Poor Country Essay

1179 Words5 Pages
“Nobody has to be poor in this country. If you’re poor, it’s because you’re irresponsible.” -That’s an absurd notion, because no sane person wants to be poor, miserable and starving–it’s because what’s available to them are way limited, even in the most mundane matters. Being broke is a choice; poverty is not. Being broke means finding yourself incapable of supporting your lifestyle, despite the fact that you have the education, resources, and know-how to pull yourself out of that situation. Poverty, on the other hand, is the inability to provide yourself or your family of your basic needs because you are deprived of access to the education, resources, and opportunities that will allow you to rise above it. To get rid of being broke, one just has to maximize all the available opportunities at hand. To get rid of poverty, widespread changes in policy and society need to take place. The poor are poor because they have fewer choices, or none at all. It’s not because they choose to be poor and if for some irrational reason, they do choose to live in poverty, again, it is a state of mind. In the Independent film, Los Trabajadores, the matter of less opportunity is widely stricken. Los Trabajadores follows an eventful year in the lives of Ramón and Juan, centering on the day labor site where they wait for work. When the site moves into a residential neighborhood, the workers find themselves facing opposition, misunderstanding and racism as they try to organize and earn the trust of the local community. Through experiences that range from political protests to bitter arguments to nostalgic sing-alongs, the men strive to overcome differences, share dreams and connect with one another and local residents alike. Seen through the eyes of Ramón and Juan, the complexities of immigration and labor issues transcend the political and turn intensely personal as these men sacrifice
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