People around the world, thanks to big first-world countries (mainly white, European countries), have became smarter. Now that may sound like a good thing, it is, but how they received the information to be in such a position is all thanks to us powerhouse countries. We all want to communicate easier, share intelligence easier, so people decided to "get smart" and get smart.
During the late 1900's technology such as PC's, hardware, and electronics had become significantly less in price, as well as the price drop in transportation like railroads and waterway transportation. People then looked at this as an opportunity to broaden their intellectual horizon and "connect" to the rest of the world through fiber-optic cable. That brought people, individuals who were looking for profit, to places that were more or less underdeveloped. This transfer of market, brought by individuals, brought the technology to connect the underdeveloped area with the rest of the world. This was happening throughout the world and this process brought the world, and individuals, closer in a sense.
Now people in what we thought were underdeveloped areas are rising to the occasion and taking full advantage of what we as technologically people gave them. People in India are now competing with people from countries like France, England, Germany, USA, countries that have been in the game for quite some time, and they have begun to win.
This all means that the world is not as it used to be, with well-known people and well known countries making all the moves, but the places that received technology from the others. They catch on, and improve and challenge what nations have striven to do for decades, only they can improve upon it in a few years, giving many others a run for their money. It's a world where one needs to be on top of the game, all the time. Rajesh Rao, an Indian entrepreneur, once said in Thomas Friedman's It's a Flat World, After All "There are dozens of people who are doing the same thing you are doing, and they are trying to do it better" (EID 645)
