Death by Design 2016
Distributed by Bullfrog Films, PO Box 149, Oley, PA 19547; 800-543-FROG (3764)
Produced by Sue Williams
Directed by Sue Williams
DVD, color, 73 and 59 min. versions on a single DVD
High School - General Adult
Capitalism, Computer Industry, Poverty, Ecology, Electronics Industry, Environmental Disasters, Environmentalism, Globalization, Water Pollution
Date Entered: 02/07/2018
Reviewed by James Gordon, University at Buffalo LibrariesEvery electronic device we use has a measureable environmental cost. International corporations locate their operations in communities with weak or absent environmental regulation and enforcement in order to reduce costs and raise profits. This movie exposes the dark consequences when companies transfer environmental costs from their balance sheet to the communities where they site their manufacturing operations.
The companies seek disorganized (not unionized) labor. They offer the promise of jobs and prosperity to communities ill-prepared to deal with the pollution and resulting health care costs associated with corporate operations. Once entrenched, the corporations exploit their hosts as parasites. The threat of job loss paralyzes the host community into not acting on pollution and its wide ranging effects.
This movie is appropriate for students in business, ecology, economics, global trade, green activism, manufacturing and production. It pits the environment against the businesses that seek to destroy it for profit.
Please note—the review disc was not compatible with all DVD players. Older model players would not play the DVD.