Quote Originally Posted by Thorne View Post
Ah, yes. The country that does more to help people than any other. The country that led the fight to get relief into Myanmar during their recent calamity. The country that leaps to send searchers and doctors and workers to countries destroyed by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions.
The first world doesn't help the third. We don't help, we exploit. Not as brutal as in colonial days, today it's more subtle: Closing our borders for agricultural products so a couple of American sugar farmers can have a good living is just one of many examples. Same with rice, meat, just about every agricultural product is protected by taxes in the western civ, while we demand from the developing countries that they open their borders for our services and technological products. There's a good reason why Brazil, India and some African countries brought down the newest round of the World Trading Organization talks.

About sending doctors: Screw that. Screw that big time. In fact what happens right now is that America, Britain, Canada and to a lesser extent other countries of the western civilization are actually draining medical personnel from developing countries such as Ghana and Malawi. There are more Ghanese nurses working outside of Ghana than there are in Ghana, same with Malawian doctors.

Quote Originally Posted by Thorne View Post
True, far too many Americans think they are better than anyone else. So, too, do people of other countries. Most people believe their country is the best. It's taught to us from birth. But don't include me in them. I've seen the limitations of my country. Don't blame the people or the country, blame the politicians. They are why people hate us!
Umm, now i could say that the people and the country get the politicians they elected (or deserve), but that would be cheap. It's still true, though.