Originally Posted by
HawkOwl
Being assertive; being unwilling to live in an economically stifling society; wanting land of their own; wanting to worship their god and many more things does not mean loss of civility and conformity to social mores.
The original point made by some people was that we in America should look to Europe for lessons in how to construct cities that are more human and therefore healthier and more bikeable. My point, which I supported by citing history was that the European cities in particular as they are because of history, not any desire for being more livable. That people left Europe and many other places to come to America to escape that. They wanted their own land, their own economic future. That continues to this day.
These people self-selected, and continue to self-select, to be more aggressive and independent as compared to those who stayed behind. That continues to this day and hopefully will continue into the long future. And, although we are talking about Europeans, the same applies to almost all countries and regions where the residents voluntarily departed a known life for the unknown based on nothing more than hope.
The vast majority left because of oppression of their beliefs, mainly religious. The Pilgrims are a classic example -- they left England, went to Holland initially, were hustled out of there, and then went to North America.
The rapid increase in population in North America came from all sorts of sources, including the oppressed Irish, and let's not forget the forced habitation by African Americans.
It's continuing to happen today in the Middle East and Africa. There are many people who don't want to leave their homelands, but have become refugees because of persecution. There is no self-selection about it, other than self-preservation.