&gt;  then because of that the poor in Africa are in someways richer than the oilmen of &quot;Dallas&quot;.<p>Not really; they&#x27;re still poor, what actually happened is the world changed making things only once not available to anyone available to everyone.  That really has no bearing on rich vs poor.  Saying I&#x27;m richer today than Henry the VIII is clearly wrong, even though I have access to much greater technology and can do things he couldn&#x27;t, he&#x27;s was still vastly wealthier with the ability to do whatever he wanted.