Life and Debt, a film by Stephanie Black shows the negative side of Jamaica that tourists and foreigners fail to see in their daily lives. The downside is the economy and what it has done to the citizens of the country. Jamaica is no longer in control of its own country, but is controlled by economic decisions made by the United States and other foreign countries. This destruction of their economy was caused by economic globalization in a small and still developing country. The film shows how life in Jamaica is not what it seems to outsiders of the country, from the enormous amount of debt caused by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank, to the inability to create and maintain key sectors that a country would need for a self-sufficient future. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The documentary, created in 2001, dates back to the period when Jamaica gained independence from Great Britain in 1962. The root of the problem was the energy crisis of 1970, fuel import prices were soaring and the country needed to take out a loan to cover these crazy costs. In 1976 private banks had no room to make such a loan, so Jamaica had to turn to the World Bank and the IMF. This was the beginning of a serious downfall, at the beginning of the process, the President wanted to make a long-term plan that would create a self-sustaining environment for the country and advance the economy making it prosper. Instead the IMF insisted on taking a short-term route to repaying the loan, the IMF's plan was to stop financing certain sectors such as healthcare, local agricultural development and education. A country needs to have adequate funding in these areas if it wants its country and its citizens to last. With no choice but to accept the loan agreed to by the Jamaican government, this would be the beginning of the end for Jamaican citizens. Once the government took the loan they had no choice but to dilute their currency, this made Jamaica dependent more on imports than local products, this had an extreme effect on the citizens and small business owners of the Jamaica the film shows how due to these imports their agricultural sector has suffered enormously, the example used in the film is how the agricultural villages that provided food for all the surrounding citizens are now virtually non-existent due to the heavy dependence on importing food from the United States in addition to that, the film explains that milk powder imports have ruined the dairy industry for Jamaica as well. Once again, he goes to where they would have kept the farm animals and, to no surprise to the viewer, they too are ruined just as the farm land was. The film goes even further by showing a chicken farm, once again destroyed by the importation of low-quality chickens from the United States. Jamaica's last hope was through banana exports, but again they were beaten by countries that could produce the banana at a lower cost to importers than them. With Jamaica's agricultural sector destroyed, Jamaica was left completely dependent on imports from other countries, making it nearly impossible to create an agricultural sector like it once was. Please note: this is just an example. Get a customized document from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay In the film the viewer can see a scene in.