NO. We have a duty to poorer countries.
Spoken like a true imperialist. Let's hope that's not the mainstream view.
Why's that imperialistic? I'm suggesting we help out poorer countries and ensure their citizens can enjoy a decent standard of living. I'm not saying we should invade them or enforce our beliefs on them...
But then I'm one of those 'one human race'-people, so if anything's it's more idealistic than imperialistic.
The bolsheviks and nazis were very idealistic. But idealism and imperialism are not mutually orthogonal concepts, by any means. Invasion doesn't have to involve armies, it can involve technology, food, people, ideas, etc. At least you choose the adjective 'poorer' rather than lesser' I'll give you credit for being less ethnocentric than opebo.
I'm not entirely sure what you're implying with the first sentence, but I personally find the wealth gap which exists between the West and the third world to be almost perverse. (In that view, I actually find that Marx's model of the superstructure is not defunct, not by a long shot. It's simply the case that it applies no longer to individual countries or societies, but the entire world.) Besides, it cannot be a coincidence that aforementioned wealth gap is wider than ever and we are also witnessing the rise of religious extremism and groups like al-Qaeda. Redressing this imbalance, or at least aiming to redress it, would go a long to way to solve many of the world's problems, at least in my view.
If anything, it's imperialists who want to keep poorer countries poor, since it provides them with a cheap labour force and governments willing to do their bidding at the tune of the almighty dollar (or euro, or pound).
The wealth gap is highly exaggerated by the exchange rate and other factors. In terms of purchasing price index and quality of life, the 'third world' is not as bad off as you seem to think. They suffer more from their oppressive governments - Middle East and Africa - than they do simply from poverty. Where the government's are more benign - parts of Asia and Latin America - its not soo bad. Besides, it has nothing whatever to do with us in the 'rich' countries.
