The Big Sellout Film Analysis

“It is in the black box that commodities are produced and consumed. It is also in the black box that we find the patterns of social, political, economic, ecological, and ideological life that either promote or inhibit the conversion of money into more money” (page 39). This quote from Richard Robbins, Global Problems and the Culture of Capitalism, defines how “the black box” works. The film The Big Sellout is a good visualization of the black box. Robbins portrays the functioning of capitalism as a black box into which investors put money, and except to receive more money. A major attribute of capitalism is that money can be used to create more money.
As the economy grows, capitalist invests capital into production, which generates more capital. Capitalist can make more money by investing money in the production of goods. “The question is what is the human cost of turning money into more money?”
The big sellout is the worldwide privatization of basic public services. Privatization deals with removing ownership of a public sector and transferring it to another business that operates for a profit or to a non-profit. Minda is an elderly mother who lives in the slums with her children. Minda’s son needs dialysis, but she struggles to find enough money to pay for it. Her son needs dialysis in one of the privatized hospitals in the Philippines. There is also a story of a South African activist who helps poor families. These families have been disconnected from electricity; they can’t afford to pay the high electricity bills from the privatized electricity supplier. Former chief economist, Joseph, explains privatization, who profits from it and what people lose following