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Earlier in 2010, a new documentary film was shown in theatres in
select cities around the United States and in other countries, a
film that takes yet another look at the widespread condition of
poverty that still plagues as many as one-third of the world's
people.
The perspective offered in this film, revealed by interviews with
public officials, activists, economists and other credentialed
experts, is that even in those countries that achieved
independence from their former colonial rulers, the institutional
legacy of oppression continues in the form of resource extraction
and indebtedness to the international banking sector.
Here is a link to an introduction to the film and a brief excerpt
that appeared on
GRIT
TV.
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Included in the film is the
self-described "economic hit man," John Perkins. He
described his work in this way:
"As an economic hit man, I worked in a big consulting firm
that gave advice to countries on economic issues. Our job was not
to offer unbiased advice. Our job was to produce economic reports
that would justify loans for big infrastructure projects. To
justify a loan for a power system, for example, we developed
hugely inflated forecasts about the resulting economic growth."
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I was elected to serve on the board of the Robert Schalkenbach
Foundation after the decision was reached to undertake this
project with Philippe Diaz and his production company. One of the
conditions Mr. Diaz required was full control over the content of
the film. He came to the project, I believe, with a strongly
developed perspective that comes out in the film. He states: "The
global expansion of Europe, starting in the 15th century, was the
birth of a system that is financed by the poor."
Then adds: "Of course, it was not
that radical or simple, but we had to frame it that way to draw a
simple picture." The result is a film that
disappoints those of us who identify colonialism and
neo-colonialism as only two means out of many by which
monopolization of nature by the few has for most of history -- in
most of the world -- been the primary cause of both widespread
poverty and oppression.
At the beginning of the production process, Philippe Diaz
recorded on film the perspectives of each member of the Robert
Schalkenbach Foundation board, and several others who embrace the
system of political economy developed by Henry George in the late
nineteenth century. Although the final version of the film
included only a few minutes of this material, the companion guide,
titled Why Global Poverty? Think Again, does include the
transcripts of these and many other interviews. Thus, if only
everyone who sees this film would also read the book cover to
cover, a much more complete and accurate understanding would be
achieved.
When I first viewed an early version of The End of
Poverty? Think Again, I was dismayed that Philippe Diaz
was making a case based on a very selective interpretation
of the history of human societal development. The same
dynamics he attributed to the modern European nation-states
and the colonial empires they ruled over can be found in all
the ancient empires. Moreover, over time every tribal (i.e.,
communitarian) society succumbs to the establishment of
hierarchy and entrenched privilege, codified and sanctioned
by law. This is a great commonality of our history that
occurs across time and space.
Rather than stand by and let viewers conclude that the
story line of The End of Poverty? Think Again was
consistent with my own analysis of what causes poverty, I
began to work on a presentation in Powerpoint that would
tell the story differently; and, from my perspective, more
completely. The result is The Poverty Paradox,
a narrated version of which can be viewed at
AUTHORSTEAM.COM.
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Alternatively, a second version of
The
Poverty Paradox is available on the School of
Cooperative Individualism website with the text appearing on
each slide.
Comments regarding the film, the companion guide or my
Powerpoint presentation will be welcomed and will be
responded to by me.
Edward J. Dodson / June 2010
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