Analysis of Life and Debt Documentary - Essay Example

The movie portrays the destruction of Jamaican industries and the end of a self-sufficient economic entity by converting the country into a market of American goods as well as a source of poorly paid labor. The movie is persuasive in indicating the way powdered milk originating from America destroyed the Jamaican fresh milk industry. Moreover, the documentary shows the way the existing market for Jamaican bananas, which in England is under threat from Chiquita-Dole-Del Monte forces who consider a single Jamaican banana not under their control to be too many. The documentary shows that subsidized Idaho potatoes to be bankrupting Jamaican potato farmers; moreover, McDonald’s is reluctant in purchasing local meat; as well, the documentary shows sweet onions from Jamaica to be underpriced as American onions are sold at a loss (Life and Debt: Documentary).

            The documentary goes ahead to show that one scheme aimed at helping the Jamaican economy was the establishment of “free zones” within fenced manufacturing areas where workers are paid meagre $30 a week to assemble goods that only arrive and leave by container ship out of the country. The documentary indicates that labor unions are banned while the working conditions are subhuman and when people strike, they are forced to go back to work at gunpoint; moreover, the worker’s paychecks are taxed for services that do not seem to exist such as health and retirement schemes. The documentary shows that once the peasants were ruined they turned up in Kingston and became a cheap source of labor. A scene in the documentary shows a Jamaican hotel guide warning vacationers to watch out for thieves when strolling around in the streets. Most likely, the thieves were young people who were forced to flee to the city in search of non-existent jobs. Read More