~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SANDY SANDFORT ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ C'punks, At 04:05 PM 7/5/96 -0400, hallam@Etna.ai.mit.edu wrote:
A parasite is omething that lives off a host to its detriment. It is easy for a small island nation to be parasitic off larger ones...In short someone, somewhere has to do some work.
Maybe I missed something here, but only small nations that are on the dole (i.e., foreign aid) can be said to be parasitic, and even they may be giving something in return (e.g., land concessions for military bases). The service industries in these little countries--banking tourism, etc.--are free traders giving value for value. This is not parasitism by any stretch of the imagination. S a n d y ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~