“The End of Poverty?,” a film funded largely by the Robert Schalkenbach Foundation, seems to have been shown at an auxiliary part of the Cannes film event, implying that it is complete. What little publicity I have found (more here) implies that it simply makes the point that poverty exists, it is large and serious worldwide, and is somehow the fault of more affluent countries. This may be news to many folks, but I wonder how many of the ignorant will see the film. One article quotes the director Philippe Diaz: “They are poor because we are rich.” Certainly seems to be an oversimplification, not literally true, but then what do I know about reaching the politically influential masses?
Originally some of us had hoped the film would teach a bit of Georgist economics. If that’s not possible in a mass market product, we hoped at least it would draw some links between control of resources and lack of access thereto. Perhaps it does, tho that doesn’t come out in what I’ve read thus far. We shall see.