Why the rich get richer and the poor get poorer | Us & Them | DW Documentary
Summary
TLDRThe video script explores the complexities of poverty and wealth through personal narratives. It features individuals from diverse backgrounds, including a South African entrepreneur, a London resident on benefits, and a mother striving to provide for her children. The script delves into the impact of systemic issues like apartheid's legacy, housing crises, and economic inequality on people's lives. It also touches on societal perceptions of the rich and the struggles of the working class, aiming to humanize economic disparities and inspire change.
Takeaways
- 💡 Capitalism is seen as a double-edged sword, offering opportunities for wealth but also the risk of poverty and dehumanization.
- 🔄 The cycle of poverty can be challenging to break, with individuals sometimes falling back into hardship despite efforts to climb out.
- 🏡 Housing is a significant issue, with many facing unaffordable rents and poor living conditions, even in wealthy countries.
- 🤝 There is a call for societal change, with individuals like Princess and Sak making a difference through entrepreneurship and community support.
- 💼 Employment is a critical factor in overcoming poverty, but structural issues and personal circumstances can make it difficult to secure stable work.
- 🏢 The gap between the rich and the poor is widening, leading to social and economic imbalances that affect communities and countries.
- 👨👩👧👦 Family background and support play a significant role in an individual's ability to escape poverty and achieve stability.
- 🏦 The script highlights the importance of financial literacy and the ability to manage resources effectively to avoid poverty.
- 🌐 Globally, there is a recognition of the interconnectedness of wealth and poverty, with the actions of the rich impacting the opportunities available to the poor.
- 🤔 The narrative questions the sustainability of current economic systems, suggesting that change is necessary to address growing inequalities.
Q & A
What is the main theme discussed in the video script?
-The main theme discussed in the video script is the disparity between the rich and the poor, and how it affects individuals and communities in different parts of the world.
What does the speaker believe about capitalism and its impact on individuals?
-The speaker believes that capitalism can be a form of slavery, causing poverty and stripping individuals of their human dignity, forcing them to be beggars and always asking for help.
What is the significance of the name 'Princess' for the woman mentioned in the script?
-The name 'Princess' was given to her by her father and signifies a time when she was considered precious, contrasting with her current job of washing laundry and working in farms.
What is Sak's business and how long has he been running it?
-Sak is a businessman who runs a restaurant in Vazi Street, Johannesburg, South Africa. He has been running it for 23 years.
Why did the former president Nelson Mandela's words impact Princess?
-Nelson Mandela's words impacted Princess because he challenged people to take action in their own capacity to create jobs or reduce crime, which motivated her to make a difference.
What is the economic situation described in South Africa according to the script?
-South Africa is described as one of Africa's most developed economies but also one of the most unequal, with a legacy of colonialism and apartheid leading to a wide gap in quality of life and high unemployment rates.
How does the script describe the situation of poverty in the UK?
-The script describes the UK as having 20% of its population, or 14 million people, living in poverty despite being one of the richest countries in the world, with many relying on food banks for survival.
What is the significance of the Second Chance Cafe mentioned in the script?
-The Second Chance Cafe is a place where people can pay what they feel for a meal, or not pay at all, with the aim of bringing together people from different walks of life to share a meal and support a charity.
What is the main character's dream as expressed in the script?
-The main character's dream is to own a home, a house for their kids, even if it's just a small stand with two or three rooms, to ensure their safety and security.
What is the underlying message about wealth and inequality conveyed in the script?
-The script conveys that extreme wealth and poverty are increasing simultaneously, leading to social and economic disparities that can have significant costs to society and individuals.
Outlines
💼 Capitalism and Poverty
The first paragraph introduces a discussion on capitalism, highlighting the belief that hard work should be rewarded. It contrasts the opportunities provided by capitalism with the despair of poverty, suggesting that poverty dehumanizes individuals. The narrative includes personal experiences of climbing the social ladder and the setbacks that can lead to falling back into poverty. The paragraph emphasizes the importance of not resenting the wealthy but rather focusing on one's own opportunities to improve one's situation.
🏛️ Inequality in South Africa
This paragraph delves into the economic disparities in South Africa, one of the most unequal countries globally. It discusses the legacy of colonialism and apartheid that has led to a significant gap in quality of life, particularly affecting the black population and women. The narrative shifts to personal stories from London, where individuals struggle with poverty despite living in one of the world's richest countries. The reliance on food banks and the erosion of state benefits are highlighted, painting a picture of the challenges faced by those in poverty.
👨👩👧👦 Overcoming Adversity
The third paragraph focuses on personal stories of overcoming adversity. It includes accounts of individuals who have faced significant challenges, such as a brain injury leading to unemployment, and the struggle to find new opportunities. The narrative also touches on the importance of self-worth and the impact of a supportive environment in helping people to perform and succeed. It emphasizes the role of education and self-acceptance in overcoming life's obstacles.
🏡 Housing and Employment Struggles
This paragraph explores the issues of housing and employment in the UK. It describes the living conditions of someone in a small, overcrowded room, subsidized by housing benefits, and the challenges faced by those trying to find affordable housing. The narrative also includes the story of a woman who is trying to support her children by starting a small business, despite the difficulties of ensuring a steady income and the pressure of providing for her family.
🚢 Wealth and Tax Evasion
The fifth paragraph discusses the perception of the wealthy and the issue of tax evasion. It contrasts the lifestyles of the rich with those who have worked hard throughout their lives but do not have the same privileges. The narrative includes commentary on the use of offshore accounts to avoid taxes and the impact of such actions on the economy and society. The paragraph also touches on the desire for a more equitable distribution of wealth and the potential for social unrest due to growing inequality.
🍰 Community and Volunteerism
The final paragraph highlights the importance of community and volunteer work in addressing poverty and social inequality. It describes the experiences of individuals who volunteer at a cafe that offers meals to those in need, promoting a sense of togetherness and shared experience. The narrative emphasizes the value of helping others and the positive impact that such actions can have on both the giver and the receiver, suggesting that community support is a key element in overcoming societal challenges.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Capitalism
💡Poverty
💡Inequality
💡Opportunity
💡Destiny
💡Unemployment
💡Wealth
💡Volunteer Work
💡Housing Crisis
💡Economic Inequality
Highlights
Belief in capitalism and the idea that hard work should be rewarded.
Critique of capitalism as a form of slavery that suppresses human potential.
The struggle of climbing the social ladder and the potential to fall back to the bottom.
The belief that everyone has a chance to succeed and resentment is unacceptable.
Discussion on the widening gap between the rich and the poor and its societal impact.
Princess's story of working hard despite being born into poverty.
Sak's entrepreneurial journey and the impact of his restaurant on the local economy.
The legacy of colonialism and apartheid in South Africa and its effects on inequality.
Liz Brewer's experience of living on benefits in an affluent area of London.
Jamie Burnham's perspective on poverty and the reliance on food banks in the UK.
The stark contrast between the number of food banks and McDonald's outlets in the UK.
The story of a carpenter's struggle with a brain injury and the loss of his trade.
A business owner's approach to motivating and educating his employees.
A mother's struggle to provide for her children and the cycle of poverty.
The high unemployment rate in South Africa and its correlation with poverty.
The housing crisis in Britain and the reliance on housing benefits to subsidize private rents.
A woman's journey from a conventional life to running a successful nightclub in Portugal.
The perception of the wealthy as arrogant and the desire for a more equitable society.
The dream of owning a home and providing security for one's children.
The importance of community and shared experiences in breaking down social barriers.
The potential for social unrest due to growing inequality and the desire for change.
Transcripts
[Music]
oh we are ready to start working
here by Friday we need to open
here yes I do believe in
capitalism that if you work
hard then you need
to benefit yes I think capitalism is
slavery to be poor me
to be a
beggar to be always
asking it kills the person in you the
human being in you so that's how costly
poverty
[Music]
is being
poor
is difficult when I'm climbing the
ladder things can happen things go wrong
and then a couple of rungs of the ladder
get broken and you fall down to the
bottom again so you've got to start
climbing again I think everybody has a
chance and it's been proved time and
time
again to sit down and resent somebody
who's got more than you in my book is
unacceptable because there's no reason
that you couldn't be in that place
because you've got every
opportunity being rich or poor is it
Destiny luck or something else entirely
with the gap between rich and poor
growing ever wider how can people
continue to see eye to eye
[Music]
[Music]
[Music]
that's is
if my name is
Princess it's a name I got from my dad
because at that time I was the
princess with the work that I do uh
washing people's laundry and filling out
Farms I'm able to pay my
rent at some point it was bad that I had
to sell some of my
stuff just to make sure that I have a
roof over my head
my mother was a kitchen girl my father
was a garden
boy when the former president Nelson
Mandela said people must stop
complaining that unemployment is high in
the country people must stop complaining
that crime is high he asked what are you
doing in your own capacity to create
jobs or C
crime that touched me and I said let me
make a difference my name is Sak I come
from Soo South Africa Township in
[Music]
Johannesburg I'm a businessman rakum
restaurant in the famous vazi street so
that has been running for 23
years sakumi means we are building a
home it's the only restaurant between
the Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Nelson
Mandela with two Nobel Peace Prize
winners all right the Archbishop used to
stay in this house next door really
all right but so far so good
guys in I can say I'm a biggest
employer it's more than thousand people
working because we've got 10 more
restaurants when we started in 2001
there was no economy in vazi
Street meaning there was no one
exchanging money people were coming in
and out
we are making a difference in the
economy of
[Music]
so South Africa is one of Africa's most
developed economies yet it's also one of
the most unequal countries in the world
the Legacy left by colonialism and
apartheid rooted in racial and spatial
segregation has created a death spiral
of in quality in income education
quality of health and household living
conditions where the black population
and black women in particular suffer the
most my name is Liz Brewer and I live in
Belgravia Belgravia is just an area of
London
you've got Buckingham Palace
nearby you've got some of the most
stately London homes
around I've been to Chelsea or
Kensington but that's only when I'm
playing
Monopoly I'm receiving benefits of
present it's about
£320 per
month which isn't that much really
compared to how much the prices have
gone up for different food and drink or
whatnot my name is Jamie Burnham and I
live in
Hackney I haven't worked for about five
and a half years
now there's poverty and there's poverty
there's there's people who have got used
to not working and being given hand out
and they've they've liked that lifestyle
it's this feeling that um they're
entitled they're entitled to being given
it without the food banks I would find
it extremely difficult to to cope I mean
take me to the nearest food bank here
show it to
me there is more food banks than there
are McDonald's in the UK which is
difficult to believe but there
is despite Britain being one of the
richest countries in the world 20% of
its population that's 14 million people
live in poverty the costs of housing
food and energy have hit people on low
incomes hardest and state benefits have
been eroded over the preceding decades
forcing almost 3 million people to rely
on 2500 food banks for
survival we need to tell volunteers it's
one R not yeah so there's plenty of it
down
here last week we had 3 380 oh no 340
collecting been collected for very good
which is the biggest we've ever had
how many people are you collecting for
oh just myself just yourself okay if you
go around that way thank you would you
like some milk um do you have normal
milk or soy milk um no just normal milk
please thank you would you like some
cereal
um you can have porridge yes I have some
porridge
please yeah
um I have um one toilet roll please
could you get it yes I can there you go
thank you thank you very
much and choose two
fruits oh see some weeks we have like
yeah this has got to
stretch pear please and another one
tangerine or a banana Tangerine please
okay
[Music]
I trained for 3 years as a carpenter's
apprentice and the day I passed I was
run over by a
[Music]
car and I had to wait 7 and 1 half years
being temporarily retired because of the
brain injury with no work I couldn't do
any heavy lifting or building work ever
again because of the brain injury so
that was the 3 years carpet ship messed
up completely and I had to go for
something else office
[Music]
work life has been good in the last 10
years I live with my three children and
my wife we've got two domestic
workers we've been in Douglas Dale for
the last 10 years it's one of those
wealthy neighborhoods of stin
I get to work seven days a week and I've
got crazy
hours I've got a penel beating shop that
has been running for 12
years from my employees I expect
performance from them when I hire them I
make it clear that I've hired them to
make more
money most of their parents are in jail
most of their parents are in shippings
meaning
Pops I have to educate them to tell them
that they are special that they
important in this country so once they
know themselves they able to perform and
look after our clients because at least
they love
[Music]
themselves I grew up with parents were
working both of them loving parents
loving grandparents
in 1985 my parents had a car
[Music]
accident I can say I lost it I could not
focus very well I was acting as if I'm
happy but when you don't have love when
you don't know what is life all about
then you become poor but later through
Reading good books I had to find myself
and accept that whether you've got
parents whether you come from divorced
family you're not special with your
problems I'm a mother of four kids three
boys and a
daughter my last Bor which is my girl
father passed on he was actually gone
down in front of his daughter at uh his
parents' home yeah just at the
[Music]
entrance she's staying with her
grandparents I can provide our money to
pay her
fees that pains me a lot because it's
like history is repeating itself
I grew up being raised by my grandmother
from my maternal
side my parents split up when I was only
4 years
old after not seeing my mom for a whole
year she came back home so she spent
with us Christmas Day and on the 31st in
the morning she went
[Music]
back only to be met by her death because
she was stepped uh by her boy friend at
around half 5 in the evening the same
day I was only turning
11 and life wasn't the same ever again
[Music]
my boys are out of school um they
sitting at home they are not
working so they came and requested me to
assist them with giving them 300 rent so
that they could stop up some cigarettes
some few stuff some sweets some chips so
that they can have a table of their own
and start selling
something sometimes they actually use
more than the profit then I have to make
sure that I find money again to invest
so it's a bit Shak from 0 to 18 I can
look after my children
but I cannot be there for them forever I
Try by all means to teach them how to
earn a living rather than to be entitled
because that is what is happening with
most of our people in this
country Democratic elections ended
apartheid in
1994 but poverty has continued to be an
enduring problem ever
since the country's unemployment rate of
30% is the highest in the
world that means 24 million adults there
are barely
surviving at the same time roughly
one-third of the total number of
millionaires on the African continent
live in South
Africa if I don't have the money to go
to the
LR I can get three buses down to my
mom's place in South London and I use my
mom's washing
[Music]
machine which is probably annoying for
my mother but helpful for me pleas hello
hello how are you C I'm all right thank
you how are
you to see
you
see well I have bled myself before for
but then I found that it's no point
blaming myself cuz I'm still trying I'm
looking to get in um as a government
paid um hgv training and license oh
really yeah it'
be well because there's something that
you're good at yeah I'm still wanting to
become employed I want to work it is
very difficult because I need to earn
enough money because I don't want to
work and then have to spend 90% of my
wages on rent and only have a tiny bit
left to live by cuz how much is your
room oh it it would work out at
238 a week a week a week room and you
could fit in this room
about 10 of the rooms that I live in is
Tiny I live in a house um which is um a
three-bedroom house but it has been made
into um seven different rooms seven
separate rooms for people to live and
the room that I live in is around
about 12T by 8T within that I could fit
my double bed in one corner there is a
lav Tre which is very small there's an
attached kitchen which I can't use
because there's no windows or
ventilation in there and within the
kitchen is where my shower is it is all
paid for by the housing benefit for me
which is lucky for me
definitely since the 1980s when those in
publicly owned Council homes were
allowed to buy them outright Britain's
housing system has become increasingly
unbalanced leading to the housing crisis
seen today more and more people who
would be eligible for social housing are
stuck privately renting unaffordable
poor quality
homes as private rental prices continue
to grow at a record high rate in Britain
many tenants rents are subsidized by
housing benefits going to private
landlords costing the government 23.5
billion pounds per year almost twice as
much as it invests in affordable
[Music]
housing I started off living a very
convent itional life I was a debutant
which in those days meant that you were
supposed to marry into park Gates as it
were and you were taught everything from
how how to run a household how to even
make a bed properly you had to have
corners to this day I do corners for the
bed having done the season I didn't want
to get married how about these
okay so having run away from home I went
to Portugal and I opened the first
discotek nightclub in the
alab it was big news and so on the
opening night believe it or not without
an airport 600 people
came so much I mean this is just
one there is so much Paul McCartney
could come and nobody bothered
him it was an extraordinary
time
enjoy I was always arranging parties for
these um seriously High Flyers Like
Richard Branson Dame Shirley Bassie
Ivana
[Music]
[Applause]
Trump I'm wearing my BL oh my God you oh
J more
what I really value and appreciate about
mom she will just Against All Odds make
things happen she works harder than
anyone I've ever met and she willut
she's the sort of person that goes into
a room and everything's kind of broken
and chaotic and you think is this going
to work and then like half an hour later
there's this incredible thing that she's
Crea
we just singing in the
r it was
[Music]
rain what's very noticeable is
especially at the moment there are
people who are in this country who have
got a lot more than people who've worked
very very hard all their life what is
unfair is a lot of them and not really
honoring that position and paying the
taxes because they're offshore they
they're able to have the advice to be
able to keep their money to keep their
super Yachts even though on paper they
may be bankrupt but there they are in
the south of France on their yachts and
and
laughing wow
oh we're in China Town I've been in here
in ages oh is we are in China
[Music]
Town extreme wealth and extreme poverty
have seen a sharp simultaneous increase
for the first time in 25 years in
Britain the richest 1% hold more wealth
than 70% of the population
such severe inequality is estimated to
cost the UK 106.2 billion pounds a year
in damage to the economy people and
their
communities in South Africa weekly
protests rooted in poverty and
joblessness are the norm the country
also experiences exceptionally High
rates of murder gender-based violence
robbery and violent
conflict I've always perceived um um
rich people as arrogant people and
somehow I've been right because majority
of the ones I know they are arrogant and
they are
miserable I don't wish to be rich I just
wish to be employed give me a job that
will allow me to live my comfortable
life that's it
[Music]
[Applause]
my dream is actually nothing else than
getting a home a house that maybe I
could say it's a home for my kids even
if I can just get a stand where I could
build that two or three room
[Music]
sh I want when I leave this earth my
kids to know that our mother builders
for us so they will be safe
[Music]
there I think I'll start one shake at a
time until I reach the three room shake
[Music]
if I going to my volunteer work I like
to go to chains Brees close to me buy a
nice cake a big cake so I could take it
along there so they can serve it for
other people other customers who's
turning out there I think it's a good
thing to
[Music]
help I got a cake for
you uh a madira party
cake on two days during the week I do
voluntary work at a cafe called Second
Chance Cafe
you can go there and you can you can pay
what you feel if you have nothing you
don't not have to pay but you can pay a
small amount or large amount um to go
towards the charity
there we're we're open to everybody so
we get a lot of people coming um from
the food bank so they can pick up food
there and then come over here and have a
hot meal or vice versa so um there's a
lot of people from the food bank but
then there's just people in general from
the from the neighborhood so that's the
whole idea is that you get all sorts of
people coming together to chat and um
share a meal together we normally
wouldn't get to do
[Music]
this and another thank you very no
worries you green and
red you
it cannot be that the rich will always
be richer
forever one day there's going to be a
revolution in this country that no one
will be able to stand if things keep on
going the way they are going people now
all want to be the same they all want to
be on this on level which can't happen I
really want to be to be helpful and
useful and and have a point you've got
to make it happen nobody else is going
to make it happen for you that's up to
you Bravo bra Bravo thank you thank you
thank you so much okay you're welcome
thank you Doctor love okay bye you bye
bye I hope them them answers were okay
for you
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