 
during the last 300 years, more than in any other time in world history, 
large numbers of people migrated from one place to another. 
millions left their homes to settle in some foreign land. 
they tore themselves away from family and friends. 
they left all the familiar things to enter a new, strange world. 
what causes a person to do such a thing? 
why does he turn his back on his birthplace for some unfamiliar world? 
three words will help us understand this: dissatisfaction, attraction, and 
personality. 
a person who is happy and prosperous in his hometown will have little 
reason to move away. 
it is the dissatisfied people who pack up and go. 
people become dissatisfied for many reasons. 
perhaps there are no job opportunities and no chance to get ahead. 
perhaps there is not enough food. 
some people become tired of being poor and living in crowded, unhealthful 
slums. 
others leave to escape persecution by their neighbors or by the government 
because they have a different religion. 
they may think it is better to move than to be beaten up. 
finally, people may be dissatisfied with the undemocratic government in 
their homeland. 
a dissatisfied person wants a place that is an improvement over his 
present home. 
there is no point in going to another community that is exactly the same, 
or worse. 
people are attracted to places where there is a chance to make a good 
living. 
also, some people search for a place where their beliefs will be 
tolerated, where they will be free to be themselves. 
