In The Grapes of Wrath, what is the connection between the plight of American farmers and residents of today's developing world?

When assessing most work by Steinbeck, I think that the
most powerful element that is present is the voice of the dispossessed.  As eloquently,
or perhaps even more than any other American writer, Steinbeck gives voice to the
narrative of those who endure struggle against social, economic, and psychological
conditions.  In The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck's story has universal parallels.  The
idea that the farmers were "forgotten" in the tide and current of American consciousness
is compelling.  The farmers, like the Joads, were struggling even when American
businesses in the 1920s were soaring.  Their problems became publicized when they
suffered worse than others in the decade to follow.  This is similar to residents in
other parts of the world who struggle through rural perseverance, while the globalized
setting pays so much more attention and focus to the urban cosmopolitan expression of
the good.  Additionally, the Joads, and other farmers, suffer in large part to natural
conditions that cripple their ability to work the land.  This is akin to residents in
part of the world that either fail to account or cannot account for natural calamities
that wipe out land to harvest.  Some of these conditions can be excessive flooding, or
not enough rain in drought, as well as earthquakes or tsunamis.  Finally, I think that a
connection that can be made between the farmers that Steinbeck's work discusses as well
as farmers in other parts of the world is the need to collectivize.  Steinbeck presents
a highly active and resistant vision for his farmers.  They do not sit passive and allow
consciousness to spiral out of control.  They are active agents in how they attempt to
mobilize, facing opposition in the process, but recognizing how collectivity is the only
solution in the face of overwhelming odds.  In this light, such a predicament speaks to
farmers all over the world in whether or not they will see their struggles in an
individual frame of reference or embrace the broader scope of their narrative.  These
choices face both farmers like the Joads and their international counterparts
today.