That's right. They chose not to.
> most people certainly don't have the means to improve it
There are many, many historical examples of individuals of no means rising to strongly influence and even command a nation. There are also many examples of citizens toppling their government and replacing it.
You know, like the American Revolution, which revolted against the British that ruled the world at the time.
You sound like you subscribe to the "great man" theory of history. That theory is, quite frankly, bunk. No man is an island, and one, single person can't accomplish anything meaningful without the support of others.
You allude to this in another comment, but I do know who you are, and, no, you didn't build that. Everything you accomplished was built on the backs of what people who came before you did, and you got lucky to end up in such a privileged position to be able to even have some of the opportunities you had, much less take advantage of them.
Do you even remember what your argument is? Because I don't.
Yeah, if I'd just watched TV the whole time, the outcome would have been the same. Right?
> single person can't accomplish anything meaningful without the support of others.
Great men go out and get the support of others.
Do you think Apple would have existed without Steve Jobs? SpaceX/Tesla without Musk? The Soviet Union without Lenin? The Church of England without Henry 8? The US without Washington? Why is the US so different from the other North and South American nations? The Haber process without Haber?
Do you know about Norman Borlaug, who is credited with saving over a BILLION lives?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Borlaug
There are great men, and they have great influence over history.
Haber and Borlaug? Yeah, I know they bear a lot of responsibility for overconsumption in the world today.
Likewise for every single person you named. You couldn’t have done what you did had you been born a serf in 1375, and had you been so born, I would wager nobody would know your name even 10 years after you died.
No, sir, you didn’t build that.
I see you admit Jobs did it. Oops!
> what you did
You admit what I did, too. Oops!
> you didn’t
Too late!