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mleku | 22 hours ago (raw) | root | parent | reply | flag +2 
 i swear the low iodine and selenium in the soil down there makes people so apathetic and fatalistic

i couldn't stand being in this environment where the lowest were dragging everyone down and not hardly anyone was fighting back

literally so few people i met in australia who actually had any spirit, i could count them on maybe 2 hands and several of them don't live there anymore
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Low Information Voter | 13 hours ago (raw) | root | parent | reply | flag +1 
 My grandfather's generation were nothing like us. 

Its not the soil, its the culture.
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Hiraeth | 11 hours ago (raw) | root | parent | reply | flag +1 
 Genes and environment both affect culture and culture to some degree will determine which genes are more prevalent in the next generation, continuing to drive cultural shift.
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mleku | 4 hours ago (raw) | root | parent | reply | flag +1 
 yeah, but the soil doesn't help, it does make people more relaxed and lower energy

which means they are easier to herd around and dominate by the ruling class

so you see culture of passivity is only partly acquired through social interaction, it's also partly based on a biochemical situation, and because people are so passive, when there's something that needs to be fought against, people impede and shrug their shoulders and "she'll be right mate"
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Low Information Voter | 1 hours ago (raw) | root | parent | reply | flag 
 I would suggest the modern culture of snitching is behind more of this than is apparent. And the social atomisation from frequent internal migration and urbanisation.

Our WW2 generation were never described as passive and compliant. Especially not by the British and other europeans.