> but they are a far cry from what would have been there had the preexisting social orders not been intentionally decimated and if their resources had been spent on their own development rather than Europe’s.

That's a big if. Of course they would be much richer if they were organized and stable enough to manage mineral resources in way that the profits went to their own development. But the whole problem is they didn't have that organization, so they couldn't. How do you pay for public services when you don't have a strong enough government? How do you secure the money when everyone is a sell-out?