I got a chance to go to Jamaica this year and it is a beautiful place. The people are nice and the Atlantic is wonderful. I was catered to in the resort where I stayed by locals which was a nice, if peculiar, experience for me. I also got a chance to see the poverty of that nation. I saw houses without electricity or plumbing. I bought curry goat from a place that could be described as a shack. And I knew before going that many people there aren’t able to enjoy the things I enjoyed on their island. Life and Debt explains why that is.
Jamaica is a nation whose climate allows for the production of vast quantities of food, its people are hard working, and it is close enough to other nations to have profitable trade with them, but it is also very poor. The film, Life and Debt, explores how the first world’s loans and economic theory have impoverished the nation. Jamaica is in debt to the IMF and the World Bank and these institutions have established policies that have only harmed the country. Jamaica is not allowed to give farm subsides to its agricultural sector but has to compete with nations, such as the United States, who heavily subsidize production.
Life and Debt does a brilliant analysis of this problem and explains how post-colonial Jamaica has been devastated by policies created to keep the first world empowered at their expense. It is a must see and I would recommend viewing this film to anyone who is interested in why the post-colonial world is suffering economically.
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