Life & Debt _ C.Collins

The film Life and Debt, as well as the text A Small Place has made me much more aware as a consumer, when it comes to the products I decide to interact with. Many people do not think about where the products they buy actually come from or how they came about, once in a while a chatter about how a product is no longer made in the U.S and now the product isn't as good anymore. Others sometimes discuss that if it was made in the U.S still it would cost more. That's how far most consumers go, they think about how it was in the past, or they make their purchase strictly on price. These two sides of consumerism actually are answering one another's questions-- why aren't things produced in the U.S anymore, because the consumers don't have to pay for a product in which the people making it are getting a livable wage. The livable wage is a major factor in the film Life and Debt. In the film during one portion the plight of the farmers of Jamaica is expressed, they work the land by hand, they give their sweat and blood to their work, yet they can not make any money. Tariffs on the banana trade between the U.S and Jamaica make it very difficult for Jamaica to sell its product. The banana farmers must also compete with large corporations such as Dole and Chiquita which use forced work, refusal of unionizing to keep prices down for consumers. Jamaica is kept poor due to the inability to sell it's products. Most food items consumed by tourists in the country actually comes from the U.S because it's cheaper to import product than to use food growing in their country. The tourism of Jamaica is a vast issue brought up in both the film and text, it shows the impact that colonialism still has on countries even after colonialism is "gone". Countries with stronger economies,  can have their workers come to Jamaica to enjoy the beauty, the lush beaches and clear water.  The people of Jamaica on the other hand have to work their hands to the bone to simply survive, they can not enjoy the beauty their country possesses due to the immense debt every person is in.