system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5; Why/How did some countries end up rich and prosperous while others became poverty stricken?

So what I mean is, why is it that America, England, Australia etc became 'first world countries' and places like India, Vietnam, Sudan etc are poor and decades behind in technologies?
gpt
Most answers so far have included resources as a factor, which is far less important than most people think for the prosperity of a nation. There are many nations that are rich in natural resources but can't seem to get their stuff together (Mexico, many African nations). Natural resources definitely help (Norway has given itself the highest standard of living in the world, mostly thanks to how much oil it is sitting on) but nations can become rich on very limited resources.

The two most important factors in an economically successful nation are *property rights* and *rule of law*. 

If a country has a fair system of propert rights, that is, a fair system for the distribution of resources and property, it will be successful. The most successful countries on Earth all employ free market economics to distribute and divy up resources. Choose any two nations that are in close proximity and have similar attributes; the nation with the freer economy will always grow more prosperous in the long run (North Korea vs. South Korea, East vs. West Germany, Chile vs. Argentina). 

Rule of law has to do with how stable and easy to interpret the legal system of the given nation is. Nations with a constantly shifting political environment will never grow or attract foreign investors (Somolia, many nations in the Middle East or Central America) because people are scared that the legal or political conditions will change after they make their investment.