Just picturing an alien archaeologist “so, as they stopped being crippled by polio or losing their lives building railroads, they complained about having to wash the dishes?”
I mean, by 1400 the world population was comparable to the modern US. It merely broke the billion people mark by the early 1800s, it took merely another century to double that, and it since did more than 4x straight to 8.2 billion people, so even if the proportion of whiners stayed the same, there’d be so many more of them. Now, to that, consider we now have access to the internet.
Oh yeah, it’s a pure function of tech and numbers. I just find it incredibly ironic.
Most people who have had a thing don’t like losing it and it’s slipping.
Not to mention, that “quality” is really subjective based on location.
Oh absolutely. It’s just compared to thr vast majority of humans who have ever lived, our complaints are sort of like when billionaires nowadays complain about being taxed.
Our lives are almost unimaginably better, somehow doubly so if you are a woman or minority, than most of the entirety of human history. So I find it ironic that there’ll be such a more a significant record about the most relatively pampered people in human history complaining.
thats ignoring the shorter term trend lines backwards for such folks.
Yup! Because even on short term trend lines, most of us in the first world are doing fine relative to the world, which I find incredibly short sighted. Would you trade places with the children who make your clothes?
I think it’s a matter of the difference between the quality of life one COULD have vs what they do have. A couple hundred years ago, even royalty died from diseases that are curable today. Society need 90% of people to be farm labor just to be able to provide for 9% military and 1% aristocracy. Today, we know we COULD have access to things that would substantially improve our quality of life, and could have those things without needing much human labor, but these things are being kept from us.
Maybe numbers to help me explain:
Hundreds of years ago you might have lived at a 1, but the best anyone could hope for was like a 3. Today, you might live at a 3, but everyone could be living at a 9. So it’s the difference between how we DO live, and how we COULD live that people complain about.
This is a great point that has changed how I view this. Thanks
Op, are you familiar with the hedonic treadmill? https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedonic_treadmill
Yeah, but as the quality of life has improved, we have also improved our knowledge and technology to the point where everyone can live a comfortable, generally healthy life, without want for any necessities. But that isn’t happening because of human greed and indifference. And everyone is completely justified complaining about that.
Nowadays we have first world problems, but I wonder if something comparable existed 500 years ago. Maybe city problems?
Oh no, they didn’t have salmon at the fish market, so I had to buy perch instead.
Ahaha, definitely had “royal court” and OG bourgeoisie problems.
“Oh no, my servant lost her leg to an infected toenail and now I hear her peg clomping everytime she walks near!”
That’s comparable to today’s millionaire problems.
Oh no, my Bugatti isn’t blue enough for this event, so I had to drive one of my Lamborghinis instead.
Jesus, I hope that didn’t happen to you!
Fortunately, there was a simple solution: Buy a new Bugatti on the way to the party.
As cameras have taken over, so too has people being caught betraying their trusted positions of power.
Excellent shower thought. Even the most powerful kings and queens of the past would be thrilled to live in today’s times even if religated to what we would consider poverty level living
Source? Vibes bro.
what fucking quality of life is it if I have a phone that sucks ass, and no house to call my own?
EDIT : phones in general suck ass, I’m not saying my phone is worse than someone elses. That’s part of the problem that they’re all “pictures under glass” unwieldy, fiddly pieces of shit
Have you been recruited to go die in a trench? Or seriously worry about starving to death? Or watched a child die of measles, smallpox or whooping cough? Been a literal slave who could be whipped?
Hell, would you even trade places with the children who made your shirt?
Amazing reference, I love smbc.
But, here’s how I imagine our complaints sound to oh, most of the world today:
