• Latest

Max’s View

February 16, 2015

News From The Forty & Eight (40&8) Voiture 646

January 31, 2023
The Winter Renaissance Faire is Back for Its 6th Year

The Winter Renaissance Faire is Back for Its 6th Year

January 31, 2023

Investment in Women is Needed to Grow Workforce for Infrastructure Projects

January 31, 2023

Cancer-Fighting Advocates Call on Gov. Scott to Protect VT Kids; Increase Tobacco Control Program Funding

January 31, 2023
African Queen (1951)

Notorious (1946)

January 31, 2023

RAD Denounces Threats to Organizing for Safe and Inclusive Schools

January 24, 2023
African Queen (1951)

The Heiress

January 24, 2023

Meet Your Chamber

January 24, 2023
Just Some Thoughts

The Purpose of Pendulums

January 24, 2023
Capital City Concerts offers a Free Family Concert on Saturday, January 28 in Montpelier

Capital City Concerts offers a Free Family Concert on Saturday, January 28 in Montpelier

January 17, 2023

VSAC’s College & Career Pathways Events Offer Workshops on Campuses Across Vermont

January 17, 2023

National Endowment for the Arts Announces Grants to Support the Arts in Vermont

January 17, 2023
  • Home
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap
Monday, February 6, 2023
The World Online
  • Home
  • News & Features
    • Local News
    • Letters & opinions
    • George Shuman
    • Max’s View
    • Local Sports & Outdoors
    • Births
    • Weddings & Engagements
  • Calendar
    • Art Exhibits
    • Calendar of Events
    • Ongoing Events
  • Obituaries
  • Submit
    • Submit Calendar Listing for Non-Profit Events
    • Submit An Article To The World
    • Submit Letter To The Editor
    • Submit Sports News/Photo
    • Submit Birth Announcement
    • Submit Engagement Announcement
    • Submit Wedding Announcement
  • Advertising
    • World Rates and Ad Sizes
    • World Distribution Map
    • World Deadlines
    • Audit and Reader Surveys
    • Advertising Inquiry
  • Classifieds
    • Place Classified Ads
    • View Current Classifieds
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News & Features
    • Local News
    • Letters & opinions
    • George Shuman
    • Max’s View
    • Local Sports & Outdoors
    • Births
    • Weddings & Engagements
  • Calendar
    • Art Exhibits
    • Calendar of Events
    • Ongoing Events
  • Obituaries
  • Submit
    • Submit Calendar Listing for Non-Profit Events
    • Submit An Article To The World
    • Submit Letter To The Editor
    • Submit Sports News/Photo
    • Submit Birth Announcement
    • Submit Engagement Announcement
    • Submit Wedding Announcement
  • Advertising
    • World Rates and Ad Sizes
    • World Distribution Map
    • World Deadlines
    • Audit and Reader Surveys
    • Advertising Inquiry
  • Classifieds
    • Place Classified Ads
    • View Current Classifieds
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
No Result
View All Result
The World Online
No Result
View All Result

Max’s View

vt-world by vt-world
February 16, 2015
in Max's View
0

Available Now on Netflix
Living on One Dollar
**1/2

My conclusion about the economy in the United States right now is that things are pretty great.

The doom-and-gloomers on the news are certainly right about a few of the problems that we face: an increasingly large amount of wealth is collecting in the stock portfolios of the richest 1% instead of being productively spent at American stores. A perfect storm of free trade, overzealous unions, and oppressive regulation has swept most of our factories overseas, leaving a generation of blue collar workers with fewer quality jobs than their parents.

However, the good far outweighs the bad.

Most Americans can afford enough food. Heck, it seems like most Americans can afford a whole new wardrobe because they can’t fit into their old clothes anymore.

We can afford to live in ridiculously intemperate places like Vermont because we have ready access to fuel to heat our homes. Heck, the fuel is even getting cheaper.

We can relax in our heated homes while watching HDtv because just about everybody has access to affordable electricity. And on the rare occasions that the power goes out, we can take out our phones and text to our friends about what a bummer it is that we have to live without light for an hour or two.

Not all of us are living large – Diddy style. But we all live better than the 1 billion people on earth who survive on $1 per day. “Living on One Dollar” is a documentary about a pair of college buddies who decided to spend two months living in actual poverty.

Ryan Christoffersen and Zach Ingrasci moved into a shack in a remote Guatemalan farming village to experience how the bottom 1% lives.

The film is entertaining but unsurprising. Subsisting on beans, rice, and lard the young men lose weight and energy quickly. Sleeping on the dirty floor leaves them covered in flea bites.

After a few weeks, Ryan developed a painful intestinal parasite. He scraped together enough to pay for the doctor’s visit to get diagnosed but he definitely couldn’t afford the $25 for medicine to treat the illness.

Ryan and Zach are just average dudes on an unusual adventure. They’re like Bill and Ted without the time machine. They don’t make any profound observations about inequality or the human condition.

They do make one surprising conclusion. They argue that the best way to help the rural Guatemalans isn’t to give them charity or even offer their kids a good education. The farmers can be best helped by giving them more access to small business loans.

In America, it seems like banks do little more than allow people to live in houses than are larger than they can afford and go into credit card debt buying Christmas presents to fill the houses with stuff they don’t need.

Ryan and Zach show us concrete examples of how loans of just $200 transformed the lives of villagers they met by allowing them to start a weaving business or an onion patch.

But even that fortunate onion farmer who got a loan doesn’t live nearly as comfortably as a lower middle class American. It’s pretty great here.

Previous Post

Senate Report: A Look Back at School District Organization

Next Post

Reiss’s Pieces

Next Post

Reiss’s Pieces

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This Week’s Ads

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap
The World
403 US Route 302
Barre, VT 05641
Phone: (802) 479-2582

Copyright © 2019 The World Online. All Rights Reserved. Powered by CoolerAds.

No Result
View All Result
  • Art Exhibits
  • Audit and Reader Surveys
  • Births
  • Calendar
  • Contact Us
  • Daily Horoscope
  • Fall Guide
  • Food & Recipe
  • Home
  • Obituaries
  • Ongoing Events
  • Pay Your Bill Here
  • Senior Living Edition
  • Showtimes
  • Submit Birth Announcement
  • Submit Calendar Listing for Non-Profit Events
  • Submit Engagement Announcement
  • Submit Listing to our Local Directory
  • Submit Sports News/Photo
  • Submit Wedding Announcement
  • Testimonials
  • The World Coupons
  • Weather Forecast
  • World Deadlines
  • World Distribution Map
  • World Rate Card
  • World Rates and Ad Sizes
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy
  • Sitemap
  • About Us
  • Vermont Lottery
  • Advertising Information
  • The World Staff
  • Advertising Inquiry
  • Submit Letter To The Editor
  • Local Directory
  • Poll Results
  • Local Deals
  • Classifieds
  • Submit An Article To The World
  • Events
  • The World – This Week’s Online Digital Edition
  • The World Auto & Sports

Copyright © 2019 The World Online. All Rights Reserved. Powered by CoolerAds.

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Fill the forms bellow to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In