It might have been due to that, in part. We as a society wouldn't stand for a lifestyle like that of your reality, mostly because we aren't sheep, we're people with our own minds, own opinions, and ultimately our own choices on what we want to do. What happened with your world was something nobody wanted to see happen in ours.
But that was just MY reality. It could be different in this one, but the fact of the matter is that what happened to you personally was something that we learned from not just as individuals, but as an entire world.
Anyone who's read that book knows that it's something not to live up to, but to fear.