Claypot (aka the sarcastic Irishwoman in rural Zambia) had to deal with a little bit of idiocy on her site recently. Her response was, I thought, quite well put:

People are people the world over, no matter which country you are in, and in each country you will find wonderful warm human beings, and you will find jackasses. Idiocy is not confined to the 'west'. Love, laughter, kindness, cruelty, theft, malice -- available in all states. Just because the majority of a people are piss poor does not mean they are all adorable. I would argue that to take the notion that entire populaces of developing countries are all without exception marvellous individuals is just as patronising. Would you like to come over here and pat them all on the head and coo at some cute little thatched huts? - 360 Degrees of Sky: The Right To Reply

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank my commenters for not being ill-wishing idiots like the jerk who was giving Claypot a hard time ...