World on Fire

World on Fire: How Exporting Free Market Democracy Breeds Ethnic Hatred and Global Instability by Amy Chua, Anchor, 2004. 

Ethnic Minorities

In many countries throughout the world, wealth is concentrated in the hands of successful ethic minorities. The ethnic majorities often operate cottage industries which do not evolve and which cannot compete with the dynamic entrepreneurs. This disparity in business success generates much envy in the majority ethnic group. The poor see the rich businessmen as leeches, stealing the country’s wealth, when actually they are the producers of wealth. The prosperous ethnic minorities are also perceived as being loyal to their own ethnicity, rather than the nation. There were backlashes against market-dominant minorities for three reasons: (a) opposition to capitalism, (b) opposition to democracy, and (ccc) opposition to the successful ethnic minority.

Philippines

The Chinese were in the Philippines before the Spanish. Almost all rural land is controlled by families who are descendants of the Spanish colonists. Ethnic Chinese dominate the banking, airlines, commercial real estate and hotel industries in the Philippines. Many ethnic Filipinos are envious of the rich, ethnic Chinese. Each year several hundred rich ethnic Chinese citizens are kidnapped for ransom in the Philippines

Indonesia

Chinese Grand Eunuch Admiral Cheng Ho visited Java in the 1400s and found many prosperous ethnic Chinese already living there. Low intermarriage rate between ethnic Chinese and native Indonesians. Pork factor (Chinese love pork; Muslims don’t eat pork). The 1998 riots against the Chinese caused $40 billion of capital to flee Indonesia

Malaysia

Anti-Chinese Riots in 1969 in Kuala Lumpur. Low rate of  intermarriage between native Malays and ethnic Chinese

Burma

In the early 20th century, Indians were the main prosperous ethnic minority. In the later 20th century, the Chinese became the most successful minority. Rangoon and Mandalay are both dominated by ethnic Chinese. Burma has absorbed many Chinese immigrants from China’s Yunnan Province

Thailand

Thailand is unusual, because the Thai government forced the ethnic Chinese to assimilate. For example, the government required that all schools teach in Thai or English, and not in the Chinese language. Many ethnic Chinese speak the Thai language only, and there has been widespread intermarriage between Chinese and Thais. There is little anti-Chinese feeling in Thailand. 

Vietnam

The Vietnamese boat people of the 1970s were mainly ethnic Chinese who had their property confiscated by the Communists. 

Middle East

The Christian Copts were a market dominant ethnic minority in Egypt, until Nasser stole their wealth. The Maronite Christians of Lebanon were the targets of envy by the Muslim majority during the Lebanese Civil War.

Africa

Indians arrived in Kenya not as colonists, but as laborers to build the Uganda-Kenya railway. But over time they rose to become the main businessmen of East Africa. The Igbo are a market dominant ethnic minority in Nigeria, and the Bamiléké are a market dominant ethnic minority in Cameroon. The Lebanese Christians are a market dominant ethnic minority in western Africa. In particular, they dominate the diamond trade.

Property Rights versus the Universal Franchise

The West democratized gradually, making sure that property rights were respected. For example, at first the franchise was granted only to property owners. The danger of excessively extending the franchise is the tyranny of the majority. Voters who do not own property have less motivation to respect the property rights of others. Dictatorships that respect property rights work better than democracies that do not. Democracy enables the poor majority to rise up against the market dominant minorities. Capitalism lifts all boats, but it also widens the gap between rich and poor. 

Preferences for Majorities

Affirmative action in the United States favors poor minorities, while affirmative action in developing countries favors poor majorities, such as the Malays in Malaysia.