I'm reminded of a certain video of a Chinese guy laying it to some african guy straight about how much of a tech/infrastructure head start they had on China in the wake of colonization, how they squandered and destroyed it all, and are now owned by the Chinese.
Empire of Dust is the documentary you're thinking of, and this is probably the clip in question.
Empire of Dust is the documentary you're thinking of, and this is probably the clip in question.
Yep, that's the one.