[superchroma]

There's real social change effected by any influx of people anywhere. People bring their money, which is actually just power, and also their values/culture with them. It's up to residents to decide for themselves whether that's good or not. The money goes a long way in some places, and so can do a lot to lift some people out of poverty. Westerners have many good values, too, however these can displace local culture, which is social corrosion, and they also have their own ways they behave badly too, which must be weighed.

At the end of the day it's up to a society to decide what happens, there are benefits and costs either way, and they need to choose profit or authenticity and purity, or neither, and just coast through life and hope everything turns out OK.