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> There is a quiet denial about how luxurious modern living is. Absolutely! I genuinely marvel every time I go into a supermarket. I can buy a huge variety of

> There is a quiet denial about how luxurious modern living is. Absolutely! I genuinely marvel every time I go into a supermarket. I can buy a huge variety of delicious foods from all the corners of the globe. 200 years ago a king couldn't eat this well. Also, I have literal robots doing my housework! A robot cleans the floor. A robot cleans the dishes. A robot cleans my clothes. It's nice to take a step back and appreciate all this.

coldtea 8y ago
>200 years ago a king couldn't eat this well A kind 200 years ago couldn't eat this variety. But they could eat very much better -- all free-range, well made, top quality cuts (not hastily made, lower tier BS, with all kinds of additives to increase self-life or make it appear more appealing in the shelves), made fresh on their own premises or bought from the best artisans. And of course all prepared at their whim by their army of personal chefs, and served by an army of servers. And they had all the time they liked to enjoy those things, with friends and family, not having to gulp them down between 60-hour work weeks...
- watwut 8y ago
  > And of course all prepared at their whim by their army of personal chefs, and served by an army of servers. Math says that majority of people were among army of personal chefs and servers not among those being served. So, you are arguing by outliers.
  - exceptione 8y ago
    Parents were talking about kings, not about service people.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]
ForHackernews 8y ago
Reportedly Boris Yeltsin was so floored by a random American supermarket that it help spur him to end the Cold War: https://penetrate.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-randalls-grocery-store-ended-cold.html https://penetrate.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-randalls-grocery-...
- randomdata 8y ago
  If you find that interesting, in a similar vein, a walk through corn and soybean fields in Canada lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-walk-that-changed-the-world https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-walk-that-changed-t...

coldtea 8y ago

>200 years ago a king couldn't eat this well A kind 200 years ago couldn't eat this variety. But they could eat very much better -- all free-range, well made, top quality cuts (not hastily made, lower tier BS, with all kinds of additives to increase self-life or make it appear more appealing in the shelves), made fresh on their own premises or bought from the best artisans. And of course all prepared at their whim by their army of personal chefs, and served by an army of servers. And they had all the time they liked to enjoy those things, with friends and family, not having to gulp them down between 60-hour work weeks...

watwut 8y ago
> And of course all prepared at their whim by their army of personal chefs, and served by an army of servers. Math says that majority of people were among army of personal chefs and servers not among those being served. So, you are arguing by outliers.
- exceptione 8y ago
  Parents were talking about kings, not about service people.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]

ForHackernews 8y ago

Reportedly Boris Yeltsin was so floored by a random American supermarket that it help spur him to end the Cold War: https://penetrate.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-randalls-grocery-store-ended-cold.html https://penetrate.blogspot.com/2013/04/how-randalls-grocery-...

randomdata 8y ago
If you find that interesting, in a similar vein, a walk through corn and soybean fields in Canada lead to the collapse of the Soviet Union. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-walk-that-changed-the-world https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-walk-that-changed-t...