World On Fire is an eye-opening account of the ramifications of globalization. Amy's central thesis is that the exportation of free market democracy has ensued bitter hatred towards ethnic minorities, which has consequently instigated global instability. Market-dominant minorities are simply ethnic minorities who for one reason or another have managed to economically dominate the indigenous majorities surrounding them. They can be found in all corners of the world. From South Africa to Latin America, they represent a small proportion of the population, but control up to 70 percent of the private economy. Proliferated globalization and the spread of free markets worldwide have negatively impacted the indigenous populations. Appropriately, this has intensified extreme antipathy and envy among the impoverished majorities.Interestingly, globalization has a direct correlation with oppression of the indigenous population. For example, in South Africa, blacks live in extreme abject poverty. A high percentage possess nothing more than a basic high school education. The proliferation of AIDS is extreme - where up to 40 percent of deaths are AIDS related. Similarly, in Latin America, families pull their children out of schools (if school is even an option) to work in order to provide the financial means for basic survival. For instance, Mexico's roughly nine to ten million indigenous inhabitants have the highest rates of illiteracy and disease in the county. A shocking comparison to the lavish lifestyles enjoyed by the ethnic minorities who live off the fat of economic prosperity.
Moreover, on a broader scale, America is considered such an ethnic minority. "In the eyes of the vast majority of the developing world, America is the antithesis of what they are. America is rich, healthy, glamorous, confident, and exploitative - at least if Hollywood, our multinationals and supermodels, and our leaders are any indication. America is also 'almighty,' able to 'control the world,' whether through our military power or through the IMF-implemented austerity measures we have heartlessly forced on developing populations. They on the other hand, are hungry, poor, exploited, and powerless, and often even over the destiny of their own families."
Would educational reform and equalization of opportunities for the impoverished indigenous eradicate the ethnic minority gap? There is no simple answer; however, as long as there is economic, political, and education inequality in this world, there will always exist an ethnic minority dominating the masses.
Amy Chua is a professor at Yale Law School. She frequently lectures on the effects of globalization to government, business, and academic groups around the world.
