The reason for poverty in third world countries are rich countries exploiting

Ok, I think you've missed the bulk of my argument. Because you chose to dissect and critique my argument and hardly fleshed out your own argument, it seems like the majority of your last post was spent elaborating on the lack of understanding you have for many of the historical examples I provided. I chose to focus on the 20th century specifically because prior the 'global economy' didn't really exists as it does today. Yes there was international trade before then, but until the industrial revolution came about communication and transportation were significantly slower and more arduous processes. Also if you remember that up until around 1949 we had this thing called colonization which I think we can all agree is the definition of rich countries exploiting the developing world. Since I'm not going to go back over exactly every one of my points and clarify them to you I'll give you the most general overview I have. If you look at a map of the GDP (http://en.wikipedia.org...) you can China, the US, and most of western Europe are the ones with all the money. These countries are known as the G20 (http://en.wikipedia.org...). The very 'Acre of Diamonds' approach you have to a nations' wealth is so over simplistic it's laughable. First of all, like the government here in the US and almost everywhere else, the people are totally divorced from the ruling administration in the 3rd world. Almost all around the world, leaders from Philippines to the Congo to the Dominican republic, all subordinate themselves to the economic demands of the G20. Their demands are simple: maximum output and production for export to the countries with higher GDP's, and minimal domestic production or consumption of goods. The reason why they want little domestic consumption is because why or even how could someone working for $ .60 an hour buy a $24 shirt, or a $7 pound of coffee? You say business is business. Fair. If proper business is paying people who toil in fields of assembly lines next to nothing to maximize profits for the people who sit in office high rises thinking of ways to cut costs even further then your have a very warped outlook on proper business. If this is not how you think a proper business is conducted well then realize this is how all product-based businesses are conducted. So my counter point to your 'why don't countries or the citizens of them just pick themselves up by the bootstraps and start a whole uplift in the standard of living' is that the richer countries have already made sure"to a T"that would never ever happen. They've done this by: " Installing rulers who will suppress groups advocating for a higher standard of living (non-government union are illegal in many places and it is mandated that there can be no laws defining how long a work day is or what the minimum wage should be in many manufacturing countries) " Getting banks like the IMF or Worldbank to oversee foreign investments and make sure that the economy is producing at a maximum rate to pay back that countries debt (many countries are made to only grow cash crops like coca and coffee which the population of course cannot eat resulting in a famine. What this also does is rapidly syphon any wealth that may have been produced by globalization, because everything that is exported goes to paying back the central bank's debt and not the improving the overall standard of living. http://en.wikipedia.org...) " Sending military force to oust leaders or groups who may disrupt this parasitic relationship between the first and third world nations. (We've seen this in the past. The US cries communism in regard to a popular uprising that promises liberal economic and social reforms and follows up usually with military force. http://www.bendyglu.domainepublic.net...) So if your a citizen of the third world looking for a way to raise your standard of living, you aren't left with many options. The G20 governments has the government, economy, and military of these countries 'by the balls' if you will. If you're looking for some good books on the subject I would highly recommend Endless Enemies by Jonathan Kwinty and Thank God They're on Our Side: The United States and Right-Wing Dictatorships by David Schmitz, both books go into great detail about whats going on in the world in regard to international economics. So you can see that not only are the richer countries responsable for the perpetual state of poverty so many other countries are in, it actually enforces this state of poverty quite openly and has aggressively gone after anyone who poses the threat of higher standards of living, better sanitation, corporate responsibility, and a livable wage, all of which are readily available, easily implementable, and not at a cost to you, the consumer.