So what makes America and Europe so attractive to millions, and what are the reasons for their dominance for the past 500 years? Simply put, America and Europe have been successful in creating an infrastructure that is of the highest quality in human history.

There were several steps taken intentionally or un-intentionally by kings, queens, presidents, rulers, governors, businessmen, industrialists, academicians, scientists, scholars, clergy and citizens jointly or individually over the span of a few hundred years that no other country can lay claim to. From the dark ages, it started with the Renaissance (14^th–17^th century), the Age of Exploration (1492–1800), the Scientific Revolution (1550–1700), Enlightenment (17^th–18^th century), and Industrial Revolution (1760 forward). Add to this mix the other critical ingredients: Capitalism, Democracy, Consumers, Modern Medicine, Constitution, Law and Order, Freedom, Property Rights, Individual Rights and Religious Tolerance, and you have the most powerful concoction directly benefiting humanity that was ever created.

The infrastructure that the West created has allowed people to think freely, raised living standards, created new jobs in industries that did not exist 10, 30 or 50 years ago, provided a better understanding of different cultures due to the increased travel and observance and unmatched economic opportunity. The pursuit of new knowledge created higher learning institutions. As people learned, they asked questions, some of which could be answered and others that could not, which resulted in further research and investigation.

One can argue that the road to Western dominance involved wars, imperialism, slavery, suffering, death and misery, but in spite of all those negative events, human beings are better off today than they could have been otherwise.