. . . Come on, "progressive economists"! I'd love to sponsor a debate between Darity and Brad, or between Darity and Wojtek for that matter. . . . >>>>>>>>>> I agree it is worth knowing the extent to which rents from resource extraction or unfair trade subsidized the rise of the "West" or the "North," both retrospectively and currently. Whether you get a result currently that is big or small, the disposition of it depends on politics in the U.S., EU, Japan, and OZ, not on our own conclusions about measured exploitation. Politically the implications can go both ways. Talk of our dependence on exploitation, the need for truth notwithstanding, could easily have the effect of hindering the case for aid in assorted forms. I say this not to discourage discussion, but to point out the implied political ambiguities. Whether the amount is big or small, the indubitable fact is that US/EU/Japan/OZ are rich and many other countries are economically and militarily helpless. Aid and the removal of oppressive institutions are the right thing to do. You can scream at, say, Americans all you like about the atrocities committed in our name. Some will be sympathetic to moral appeals, however weak their power. Some will take pity and buy some South American child a year's worth of meals. Most people are immersed in their own problems, and a crisis here may elevate that concern to one for the broader working class or "the people" in some formulation. But it's hard to see how a crisis connects people's thinking with the plight of the underdeveloped countries, nor how the latter effectively escape the implications of capitalist hegemony in its present form. The extent to which capitalism depends on the misery of certain areas of the world is less important than how this may be changed. The truth will not set anyone free, no matter how many times it is repeated. The other side can convey their own brand of internationalism a hundred times louder and more frequently. People who are repelled by this have been going right to Buchanan more often than left. So let me repeat that the question is interesting, but its importance from a political standpoint (not a moral one) seems to be prone to overstatement. mbs
