Civilized and extremely rich. I grew up in a country with a welfare system probably as supportive as the Nordics, as a percentage of national wealth (I didn't check the figures). I can assure you that my musician friends that didn't give up on a music career (as I did), most certainly have to make sacrifices to make ends meet. Granted, at least they don't have to fear generational debt in case they get an unlucky draw in the health lottery.

My country is only a hundred years old and started as nothing but farmers fighting for independence. We're not just "rich" - we organized ourselves exceptionally efficiently and gained wealth from doing so, even while paying war reparations to Russia and investing massively into the unbelievably generous social safety net we still enjoy today.

Literally any peoples around the Earth can do it, if they really want to.

That feeling of "really want to" is enshrined in the Finnish language as "sisu", "described as stoic determination, tenacity of purpose, grit, bravery, resilience, and hardiness."

I wonder if you've ever argued in real life, with real people, that there are no civilized societies in Africa. I'm curious how it went if you did.

I don't know enough about Africa to argue that. They seem to be getting their shit together fairly rapidly from a history of exploitation and oppression, but wouldn't know how far along they are.

So what are the uncivilized countries you're talking about?

Any country where one is forced to work a job they don't want in order to afford the basic necessities of life and able to pursue their passion in the vanishingly tiny amount of free time they have left after that.

Ok, so there are no civilized societies in Africa per your definition.