> And yes, I do think this is an anti-technology question. Technology has
> improved conditions in the Third World, and continue to provide rising
> living standards in the developed countries like the United States. In fact,
> it's precisely what distinguishes between developed and undeveloped nations.
>
This strikes me as obviously untrue. The level of civilian technology available to India is very similar to that available to the England; what distinguishes them is not their knowledge of production techniques but the things created by those techniques - physical capital, education, &c. Technology is a good explanation for the differences in living standards between Britain in 1900 and Britain in 2009, but not for the difference in living standards between Britain and India for any given year.
There was a time when regions differed spectacularly in the technical knowledge available to them, but to capitalism's credit that time has long since passed.