“The One Percent” is an amazingly well done documentary that gives an inside look at how the richest millionaires and billionaires in the U.S. live. The documentary was made by Jamie Johnson (as in Johnson & Johnson) in 2003. He reveals his own families struggles to come to terms with their wealth in the face of growing inequalities. In his search for understanding of fairness, justice, morality and profit he speaks to everyone, from Nobel Prize winning Milton Friedman to the granddaughter of Warren Buffet to the poor living in the projects of Chicago or working on sugar plantations in Florida. It's available to stream on Netflix.
Here is a
link to the synopsis and trailer.
Also, thanks to my friend Maren, here is a global perspective of where you can find the one percent:
MAP.
While these highlight the problem of rising inequality and concentration of wealth, the question remains, what to do about it? I think the answer has to go beyond increasing taxes on the rich. We need structural changes that help to prevent the richest from buying political favors through large campaign donations and funding lobbyists. We also need to make reforms to ensure that even the poorest are able to send their children to quality schools. For a start...
Ooh, this looks good. Did you ever see that documentary I told you about? The one called Inside Job? The contents of your post remind me of it. Seems fascinating and yet ominous. The illuminati are taking over! Aaaaah! j/k but circumstances like this have been going on for thousands of years. I wonder when these dudes are going to stop?
ReplyDeleteHello! Thanks for commenting. Yes, I did watch "Inside Job" and thought it was very well done and thought provoking. It is scary to find out that so many people were acutely aware of the lies that were being sold before the financial crisis hit and they said nothing and did nothing. Trust in our financial system and government is critical to the economy and everyone's well being. I don't know if this crisis has been enough to give a wake up call to people in power that the lies have to end and they need to start building trust again. Hopefully it won't take another crisis...
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteAlright, so I saw the documentary, 1 Percent. It was alright, but I feel everything was anecdotal what this guy was trying to put forth. I need more concrete evidence than mere opinion on what you see and then what you make of it. But I guess it was alright. I wouldn't use this as a reference if I was writing an essay on a topic such as corporate rule, or the pros and cons of capitalism.
Also I didn't like the whole daddy-turned-to-the-dark-side kind of thing...at least that is what I saw in it.
Now I could say that it was good in a sense to see things on a micro-level than macro-level, that is, going to certain people within the framework of the subject and interviewing them. It was alright.
I just have a problem with what to trust and what not to trust when it comes to the realm of information.