To put it simply, what Lee said: it sucks to be a primitive.

Actually, your concept is probably a best-case scenario. We should be so lucky that the aliens actually go to the trouble of paying us and trading with us, creating huge technological benefits for humanity and a leg up into galactic society.

Obviously, they could have mined the Solar System any time they wanted and left us high and dry, leaving us to wonder what the strange activities in our outer solar system were. Or just hauled us off into the dark as slaves or food.

Frankly, I could think of worse things that could happen to us than your story. It actually sounds kind of positive to me. Certainly there would be social upheaval, and a lot of crap, but most of humanity would probably adapt quite nicely. Hell, in a couple of hundred years we might end up running the joint.

It's not hard to look around our country and see the descendants of people who were "exploited" in this way long ago. They drive cars, live in air-conditioned homes, use cell phones, and watch wide-screen TV. We can't excuse what happened to their ancestors, but I'd bet money damn few of them would want to go back and live the way their ancestors lived for thousands of years and were likely to live for thousands more if left completely alone.

BTW, you'd be amazed how long it would take to "plunder" a solar system of useful resources.