Written By Lisset Rojo Ramirez
Often times, it is easy to correlate globalization with progression, power, and profitability. From a first world country viewpoint, one can no doubt deduce that in order to live happily and successfully, the need for capitalism is essential. However, that lens is clouded by unreal expectations due to personal experiences inapplicable to everyone. In other words, one cannot prescribe a single solution to fix all problems within the borders of all countries and expect the same results. Such national perspective makes it difficult to wholeheartedly accept others’ differences and influences i.e. the true definition of globalization.
The film of Life in Debt of Jamaica essentially illustrates the detrimental effects of the influx of American goods into Jamaica’s economy and culture. Before encountering the film, I agreed with the “guidance” that America provided Jamaica and other foreign countries unable to sustain themselves. However, my mindset was altered in seeing the local people suffer due to the ignorance of the “bigger person” or decision-making governments that directed the exchange of goods. Their ignorance prevented equal profits among the administration and the people. As such, progression in total was obstructed. In the end, resilience from the people came almost too late with minimal change.
The Triangle Factory film that we watched in class, presented the idea of activism in order to change unfair regulations. At the time, the influx of immigration made it possible for New York to diversify. However, large changes demanded speedy recovery leaving out the needs for workers, in this case, women workers. Their resilience came to be . Even so, nothing ever changed. It had to take a large catastrophe for lawmakers and business owners to finally pay attention to them and make changes.