[shiroiushi]

Because their country doesn't offer the same opportunities to achieve the things they believe they can in their new country. It's the main reason people emigrate. No one's going to build Nvidia in India or China, for instance, at least not back in the time that it was created in America.

[the_real_cher]

America didn't used to be the country that offered those opportunities.

Yet people built it and made it that way.

Nothing is static people csn change anything

These people need to do that in their own countries.

[surgical_fire]

Kind of ironic, considering the whole original population of America (the whole continent) was mostly replaced by immigrants, starting some time after 1492 AD.

[the_real_cher]

well in that context they were conquerors

[surgical_fire]

Colonizers rather than conquerors. Colonizers are effectively migrants, by the very definition of the word.

[defrost]

The British India Company colonisation of India was institutional colonisation.

The company remained for many generations but most (not all) individual British people stationed themselves in India and retired 'home' to England where to whence the money flowed.

Many European countries regarded their "colonies" as places to exploit for resources, places to be travelled to for work for many years, places they didn't regard as 'home'.

There's more to "colonisation" than just simple migration.

Even in Australia the early colonisation was by settler families that were part of larger stay at home families, the black sheep, wayward sons, and fortune seeking adventurers .. in Australia convicts and servant families remained, ultimately a good proportion of the underwritten (from home) settlers stayed .. but initially at least many heads of these families "returned home" to England.

In a similar manner modern USofA has many institutional "colonies" around the globe, bases they've established and never left, these rarely have permanently settled multi generational families.

[the_real_cher]

and those countries that were colonized by Western Civilization countries are very lucky.

they are typically the top performing GDP countries of their region with some of the best quality of life for their citizens

[surgical_fire]

Oh yes. Get the list of countries colonized by the awesome Western Civilization. You will be surprised to learn the world is a lot larger than US and Canada.

[shiroiushi]

The people that built it and made it that way in America were all immigrants.

[the_real_cher]

I didn't know Bell labs employees Steve Jobs and Bill Gates were all immigrants

[ivewonyoung]

Steve Jobs' father and grandparents were Syrian.

[pacerier]

> didn't used to be

That's false. By definition none would have come if there wasn't opportunity. You don't need to be a geography student to see that it wasn't just irreligious opportunity.

[the_real_cher]

do you think opportunity just magically springs up in places or do you think people make it?

[pacerier]

As stated, the geography of north America provides the opportunity, before there were Americans.

Gold rush and stuff is just a bonus, the big money is in cattle and agriculture.

[AnimalMuppet]

People who are looking for opportunity see a place where they could make it.

[cudgy]

Both