share here my views on this famous documentary. Beyond the way you spend your money, also integrate your ethos into the way you make your money and the way you apply your unique talents. WebStatistical Techniques in Business and Economics 15th Edition ISBN: 9780073401805 (2 more) Douglas A. Lind, Samuel A. Wathen, William G. Marchal 1,236 solutions Information Technology Project Management: Providing Measurable Organizational Value 5th Edition ISBN: 9781118898208 Jack T. Marchewka 346 solutions American Government Children grow up best in families. Unfortunately, both the left and the right main political parties get tons and tons and tons of money from big agriculture. The body can literally shut down. I [co-producer Mark Weber] wrote my undergraduate thesis on education as the lifeblood of sustainable development. I believed very strongly that if, through education, the agencies and capacities of local individuals were properly developed, everything else would fall into place. The whole vision and the whole framework or paradigm of how we think about the poorthe assumptions, the beliefs, the institutionshave developed into a multibillion dollar industry. Its a critical area that doesnt get enough attention. The goal was to allow more goods and services earmarked as aid to be purchased in country instead of purchasing them in the U.S. and shipping them, which as we saw in the film is often highly problematic for local economies. One of the major themes in your film is including the poor into networks of productivity. Maybe that person is an alcoholic and youd be enabling them. Many if not all of them of them had received microloans of some sort, but that didnt mean they were flourishing. 1980 ; produced by Philippe Diaz, fl. I think there are deep, deep problems where we are robbing black communities of their young men -- and I say men because statistically its mostly men -- for years and years and years by mass imprisoning them for nonviolent crimes. We also need political and social fuel from the developing world itself. Its a critical distinction.

Poverty is the state of being extremely poor, and having a deficiency in essential needs.

A powerful example of this is captured in the film Eviction, which we awarded with a $10,000 Grand Prize in the PovertyCure Film Festival we ran in 2013 in New York City. But there is a significant missing middle between micro-entrepreneurs and Coca Cola. Poverty, Inc. wins $100,000 Templeton Freedom Award. The Latin root word is caritas, the greatest of the Biblical theological virtues: faith, hope, and love, and the greatest of these is love (1 Corinthians 13:13). You hear leaders saying, If Europeans and Americans were more generous, we could send eighty-four billion dollars to Africa and Latin America and India, and we could eradicate poverty forever. Thats not true. There is no donate here button at the end of Poverty, Inc., nor is the whole story of poverty and development covered in 91 minutes. British political philosopher Lord Acton [the namesake of the Acton Institute, which pulled together the resources for the film] wrote, Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely..

Politicians need fuel. The film challenges current perceptions of global charity and promotes entrepreneurship as an effective alternative to alleviating world poverty. And yet, at least some real harm has been done. They were all entrepreneurs operating in the informal economy. But ideally, they would be more like impartial referees and less like orchestra directors. Maybe youre passionate about law or public policy and the property rights / rule of law section of the film struck you; go help create and protect ecosystems that foster value exchange and human flourishing. In 2007, CARE began phasing the practice out, effectively forgoing about $46 million in federal funding. Unfortunately, if youre a conscious consumer in the U.S. looking for an ethical alternative, you cant buy from this company. Imagine the sheriff whose power has gone to his head: I am the law! he yells guns blazing. You have to take the lead. From TOMs Shoes to international adoptions, from solar panels to U.S. food aid, the film challenges each of us to ask the tough question:Could I be part of the problem? I could do this myself.. Think of the desperation, think of how desperate youd have to be to light yourself on fire.

shera and the three treasures wiki; cillian murphy peter greene; doge miner 2 hacked unlimited money I am still involved with certain charitable organizations. So she started her own catering businessprobably extra-legally at firstout of her own apartment in New York, and then saved up enough money that eventually she was able to move to a more affordable part of the country in Michigan and start her own restaurant. Poverty, Inc. challenges the standard response to dealing with poverty in third-world countries through charity, suggesting that a better alternative to the problem is by teaching inhabitants of those countries about entrepreneurship. WebThe End of Poverty directed by Philippe Diaz, fl. There are good nonprofits and bad ones. They are unprotected by the Rule of Law and they dont have access to property rights.

The documentary Poverty, Inc. has become so influential that it is now part of many courses at the university level. You are. No. The state has too much power as the arbiters of the so-called common good, which is just a license to do whatever it wants., Both are true. Yes, many perishables in Port-au-Prince were destroyed due to lost power and collapsed buildings, but much of Haitis food supply sits fresh in open markets. ignoring Cambodian law) to the company and then gave notice of eviction to the residents along with a pittance of money. Thats what matters most.

This is what allows us to deem the actions of the Cambodian government as reprehensible. Thus, regulation often becomes a favor to the establishment companies. This is great. in death funeral tammy faye bakker.

Unfortunately, in many cases, this mentality ends up undermining the supposed goal of aiding people. Some will stay and try to improve the ecosystem, but it takes time and there is not enough international support for that. Read More . that even good people, with all the best intentions, can do harm if their methods are flawed. Theres an excellent Rand Paul talk from Bowie State University on this need for criminal justice reform. If its an organization working with child sponsorship and adoption, ask them about what they are doing to empower parents and to help keep families together. In reality, these are the fruits of development. That's when I decided to defer MIT and spend the year touring with the film, engaging people around the country and internationally on these ideas. poverty, inc documentary transcript 06 Apr. Chew on that for a moment. Rather, orphanages are simply not a good solution for children. Why Poverty? Is it perfect? Webhow did early photographers cut costs when producing daguerreotypes? A letter from Director-Producer Michael Matheson Miller: Dear Friends of Poverty, Inc., thank you for joining our short-list of people committed to a cultural shift in charity and development. When property rights, rule of law, and freedom (political, economic, social) are absent or weak (as they largely are in many developing countries), it creates very unstable conditions for FDI. And we will buy your steroids for you. Would that be competition? Are you generally supportive of FDI and value chains? The problems largely involve the manner in which the acquisition of lands took place and then negative externalities such as flooding associated with the companys activities there. I think the same needs to happen for the IMF, the WTO, the World Bank, and so on. Bad companies wont be beat by bigger and bigger governments; theyll be beat by better businesses who take the market share by serving customers better. Beyond the political economy, there is a more personal, moral dimension to FDI. Are the leaders of the organization rooted in the community they are serving and developing full and fruitful relationships? 2003-2018, Matthew Stillman, 1967- and Richard Castro, fl. Upon seeing Poverty, Inc. at Harvard Business School, Marie-Noelle Nwokolo brought the conversation to Dickinson College and was honored with the Student Sustainability Champion award by PERC for her thought leadership.

Because people voted for it. The following transcribed questions and answers have been selected from some of our post-screening discussions. Director Learning and intellectual growth is of course an essential aspect of the human experience. A major shortcoming of microfinance is that it doesnt address the problem that a lot of these entrepreneurs are operating in the informal economy. How can this unique human person flourish as a human being? We know we can count on those minerals. Am I investing in a Haitian solar panel company like ENERSA, which is working to bring light to people in darkness, or am I investing in a global trafficking business enslaving human beings? Now, if you start a nonprofit, a company, or an effort of any kind, do you appreciate when people invest in that? Webhow did early photographers cut costs when producing daguerreotypes? 1980, Beth Portello, fl.