OFF THE WIRE
Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances
which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then —
are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised,
often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking
people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as
sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip
back into abject poverty.
This is known as “bad luck.”
~ Robert Heinlein