Peter Lairo wrote: > Also, the US didn't create the third world. That's just ridiculous. I > know people that work in the government and the IMF and they try VERY > hard to balance helping poorer countries with the US's own needs.
Isn't it the IMF that creates the so-called "export zones" in third world contries? The basic rules of export zones goes like this: There are no rules. National laws do not apply. Human rights do not apply. Companies do not pay taxes. Workers are not allowed to organize themselves in unions. Huge multinational companies are allowed to force the poor workers to do slave-like jobs, and destroy the environment at the same time. But they can't simply refuse to work there, as it's the only way they can get *any* money. Their only alternative is to die. Many people do actually die in the export zones, as there is absolutely zero protection even for people working with extremely dangerous machines or chemicals. But they have no choice. That is what the IMF promotes. Or is it the WTO? Not that there's much of a difference between those two. To say that the IMF, the WTO, and the World Bank is actually trying to *help* third world contries is just bullshit. That's what they want you to believe (christ, I'm almost starting to sound like JTK here). Our good friend RMS has some interesting notes on this, among other political issues: <http://stallman.org/#notes> /Jonas
