Well, then Portugal (not invaded twice and smashed to pieces in a century) should be richer than Belgium and Holland (blown to bits, slaughtered and battlefield

Well, then Portugal (not invaded twice and smashed to pieces in a century) should be richer than Belgium and Holland (blown to bits, slaughtered and battlefields in ultra war) due to all three ruthlessly exploiting their colonial properties, but suffering different misfortune in the 20th century. And yet this is not so - oddly the liberal democracies (regardless of imperial wickedness) seem to be doing better than recent fascist kleptocracies. This is not a co-incidence; where people are safe and can plan they create positive outcomes. Where they have no idea what is going to happen next and are exposed to bandits they keep their heads down and look after themselves.