So the kids go down to Guatemala and take out a micro-loan to rent a place to stay with some land to grow radishes. In order to replicate the monetary situation of the average Guatemalan farmer, they come up with a system where they "pay" themselves an average of a dollar per day - but they do it randomly by drawing numbers in order to simulate the financial uncertainty that people live with. So some days they make $9, some days they make nothing.
All in all I think it's a pretty good film and certainly worth the watch. It most definitely puts our first world problems into clear perspective, and trust me, you'll never look at lard the same way again!
My only quibble with the little experiment is that while they did a fair job of simulating financial insecurity, they did it in a fairly cushy way compared to the realities that most of their Guatemalan neighbors experience. I mean, there's a pretty big difference between drawing a number for your daily "allowance" and working your arse off in the fields for 12+ hours! Of course, they also didn't have the benefit of having any clue what they were doing, so perhaps that all evens out.
But any way you slice it, it's a touching and inspiring look in to the reality of daily life for a large percentage of the people on this planet, and I'd definitely give it a thumbs up.
Has anybody else out there seen it? I'd love to hear what you thought of it.
I wonder if you can see it anywhere besides Netflix? A brief search just got me the trailer. My husband's mother is from Guatemala and all of his relatives are still down there. He traveled there often as a child and we've gone a few times together. From what I can tell in the picture, that's a pretty nice place that they are living in. Many are living in house made from corn stalks. (However, moderate weather does not call for as much protection as many other places.) When my son was about five, we were showing him pictures from a trip to Guatemala that he didn't remember and he asked a very important question, "Are poor people happy?"
ReplyDeleteWow... I bet having that family connection brings a lot of perspective to your outlook.
DeleteI looked around on their webpage, and it looks like you can stream it directly from them for $4:
https://livingonone.vhx.tv/buy
I'm not familiar with that service, but it looks legit.
I'll check this out. I know my husband would be very interested.
DeleteI haven't seen it, but it sounds right up my alley! I love "Scratch Beginnings" by Adam Shepard, where he proves that people can dig themselves out of poverty.
ReplyDeleteI think I have a crush on your blog - can't wait to read your no poo and diva cup posts! I am currently no poo and want to get in to diva cups (I think!)
- Allison
www.allisonwrites.com
Awwww... thanks so much for your kind words. I'll have to go check out Scratch Beginnings!
DeleteI read "Scratch Beginnings" several years ago and found it very interesting. "Nickle and Dimed" gets all of the publicity, but this is a very important book too. It shows that at least in some circumstances, there is a way out of desperate economic situations.
DeleteI've read "Nickle and Dimed" also - it was interesting, but very depressing. Instead of showing how big companies are keeping people down, I prefer seeing how you can change the circumstances.
DeleteHmmm... I'll have to add both to my reading list. Of course, I'm notoriously slow when it comes to reading, so it may take me a wile (as in forever) to get around to it! Maybe I should get audio books. Hmmm....
DeleteI have not seen it, but it is an interesting concept and experiment for them to do. Also too they did it for a short period of time I would imagine while the Guatemalans probably have to do it for the majority (if not) all of their lives.
ReplyDeletebetty
I think they were there for a couple of months, so they certainly only got a taste of what poverty feels like. But it is heartening that they cared enough to try to bring attention to the plight of people living in such conditions.
DeleteI have not seen the movie. I don't have netflix, so unless it comes to our library system I probably won't.
ReplyDeleteI have to wonder how useful these endeavours are. Wouldn't it be better to actually do voluntary poverty for the rest of your life, instead of a time period that you know will end.
I looked up the book Scratch Beginnings that some one else mentioned and read a review, after a year the young lad went right back to his 21st century life.
I have to think that he started with advantages that others don't have, he's a white male, in good health, probably a good education...and he knows this poverty will only last for one year. Yea, I can see that being an adventure rather than comment on how others live and manage in lifelong poverty.
Sorry to be so negative about these young folks, I would just rather see some of them say no to consumerism forever.
Marieann
I share your mixed feelings about these sorts of "poverty experiments." I think it's really hard for folks who have enjoyed privilege their entire lives to understand how generational poverty works.
DeleteWhen I worked at the music school we had a girl working at our front desk who was a fantastic worker, and a great kid. She was doing everything right - putting herself through college, living frugally, etc. BUT, at some point in the past her mother had talked her into co-signing a loan for a car because she couldn't qualify on her own. This was her mother's car, not hers - she took the bus.
Well... as you might imagine her mother lost her job and ended up defaulting on the loan, so they came after her for the money. We were put in the terrible position of having to garnish her wages. I suppose one could say that she shouldn't have agreed to co-sign the loan, but how many people could say no to their own mother? She ended up quitting shortly after that because she just couldn't afford to work full time and have most of her income go towards paying off her mother's debt.
It still makes me sorta sick to think about that. I don't know what happened to her, she was gonna try to make some money under the table so she'd get to keep it. Anyhow, that's just one example of how generational poverty keeps people stuck.
How sad about the young girl. These sort of circumstances are what breaks people.
DeleteI can think of many times in my life the choices I made could have led down a dark road, and then I wonder how much of my successful life was due to just plain luck instead of my values.
And of course we all like to think that we are the ones who choose our "good" path and not just the roll of a dice.
And when I see all the obstacles put in the path of people just trying to get on with life........it's heartbreaking
Marieann
I agree that Shepard had advantages and got to go back to regular life, but it is a way to bring attention to the issue, and if it's being written about, I'd rather read his than Nickle and Dimed... I think it's important to have a positive spin on things. Yes, it's a horrible situation to be in but if you're constantly held down and told you can never get out of it, why try? If you can see how someone else made their situation even slightly better, I think that's a better message and goal than "you can never get out of it, big companies will only pay you minimum wage for your hard work and you'll never make ends meet."
DeleteI know this isn't a very eloquent comment but it seemed better to explain a bit than just encourage the power of positive thinking.
Marieann - Unfortunately, I think this sort of thing is more the rule than the exception when people are stuck in poverty. If you're poor, it's not just you that's poor... everyone you know and love is also poor. I think it must be incredibly difficult to pull yourself up by your proverbial bootstraps, when, as soon as you start to experience a bit of success, everyone you know wants to borrow money etc.
DeleteAnd Allison - I actually think your comment was quite eloquent.
And while I totally agree about both the awareness and empowerment aspect of these sorts of experiments, I think they can also be used to hit poor people over the head with. Sorta like: "See... this guy did it, why can't you?"
The fact is that our systems are rigged, and while people absolutely need to take responsibility for their own personal situations, we also, as a society, need to take responsibility by doing things like passing a livable minimum wage law, fixing our tax code so that millionaires have to pay their fair share, protecting unions and the rights of workers to organize, and creating a better social safety net so that people have a real viable path out of this sort of endemic poverty.
Just my 2 cents! :-)
Yes, I watched this and enjoyed it. Although I'm sure it's not a perfect experiment, it did really inspire me to do something that would make a difference. But then I get into analysis-paralysis about what I can do that can have an effect.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about the paralysis. CatMan has a good friend who has dedicated a great deal of his life to these sorts of issues, and while he has made enormous differences in the lives of so many, it's really a drop in the bucket. Here's a link to his website, if you're interested:
Deletehttp://www.paulpolak.com/about-paul/
I did see this. I briefly thought about how easy it was for these guys to do this as an experiment knowing they would leave and go back to having more but then I got absorbed in how the locals treated them. Instead of seeing them as rich (compared to them) kids who were playing at living their lives and be insulted, they embraced them, taught them what they knew and even shared their meals with them. Personally, I think I might be offended by someone who decided to experiment living my life just to see what it was like, but maybe I'd feel differently depending on how they went about the experiment.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, this also brought to mind the latest story on Gwyneth Paltrow to took on the Food Stamp Challenge. Did you happen to see what she bought with her weeks money? As I understand it she only accepted the challenge for one week. I had two boys to feed and they would be starving by the end of the first day on this food.
https://twitter.com/GwynethPaltrow/status/586168041576116224
Hmmm... I think I might have a hard time feeding just me on what Gwyneth brought home!
DeleteAnyhow, I totally agree that the way the kids in the film related to the locals made it very endearing. The fact that they treated the locals as experts from whom they could learn rather than people who were somehow beneath them, made all the difference, I think.
I could live on what she bought if I wanted to eat rice every day. I applaud her for taking on the challenge but I think the impact of what it's really like was lost on Paltrow.
DeleteI agree, I think the way the guys approached the locals helped to forge the relationships they made and how they were treated.
I suppose beans and rice does go a long way, but still... if she's feeding her kids on that as well, it seems like it's not gonna go terribly far. I wonder what they had for breakfast!
Delete