"Palme D'Or" for Mike Moore's "Fahrenheit 9/11&

[kandrathe]

I agree with you that more needs to be done to lift the bottom and prevent exploitation of people and the environment from unfettered capitalism and greed. I don't hold out much hope for Africa, due to its tradition of ethnic conflict, lack of prior industry, rich resources and AIDs epidemic. What you are missing in your scenario is that most of our world nations are led by humanists, and not cold hearted economics alone. I may be pragmatic, and cynical but I am also an eternal optimist.

...so as globalization and "Free Trade Zones" have advanced, so too has global poverty.

Well, I spent 3 hours perusing the WB site reports and statistics, and it does not look like bad news in general; Granted there are some trouble spots that need more care and attention. One poverty theme was consistent in all the nations you cited -- rampant overpopulation and unrestrained growth.
East Asia & Pacific Region: Global Poverty Down By Half Since 1981 But Progress Uneven As Economic Growth Eludes Many Countries
Poverty in Mexico : an assessment of conditions, trends and government strategy

I'm not sure how I feel in general about Globalization other than as with most change it should be planned and gradual -- otherwise it is like mixing two volatile chemicals which result in extreme damage. When you have two equal humans doing a similiar job, one in Detroit earning 25$ per hour and one in any 3rd world nation earning $25 a month you will have catastrophe if you don't homogenize the situation such that you don't over excite one economy (e.g. China) and stagnate the other (e.g. make redundant all the plant workers in Detroit or Toronto). Soon all world economies will be secondary under China's dominance anyway. The US may currently be the 800 lb Gorilla, but King Kong is coming.