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Probably the biggest problem in the third world is the population explosion. Why bring people into the world you can't feed or take care of?

They still consume a fraction of the world resources that we do. This guy's account is simplistic, at best. He says capitalism is the cure-all? How come we're not providing for it? Many countries' attempts to enter world markets are annexed by companies from the First World. We capitalize off of oil in war torn Nigeria, diamonds from conflicts in Sierra Leone... It's not that they'd rather just wallow in wars or foolish (and bloody) land redistribution, it's that we have a hold of the only resources they could use to get out of the rut.

We capitalize off of oil in war torn Nigeria, diamonds from conflicts in Sierra Leone...

Do Western companies go in and steal the natural resources of other companies? I don't believe so. Western companies sign extensive contracts to develop resources and pay large sums of money for the natural resources. They pay money in exchange for goods. That is the capital market concept.

Now, it is not the fault of the West or the Western companies that this money usually ends up in some dictator's hands and not the hands of the people of the country. The dictator steals the money from his people and then spends the money on himself rather than investing or lending the funds to the citizens to build a capital market system. That is where the system breaks down - n the third-world country (where there is no capitalism), not in the capitalist marketplace.

As a matter of fact in most instances the Western companies build roads, hospitals and extensively contribute to charitable causes in the third-wold countries. It's not that they'd rather just wallow in wars or foolish (and bloody) land redistribution, it's that we hav a hold of the only resources they could use to get out of the rut.

You are correct. The citizens of third-world countries do not want to wallow in wars or foolish land redistribution. It is their despot leaders who would rather steal from the citizens and live in luxury. The U.S. or the West does not have hold of their resources. We pay money to purchase their resources. Do you think Western oil companies just land in some third-world country and start drilling and exporting the oil for free? They pay the government for the right to drill, for every drop they take out of the ground and many other fees. Most of those countries do not have the equipment or technology to get the resources out, and the resource would remain in the ground if it were not for capitalist West.

It is the dictators who have a hold of the country’s resources. They take the money paid by Western companies and never invest in their own people or country.

This guy's account is simplistic, at best. He says capitalism is the cure-all?

It is a complicated problem, Zimbabwe is an example of where the Western man is being taken out of the picture, but now the country is rapidly descending into starvation and chaos.

It's not just capitalism third world countries need to grasp, but responsible government as well. Once they learn how to manage themselves properly, they can practice restrained forms of protectionism to prevent the stronger nations from exploiting them without throwing the baby out with the bathwater. At the moment, they're just coming off as jealous whiners to me.

"Many countries' attempts to enter world markets are annexed by companies from the First World. We capitalize off of oil in war torn Nigeria, diamonds from conflicts in Sierra Leone... It's not that they'd rather just wallow in wars or foolish (and bloody) land redistribution, it's that we have a hold of the only resources they could use to get out of the rut."

Nonsense. Africa could keep all of its resources and it would still be a sh!thole.

Heck, they don't even want their own resources. They want Western products instead. The corrupt African despots all want to drive around in fancy Western SUV's, fly fancy Western aircraft, watch fancy Western TV and movies, as well as use fancy Western computers and software.

Oh gee, then after they notice that they've spent all of "their" money from selling their nautral resources, they start complaining that it's all the West's fault that Africans have polluted their own drinking water, confiscated productive farms in order to give them away to their own political cronies, let their Western-built roads, ports, and infrastructure crumble, and finally notice that their own people are diseased, starving, uneducated, and dying.

So we should give them more money, they beg. Besides, that new Gulfstream V would look great in the Royal hangar, er, I mean all of that money would sure feed a lot of our starving masses...