No, it's because we empower the elite, who BECOME rich by destroying everyone else's FREEDOM.
It took 2000 years for an Italian to invent radio, because Julius Caesar didn't NEED it since he had messengers; and for a Scotsman to invent steam-power, since Caesar had all the manpower he wanted.
And even when the Founders provided political equality... fools found a way to louse THAT up as well, through political illiteracy.
(You really believe, don't you, that people consent to their government simply by voting in elections to determine the 545 ruling elite?)