I'm routinely late getting to documentaries, sometimes absurdly so. That said, I recently watched two that I highly recommend, and which nicely complement one another: John Pilger's The War on Democracy (2007), and Philippe Diaz's The End of Poverty? (2008).
Each offers excellent examinations of the economic and political policies of, namely, the United States and Western Europe, and the devastating effects those policies have on what is called the "global South," or the Third World. Pilger focuses on South America in his project, while Diaz discusses both Latin America and Africa.
Both films are richly informative, and serve as a sobering reminder that what we call "free market enterprise" is merely a set of terms dictated to weaker parties, often with inhumane consequences. While the spectacle of US foreign policy (e.g., "shock and awe") receives greater media attention, there is a set of agendas and policies that are quietly tended to - and with far less scrutiny. And though to a lesser degree of dislocation, these agendas are also pursued domestically. It is unsurprising that the uprisings of 2011 spread globally, including to the United States. What is being said in these worldwide demonstrations bears remarkable similarity. Americans have much in common with the Third World: we have similar grievances because we want similar things. As a matter of course, poverty, economic inequality, and lack of democracy are deeply connected.
