https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desperation_pies

I was reading about the "desperation pies" today. It struck me as being a good way to explain to people how proletarians in the first world can still benefit from imperialism. Consider the following: you're desperately poor in the great depression, still trying to find work. You only have basic staples in your kitchen to make a little treat for your family. But what is included in these "basic staples?" It's sugar! Sugar, the sensitive crop grown only in tropical regions, harvested by backbreaking labor in the hot sun. Fruit (harvested locally) might be prohibitively expensive, but sugar is cheap and always on hand.

I don't know much about history, so maybe others could chime in. It struck me as a very good example.