Week 4 - Movie Review: Poverty, Inc.

HELP !? - Rethinking Global Aid and Development in Poverty, Inc.

There’s something about Poverty, Inc. that leaves me questioning: what does it mean to truly help? Watching it again, I found myself as intrigued—and as unsettled—as the first time. The documentary dives into the uncomfortable reality that foreign aid, despite good intentions, often traps communities in dependency cycles rather than lifting them out. Instead of encouraging self-sufficiency, aid can make it even harder for local businesses to stand on their own.

One of the most unforgettable moments comes from Bono, who has long advocated for poverty relief. In a candid reflection, he acknowledges a shift in perspective. While aid has a role, he says, it’s not a long-term solution on its own. His words, “Trade, not Aid,” were electric—a call for a model that emphasizes opportunity over charity alone. This moment echoed throughout the documentary’s message: that true change requires economic independence, not continued dependence on outside support.

The film grounds its argument in real stories from Africa and Haiti. In Africa, we see the impact of free clothing from Western countries on local textile industries, where these donations flood the market, making it nearly impossible for small businesses to survive. In Haiti, after the 2010 earthquake, massive shipments of free rice from the U.S. undercut Haitian farmers who couldn’t compete with the abundance of free food. Both cases illustrate that charity, though well-intentioned, can stifle local economies and foster dependency.

The orphanage system in Haiti was another part that hit home. The documentary reveals how economic hardship pressures parents to place their children in orphanages, even when they aren’t truly orphans. This system, sustained by donations, unintentionally encourages family separations by making it seem like institutions offer children a better life. Poverty, Inc. challenges us to think beyond surface-level solutions and recognize that empowering families and communities might be more beneficial than funding institutions.

Toward the end, economist Hernando de Soto’s perspective provides a crucial layer to the discussion. He explains that in many impoverished regions, people lack formal property rights or the ability to register businesses. Without legally recognized ownership, they can’t use their assets as collateral or access loans, which severely limits their capacity to grow and build wealth. De Soto’s insight pushes the conversation from short-term aid to long-term reform, emphasizing that giving people a legal stake in their property is essential to sustainable development.

As the credits rolled, I found myself wondering: What if we rethink our whole approach? What if we don’t call it “poverty” anymore? What if we see that while we may be rich, they aren’t necessarily poor? It made me reflect on deeper questions: What is poverty, really? What is lack? What is enough? These questions left me thinking that maybe aid is most effective in true emergencies. In other situations, at best, it allows people to barely scrape by; at worst, it makes them dependent and limits their growth.

Perhaps one of the best things we can do is to be okay with others being “poor,” without feeling an obsessive need to “fix” their situation. Maybe instead, we should step back, observe, and listen—so that we can help them navigate their own journey, the same journey we took to move from our previous standards of living to our current state of relative abundance. 

In the end, Poverty, Inc. challenges the viewers to rethink both 'Poverty' and 'Aid', suggesting that meaningful change lies in respecting people’s paths and offering support that truly brings  empowerment rather than entrapment.