In this study the author offers a new way of looking at development and underdevelopment, one that explains why some countries and some ethnic groups do better than others. After 20 years of working on Latin America's development problems, the author is convinced that it is the way Latin Americans see the world that principally explains why Latin America is underdeveloped and unstable, with its wealth and land so inequitably distributed. The book challenges a conventional wisdom, subscribed to around the world, that blames the rich countries for the poverty of the poor countries.