Make your mind up, do you want adversity as its character building or do you want an "economically thriving" country where the kids of the future have it 100s of times better than the past?
Actually China and India have been putting us to shame this century so that old excuse doesn't wash. Time for our government to pull its finger out.
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/nasa-says-earth-is-greener-than-ever-thanks-to-china-and-india/