Life and Debt Documentary Reaction Paper

“The imposition of structural adjustment programs in the Third World since the 1970s has been characterized as a war against the poor, a process of [neo] recolonization” (Turner, 1994: 37). This statement is particularly applicable to the country of Jamaica. The island has been susceptible to a variety of neocolonial acts including the presence of multinational corporations, structural adjustment programs, and loan organizations that have sucked Jamaica’s economy dry. This neocolonial presence has devastated the population in more ways than one. It is apparent that neocolonialism has had and continues to have a large impact on society as a whole in Jamaica. This

In the documentary Life and Debt, it is explained through the stories of local people, the economic and social crisis of Jamaica. With Jamaica receiving mandatory loans from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 1977 because of lack of alternatives, Jamaica was promised meaningful development. Unfortunately, this only made the situation worse because of the extreme policies and foreign economic agendas that came with the loans, forcing Jamaica into even further debt. Therefore, it is my opinion that it is because of the policies and greed of the IMF and The World Bank that came along with the loans, that Jamaica is currently 4.5 billion dollars in debt.

Burton (2015) in her Journal, ‘Globalisation and Cultural Identity in Caribbean Society: The Jamaican Case,’ however points out that Jamaica has a unique culture and this has shaped how that countries adapts to the effects of colonialism and even globalisation.

This new wave of globalization has brought both positive and negative outcomes. Foreign goods are sold much cheaper than the locally produced ones. Goods such as fruits, vegetables, meat, and dairy products are imported from other countries and thus, impacting local producers. On the other hand, new opportunities and jobs are offered. This expands and develops the economy in the country. Furthermore, globalization has helped Jamaica increased its tourism, which in turn has become one of the country’s main activity. Regardless of the benefits, Jamaica has not been the same due to this global

The world is constantly becoming smaller and smaller as time progresses. A process of globalization is rapidly turning the world as we know it into economic opportunity waiting to be exploited. A large factor in this process is due to the advent of technology which is becoming more and more readily available to lesser developed countries. Countries such as Jamaica and other LDC’s are primary targets of economic globalization. In the film Life and Debt by Stephanie Black, we see the effects globalization has on Jamaican culture, industry, and agriculture.

The documentary depicts globalization as way in which countries are interconnected around the world and affect each other through various economic, social, and political processes. The documentary particularly focuses on the economic affects of globalization, by examining the affects of economic liberalization and the internationalization of finance through organizations such as the International Monetary Fund and structural adjustment programs. Loans given by the IMF to developing countries such as Jamaica do not help them develop, but instead prevent them from advancing economically and socially. The advancements that these loans have guaranteed have not occurred, and the policies that have been imposed with the loans have negatively impacted the majority of the Jamaican population. Many local workers, especially farmers, have lost their jobs as goods are imported from other countries. The country is

The “Money as Debt” was created by Paul Grignon in 2006. It is the most fascinating video I have ever seen. Moreover, I am just amazed how much I have learned in just 47 minutes. This video describes how basic banking system works and answers the question where the money comes from.

Colin Ferguson was born January 14, 1959 in Kingston, Jamaica. His father Von Herman was the managing director for Hercules Agencies, a large pharmaceutical company. Mr. Herman was highly regarded and recognized as a prominent businessman in Jamaica (Montaldo, 2017). Ferguson had four brothers and afforded the privileges that wealth offers in an extreme poverty area. He graduated from Calabar High School in 1969 with a grade average that was ranked in the top third of his class (Montaldo, 2017). In 1978 his father was killed in a car crash and a short time later his mother died from cancer. He would then suffer the loss of the family fortune. At 23 years old Ferguson left Kingston, Jamaica and moved to the U.S. on a Visitor’s Visa (Montaldo, 2017). Jamaican culture is different than American cultures. A study completed in 1997 concerning 225 Jamaican adults, it was found that Jamaican men were considered coarse, reckless, aggressive, lazy, tough, arrogant, stern, disorderly, robust, rigid, autocratic, courageous, and hard headed (Carpenter & Walters, 2011).

The period of slavery in Jamaica have left a number of legacies that the current Jamaican people continues to embrace. Some of these legacies are positive ones while some

One big difference between the articles is that Mintz includes the plantations as part of one of the nine major factors which falls under capitalism of the Caribbean but Benitez-Rojo writes, "I think that one must agree with Mintz that the plantation seems indispensable to studying the societies of the area. In my opinion, nonetheless, the plantation could turn out to be an even more useful parameter; it could serve as a telescope for obswerving the changes and the continuities of the Caribbean galaxy through the lenses of multifold disciplines…" (38). Benitez-Rojo includes the history of the plantations and how the history affected the culture of the islands. For example, one of the subtitles is Hispaniola: the first plantations where he explains how the first plantations were started up, he writes, "Those who, for one reason or another, decided not to leave the colony began to think up enterprises that would allow them to subsist there… someone remembered the sugarcane that Columbus had brought to the island, and he began to get molasses and brown sugar using rudimentary machines" (40). As slavery was introduced to the system a creole culture emerge and the Africanization of culture.

Jamaica is a land of diverse cultures. It has a number of different racial ethnic groups .The largest group however is the blacks or Africans so 'Jamaica’s culture' is predominantly black. Interwoven is also the European culture which these blacks learnt from their former white slaves masters. You will find Indians living in Jamaica also. Many Indians came to Jamaica as indentured servants and stayed, they too have an input in the Jamaica’s culture.

     The film also shows a chicken plant which was once very prosperous and known for its high quality chicken. The business was damaged when the United States began dumping low grade chicken into Jamaica. There are many restrictions about the kind of foods that can imported into American, however there are few rules about what we can export to developing countries.

Jamaica is not just white sand beaches and mimosas. Behind the thin veil of paradise lurk corruption, violence, and inequalities. Life & Debt illustrates the daily realties of Jamaica following IMF structural adjustment programs. IMF reforms have perpetuated a cycle of debt that Jamaicans have little hope to escape. Although IMF conditionality claims to develop nations so that they can grow and re-pay their lenders, Jamaica is still indebted $4.5 billion dollars and has little development to show for it. Measures of austerity coupled with devaluation, high interest rates, and drops in local wages results in greater unemployment, increased violence, and widening inequality. The bulk of the film focuses on how global integration has undercut

During a recent visit to Jamaica, I observed a number of resorts that themed their golf courses and pools after the old sugar plantations of the island. As the sun-burnt American and British children splashed among the recreation of the 'old mill', local Jamaicans in floral uniforms served drinks to the adults lounging by the pool. The association between the plantation and the modern resort did not appear to disturb the tourists relaxing in the sun. And why should it? This is

The music of Jamaica began five centuries ago, when Columbus colonized the land of the Arawak Indians. This dates the start of oppression by first the Spanish and then the English in this area of the Caribbean. Blacks were brought in as slaves by the English, and although Jamaica has had it's independence since 1963, the tension of authority and control still reigns. Jamaica is a story of injustice, international influence, ineffective governing, and unequal distribution of wealth; all of these elements provide a solid base for the theme of oppression and the need for a revolution and redemption in Jamaican music. Reggae in particular reflects these injustices, and the feelings, needs and desires to change the lifestyle that Jamaicans have historically lived. Reggae music has two meanings. It’s generic name for all Jamaican popular music since 1960, West Indian style of music with a strongly accented subsidiary beat. Reggae can also refer to the particular beat that was extremely popular in