Those that have left a small town can see how this happens. Look at all your friends who "left" and then compare to those who stayed behind. I would bet, on average, those that leave home are more attractive and substantially more intelligent. If you "left home" u likely never really fit in with those that stayed townies. they resented you. Perhaps gave you a hard time for having all the answers in class, etc. There was something different about you and "they" new it. You new it too, so u left for the bigger world. There, in essence, is the very beginings of seperate peoples. Townies, those who "stay behind" are on average lower in IQ, and left with only their own genetically similar stock to breed with, stay that way. those that move on Breed with those like themselves, further improving their own stock. Play this out over 1000's of years in 1000's of different contexts, and then think of the demographics and IQ distributions we see on the globe today. ...Some major speculations on my part but an interesting notion.
The Amish are Christians, but their take on Christianity is about natural living and not chasing materialism. So they don't seek riches in this world the way so many Christians do. Not just religion, there are non religious people who aren't into chasing material wealth, though America as a whole has place material wealth as the number on goal for the Jones's to keep up with... However the person came to their wealth and influence, either through their own hard work from humble beginnings, or by inheritance, or by favors because of where they graduated, or because of their ethnicity or religion... There is no doubt that those who have wealth and power to influence government do so as much as possible. Some will argue that because they have more money and influence, they have the right to use it to shape policy, this is sort of a "Law of the jungle" or a "Might makes right" argument... Others argue that a small group of people have undue influence on our government. I view the latter argument as American and towards the real goal of the early Americans who were trying to escape the monarchy mentality of England... When one person's vote isn't worth as much as the next guy, because the next guy can influence politicians and shape policy through their wealth and power...then it isn't either a democracy, nor a representative democracy... It is an oligarchy... There really is no way that a mere 2% of a population should have as much influence as we see, not if the goal is to have genuine democracy... Real public servants would shun the oligarchy model which is what we have in play in America...
You are right that the Amish don't seek materialistic ends, it is quite funny, that the Amish have amassed quite a bit of wealth. They operate at such a disadvantage to the their counter-parts who use electric devices, but they have managed by hard work and producing quality products. My house was constucted by an Amish builder and I have to say the construction is spot on. When I go to my friend's houses that were produced by large cookie cutter construction companies, the houses seem shoddy and not durable. There has been several cases where there were winds of 40+ mph but I didn't even realize it till I went outside because the house didn't budge. Everyone now-a-days is looking for the get rich quick deal, but it is truly amazing how much money you can make by putting out a quality product. It seems society doesn't value that anymore.
Jesus and Moses were strolling by the Red Sea, when Moses nudged Jesus and said, "Psst. Hey, Jesus, I've still got it." Moses turned towards the Red Sea and lifted his staff on high. The angels began to sing, the gentle sea breeze turned into a raging gale, and the waters of the Red Sea were parted. Moses lowered his arms and, with a smug grin on his face, turned back to face Jesus. Jesus scoffed. "Moses, my boy," said the Messiah, "I have still got it." And with a flourish of his robes, Jesus stepped onto the waters of the Red Sea and began to stride across without so much as a ripple. But to Moses' amazement, halfway across the water, Jesus suddenly began to sink. He splashed into the water and began to choke and flounder as the waves tossed him around. Moses grumbled at Jesus' sillyness and parted the water once more. Moses helped Jesus back to shore, as the Saviour hacked up salt water. When they had finally reached shore, Moses slapped a consoling hand on Jesus' shoulder and said, "Don't worry about it, Lord. Last time you tried it, you didn't have holes in your feet." Did a historical Jesus exist? http://nobeliefs.com/exist.htm