ABSTRACT
Although the culture of each country in the less productive areas of the world is unique in many respects, there are some characteristics which almost all of them share. And to a lesser degree, the ethnic minorities that have not been absorbed into the mainstream of the industrial nations reflect some of the same characteristics. This is mainly due to the fact that they have experienced a common history in the past four hundred years in their relationship to the industrializing Euro-American countries. Although it is known that the nations of Asia, Africa, and Latin America had problems before the appearance of the first Westerners, their current problems, particularly in productivity, are due chieflly to the impact of the West. Indeed the only reason they can be called “underdeveloped” or “developing” is in comparison with the “developed” nations of the industrial West. It is of value, therefore, to know what took place after 1500 when the first Westerners appeared in these countries.
