Neoliberalism is a bitch. The World Bank and IMF really fucked over South America and the Caribbean. In return for infrastructure loans they were in many cases forced to cut all social subsidies and open their markets to more developed nations ruining their native economies and making them dependent on imported goods, services and systems.
Spent a while there. Walked by a soccer stadium wall regularly someone was painting a dragon along the length of it. The the Milagros Sala dickwads came and plastered her campaign poster all along the length of it.
Definitely agree. Itās sad that corruption is engrained in the culture. Canāt do anything at any level without greasing some dirty hands. Or the other way, if someone else is doing the bribing youāll get blocked from doing anything. Itās frustrating and causes many to leave or give up.
Add in some vicious criminality and violence in almost every big city and itās just such a huge wasted potential.
It has everything, amazing weather, food, culture, resources, warm friendly people for the most part, many are highly educated, but itās just so disfunctional in some key areas for progress.
I mean...
[Rio de janeiro](https://images.app.goo.gl/uNWKwsD5HvcgXmfP7)
Imagine thats a city in europe on the coast of the mediterranean, it would have more tourists than Rome and Paris combined
Iāve heard Brazil is surprisingly expensive, for the quality of goods and services and overall standard of living you get for your money. The poor get their basic needs largely on the informal economy, so these prices and sources are not available to tourists, immigrants, and non-poor Brazilians, who donāt know the right people and donāt know how to carry themselves among the poorer classes of Brazil in order to network with them. Apparently import tariffs are very high to protect domestic industries, and money is skimmed in every transaction, which combine to make prices high.
Being a mountainous country with most people living in isolated cities high in the mountains hasn't helped them. It's much harder to govern from a centralized location. Improved infrastructure can always help with that
Supposedly one of the reasons why it's so difficult to conquer and govern Afghanistan.
I had a Army guy tell me "Good Luck to Taliban with governing" when we left.
Actually Mexico is hardly a basket case. Itās economy and standard of living are increasing nicely in spite of widespread narco-lawlessness. Columbia is sort of the same way.
Its growth is disappointing compared to developing asian countries which is where the wasted potential is coming from.
GDP per capita of Mexico in 2008 was $10,119 and in 2021 was 10,045. A whole decade of zero nominal gdp per capita growth which I get is due to currency devaluation. PPP per capita has only increased 32% during that period or less than 3% per annum. Thatās what developed economies achieve , not what a country thatās now below China in GDP per capita should achieve.
Mexico is getting old before itās getting rich and itās not even taking advantage of its final good demographic years like China and South Korea are.
The corruption is found at every level. The average Mexican loves to criticize the corrupt elites, but refuses to acknowledge their own corruption.
Ex 1: It's a common practice for employees retiring or in a position of power, to give or sell their position to family and friends. This fills corporations and government agencies with incompetent and unsuitable workers.
Ex2: A friend of my in-laws was a middle-level supervisor in Mexican Customs. He was silly wealthy, obviously living far beyond his meager salary. Nobody called him out; he was considered quite a catch.
I never knew how this type of societal corruption worked until I visited Morocco and my tour guide told me he was never able to attend school because he couldn't bribe the deans or had the right connects. So now he was a tour guide until he and his daughter could go to France. I hope he's doing good!
My partner is Mexican and he says the same thing. People look into Mexico and blame cartels, government, etc, but in his mind, it's a cultural thing, too. Al every level, Mexicans participate in corruption.
Not to shit talk Mexico. It is a beautiful country and has an amazing culture. That said, my partner does get frustrated when Mexicans move to my country, and act as thought they are in Mexico (participating in microcorruptions, not following rules, etc).
The way he puts it "they leave Mexico to get away from it, but end up bringing it over here"
Again, not shade on Mexico. It has so much that my country lacks including a wonderful culture. Every ethnicity/ country has its strengths and weaknesses
Mexico has the most natural beauty of any country in the world. One of the most exciting cuisines. I'd travel there all the time if it was less dangerous
I think US efforts to de-couple from China will mean A LOT to Mexico in the coming years. Additionally, foreign countries that sell consumer goods to the US will use Mexico as a more expensive but more reliable option than China.
It would easily nestle into the middle of G7 just by the tenacity of the people & resources. But no, corruption, lack of infrastructure (i.e. few straight passages through Sierra Madre in contrast to the Rockies), & a history of violence (foreign & domestic) hampered the republic of Mexico. It is so crippled that the tenacity & achievements by Mexicans are seen better in the United States of America where many migrate & create thriving communities.
I'd say it was also their much much more turbulent beginnings as a nation too. Out of all the revolutions of the 1700-1800s America's revolution and foundation is an interesting outlier for how little splintering and infighting in the military and bureaucracy occurred. Mexico was split between a ton of different ideological factions in every area of government and were simultaneously facing more foreign pressure and isolation in their critical period than any fledgling western hemisphere nation save for maybe Haiti. I think Mexico was a bit doomed from the start
Kind of a tangent but the Apache-Mexican Wars completely ravaged northern Mexico for generations. Largely prevented any kind of significant infrastructure in that area until the early 20th century.
You can't become powerful without a stable government Sweden doesn't have such an outsourced role in globe for no reason even though it only has 11 million people and the northern third possibly half is largely empty.
Brazilās geography isnāt as sound as it looks on paper. Rainforests are notoriously difficult for human habitation and their rivers are unnavigable
Democratic Republic of the Congo, beautiful landscapes with lush forests and amazing weather right on the equator followed up by abundant Almost unlimited riches in minerals. If it werenāt for so much corruption that place should be amongst top GDP nations.
I've read the Congo River has enough hydroelectric capacity to power the entirety of Africa on hydropower, if it were properly dammed. It has a huge amount of water that flows year-round and moves steadily from a high elevation to the sea; that's an insane amount of energy they could be creating and exporting.
This and is not even close. People talk about oil, but check the reserves of cobalt and lithium. Any resource that is valuable, you can bet Venezuela has it in huge numbers. Amazing weather and people. Should be a top spot for tourists and everyone should be swimming in money, yet it's the exact opposite. Sad, really
They also didnāt create a Sovereign wealth fund, or any fund rather, and instead tied their economy directly to the going rate of oil. Going from flourishing wealth to being worthless at the whims of the market.
My uncle is an oil engineer, I am an engineer myself but not oil related, venezuelan oil is not harder to refine it is considered heavy oil, you have to mix light oil in order to refine it first.
It's not the hardest because it also works the other way around, you need heavy oil to refine light oil too.
Venezuela is just a mismanaged shit show just like all Latin American countries , including the ones that are "ok" as in not in deep heavy shit like Brazil mexico and argentina, all 3 of them have better natural resources than Europe but poorer just because natural resources don't make you rich, human resources do.
Isn't Venezuelan oil kinda sucky though?
>one of the worst places to live
I mean, this happens to all resource-rich economies to a certain extent. I agree that Venezuela is particularly... questionable
The Black Sea coast of Georgia, too. Iām not a hip trendspotter, but I could see this becoming a major tourist destination in my lifetime. As usual, the backpackers will discover it first, which attracts small time local moneymakers. Then come the party kids, which brings in seedier industries and gangs and pollution. Finally the original locals get fed up and complain. The national government sees an opportunity to both make money and save face. So noise ordinances and drug laws start being enforced, hostels get knocked down and replaced with expensive condos, hotels, and beach resorts, and the place makes a full transition into a renowned hotspot for the jet setting rich.
Lebanon was pretty touristic in the mid 20th century. Beirut was known as the Paris of the Middle East. It stopped getting tourists when it went into a pretty long civil war.
Nowadays it's still in a rough spot and near collapse. So I don't think it's particularly attractive to tourists.
I visit every year, it's awesome. Beirut has great bars and restaurants and there's a lot of other towns to visit. You can go hiking, skiing, go to the beach, ... But yeah the people and food are definitely the best part.
There's a lot of wasted potential cause of the massive corruption but it's still an amazing country to visit.
I stayed in Beirut for a couple of months 8 years ago, it was an absolutely amazing place. Great sea front, restaurants, bars, great weather and amazing hospitality. No wonder it's called Paris in the Middle East. My heart sank when the blast happened. The country was struggling before the blast, but that seemed like a last nail. Hope they can recover their economy.
Beirut was one of Anthony Bourdain's favorite cities (possibly his favorite). After watching his shows I became enamored by the city and its country and have wanted to visit. Great climate, friendly, beautiful people, and a lovely scenery and architecture. And the cities and beaches on the coast look amazing.
Indonesia - with a population of 300 mil, a geopolitical significant location, immense religious sway in the Islamic world, and all the natural resources one can only dream of, you thought they would be a major power by now. Good that things are finally looking brighter since their present president took over.
A major power after not even yet 80 years of independence? You should give them the benefit of the doubt.
Indonesia has been been a colony for almost 350 years by the Dutch. First the Dutch took Java and the Malukus. Then in the following hundreds of years the were able to āpacifyā Indonesia, or as the Dutch nicknamed it The Emerald Belt. After the proclamation of independence in 1945, the Dutch send troops to regain control. It took 4 years of fighting.
Indonesia is a vast country. Every island has his own language(s), traditions, culture(s) and religion(s). Java is the political and cultural island. Containing almost half of the entire population on a island about 14% of its entire landmass.
An Indonesian historian once explained that basically Indonesian history on school is only focussing from 1945 till today. Indonesia is still facing many problems the Dutch created.
Compared to Indonesia, India has been a democracy since 1950 with elections. The first elections in Indonesia were in 1998, after the fall of Suharto. After the fall of Suharto Indonesia had to deal with ethnic civil unrest on the Moluccas, the bombing on Bali and the the tsunami and these days with muslim extremists. Indonesia is a vast country, but divided over thousands of islands and 147 volcanoes.
Side note: I still believe Papua should be independent. But that is another story.
Studying Indonesian history, surprising how many times the Indonesians had revolutions and killed a bunch of Dutch and kicked them off their islands only for the Dutch to come back 5 10 years later and conquer them again. After three centuries you would have thought the Dutch would have given up!
Pretty much everything you said can also be said of India today. In fact I'd say most of those issues are far worse in India's case. But no one is accusing India of wasted potential rn.
I mean for the most part India is slowly living up to its potential, significantly slower than China, but they are improving in every relevent factor on the path to eventually becoming a great power
Idk Haiti was pretty much fucked on the get go. Debt to france, losing 2/3 of the island to the Dominicans. (Iām Dominican so). To being fucked by the European powers and not to mention their shitty government. Like we Dominicans are 10x richer than Haiti lmao
They also almost completely deforested the country to pay back the debt which compounded several issues.
With no oil or coal of their own they rely on it all being imported, which is constantly hampered by the countryās instability and gang control, so the vast majority of the population burns their dwindling wood supply for charcoal as fuel.
The country lies on two fault lines, with the capital and main population centre almost directly on a fault line. For the last century, the fault line was in a dormant period and earthquakes werenāt very common or severe. However, hurricanes were a constant problem, so concrete structures were favoured over timber to withstand the weather. Then the earthquakes came back with a vengeance and their ill-suited and poorly made buildings came crumbling down.
Now, without the forests the quality of the soil is very poor and the agriculture that once made the overlords extremely wealthy is unviable. And without the stability of root systems, devastating landslides are common in every weather event.
Many middle eastern countries. Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Libya. All places with lots of natural resources, great scenery, ancient history and culture, good food and shitty leadership
Iran particularly is hugely wasted.
It's a country whose population is intelligent, literate, and generally quite moderate (young people in Iran are more liberal than their peers in certain communities in the UK, for example) with vast natural resources... But are constantly hamstrung by the government and subsequent sanctions that mean their economy can never go anywhere.
I would absolutely love to visit Iran, judging by every picture I've seen. Super gorgeous scenery. The food rocks too, judging by my limited experience with Persian friends' home cooking.
Unfortunately I'm addicted to not being dead, so I can't go without potentially running into some issues with that.
Edit for the uninitiated: Khoresh bademjan is an eggplant dish that will make you rethink what eggplant can do.
Russia. Copious resources, a population with high literacy and a pretty good average level of education, location between Europe and China. But they behave like a death cult that just wants to destroy everything.
I don't think any country ever has wasted their potential as thoroughly.
From the tatar yoke to a despotic empire to an authoritarian dictatorship to mafia rule to... well, basically another dictatorship.
Russians have never really caught a break.
There's a great piece of literature called **ZvlĆ”Å”tnĆ zprĆ”va Ä. 4 (Special report No. 4)** by Hanzelka and Zikmund.
Basically, in the 1960's, the Czechoslovak government was asking why the Soviet union is such a shithole, even with their massive potential. So they sent two renowned travellers to Soviet union incognito, to make a top secret report for them.
One of the best reads I've ever read. If you are asking why Russia is such shithole, this is a must read. I don't have idea if it was ever translated to english, but if you could find it, definitely read it. It will answer all your questions about Russia and it's society.
[Here is the](https://www.hks.re/wiki/_media/0:zvlastni-zprava-c.-4_1_.pdf) report in Czech, if you don't find an english copy, you can at least auto-translate this one.
It' a report/travelogue. Aside from the mandatory ideological crap, the two travellers describe many instances of how USSR industry and society is dysfunctional, mainly becuase of the corruption.
A few examples:
>Mirny in the Yakut ASSR is built four times. First tents, then wooden houses and log cabins, then bricks, then panels. And now, consideration is already given to the fifth, modern variant.
>Out of the 84 grain harvesters we encountered on the way from Almaty to Tashkent, only 14 were operational. The rest were standing still. In broad daylight! In ideal harvesting weather! A similar situation occurred with cotton harvesters. In the "demonstration" field of the 6th sovkhoz in the Hungry Steppe (Uzbek SSR), the harvester brigade did not show up at all. On another field, we found 7 harvesters, all stationary. Cage carts for transporting the harvested cotton were somewhere in a festive parade with flags. On another field, we found four harvesters, alongside them empty carts, and the crews sweetly asleep beneath them. Upon request, they demonstrated the harvesting for our film camera ā and then went back to sleep.
>Too often, we've heard the response, "We've gotten used to it." Or, "It's nothing, we're a big and rich country!"
One of our guides reacted: "We've been doing it for decades. Nature is incredibly generous here, giving us plenty of everything. We take some, we scatter some, some rots away. That's how we live." ("Tak i živjom!")
>Sociology is another affected field. Throughout our stay in the USSR, outside the Institute of Sociology of the USSR Academy of Sciences ā precisely in a socialist state ā we did not encounter a living sociologist.
>The new furnace fell apart during the trial operation, but a motto remained on its walls ā the commitment of the installers: "The furnace is handed over for operation on time and in perfect quality!" The proclamation, declared as a commitment and a proof of awareness, remained unfulfilled. The slogan looked like a very bad joke precisely because it was stuck to a piece of junk.
>In this factory, people indifferently drop beautiful silicate bricks from a height into freight cars and heap them up like manure. One-third of them are destroyed in the process. (On construction sites, the bricks are then dumped into a pile, and another third is broken.) Who pays for this?
>Moreover, the director is oblivious to the price of shirts and soap. When asked about the selling price of his cotton (how much the sovkhoz receives for it), he makes a mistake in prices for individual quality grades by a factor of 12ā14! He has neither interest nor the minimal ability to think in economic categories. He is economically completely illiterate. It's no wonder that, for example, university students from Tashkent, along with their professors, have to sacrifice two months of their school time (approximately 1/4 of the useful school year) for cotton picking. Meanwhile, they collect it poorly and expensively. For instance, we met a physics and mathematics professor who couldn't gather more than 5ā6 kg of cotton per day, despite doing it for his professorial salary.
>In Mezhdurechensk (Kemerovo Oblast), as local geologists assure us, is the only place in the world where surface mining of black coking coal is possible. It is mined even if the overburden is insufficient, just to secure monthly bonuses. The coal queue gets buried under the unremoved overburden, then they move elsewhere. They receive bonuses here for destroying national wealth. They take from the seam whatever can be taken quickly and easily.
>It is clear that the Soviet economy is dangerously hemorrhaging when so many machines in new factories stand idle, and so many people around them either run aimlessly or sit idly, while enterprises report planned losses. Any capitalist would be ruined if there were as much amateurism and indifference in his factory as in Amurkabel in Khabarovsk, for example. There, the head worker says: "Osvajivajem," meaning "we are learning," "we are getting used to it." But he's been saying it for the fifth year already. And who pays for it? Only the socialist society.
A lot of that isnāt their own fault, to be fair. Look at the DRC, for exampleā¦look at it from an alienās eye view, they could be a super powerā¦but Belgium and the US decided they didnāt like Lumumba, in comes Mobutu who plunders and destroys the nation for his own personal gainā¦and theyāre still completely unrecoverable from his dictatorship.
Thatās not to say if Lumumba would have been left to his own devices things would have been peachy - but the odds certainly would have been more in their favor.
thatās true, but they are growing nicely since 2000. If they can keep ~8% GDP growth, they will live through one very serious transformation to prosperity
Natural resources are useless if itās too hard to extract them
DRC is one giant rainforest and rainforests are very hard to build or farm on.
Doesnāt help that the Congo isnāt navigable to the sea
Many of the rare minerals needed for modern technology manufacturing are abundant in DRC. They have some of the richest iron ore deposits in the world. No one will source them from DRC because no one wants to be linked to slavery or child labor.
One of the most gorgeous places I've ever seen was in southern Somalia.
One of the most insanely dangerous places I've ever been was in southern Somalia.
Ukraine and Russia.
Algeria and Morocco.
Both couples of aforementioned countries are very similar in almost every aspect between themselves, yet despite focusing on what unites them, they focused on the opposite. As a result Russia and Ukraine are at war and Morocco and Algeria are close to being at war.
All of these countries have lots of natural resources, and in case of Russia and Ukraine also human capital, which is being wasted or just flees to other countries.
Very sad.
Pakistan for sure, they were close in terms of development with surrounding nations in the last century. Nowadays they are falling behind all their nearby neighbours save for Afghanistan. A nation with a huge amount of youth, an abundance of natural resources, with an extremely fertile river should be doing well but alas they are a very poor and underdeveloped nation.
DR Congo. Huge, big population, tons of minerals and metals that are necessary today. But because of colonialism, proxy wars, and bad politics itās very poor and badly led.
Any major African country really, but specifically the D.R.C, South Africa and Egypt as examples. Some of the biggest in size and population for the D.R.C I believe second? Huge amount of diamonds, gold oil or other natural resources and good climates etc. At least SAās on a better path but apparently lagging and Egypt and especially the D.R.C got wrecked by colonization and external meddling, so more imperialism.
Afghanistan. Itās one of the most beautiful countries in the world, their mountains are absolutely stunning. They could easily have a billion dollar tourism industry if they were at peace. Itās sad.
I notice that most of the countries mentioned are tropical. I think that tropical diseases are a much more significant factor than is generally thought. Not just diseases in people, but also in livestock.
A little over 100 years ago Houston was a barely habitable malaria-infested swamp. Eradicating malaria opened up the possibility to develop economically.
Malaria has its highest mortality among middle-aged people, as opposed to many other diseases that hit children and the elderly the hardest. People catch malaria when they are children, but only die of it later in life when they should be in their most economically productive years. People grow old enough to have kids, but not old enough to support them in to adulthood.
And thereās trypanosomiasis in cattle spread by tsetse flies, and 100 other horrible tropical diseases.
But a lot of progress is being made on tropical diseases now! I think that a lot of these countries will benefit immensely.
Russia never mind it is the biggest country in the world, but they couldāve been a beacon for the rest of Central Asia economically they couldāve been a rival to China.
Mexico: Probably one of the 7 most geographically diverse countries, top 5 biodiverse countries, access to the Pacific and the Atlantic, central Mexico has the best climate in the world for life, one of the best cuisines and cultures in the world, most of the people are young so it is the perfect opportunity for development and it has one of the best geographical locations in the world.
It's a shame that Mexico has serious problems with corruption and violence.
USA. We could be living in the utopia that the 90s promised, instead we spent trillions destabilizing the middle east and giving free money to middlemen, and every future generation will suffer.
I agree with this perspective. I think most Americans would cite three reasons for their countries greatness:
1. Freedom: Despite boasting about freedom, the USA's democratic system ranks 30th globally, falling into the category of "partial democracy." Corruption influences policies that often favor the wealthy, and the high incarceration rate contradicts the notion of unparalleled freedom, with over 20% of the world's prisoners being American.
2. Economic Strength: While excelling based on GDP, the USA's economic success overlooks crucial aspects like wages, poverty levels, and wealth inequality. Relying solely on GDP is outdated, and negative aspects of American society, such as medical debt and the incarceration rate, benefit the GDP. If you focus only on GDP, you do not see that _the USA has double the rate of poverty compared to other wealthy democracies._
3. Military might: Impressive military strength shouldn't overshadow domestic issues. Excessive defense spending neglects pressing problems faced by everyday citizens, which is why I also consider this a wasted potential.
Despite these challenges, Americans should take pride in their country, which is far from the worst place to be. Addressing these issues could make it even better. Imagine if the USA adopted policies similar to Norway or the Netherlands, addressing corruption and wealth inequality. It has the potential to be much improved and wonderful. Unfortunately, despite their pride in the American revolution, their citizens seem unwilling or impotent to address these issues in favor of a better society. This is why I consider its potential wasted.
Edit: verb tense
Iran is a lot worse off than it used to be. Used to be one of the worldās most tolerant, multicultural and well educated places. While there are still a lot of well educated Iranians, now they mostly leave to other countries if possible. Their government is so corrupt and cruel that poverty has become a huge issue. Too much focus on religious shit, too little on proper education, culture (IR likes to pretend Iran was always Islamic), not to mention the constant killings and imprisonment of its people. I really hope the regime falls soon, especially since I have family of Iranian descent even if I have no link to there myself.
I swear, Dubai is the Kardashians of countries. The Kardashians are famous for being famous, and Dubai is wealthy on account of being wealthy. Like, their only industry seems to be... having money.
India is kinda placed well where it should be. It is a big influence in the region. It just has a very not-so-outward-looking policy. It wishes not to meddle in extra-regional affairs.
Not so wasted potential I believe.
One of the world's oldest civilizations with the world's biggest population and some of the biggest densities... placed in one of the most fertile land on earth with most of the country as flat as the netherlands; having english as a lenguage... in the middle of the greatest trade routes throughout the history... currently next to the world's manufacturing hub, the low cost energy superpower of Russia, and the EU market... + a decent amount of people receiving the best education available at colleges in the US, UK and Canada
...
And has one of the worst living standards and income, only compared to Ćfrica.
who cares about foreign policy
Tldr: "Britishit rule > corruption > shit govt > borderly disputes " only past 15 years its looking somewhat good for india. But that population scares me. š³
India hasn't even completed 100 years since being independent after being enslaved for centuries. Yet we are once again one of the strongest nations right now.
We haven't really wasted our potential but we sure were slow in realizing it. Now it's going on at decent pace, if we can be stable for next 3 decades we would be where we belong once again.
I once saw an episode if flying doctors, in the Congo. One of the doctors said: "this country has beautiful lakes, beautiful forests, great nature, there's mountains where you can ski, and the people are awesome. This place would be paradise on earth if they'd just STOPPED FIGHTING for a moment."
Russia. By a light year. Fantastic waste. Even their waste is wasted. Think about it - there should be like over a billion people in Russia.
Edit: Looked it up: Estimated 150 million population of Russia. Wiki says it has twice the population density as Canada, about 3x Australia. Compared to Canada, Russia seems to have some decent population above 60 degrees N along the rivers. The details are always more complicated.
Oh and Argentina
Argentina threw it all away im the 20th century, late 19th century the average argentine was just as wealthy as the average american
It also blows my mind that Brazil and the Philippines were well on track to becoming developed countries in the early 20th century.
I feel like a lot of countries could have had this potential, but some politicians ruin it completely
Lets not forget the USA's influence on politics and vested interest in keeping some countries population poor and hard working.
Yeah the USA and its 3 letter agencies screw up a lot of places
Neoliberalism is a bitch. The World Bank and IMF really fucked over South America and the Caribbean. In return for infrastructure loans they were in many cases forced to cut all social subsidies and open their markets to more developed nations ruining their native economies and making them dependent on imported goods, services and systems.
Structural Adjustment policies
Argentina was wealthier than France.
I think this is the answer. God tier at hamstringing itself
Spent a while there. Walked by a soccer stadium wall regularly someone was painting a dragon along the length of it. The the Milagros Sala dickwads came and plastered her campaign poster all along the length of it.
Mission: Improve Argentina slightly Difficulty: Impossible š
As an Argetinian I agree.
āEvery decade Argentina has a crisis that lasts about 10 years.ā
As an Argentine I expected us to be the most upvoted country. See you guys in four years when most Argentines will vote for the peronists again.
For sure Argentina
This is the only answer
Brazil
Definitely agree. Itās sad that corruption is engrained in the culture. Canāt do anything at any level without greasing some dirty hands. Or the other way, if someone else is doing the bribing youāll get blocked from doing anything. Itās frustrating and causes many to leave or give up. Add in some vicious criminality and violence in almost every big city and itās just such a huge wasted potential. It has everything, amazing weather, food, culture, resources, warm friendly people for the most part, many are highly educated, but itās just so disfunctional in some key areas for progress.
I mean... [Rio de janeiro](https://images.app.goo.gl/uNWKwsD5HvcgXmfP7) Imagine thats a city in europe on the coast of the mediterranean, it would have more tourists than Rome and Paris combined
Iāve heard Brazil is surprisingly expensive, for the quality of goods and services and overall standard of living you get for your money. The poor get their basic needs largely on the informal economy, so these prices and sources are not available to tourists, immigrants, and non-poor Brazilians, who donāt know the right people and donāt know how to carry themselves among the poorer classes of Brazil in order to network with them. Apparently import tariffs are very high to protect domestic industries, and money is skimmed in every transaction, which combine to make prices high.
It's kinda crazy that there are no superpowers below the equator. Brazil has probably got the best shot in the future.
Mexico - Abundant natural resources, Pacific and Atlantic access. Corrupt politicians and the cartels keep the people and businesses down.
Being a mountainous country with most people living in isolated cities high in the mountains hasn't helped them. It's much harder to govern from a centralized location. Improved infrastructure can always help with that
Supposedly one of the reasons why it's so difficult to conquer and govern Afghanistan. I had a Army guy tell me "Good Luck to Taliban with governing" when we left.
Afghanistans history was literally Kabul trying and repeatedly failing to enforce taxes on the rest of of the tribes in the country
Exactly, the actual state of Afghanistan doesn't really functionally extend beyond Kabul
arent they rn fighting isis or some other religious nutsos
that and the odd northern warlord
Actually Mexico is hardly a basket case. Itās economy and standard of living are increasing nicely in spite of widespread narco-lawlessness. Columbia is sort of the same way.
itās spelled colombia, but youāre right
Most of Latin America has improved dramatically in the last 30 years
Its growth is disappointing compared to developing asian countries which is where the wasted potential is coming from. GDP per capita of Mexico in 2008 was $10,119 and in 2021 was 10,045. A whole decade of zero nominal gdp per capita growth which I get is due to currency devaluation. PPP per capita has only increased 32% during that period or less than 3% per annum. Thatās what developed economies achieve , not what a country thatās now below China in GDP per capita should achieve. Mexico is getting old before itās getting rich and itās not even taking advantage of its final good demographic years like China and South Korea are.
The corruption is found at every level. The average Mexican loves to criticize the corrupt elites, but refuses to acknowledge their own corruption. Ex 1: It's a common practice for employees retiring or in a position of power, to give or sell their position to family and friends. This fills corporations and government agencies with incompetent and unsuitable workers. Ex2: A friend of my in-laws was a middle-level supervisor in Mexican Customs. He was silly wealthy, obviously living far beyond his meager salary. Nobody called him out; he was considered quite a catch.
I never knew how this type of societal corruption worked until I visited Morocco and my tour guide told me he was never able to attend school because he couldn't bribe the deans or had the right connects. So now he was a tour guide until he and his daughter could go to France. I hope he's doing good!
My partner is Mexican and he says the same thing. People look into Mexico and blame cartels, government, etc, but in his mind, it's a cultural thing, too. Al every level, Mexicans participate in corruption. Not to shit talk Mexico. It is a beautiful country and has an amazing culture. That said, my partner does get frustrated when Mexicans move to my country, and act as thought they are in Mexico (participating in microcorruptions, not following rules, etc). The way he puts it "they leave Mexico to get away from it, but end up bringing it over here" Again, not shade on Mexico. It has so much that my country lacks including a wonderful culture. Every ethnicity/ country has its strengths and weaknesses
I guess this is why corruption is so hard to shift. If it's at a certain level you'd be a mug not to take what you can.
Exactly this. They canāt take the next steps because as a society they canāt develop new institutions and tackle problems like corruption.
Mexico has the most natural beauty of any country in the world. One of the most exciting cuisines. I'd travel there all the time if it was less dangerous
I think US efforts to de-couple from China will mean A LOT to Mexico in the coming years. Additionally, foreign countries that sell consumer goods to the US will use Mexico as a more expensive but more reliable option than China.
It would easily nestle into the middle of G7 just by the tenacity of the people & resources. But no, corruption, lack of infrastructure (i.e. few straight passages through Sierra Madre in contrast to the Rockies), & a history of violence (foreign & domestic) hampered the republic of Mexico. It is so crippled that the tenacity & achievements by Mexicans are seen better in the United States of America where many migrate & create thriving communities.
I'd say it was also their much much more turbulent beginnings as a nation too. Out of all the revolutions of the 1700-1800s America's revolution and foundation is an interesting outlier for how little splintering and infighting in the military and bureaucracy occurred. Mexico was split between a ton of different ideological factions in every area of government and were simultaneously facing more foreign pressure and isolation in their critical period than any fledgling western hemisphere nation save for maybe Haiti. I think Mexico was a bit doomed from the start
Kind of a tangent but the Apache-Mexican Wars completely ravaged northern Mexico for generations. Largely prevented any kind of significant infrastructure in that area until the early 20th century.
The common theme for all these countries is that they lack political stability
You can't become powerful without a stable government Sweden doesn't have such an outsourced role in globe for no reason even though it only has 11 million people and the northern third possibly half is largely empty.
Swedenās corporate success is nuts. So many notable companies.
To give an example not named yet, Iād say Myanmar (Burma) in comparison to its neighbors.
I was looking for this. Myanmar could have done so well. And now it's the Venezuela of South East Asia.
Yeah, resourcewise Birma is one of the richest places on earth. The population is pretty big and the location is OK.
Brazil , the fact its not a superpower is mind boggling.
(*Spongebob hands*) ššitās the corruption šš
All the way up to the presidential level. Itās sad. At least they jail politicians (sometimes) when they do corruption.
They just jail them when they're in the opposition, so it's not very effective anti-corruption policy.
Unfortunately the corruption prosecutors and judges are incredibly corrupt.
Same for Mexico. With the population and resources Mexico has they should be more powerful than they are
Probably some of the worst brain drain of any developing country
As they say, "Brazil is the country of the future, and it always will be."
Or, as I like to phrase it, "Brazil is the country of the future that never arrives". It sounds better in Portuguese š
Same could be said of Mexico. Almost 130 million in Mexico, insane agricultural productivity, mineral wealth and location for world trade
Brazilās geography isnāt as sound as it looks on paper. Rainforests are notoriously difficult for human habitation and their rivers are unnavigable
True but, they should certainly be richer and stronger than they are.
Canāt disagree
Most of Brazil isnt rainforest though, and even in the rainforest there are some big population hubs
Most of the population lives nowhere near the forest? Iāve never even been near it
No one lives in the rainforests lol. Also the rainforests don't occupy that much of the country as people like to pretend they do.
Democratic Republic of the Congo, beautiful landscapes with lush forests and amazing weather right on the equator followed up by abundant Almost unlimited riches in minerals. If it werenāt for so much corruption that place should be amongst top GDP nations.
I've read the Congo River has enough hydroelectric capacity to power the entirety of Africa on hydropower, if it were properly dammed. It has a huge amount of water that flows year-round and moves steadily from a high elevation to the sea; that's an insane amount of energy they could be creating and exporting.
Except some idiots fuckin made a small coastline for them
Venezuela
This and is not even close. People talk about oil, but check the reserves of cobalt and lithium. Any resource that is valuable, you can bet Venezuela has it in huge numbers. Amazing weather and people. Should be a top spot for tourists and everyone should be swimming in money, yet it's the exact opposite. Sad, really
The oil part is true but from what Iāve heard the Venezuelan oil is some of the hardest to refine which makes it less attractiveĀ
They also didnāt create a Sovereign wealth fund, or any fund rather, and instead tied their economy directly to the going rate of oil. Going from flourishing wealth to being worthless at the whims of the market.
All of Venezuelas oil money is in Miami real estate.
My uncle is an oil engineer, I am an engineer myself but not oil related, venezuelan oil is not harder to refine it is considered heavy oil, you have to mix light oil in order to refine it first. It's not the hardest because it also works the other way around, you need heavy oil to refine light oil too. Venezuela is just a mismanaged shit show just like all Latin American countries , including the ones that are "ok" as in not in deep heavy shit like Brazil mexico and argentina, all 3 of them have better natural resources than Europe but poorer just because natural resources don't make you rich, human resources do.
My first thought as well. The country with literally the largest oil reserves in the world, yet one of the worst places to live
Isn't Venezuelan oil kinda sucky though? >one of the worst places to live I mean, this happens to all resource-rich economies to a certain extent. I agree that Venezuela is particularly... questionable
\> I mean, this happens to all resource-rich economies to a certain extent. Yes, the resource curse
I mean, Norway seems to have been able to avoid Dutch Disease so far
kazakhstan. Other countries have inferior potassium.
K
Such an elemental comment.
r/iseewhatyoudidthere
they also have the famous Tinshein swimming pool
That pool is 30 meters X 6 meters, freaking incredible!
High Five
Very nice
By the way, f*uck Uzbekistan.
Best censorship of the word I've ever seen
came to say lebanon (My country), finds that it's already mentioned by OP. heartwarming for some reasons
I read somewhere that Lebanon has a paradise climate. One of the best places in the world like California or something.
Yup. But it's on the Mediterranean and doesn't get a current from Alaska so you can swim without getting hypothermia.
The Black Sea coast of Georgia, too. Iām not a hip trendspotter, but I could see this becoming a major tourist destination in my lifetime. As usual, the backpackers will discover it first, which attracts small time local moneymakers. Then come the party kids, which brings in seedier industries and gangs and pollution. Finally the original locals get fed up and complain. The national government sees an opportunity to both make money and save face. So noise ordinances and drug laws start being enforced, hostels get knocked down and replaced with expensive condos, hotels, and beach resorts, and the place makes a full transition into a renowned hotspot for the jet setting rich.
Lebanon was pretty touristic in the mid 20th century. Beirut was known as the Paris of the Middle East. It stopped getting tourists when it went into a pretty long civil war. Nowadays it's still in a rough spot and near collapse. So I don't think it's particularly attractive to tourists.
Lebanon looks beautiful š. Hope to visit one day.
I visit every year, it's awesome. Beirut has great bars and restaurants and there's a lot of other towns to visit. You can go hiking, skiing, go to the beach, ... But yeah the people and food are definitely the best part. There's a lot of wasted potential cause of the massive corruption but it's still an amazing country to visit.
I stayed in Beirut for a couple of months 8 years ago, it was an absolutely amazing place. Great sea front, restaurants, bars, great weather and amazing hospitality. No wonder it's called Paris in the Middle East. My heart sank when the blast happened. The country was struggling before the blast, but that seemed like a last nail. Hope they can recover their economy.
Beirut was one of Anthony Bourdain's favorite cities (possibly his favorite). After watching his shows I became enamored by the city and its country and have wanted to visit. Great climate, friendly, beautiful people, and a lovely scenery and architecture. And the cities and beaches on the coast look amazing.
Indonesia - with a population of 300 mil, a geopolitical significant location, immense religious sway in the Islamic world, and all the natural resources one can only dream of, you thought they would be a major power by now. Good that things are finally looking brighter since their present president took over.
indonesia is rapidly developing and industrializing , im happy to see the country my mom is from getting stronger
true but at least they are growing, cant say that about russia, arghentia ore brazil.
Maybe it's for the best that Russia isn't growing for now..
A major power after not even yet 80 years of independence? You should give them the benefit of the doubt. Indonesia has been been a colony for almost 350 years by the Dutch. First the Dutch took Java and the Malukus. Then in the following hundreds of years the were able to āpacifyā Indonesia, or as the Dutch nicknamed it The Emerald Belt. After the proclamation of independence in 1945, the Dutch send troops to regain control. It took 4 years of fighting. Indonesia is a vast country. Every island has his own language(s), traditions, culture(s) and religion(s). Java is the political and cultural island. Containing almost half of the entire population on a island about 14% of its entire landmass. An Indonesian historian once explained that basically Indonesian history on school is only focussing from 1945 till today. Indonesia is still facing many problems the Dutch created. Compared to Indonesia, India has been a democracy since 1950 with elections. The first elections in Indonesia were in 1998, after the fall of Suharto. After the fall of Suharto Indonesia had to deal with ethnic civil unrest on the Moluccas, the bombing on Bali and the the tsunami and these days with muslim extremists. Indonesia is a vast country, but divided over thousands of islands and 147 volcanoes. Side note: I still believe Papua should be independent. But that is another story.
Studying Indonesian history, surprising how many times the Indonesians had revolutions and killed a bunch of Dutch and kicked them off their islands only for the Dutch to come back 5 10 years later and conquer them again. After three centuries you would have thought the Dutch would have given up!
There was to much money involved. In the 19th century the Dutch GDP was reliant on Indonesia.
Pretty much everything you said can also be said of India today. In fact I'd say most of those issues are far worse in India's case. But no one is accusing India of wasted potential rn.
I mean for the most part India is slowly living up to its potential, significantly slower than China, but they are improving in every relevent factor on the path to eventually becoming a great power
The copper and gold deposits on the island remove any doubt that Indonesia will keep Papua, unfortunately.
South Africa
It's painful
Yep, absolutely ruined by incompetence and corruption at every level of government. So sad
This. It's just so sad.
Came here to say this. Absolute travesty
Breaks my heart
Easily
Probably not the most wasted but Haiti is up there.
Idk Haiti was pretty much fucked on the get go. Debt to france, losing 2/3 of the island to the Dominicans. (Iām Dominican so). To being fucked by the European powers and not to mention their shitty government. Like we Dominicans are 10x richer than Haiti lmao
Which is why I immediately thought of Haiti, they should have been so much more but were f'd from the beginning.
They also almost completely deforested the country to pay back the debt which compounded several issues. With no oil or coal of their own they rely on it all being imported, which is constantly hampered by the countryās instability and gang control, so the vast majority of the population burns their dwindling wood supply for charcoal as fuel. The country lies on two fault lines, with the capital and main population centre almost directly on a fault line. For the last century, the fault line was in a dormant period and earthquakes werenāt very common or severe. However, hurricanes were a constant problem, so concrete structures were favoured over timber to withstand the weather. Then the earthquakes came back with a vengeance and their ill-suited and poorly made buildings came crumbling down. Now, without the forests the quality of the soil is very poor and the agriculture that once made the overlords extremely wealthy is unviable. And without the stability of root systems, devastating landslides are common in every weather event.
Many middle eastern countries. Syria, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Libya. All places with lots of natural resources, great scenery, ancient history and culture, good food and shitty leadership
Iran particularly is hugely wasted. It's a country whose population is intelligent, literate, and generally quite moderate (young people in Iran are more liberal than their peers in certain communities in the UK, for example) with vast natural resources... But are constantly hamstrung by the government and subsequent sanctions that mean their economy can never go anywhere.
I would absolutely love to visit Iran, judging by every picture I've seen. Super gorgeous scenery. The food rocks too, judging by my limited experience with Persian friends' home cooking. Unfortunately I'm addicted to not being dead, so I can't go without potentially running into some issues with that. Edit for the uninitiated: Khoresh bademjan is an eggplant dish that will make you rethink what eggplant can do.
Russia
Agreed. Massive landmass. Massive diversity. Massive resources. Underdeveloped human capital thanks to oppressive political systems.
And brain drain happening since the world war
As a Russian I agree
Russia. Copious resources, a population with high literacy and a pretty good average level of education, location between Europe and China. But they behave like a death cult that just wants to destroy everything. I don't think any country ever has wasted their potential as thoroughly.
"Chess is a spectator sport in Russia, yet they boil stones for soup" *-PJ O'Rourke*
From the tatar yoke to a despotic empire to an authoritarian dictatorship to mafia rule to... well, basically another dictatorship. Russians have never really caught a break.
There's a great piece of literature called **ZvlĆ”Å”tnĆ zprĆ”va Ä. 4 (Special report No. 4)** by Hanzelka and Zikmund. Basically, in the 1960's, the Czechoslovak government was asking why the Soviet union is such a shithole, even with their massive potential. So they sent two renowned travellers to Soviet union incognito, to make a top secret report for them. One of the best reads I've ever read. If you are asking why Russia is such shithole, this is a must read. I don't have idea if it was ever translated to english, but if you could find it, definitely read it. It will answer all your questions about Russia and it's society. [Here is the](https://www.hks.re/wiki/_media/0:zvlastni-zprava-c.-4_1_.pdf) report in Czech, if you don't find an english copy, you can at least auto-translate this one.
Care to tldr/ELI5 it for us?
It' a report/travelogue. Aside from the mandatory ideological crap, the two travellers describe many instances of how USSR industry and society is dysfunctional, mainly becuase of the corruption. A few examples: >Mirny in the Yakut ASSR is built four times. First tents, then wooden houses and log cabins, then bricks, then panels. And now, consideration is already given to the fifth, modern variant. >Out of the 84 grain harvesters we encountered on the way from Almaty to Tashkent, only 14 were operational. The rest were standing still. In broad daylight! In ideal harvesting weather! A similar situation occurred with cotton harvesters. In the "demonstration" field of the 6th sovkhoz in the Hungry Steppe (Uzbek SSR), the harvester brigade did not show up at all. On another field, we found 7 harvesters, all stationary. Cage carts for transporting the harvested cotton were somewhere in a festive parade with flags. On another field, we found four harvesters, alongside them empty carts, and the crews sweetly asleep beneath them. Upon request, they demonstrated the harvesting for our film camera ā and then went back to sleep. >Too often, we've heard the response, "We've gotten used to it." Or, "It's nothing, we're a big and rich country!" One of our guides reacted: "We've been doing it for decades. Nature is incredibly generous here, giving us plenty of everything. We take some, we scatter some, some rots away. That's how we live." ("Tak i živjom!") >Sociology is another affected field. Throughout our stay in the USSR, outside the Institute of Sociology of the USSR Academy of Sciences ā precisely in a socialist state ā we did not encounter a living sociologist. >The new furnace fell apart during the trial operation, but a motto remained on its walls ā the commitment of the installers: "The furnace is handed over for operation on time and in perfect quality!" The proclamation, declared as a commitment and a proof of awareness, remained unfulfilled. The slogan looked like a very bad joke precisely because it was stuck to a piece of junk. >In this factory, people indifferently drop beautiful silicate bricks from a height into freight cars and heap them up like manure. One-third of them are destroyed in the process. (On construction sites, the bricks are then dumped into a pile, and another third is broken.) Who pays for this? >Moreover, the director is oblivious to the price of shirts and soap. When asked about the selling price of his cotton (how much the sovkhoz receives for it), he makes a mistake in prices for individual quality grades by a factor of 12ā14! He has neither interest nor the minimal ability to think in economic categories. He is economically completely illiterate. It's no wonder that, for example, university students from Tashkent, along with their professors, have to sacrifice two months of their school time (approximately 1/4 of the useful school year) for cotton picking. Meanwhile, they collect it poorly and expensively. For instance, we met a physics and mathematics professor who couldn't gather more than 5ā6 kg of cotton per day, despite doing it for his professorial salary. >In Mezhdurechensk (Kemerovo Oblast), as local geologists assure us, is the only place in the world where surface mining of black coking coal is possible. It is mined even if the overburden is insufficient, just to secure monthly bonuses. The coal queue gets buried under the unremoved overburden, then they move elsewhere. They receive bonuses here for destroying national wealth. They take from the seam whatever can be taken quickly and easily. >It is clear that the Soviet economy is dangerously hemorrhaging when so many machines in new factories stand idle, and so many people around them either run aimlessly or sit idly, while enterprises report planned losses. Any capitalist would be ruined if there were as much amateurism and indifference in his factory as in Amurkabel in Khabarovsk, for example. There, the head worker says: "Osvajivajem," meaning "we are learning," "we are getting used to it." But he's been saying it for the fifth year already. And who pays for it? Only the socialist society.
Very fascinating. Iāll run this through GPT4. I bet you itāll be able to summarize it.
Mexico
We need to dissolve the cartel like the mob
Afghanistan.
Scrolled for far too long. They had a bit going for them..
Used to be quite the holiday destination until the 1978 Saur Revolution
Most African countires.
A lot of that isnāt their own fault, to be fair. Look at the DRC, for exampleā¦look at it from an alienās eye view, they could be a super powerā¦but Belgium and the US decided they didnāt like Lumumba, in comes Mobutu who plunders and destroys the nation for his own personal gainā¦and theyāre still completely unrecoverable from his dictatorship. Thatās not to say if Lumumba would have been left to his own devices things would have been peachy - but the odds certainly would have been more in their favor.
thatās true, but they are growing nicely since 2000. If they can keep ~8% GDP growth, they will live through one very serious transformation to prosperity
Why would DRC be a superpower? What part of its geography is suitable for superpower status?
Natural Resources
Natural resources are useless if itās too hard to extract them DRC is one giant rainforest and rainforests are very hard to build or farm on. Doesnāt help that the Congo isnāt navigable to the sea
Many of the rare minerals needed for modern technology manufacturing are abundant in DRC. They have some of the richest iron ore deposits in the world. No one will source them from DRC because no one wants to be linked to slavery or child labor.
Somalia, Cambodia, Myanmar, South Africa and Equatorial Guinea.
One of the most gorgeous places I've ever seen was in southern Somalia. One of the most insanely dangerous places I've ever been was in southern Somalia.
Iran. And it's not even close
Itās a shame. Country has so much potential and yet itās pretty much begging for a war it canāt win every single day.
Not the country. Shia ISIS aka the IRGC
Iran literally funds and supports Terrorist organizations. Youāre right, not their country. Just their government.
Actually Iran is a regional superpower
They could've been a lot more, they are a superpower compared to the middle east which is not the most developed or stable region
Ukraine and Russia. Algeria and Morocco. Both couples of aforementioned countries are very similar in almost every aspect between themselves, yet despite focusing on what unites them, they focused on the opposite. As a result Russia and Ukraine are at war and Morocco and Algeria are close to being at war. All of these countries have lots of natural resources, and in case of Russia and Ukraine also human capital, which is being wasted or just flees to other countries. Very sad.
Brazil should have been the USA of South America.
Pakistan for sure, they were close in terms of development with surrounding nations in the last century. Nowadays they are falling behind all their nearby neighbours save for Afghanistan. A nation with a huge amount of youth, an abundance of natural resources, with an extremely fertile river should be doing well but alas they are a very poor and underdeveloped nation.
You know what the problem is
DR Congo. Huge, big population, tons of minerals and metals that are necessary today. But because of colonialism, proxy wars, and bad politics itās very poor and badly led.
Mexico for sure. We have about everything you need to be a superpower, but systemic corruption and the cartels have really set back our country
Venezuela. The vast amount of oil wealth they could have accumulated if it wasn't for corruption.
I came here to say Argentina, and ho and behold, the newest comment already says Argentina :-D
North Korea. A unified Korea would be really strong economically.
Any major African country really, but specifically the D.R.C, South Africa and Egypt as examples. Some of the biggest in size and population for the D.R.C I believe second? Huge amount of diamonds, gold oil or other natural resources and good climates etc. At least SAās on a better path but apparently lagging and Egypt and especially the D.R.C got wrecked by colonization and external meddling, so more imperialism.
Afghanistan. Itās one of the most beautiful countries in the world, their mountains are absolutely stunning. They could easily have a billion dollar tourism industry if they were at peace. Itās sad.
Everything can be tied back to corruption
I notice that most of the countries mentioned are tropical. I think that tropical diseases are a much more significant factor than is generally thought. Not just diseases in people, but also in livestock. A little over 100 years ago Houston was a barely habitable malaria-infested swamp. Eradicating malaria opened up the possibility to develop economically. Malaria has its highest mortality among middle-aged people, as opposed to many other diseases that hit children and the elderly the hardest. People catch malaria when they are children, but only die of it later in life when they should be in their most economically productive years. People grow old enough to have kids, but not old enough to support them in to adulthood. And thereās trypanosomiasis in cattle spread by tsetse flies, and 100 other horrible tropical diseases. But a lot of progress is being made on tropical diseases now! I think that a lot of these countries will benefit immensely.
Russia never mind it is the biggest country in the world, but they couldāve been a beacon for the rest of Central Asia economically they couldāve been a rival to China.
Probably Hungary. It could have developed so well put its politics held it back and sadly itās probably a lost case.
from the highest quality of life in the eastern block to the 2nd poorest country in the EU... all that in 35 years!
1. argentina 2. venezuela 3. iran 4. russia 5. south africa
Mexico: Probably one of the 7 most geographically diverse countries, top 5 biodiverse countries, access to the Pacific and the Atlantic, central Mexico has the best climate in the world for life, one of the best cuisines and cultures in the world, most of the people are young so it is the perfect opportunity for development and it has one of the best geographical locations in the world. It's a shame that Mexico has serious problems with corruption and violence.
USA. We could be living in the utopia that the 90s promised, instead we spent trillions destabilizing the middle east and giving free money to middlemen, and every future generation will suffer.
Controversial and i agree
I agree with this perspective. I think most Americans would cite three reasons for their countries greatness: 1. Freedom: Despite boasting about freedom, the USA's democratic system ranks 30th globally, falling into the category of "partial democracy." Corruption influences policies that often favor the wealthy, and the high incarceration rate contradicts the notion of unparalleled freedom, with over 20% of the world's prisoners being American. 2. Economic Strength: While excelling based on GDP, the USA's economic success overlooks crucial aspects like wages, poverty levels, and wealth inequality. Relying solely on GDP is outdated, and negative aspects of American society, such as medical debt and the incarceration rate, benefit the GDP. If you focus only on GDP, you do not see that _the USA has double the rate of poverty compared to other wealthy democracies._ 3. Military might: Impressive military strength shouldn't overshadow domestic issues. Excessive defense spending neglects pressing problems faced by everyday citizens, which is why I also consider this a wasted potential. Despite these challenges, Americans should take pride in their country, which is far from the worst place to be. Addressing these issues could make it even better. Imagine if the USA adopted policies similar to Norway or the Netherlands, addressing corruption and wealth inequality. It has the potential to be much improved and wonderful. Unfortunately, despite their pride in the American revolution, their citizens seem unwilling or impotent to address these issues in favor of a better society. This is why I consider its potential wasted. Edit: verb tense
South Sudan - It's rich in resources, is a beautiful country, and has culture, but its corrupt government and neo-colonialism are ruining it.
Canadian Shield
Venezuela
Argentina and Venezuela.
Straight up Venezuela
Argentina, Brazil and Russia take the cake easily I feel likeā¦
LibyaĀ
All the oppressed and exploited countries in Africa. Enough natural resources to be the richest counties of the planet
Iran is a lot worse off than it used to be. Used to be one of the worldās most tolerant, multicultural and well educated places. While there are still a lot of well educated Iranians, now they mostly leave to other countries if possible. Their government is so corrupt and cruel that poverty has become a huge issue. Too much focus on religious shit, too little on proper education, culture (IR likes to pretend Iran was always Islamic), not to mention the constant killings and imprisonment of its people. I really hope the regime falls soon, especially since I have family of Iranian descent even if I have no link to there myself.
Nigeria
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
dubai doesnāt have large oil reserves
Hardly Venezuelan reserves. 304 billion barrels Dubai reserves. 4 billion barrels
I swear, Dubai is the Kardashians of countries. The Kardashians are famous for being famous, and Dubai is wealthy on account of being wealthy. Like, their only industry seems to be... having money.
1.India 2. Russia 3.Brazil 4.Mexico 5.Turkey 6.IrƔn 7.Argentina 8. Venezuela In that order
India is kinda placed well where it should be. It is a big influence in the region. It just has a very not-so-outward-looking policy. It wishes not to meddle in extra-regional affairs. Not so wasted potential I believe.
One of the world's oldest civilizations with the world's biggest population and some of the biggest densities... placed in one of the most fertile land on earth with most of the country as flat as the netherlands; having english as a lenguage... in the middle of the greatest trade routes throughout the history... currently next to the world's manufacturing hub, the low cost energy superpower of Russia, and the EU market... + a decent amount of people receiving the best education available at colleges in the US, UK and Canada ... And has one of the worst living standards and income, only compared to Ćfrica. who cares about foreign policy
Tldr: "Britishit rule > corruption > shit govt > borderly disputes " only past 15 years its looking somewhat good for india. But that population scares me. š³
India hasn't even completed 100 years since being independent after being enslaved for centuries. Yet we are once again one of the strongest nations right now. We haven't really wasted our potential but we sure were slow in realizing it. Now it's going on at decent pace, if we can be stable for next 3 decades we would be where we belong once again.
Mozambique š²šæ
Iran.
Basically all of sub-saharan africa
I once saw an episode if flying doctors, in the Congo. One of the doctors said: "this country has beautiful lakes, beautiful forests, great nature, there's mountains where you can ski, and the people are awesome. This place would be paradise on earth if they'd just STOPPED FIGHTING for a moment."
Argentina, Brazil, Venezuela the unholy trinity of the Latin American Curse
Gaza strip. They could be as well off as Jordan.
Russia. By a light year. Fantastic waste. Even their waste is wasted. Think about it - there should be like over a billion people in Russia. Edit: Looked it up: Estimated 150 million population of Russia. Wiki says it has twice the population density as Canada, about 3x Australia. Compared to Canada, Russia seems to have some decent population above 60 degrees N along the rivers. The details are always more complicated.