3 ms·
The level of stress, and the toll it takes on mental health that we experience today is very low compared to a time when productivity and income were 20x lower.
by nickff 11y ago
The level of stress, and the toll it takes on mental health that we experience today is very low compared to a time when productivity and income were 20x lower.
Our lives have changed, and we are immensely richer than we were 100 or even 50 years ago. People have more mobility, options, and opportunity than ever before in human history. One can argue that certain policies or priorities have affected our lives for the better or worse, but we should not try to compare the relatively minor difficulties we face with those of our forebearers, who left us in a life of luxury.
- braythwayt 11y agoEverything you say is true in aggregate, but let’s not forget that the future is still unevenly distributed.
- xacaxulu 11y agoThis 'feels' accurate, but I don't know how worthwhile it is to say 'well it was shittier back then so...'. People commit suicide, relationships are ruined and diseases appear due to the kind of stressors described in the Amazon exposés. They're worthy of being considered today, in context, not compared to British coal workers in the past or whatever.
- x5n1 11y ago> The level of stress, and the toll it takes on mental health that we experience today is very low compared to a time when productivity and income were 20x lower. How could you possibly know this. Stress is completely subjective, and so is its effect on mental health. Lots of animals in the wild have a much more supposedly stressful life but curl up and die in captivity where everything is provided for. I would say the experience that we have with work is similar subjectively regardless of modern convenience. Especially workers working in Amazon warehouses on their feet 10-11 hours a day and at times with no air conditioning.