The document compares poor and rich countries, finding that the difference is not due to age, natural resources, or intellectual ability. Rather, the key difference is the attitudes and principles followed by most people in each society. Rich countries became wealthy by embracing principles like ethics, integrity, responsibility, respect for laws, work ethic, savings, and punctuality. In poor countries, only a minority follow these basic principles that are so important to the functioning of developed societies. The document argues that countries are poor not because of external factors but because of deficiencies in attitudes.