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Not necessarily. Think of life in poor neighborhoods today. People can be competitive over limited resources or status within their world of poverty. And the constant threat of violence ("prepared for war") can even exacerbate this dynamic.

Yet at the same time all larger ambitions -- those which could threaten the people with real power -- are thwarted.

One sector of the population is dull and complacent, the other are fiercely competing for limited spots at higher eds and tech companies with 2% acceptance rates

yeah agree, plus not sure I believe that poverty reduces ambition

It may. You don't dream of becoming president; you dream of having enough money to have both an apartment and food. You have just as much ambition, but the ambition is for smaller things. You therefore are not threatening the political power of those who have it.

It isn't poverty that reduces ambition, it's that poverty has crushingly enormous cognitive overhead.