Historian Anne McCants notes –
“However, economic
history viewed on shorter time horizons tells us that population size alone is
not enough. Rather, it is in populations where lots of people are both
permitted and capable of “having a go,” to quote my colleague Deirdre
McCloskey, where innovation thrives best.
What allows people
to have a go? Two conditions are critical: 1) being accorded the social dignity
to speak their minds and pursue their own goals; and 2) access to the human
capital that allows them to achieve their full potential. Both of these factors
are severely limited by rigid systems of hierarchy and by the conditions of
poverty.
Hierarchical
systems depend on keeping people in their “place.” And for the majority, being
in place means a priori not having a go. Poverty works its damage through the
second mechanism, namely it sabotages human capital in a process that starts at
birth, indeed even before birth.”