[droptablemain]

A great example of "moving the goalposts."

"Educating [the] population" and "building basic infrastructure" is something we're doing a pretty shoddy job of in the U.S., so the attempt to minimize the significance is pretty disingenuous.

What's your criteria for a nation to "actually prosper?" Hyperdriven, rampant, and mind-numbing consumerism? More millionaires? At the expense of the laborers of which colonized nation?

[_dain_]

So prosperous and happy they had to build a wall to keep people out. Oh, wait.