Comment by renewiltord

That's true. If you're African, your talent goes wasted. If you're British, the smartest guy ends up working on gov.uk for £40k/year. If you're American, the smartest guy ends up a billionaire.

The "more meaning" business is cope because as societies add more ability to excel, people of ability switch into economically rewarding activities at a high rate.

There's a nice middle where you can exploit them for positive externalities. In the past, through religion (many monks were undoubtedly great researchers) and today through a mediocre (but not awful) society.