Many people think the biggest attraction of developed countries is higher income, better infrastructure, and more vibrant cities. But all of that is just surface appearances. The real competitiveness of developed countries is that the whole society can operate with lower friction costs. Handling everyday matters doesn’t require people to pull strings through layers of connections; cooperation doesn’t require repeatedly testing each other; protecting one’s rights doesn’t rely on emotions and conflicts. Most of the time, people only need to follow the rules to achieve relatively certain outcomes. The most valuable thing in a society isn’t enabling a small number of elites to succeed—it’s allowing ordinary people to live through normal, rational, and dignified means. High-rise buildings can be completed within a few years, but a low-friction social environment often requires decades and even beyond a hundred years of accumulated rules, accumulated trust, and accumulated civilization. In a sense, the greatest wealth of developed countries isn’t money—it’s that being civilized becomes a low-cost option.