You could do that in the modern day too, if the West decided to stop their exploitation of developing/colonial countries. Instead, they’ve decided that minimum

You could do that in the modern day too, if the West decided to stop their exploitation of developing/colonial countries. Instead, they’ve decided that minimum wages at home need to be X $£€ and X/100 everywhere else, so they can offshore everything. Nobody is forcing the West to make shoes in China!