Could you please help me correct my essay?

The entire world is in an economic recession, and each country has felt the devastating effects. Here in America, money has become tighter, jobs fewer, and food prices have gone up considerably. The current financial slowdown has probably prompted many a shopper to think twice about buying a brand new Ipod, and many more to forgo a purchase of that nature altogether. However, as citizens of an astoundingly wealthy, industrialized nation, if we believe that our current situation is disappointingly inopportune, then we would be greatly mistaken. Not only would we be mistaken, we would also be extremely foolish to lament over our petty woes when millions of people in Africa and Asia live-and often die in a state of perpetual poverty, under deplorable conditions. In fact, according to the MilleniumProject commissioned by the United Nations, nearly four billion people live in poverty. The result has left some countries stupendously rich while others remain horrendously poor. It is for that very reason that the wealthy, industrialized nations should adopt a policy in which they share a portion of their wealth with the undeveloped world, a policy from which there could be many beneficiaries.

Giving financial aid to struggling governments should not only be seen as an act of humanitarian goodness, but also as a long-overdue act of penance for Imperialism. During the Age of Imperialism Western nations bombarded vulnerable nations with military might and injected them with their cultural needle. By doing so, the imperialistic nations, many of which remain world powers, put the native peoples under oppressive conditions and exploited the land for natural resources. Even today, in this first decade of the twenty-first century, some African countries have barely begun to throw off the shackles that Imperialism placed on their respective countries and economies.