Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings.

- Nelson Mandela

The End of Poverty? is a daring, thought-provoking and very timely documentary film by award-winning filmmaker, Philippe Diaz, revealing that poverty is not an accident. Poverty began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in the seizure of land, minerals and forced labor. Today, global poverty has reached daring new levels due to unfair debt, forced privatization, economic colonialism, trade and tax policies -- in other words, wealthy countries exploiting the weaknesses of poor, developing countries.

Watch Democracy Now's Amy Goodman interview filmmaker, Philippe Diaz.

I have always known that man's social conditions, and particularly the condition of poverty, are created by and can be eliminated by man's actions. That greed has gone unchecked, and oppression has grown to now catastrophic levels is not surprising (although by my measures, since all of these conditions are avoidable, the existence of poverty at all is catastrophic). But what is interesting is pondering how formerly middle-class Americans and Europeans will respond as they are now facing the adverse affects of the policies they cherished for so long when they were the beneficiaries. A 2009 BBC News poll found "widespread dissatisfaction with free-market capitalism." Excerpts from that story concluded:

Almost a quarter - 23% of those who responded - feel it is fatally flawed. That is the view of 43% in France, 38% in Mexico and 35% in Brazil.

And there is very strong support around the world for governments to distribute wealth more evenly. That is backed by majorities in 22 of the 27 countries.

If there is one issue where a global consensus seems to emerge from the survey it is this: there are majorities almost everywhere wanting government to be more active in regulating business.

Unprecedented millions of Americans are now part of a fast growing group, the permanently unemployed. The levels of transparency that show clearly just how especially favorable American public policy is to the interests of the wealthy, and against the interests of the working class and the poor is fueling fear and rage among the afflicted. And our system of media misinformation is a powerful force that prevents people from making informed decisions. I've said it many times before, Americans have to learn to not only disbelieve and distrust what the read and see on television, but they must also seek out and listen to the speeches and stories of persons demonized in our media and public communications sphere. If they tell you they are bad, you need to check them out for yourself. Then decide. There are other ways to govern that work. And they work for the benefit of all citizens. And by the way, it should be very clear to all Americans that our government does not serve us by the fact the government refers to its own citizens as consumers.

Get the film on DVD.

Free Market Flawed, Says Survey - BBC News

"Socialism" Not So Negative, "Capitalism" Not So Positive - Pew Research Center for the People & The Press