Film Worksheet: The End of Poverty

LLAS 204

How many people die from hunger every day? 24,000 people

People of the U.S. make up 5% of the world’s population, consume over 25% of the world’s resources, and

create 30% of the world’s pollution.

What is a key date for extreme poverty and wealth creation? 1492

When does capitalism begin? When the colonization of the America’s happened.

Who were the conquistadores and colonizers? Where did they come from? What did they do? The

conquistadores and colonizers were explorers and conquerors from Europe, particularly Spain and

Portugal. They stole the land.

When did the British come? What did they do?

The British arrived in different parts of the world during the Age of Exploration. They established

colonies, traded goods, and expanded their empire

What is the latifundio system?

The latifundio system was a large-scale agricultural system in Latin America, characterized by large

estates owned by a small number of wealthy landowners.

How many people life in slave-like conditions today? Millions

What was the gap between the richest and poorest during the following years?

1820 3 to 1

1950 35 to 1

1997 74 to 1

Is the gap shrinking or getting larger? Getting larger What does this mean? This means that capitalism is

still a powerful thing that is making the gap grow.

Why is Potosí significant?

Provided the European empire with capital needed to start and finance their industrial revolutions.

What is la mita?

It was a law that would require workers to work in the mine for 6 months without leaving the mine.

They could not leave, which was the reason a lot of people died working in the mine.

Why doesn’t independence bring economic liberation?

There will always be colonialism and it will always be a part of the economy,

Latin American Inequality: The richest 1% receive over 400 times as much as the poorest 1%.

Why is this statement significant? “Since 1960, third world countries have suffered a 70% drop in the price

of agricultural exports compared to manufactured imports.”

It is important because it tells how people were impacted. With there being 50 million people going

through food insecurity. The drop affected many people because it cut the resources available to

them.

What is the difference between Third World exports and developed world exports?

They suffer more effects since the exports helps their economy. Developed world exports have more

resources available to them.

Define the following terms:

Mental colonization: mental colonization is the idea that popular ideologies are dominant on

people’s beliefs or values.

Cultural imperialism: Cultural imperialism is when one culture dominates over another.

What is the link between Christianity and colonization?

Colonizers were looking to spread Christianity. The link that Christianity and colonization has is that

The richest 1% of the world’s population owns 32% of the wealth.

Define the following terms:

Primitive accumulation: collection of things

Post Colonial: after colonial period

World Bank: an international development organization

IMF: International Monetary Fund

Monoculture: cultivating a single crop in an area

Problem of debt: When you cannot pay what you owe

Neoliberalism: An approach that favors free market, capitalism, dysregulation and reduction in

government spending.

Privatization: changing a business from public to private

Water Wars (Bolivia): A protest that took place in Bolivia called Cochabamba

Liberalizing Capital Flows: making less restrictions on capital flows across a country border.

Free trade: International trade