The Devil's Miner Analysis

459 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Importance of sacrifice essay

Capitalism, a mode of production based on wage labor and private ownership of the means of production, can allow entrepreneurs to turn a profit while wage laborers suffer from long hours and little pay. In Cauca Valley, Colombia and Cerro Rico, Bolivia, wage laborers may resort to pacts with the devil or baptize money in hopes of making extra profit. These desperate methods expose the dark side of capitalism.
The documentary, The Devil’s Miner, tells the story of fourteen-year-old Basilio who works in the silver mines with his younger brother, Bernardino. The brothers work in the mines to support their family while also trying to get an education. The miners risk their lives every day, but they hope that by giving offerings and sacrifices to Tio, the devil, they will be spared. Another concern for the miners is the low pay. Wages can vary based on the quality of the minerals extracted and how many hours a miner worked. Basilio sought work at a different, more dangerous mine so that he could earn more …show more content…

The Godparent to be hides a bill in his or her hand during the child’s baptism. The baptized bill is believed to bring its owner interest at the expense of others when it is used in transactions. This process, however, put the child at risk as their soul will not be able to escape purgatory (Taussig 137). Money baptism represents how those who have been negatively affected by capitalism resort to desperate and wicked deeds in hopes of making a profit. Furthermore, one develops a commodity fetishism. One who commits money baptism believes that they can make a profit from their blessed bill without addition of labor. The money will create capital on its own. While the examples in the article appear to be people committing thievery and not the work of a magic bill, it goes to show the dark side of capitalism. When people feel cheated by a system, they will sometimes go to great lengths to get what they feel they

Show More
Related

  • Nathan Price: The Poisonwood Bible

    683 Words  | 2 Pages

    Price is overly consumed and unrelenting in his attempt to baptize the villagers. Mama Tituba, the Price family’s help becomes enraged as she communicates to Price why the villagers are so fearful of being baptized...

    Read More

  • Analysis Of The Devil's Arithmetic

    1166 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Holocaust was one of the most devastating events to happen to us a world. On an ordinary day 1,000 people would be plucked from their everyday lives in ghettos. Over 30,000 Jewish people were arrested on Kristallnacht and taken to concentration camps. According to one source, “Over eleven million people were killed and about six million of them happened to be Jews” (“11 Facts”). Producing movies based around the Holocaust is a very controversial topic. There is the ever prominent argument on wheatear or not Holocaust based films can help us understand the different aspects of its reality.

    Read More

  • Karl Marx and Wal Mart

    2341 Words  | 5 Pages

    Capitalism, is among one of the most important concepts and mainframe of this application paper. According to the 2009 film “Capitalism a Love Story,” capitalism is considered as taking and giving, but mostly taking. Capitalism can also be defined as a mode of production that produces profit for the owners (Dillon, 72). It is based on, and ultimately measured by the inequality and competition between the capitalist owners and the wage workers. A major facet of capitalism is constantly making and designing new things then selling afterwards (Dillon, 34).Capitalism has emerged as far back as the middle ages but had fully flowered around the time o...

    Read More

  • Devil And Tom Walker Analysis

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    Perceptions of the natural world have fluctuated throughout humanity’s short time on this earth, going in and out of style as societies and technologies have grown and died. As is the the very nature of literature itself, literature and its authors have managed to capture these shifting views, expressed and illustrated by the art of written word. Naturally, the literature chosen for us to read based on this fluid theme of nature encompasses an array of perspectives. One of these views is that nature is sublime and above all else, a reflection of all that which is perfection. Another is that nature is cold, uncaring, and indifferent to the vanities of humanity.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Karl Marx's The Communist Manifesto

    1190 Words  | 3 Pages

    As stated earlier in the essay, capitalism is much more of a social issue, therefore much more of the responsibilities that are put upon me, as an adult, will deal with the community. Karl Marx indicated in The Communist Manifesto what happens to all the money that we work to gain. Once we get paid, a majority of the money we earned goes to rent, food, bills, etc. (para. 40). He shows his understanding, and attempts sharing it with the reader, that everything we do is socially based; our money goes back to different parts of the community. This may sound exaggerated, but David Harsanyi expresses the how the world is run in a simple quote from his article, “We live in a world shaped by capitalism…these ethics are ones that rule our society,” (Harsanyi). Everything we do is connected to the community in one way or another. We pay taxes, which go back to society; there are bills we have to pay, which are linked to the community. Craig A. Lockard, heard from previously on his thoughts about capitalism, speaks about how it is related to society and the individual, “Capitalism as not just an economic practice but a cultural practice…it requires change in how people think and act,” (Lockard). The understanding is that capitalism is something that takes all the individuals of the community to make work, and is connected to the life of the

    Read More

  • Capitalism: Where Do We Come From?

    564 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin, capitalism is the economic ideology that everything is primarily focused towards making profit through the production and distribution of a product. In the article “Capitalism: Where Do We Come From?” By Robert Heilbroner and Lester Thurow, they provide insight on how capitalism has changed over the years and the impact it now has in today’s society. “There were no factors of production before capitalism. Of course, human labour, nature’s gift of land and natural resources, and the artifacts of society have always existed. But labour, land, and capital were not commodities for

    Read More

  • Capitalism Where Do We Come From Analysis

    636 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin, capitalism is the economic ideology that everything is primarily focused towards making profit through the production and distribution of a product. In the article “Capitalism: Where Do We Come From?” By Robert Heilbroner and Lester Thurow, they provide insight on how capitalism has changed over the years and the impact it now has in today’s society. “There were no factors of production before capitalism. Of course, human labour, nature’s gift of land and natural resources, and the artifacts of society have always existed. But labour, land, and capital were not commodities for sale” (Para,17). Capitalism has an impact in my life because in the 21st century children are taught in school skills that will benefit businesses, so that they can continue to make a profit through the production and distribution

    Read More

  • Political Ideology Analysis

    1227 Words  | 3 Pages

    Capitalism is predominantly the political ideology used throughout the world (Zand, 2012). Adam Smith first wrote about capitalism and its affects during 1776 (Pirie, 2010). His book entitled ‘The Wealth of Nations’ is the first recorded appearance of the free market scheme (Pirie, 2010). The Western World relies heavily on the free market scheme where economic disparity and separation of social classes thrives. This form of capitalism promotes greed and inequality. Capitalism through democracy enshrines public freedoms such as speech, legal equality, association and action as a way to further empower the...

    Read More

  • Conley's Synopsis Of A Brief History Of Capitalism

    288 Words  | 1 Pages

    Conley’s synopsis of “A Brief History of Capitalism,” outlines the natural progression of economic systems created in response to the needs of society. Social conditions present after the Protestant Reformation combined with advances in technology to have a direct influence on how labor was organized, and as a result, determined the relationship between societal groups. Innovations in agriculture and industry led to the formation of capitalism as a system best suited to the economic reality of the day. According to Adam Smith, individuals are ‘motivated by self-interest’ and flourish in a competitive environment. Wealth creation comes about through expanding exchanges between entities as well as an increased division of labor making

    Read More

  • Impossible To Overcome In A Tree Grows In Brooklyn By Betty Smith

    883 Words  | 2 Pages

    Growing up, they were very poor; Katie struggled to provide meals for her family. The author writes, “She and her brother, Neeley, like other Brooklyn kids, collected rags, paper, metal, rubber, and other junk and hoarded it in locked cellar bins or in boxes hidden under the bed” (Smith 6,7). The kids tried to give back by saving money for their mother and living in Brooklyn, they found ways to make money. Francie and her brother had to hide their earnings in fear of robbery. Money– any article used as a medium of exchange, measure of wealth, or means of payment, as checks on demand deposit (Dictionary).

    Read More

  • Shock Doctrine Essay

    803 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book Capitalism is described as “an economic system in which property and goods are primarily privately owned” (Dalton Conley 539). In the film, countries such as Chile or Argentina after undergoing an economic crisis change their countries economic system from either socialism or communism. In adopting Capitalism, privatization occurs on markets previously run by the government, such as the banking market. In Chile, private companies begin running the banks, and acting often in ways that suit the company and the higher-ups. The results are that the countries experience an increase in poverty as the corporations begin benefitting the upper class and violence due to rioting and protests taking place in response to the problems brought by capitalism.

    Read More

  • The Ascent of Money Has Lead to the Ascent of Man

    1287 Words  | 3 Pages

    Money has evolved with the times and is a reflection of the progress of man. Early money was itself a physical commodity, grain, gold or silver. During the vital stage, more symbolic forms of money such as certificates of deposit, bank notes, checks, letters of credit, bonds and other forms of negotiable securities came into prominence. Social development transformed money in to a trust, “In God We Trust' it says on the back of the ten-dollar bill.” (The Ascent of Money, 27) Today money is faith in the person paying us and belief in the person issuing the money he uses or the institution that honors his money. This trust has no end it can be extended to a greater number of individuals.

    Read More

  • Capitalism: Good or Evil?

    1868 Words  | 4 Pages

    Lynn Harsh (Nov. 2002). ‘Capitalism – A Deal with the Devil?’. Retrieved on Mar. 23 from:

    Read More

  • Karl Marx and Capitalism

    893 Words  | 2 Pages

    Capitalism dominates the world today. Known as a system to create wealth, capitalism’s main purpose is to increase profits through land, labor and free market. It is a replacement of feudalism and slavery. It promises to provide equality and increases living standards through equal exchanges, technological innovations and mass productions. However, taking a look at the global economy today, one can clearly see the disparity between developed and developing countries, and the persistence of poverty throughout the world despite the existence of abundant wealth. This modern issue was predicted and explained a hundred and fifty years ago in Karl Marx’s Capital.

    Read More

  • The History of Money and Banking

    1178 Words  | 3 Pages

    The invention of money was a major improvement in peoples’ lives. In the past, people usually had to travel all day to find the person who is willing to exchange their goods. In addition, the goods people want to exchange did not have the standard value of measurement. This led to unequal exchanges. Furthermore, it is not convenient to carry heavy goods from one place to another for an exchange. To solve these issues, money will be the only solution. Later, people tend to develop money from cowry shells to credit cards for the convenience and to improve their society.

    Read More

More about The Devil's Miner Analysis

Open Document