[yaix]

Actually, its the other way around. Don't even dare to mention stability or you get lynched in the West.

Ask people in Rhuanda/Burundi what happened when their dictator president got shot down. Or in Somalia. Or how the real situation in Iraq or Afghanistan is. Sometimes stability actually is paramount. It's even empirically measurable and relates to average household income. But I don't want to bore you with science on the topic. There are many books and papers on the topic. And its not just theory, I am living in developing and "unfree" countries for many years to see the practical part as well.

Stuff's not just "black and white" -- there is a lot more to it.

But that wasn't the topic of this debate anyways.

[blake8086]

This also seems just patently obvious: why would you bother trying to create wealth if someone is likely to come along and steal it from you?

[william42]

Out of curiosity, can you link to the science on the topic?

[yaix]

A few good reads on the topic are F. Fukuyama "Trust: Social Virtues and the Creation of Prosperity" and P. Collier "The bottom Billion" and "Wars, Guns and Votes: Democracy in Dangerous Places".