‘Voluntary poverty’: A few months back, there was some UN conference in South Africa, i.e. an opportunity to bash American capitalism and boo any American who dared speak in defense of our policies and principles. If I recall correctly, the idea of keeping Africa untouched by globalization was brought up by a pampered First World type -- you know, the familiar romanticizing of Africa’s pastoral poverty from a very, very safe distance, of course. But during all my recent travels through Africa, I rarely heard an African bemoan globalization. The exact opposite was the case. Again and again, I heard the refrain, mostly from West Africans, “When are the Americans coming? ... Why aren’t they investing in Africa? ... We need you to counterbalance the French.” ... I thought of all these things when I read this recent Tom Keane column bashing the notion of ‘voluntary poverty,’ a truly offensive and elitist notion if there ever was one. ‘It's all so wrong-headed,’ writes Keane of the no-progress progressives.   ¶ 11:10 AM