Ron Davies won't want to hear it, by my experience exactly supports what DMcG said. I've met many people from East Germany, Hungary and Russia who remember when everyone had a job and most families had a car. For sure the jobs didn't pay well - a doctor might get no more than double the pay of a road sweeper - and the car would be a dreaded Trabbie. But that was better than being impoverished in states where a handful of gangsters would own private jets and swan around in top-of-the-range Mercs. And I notice that Ron forgot to mention Yugoslavia.

Ake said somewhere else that we are the debris of global capitalism, or words to that effect. That is exactly it. The capitalists have no use for us, as we cannot provide the cheapest labour. Capital will flow to the many emerging nations that are more than willing to undercut us.

Where Ake is wrong is in putting his faith in the American people. The American people don't even have the voice to close Guantanamo, where innocent people are routinely subjected to the barbarism of force-feeding.