One of the key differences between the developed and developing world is one word, belief. Or hope. Hope that if one works hard, they can improve their condition. Without such hope, hard work becomes harder to justify.

There are clear signs that this hope is quickly fading in the developed world. You can see it in the rise of sports betting, crypto currency, high beta & high flying speculative stock investments, get rich quick schemes, and so on. People no longer buy into the notion of working hard and long at something because they simply don’t see the payoff.