>>Perhaps sometimes the people in the countries whose sweat labour is exploited to benefit a few local mandarins and those of us in the first world who are pleased to pay cheap for shoes, clothes and electronic gear... perhaps, just perhaps, some of those exploited people feel a bit resentful to have their miserable lives described as "Aid".
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>I think there are 2 separate issues here: One is aid we directly give to countries, the other is U.S. companies setting up factories in third world countries. The aid we give to countries doesn't come from some magical pot of gold we have buried in the middel of Kansas. It is taxpayer money. So as a taxpayer, when I hear people in countries complain about the aid we give, I get very ticked off.
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>If a country doesn't want the aid, a simple "No thank you" will suffice.
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>If a country doesn't want one of our factories, a simple "No thank you" will also suffice.

Chris;

How often are the wishes of the people of a nation considered as opposed to the leaders? Who cares what the people want or think - they do not run the country. After all it is simpler for one person to have a Swiss Bank Account than have to worry about paying back loans, or how to spend Aid from the United States. Rarely is the voice of a nation the voice of the people.

Tom