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" 

 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.