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Notes -
South America isn't even that rich, so much of it is worthless jungle full of terrible creatures that eat you alive. They do have a lot of metallic minerals. But the US alone probably started off with more fossil fuels than all of South America combined, American resources are staggering.
Much of it's probably been drilled up by now but still, the US is the biggest oil and gas producer right now... Americans are far too eager to credit their institutions as opposed to their massive resource wealth, river networks, sea access, fertile soil and (most importantly) high performing demographics. Many have tried to copy US institutions and found it unhelpful, it's like rich people humblebragging about how they worked so hard. Hard work is some of the answer but it is not the most important thing, compared to working smart, being in the right place at the right time...
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