I'm from Latin America and many countries here have more-than-decent resources to make things happen, but the difference between us and Norwegians is trust, and that changes it all. Take a look at Brazil, for example. There were over 20 megaconstructions planned for the World Cup and one one of them was completed, the Maracana stadium. That's just an insane amount of corruption. So, what happens? Well, since everyone's stealing, I might as well try to get my piece of the cake, and that's when people start to become selfish A-holes for lack generation after generation. We need a new mindset, better governments and trust. Lots of trust.
They're, in theory, sitting on the world's largest oil reserves. Meanwhile their production has been falling for 15 years because the government, under Chavez and now, has squandered the opportunity.
They have somewhere between $10 trillion and $30 trillion in proven oil reserves, depending on who you believe (either way it's immense). They should be one of the wealthiest countries in history, right now. That's despite the challenges around extraction and the quality of their heavy oil.
That's a great example, as well. Although it gets even worse when you realize what kind of government they're under. I mean, it's almost a dictatorship. It's all just a big pitty over another.
