[est31]

> maybe a rise in fortunes will make people yearn for freedoms they don’t have.

Actually this is a big thing already now as rich chinese people invest in western properties that the Chinese government can't seize.

If you are rich in an authoritarian country, all of your wealth can vanish quickly if you fall out of favour of the people who rule. This doesn't even have to be your own contribution, they can just say they take it. If you are rich in a western democracy, nothing much can happen to you.