F*cking stupid scammers, why do they bother?

And whilst I would say that yes, people can and do work themselves out of poverty, by and large it's massively difficult and incredibly unlikely.

And yes, it is true that there's a lot of black Africans screwing over other black Africans. I don't see how that changes the fact that the West is also screwing over Africa. If anything it makes me feel more obliged to help.

OK, I don't want this to turn into trolling and yes I have been deliberately provocative but so have others in this thread. Your first para is key, because working yourself out of poverty by scamming is just as difficult and unlikely as trying to do it honestly. My point being that those who try to better themselves via fair and honest means deserve support, whether it be from the west or their own governments, while those who choose to try and line their pockets cynically via scamming, robbing, intimidation, violence, etc, etc, deserve everything coming to them - including international ridicule, prison, a slap, etc.

However, your second para I'm not so sure about so we'll have to agree to disagree. The point I was trying to make was that the predicament many African countries find themselves in is just as much of their own manufacture as it is a result of the west leeching resources for example. And this is not something that we should feel responsible for. For anyone or anywhere with serious problems there is nearly always an element of get your own bloody house in order before you go begging, regardless of history this is now - today. The guilt-hangover from things like slavery makes it very difficult for many in the west to be truly objective about this and see that sometimes dipping into your pocket to relieve that guilt actually isn't helping in the long-term.

I'll give you another example (different but similar in some ways) closer to home that hopefully gives you an idea of where I'm coming from. I was eating lunch a couple of weeks ago in a park when a very smelly, scruffy, guy came up to me and asked me for money. I asked him if he was hungry and he said he was. So I said I couldn't give him any money (I had a pocket full of change) but if he wanted a sandwich he was welcome to it. He was happy with that. I don't give money to people begging because 9 times out of 10 (and if the whiff of alcohol coming off him was anything to go by this was certainly the case with him) they'll go to the nearest offy and spend it on liver rotting strong cheap booze. And I don't want to be responsible for that. I know it's not a great example but hopefully you can see the parallel.

Anyway, unless I'm mistaken I feel that we've pretty much exhausted this exchange but I've enjoyed swapping views. I have mine and you have yours. Peace.