6/11    I highly recommend Amy Chua's book "World on Fire".  She writes about
        how market-dominant minorities (chinese in SE asia, indians in
        east africa, jews in post-communist russia, whites in zimbabwe, etc)
        disproportionally benefit from free market economy.  Blindly promoting
        democracy and free market leads to disaster in most third world
        countries.
        \_ OMG the jews are dominating the economy in Russia?  Let's drag
           'em all out and gas 'em.  While we're at it, let's nail the
           chinks, the ragheads, and the honkies too.
           \_ Ein Volk, ein Reich, ein Fuhrer, baby.
        \_ Mugabe is solving the problem in Zimbabwe by allowing roaming thugs
           to murder white farmers and take their land.  The result is that the
           already-bad food shortage is getting worse because the farmers who
           were actually farming have been killed.  Oh, and the poaching of
           endangered species there is going through the roof due to the
           disorder.  Yay.
           \_ He isn't "allowing".  It is government sponsored and the thugs
              getting the best land are his own relatives and army generals.
              \_ Sorry about that.  I didn't have any good references that made
                 that claim.  Thanks for clearing it up.
                 \_ I've posted it to the motd before.  I might be able to
                    find it again if anyone cared.
        \_ What you miss is that economies can not transform third world
           cesspools into first world liberal democracies overnight.  A
           complex set of institutions, such as the rule of law and
           property rights, must develop incrementally.  This can be
           a painful experience (although less so than Marxism) -
           as evidenced in Western economic development.
           Also, her thesis, like most liberals, implicitly assumes some
           in vogue 'mascot' group has been victimized by
           another ethnicity, implying the group is unable to govern
           themselves.  This is thinly veiled racism, and only perpetuates
           the problem by deflecting responsibility
           for their actions and the governments they support.  With the
           libs its always Im a victim and its someone else's fault.
           \_ And free markets are the best way to establish the rule of law...
           \_ responsibility?  for one's own actions?  are you a Republican?!
           \_ Name one country that has followed the free market prescription
              to success in the 60 years since the end of WWII. All the
              countries that have tried: Russia, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia,
              El Salvador, etc, are impoverished. The few countries that have
              risen from general poverty have all protected their markets,
              imposed tariffs on imports to help grow local industry, and
              avoided IMF and World Bank meddling: Singapore, Taiwan and
              South Korea. The Free Market ideologues have a good line of
              rhetoric, but a very poor track record.
              \_ For what purpose was the IMF was created? - hint post WWII
                 reconstruction.  Irony is all the states you mentioned
                 have socialist / marxist tendencies.  Chile, incidentally,
                 under the nationalist anti-communist Pinochet has
                 done quite well compared to its neigbors.  Further,
                 'Free trade' and economic liberialism are not equivalent,
                 and if you read my statement, nowhere did I imply as
                 much.
                 [indent corrected]
              \_ just curious on the motd opinions, where does israel fit into
                 these discussions?  aren't they a free market and how was it
                 all established to work so much better than other nations?
        \_ If I order this book through Amazon, do I get put on the FBI
           potential terrorist list?