The thread is concerned with the squalor of the third world.
To clarify something, Simon: does success equal wealth? Does lack of wealth equal squalor?
You said:I think a lot of people are forgetting that a lot of the success and wealth from 1st world countries was NOT based on exploitation but often on ingenuity and hard work.
Individual brilliance ( but based on societies that value science and research) invented steam engines and automated cotton weaving which transformed the society from rather bleak, disease riddled towns eventually to the modern industrialized countries we have today.
Wanting to be clear on the direction of my thoughts, I looked up the word squalor. On dictionary.reference.com the word "squalor" was used in this exemplary sentence : "The history books record the squalor of early industry, the poverty of the industrial workers and their exploitation."
Squalor is defined as "filth and misery".
Industry without doubt brought improved production of goods and wealth to factory owners. It took the cottage industries out of the homes.
The diseased riddled cities were worse off than ever with industrial workers packing into slums. Enlightenment in health and hygiene from the educated extended finally to the poor if only to preserve the health of the well-to-do. (Not saying there were no do-gooders) But no benefits were intended for the common man: sweat shops and wage slavery.
And that has not changed. When possible, the worlds industrialists set up shop abroad where ever they can get the most BANG for their buck. It is a complicated matter, this business of sorting out cause and effect.
There are altruists and there are merchants, there are inventors and there are opportunists. But greed dominates because money is power.
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The topic is thought provoking. I actually read the last few responses to my husband who had no idea that this board treats questions other than how to survive the aftermath of JW-dom.
Goodnight.
