Personal Responses

When I came into the cluster I thought that this was going to be about how America has the most influence in other countries. Well I could see I was right because we are studying on how the United States is controlling some of the countries and how many of our resources that are here are imported to the poorest countries. But I didnt expected we were gonna learn some of the history from the past. I just thought that it was mostly going to be more about the present and the future. Like what other things the United States might come up with. With the texts that we have read and argue about, I feel like it is a good way to learn and make opinions. I am still on King side, even as we have read different texts and see a lot of documentary films.

Life and Debt

Yes, I do think that the film shows colonialism because many of the resources that Jamaica received are from oustside the country. Everything is mostly imported and the resources that they produce themselves for the local people are really expensive. So the poor people can't afford it. International Monetary Fund is usually the one who is giving the money to this country and that is how the country could mantain itself. We could compare this form of colonialism by showing how in the story from Jamaica Kincaid called "A Small Place" illustrates how Antigua was governed by the British, and how this place was before it gained their independence.

I think that International Monetary Fund is the one who has the control of this country. It has control because they are the one who says what kind of production could be made and what they could not produce. One example of this was the bananas, in other countries the banana they produce was cheaper and the bananas that Jamaica produce was more expensive because the resources like the seeds and the soil is imported. The IMF maintains this power by if they dont give the money to this country to maintain itself, then Jamaica will have unemployed people, and there will be more poor people that is already is. One thing that Jamaicans could do or the goverment could do is to set more Free Zones, so that these people will not have to work with taxes and they could earn an amount of money to support their family.

The connection that I see between this film with other texts is how some of the countries are still somehow governed by other countries and how they are usually in control. It could be economically or just beacuse of resources, like the oil. Like in the first text that we read by Obama we could see how Indonesia was still influence by the United States. We could see how they have overthrown the governor of that country and how later Obama saw that they wanted to decide in Indonesia.

Farmingville

I was really shocked at the begining of the film, specially when the boy came out, and he showed his scars and where he was stabbed. Is incredible to see that this still exists now in the modern time. It will have not be a shocked event if you hear these kinds of news 60 years ago. But hearing this now it totally draws a national media attention. But it gets me upset that after this crime event, instead of the community coming together, there were more racism against the undocumented mexicans. But even with all the community resistence am glad too that they created Human Solidity Association group. Also that they continue with their jobs and still continue to achieve the "American Dream" and send the money to their loves ones, even if no resolution was made. This film really shows about who really controls the American dream, and who could share it also.