The rich, the poor and the trash
In the documentary, "The Rich, the Poor and the Trash,” co-directors Naomi Phillips and Thomas Hasel explore the lives of people both working with and living off trash. Most of the documentary focuses on two men, and we get to hear a lot from them: details of their lives and their thoughts on poverty and inequality and what they would do to help overcome the problems of inequality.
Inequality is a growing concern in the world. Rich people consume much more than the poor. They also produce much more waste. And in these modern times, trash has become a symbol of our times. The amount of waste we generate and throw away speaks volumes about our consumption-driven mindset. And of course, about the level of social inequality.
Inequality is concerned with the full distribution of wellbeing; poverty is focused on the lower end of the distribution only – those who fall below a poverty line. Garbage: the word brings to mind unpleasant smells, flies and filth. But to some, it is home. Nearly 15 million people across the globe live and work in garbage communities. Members of garbage communities spend each day rummaging through the trash, hoping to find something decent enough to recycle. Once they find something they collect these pieces and bring them to a middleman called an agent. The agent then sells the goods for much more, sucking up a large portion of the collector’s wage.
There are 600 billionaires in the United States, but 40 million Americans live in poverty. But poverty is much worse in Kenya – it takes the average Kenyan 20 years to earn the annual salary of the average American.
