2 Million Minutes

I found it interesting to see the way the three different countries were portrayed in this movie.  China and India have many lifestyle similarities; the USA has a strikingly opposing lifestyle.  It would appear that economics plays a major role in the way of living in each country when it comes to the importance of education and family, and how each chooses to spend their time.

While the USA has a far better economic system than either China or India, we don't fare as well when it comes to taking education and family seriously.  I feel the movie accurately portrayed the importance American families put on education as the children were sitting in front of the TV, amongst their group of friends, and doing their homework at the same time.  Instead of concentrating on their school work, they were commenting on the TV show and carrying on conversations with each other.  In contrast, the children in India were amongst their group of friends, but the converation was focused on school and their future.  Interestingly enough, the boy in China who completed his homework chose to spend his free time on the computer....working on computer programming.  Chinese and Indian children have a strong drive to learn and their learning never seems to stop; they are highly motivated and aim for the passport out of poverty. 

Familiy life in China and India is also very different from that of Americans.  In China and India the families have a strong connection with one another. They eat together as a family and discuss important issues together.  In America we rarely see families sitting down to eat a meal together.  Instead, we see a lot of broken families, which leaves children hopping from one parent's home to another.  Neither parent really seems to have a strong bond with the children.

Even though Americans have the resources available to them, we take for granted the opportunities we are afforded.  We have no clue what it would be like to live in a country with so much poverty that we need to eat from banana leaves instead of from plates.  China and India embrace what little resources they have and strive to make their lives better.