Q: If successful entrepreneurs keep saying that they didn't run after the money, why did socialism fail?
A: Google’s founders might not have worried about money. But, their investors sure did. If Google were not making money, its investors would not have had money to invest in many of the silicon valley companies.
That is the beauty of capitalism - wealth keeps growing as investors get rich from their past bets and go on to chase newer and newer ideas. It is those capitalists who help ideas grow. It is they who enable the likes of Sergey Brin and Elon Musk get closer to their ideas. It is the absence of such capitalists why the peers of Brin and Musk could not succeed in their home countries of Russia and South Africa.
The reason why plenty of entrepreneurs around the world - from welfare heavens of Scandinavia to former communist societies - are making the journey to the US is because of these “greedy” capitalists - who would invest in your idea & hope to get rich from that. The socialists, on the other hand, have nothing to give to you.
Capital is like oxygen. You don’t need to constantly think about your breathing. But, the moment it is cut off, you die. So, don’t think about getting rich. But, don’t forget that you have to get rich - otherwise no one will be investing in you.
EDIT: People seem to be pad capitalism with a number of irrelevant political issues. Neither Adam Smith nor most great capitalist thinkers are against governments or public investments. Capitalism is about 3 things: a) Allow markets to function freely. b) Allow competition to exist. c) Allow free movement of goods. You can add a whole number of things to this [such as government funded schools and social security] and it can still be capitalism.
Q: Why do Latin America and Africa struggle to develop whereas Asia was able to do so?
A: Most parts of Latin America and many parts of Africa are ahead of India in many of the socioeconomic indicators. Even China trails behind Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and Chile in per capita incomes. It is East Asia [other than China] that had a really fast growth to developed ranks - Japan, S Korea, Taiwan etc.
The East Asian countries [including China] didn’t face the kind of colonialism that Africa had. Africa had a very brutal experience and their territories were randomly cut by foreign powers - messing both natural boundaries and ancient tribal identities. India was among the few major Asian countries that had long periods colonialism and not surprisingly it is also among the poorest in Asia.
Key factor:
Lack of major trade routes: East Asia is highly interconnected with vast sea routes. Even when Japan and China fight they have a very deep trade link. No African country has such a deep trade relationship with their neighbor. The same trouble occurs in South Asia too. Latin American countries are only a shade better, but lag East Asia & Northern Europe significantly.
Trade is the only route to prosperity. Every single developed nation used that path. If you are too cool to trade, you are too cool to become rich.
I have covered other problems in this answer: Why are there so many problems in Africa?
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