4 ms·

On average, middle class and below lives longer and more confortable than in the previous thousands of years.

by nomdep 5y ago

Clubber 5y ago
When you go back thousands of years, it's pretty easy assertion to make. How about the last 40? Are we really better off in totality or just different? I can think of some things that are better, but I can think of a bunch of things that are much worse.
- kijin 5y ago
  Why focus on the last 40 years as opposed to the last 4, 400 or 40000 years? Anyone can pick two convenient points on the timeline and argue that things got worse over that period, but larger trends are harder to overlook. Stock prices have fallen a bit this week compared to last week, and some stocks are doing worse than others. It doesn't mean the market generally hasn't been rallying for the last decade or so.
- danans 5y ago
  > How about the last 40? Are we really better off in totality or just different? IMO in the last 40 years it has become harder (more expensive) for those who have had it a bit better off to separate themselves both physically and culturally from those who are a lot worse off (regardless of why they are worse off). All the while the cost and accessibility of erstwhile public goods that temper that desire for that separation, like safety and education, have skyrocketed. That separation and the inequality behind it has doubtlessly been enabled by a heap of injustices. The effects of this are seen in situations spanning from police brutality to current refugee migration crises. We haven't been able to as effectively outsource pain and chaos to others (whether in our own backyard or the other side of the planet) while shielding ourselves from the blowback like we once did. Therefore people feel worse off, not because they are necessarily worse off, but because they fear that the nearing chaos will make them permanently worse off. The richest <1% don't have to directly deal this problem, since they can easily still pay for that separation.
lm28469 5y ago
Length of life and comfort don't mean much once you reached the bare minimum. If you have running water, central heating, a mattress and own any kind of motorised vehicle you live a more comfortable life than any medieval king. So yeah, sure, we have netflix, smart bulbs and food delivery. Can you sustain a family as easily as your grandparents ? Will you retire as early as them ? Will you acquire an house as easily and as early ? How meaningful is your job ? The endgame of "length and comfort" is to live in some kind of coma pod like in The Matrix, you'd probably live to 150 years in absolute comfort https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_93 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Let...
- Clubber 5y ago
  There's an old bluegrass song called "I'll Fly Away," the music is very happy and upbeat. When you listen to the lyrics, you realize it's a slave song about how the narrator is looking forward to death so they can escape the horrible life they are living. The point of that is just because we live longer doesn't mean we live better.
  - all2 5y ago
    For more on the song: http://www.trialanderrorcollective.com/collective-collab-blogs--playlists/ill-fly-away-a-brief-history-of-the-quintessential-gospel-song-and-ten-great-renditions http://www.trialanderrorcollective.com/collective-collab-blo...
  - germinalphrase 5y ago
    Relevant African American Folktale: “The People Could Fly” https://www.wheelcouncil.org/stories/the-people-could-fly/ https://www.wheelcouncil.org/stories/the-people-could-fly/
  - NateEag 5y ago
    A few point out that 1) A ton of bluegrass sets grim, sad lyrics to bouncy major music - it's pretty much how the genre works 2) I'll Fly Away is a Christian song, so it's not exactly "looking forward to death" so much as "looking forward to heaven and communion with God". Granted, those two things are closely linked in the religion.

On average, middle class and below lives longer and more confortable than in the previous thousands of years.

by nomdep 5y ago

On average, middle class and below lives longer and more confortable than in the previous thousands of years.

When you go back thousands of years, it's pretty easy assertion to make. How about the last 40? Are we really better off in totality or just different? I can think of some things that are better, but I can think of a bunch of things that are much worse.

kijin 5y ago
Why focus on the last 40 years as opposed to the last 4, 400 or 40000 years? Anyone can pick two convenient points on the timeline and argue that things got worse over that period, but larger trends are harder to overlook. Stock prices have fallen a bit this week compared to last week, and some stocks are doing worse than others. It doesn't mean the market generally hasn't been rallying for the last decade or so.
danans 5y ago
> How about the last 40? Are we really better off in totality or just different? IMO in the last 40 years it has become harder (more expensive) for those who have had it a bit better off to separate themselves both physically and culturally from those who are a lot worse off (regardless of why they are worse off). All the while the cost and accessibility of erstwhile public goods that temper that desire for that separation, like safety and education, have skyrocketed. That separation and the inequality behind it has doubtlessly been enabled by a heap of injustices. The effects of this are seen in situations spanning from police brutality to current refugee migration crises. We haven't been able to as effectively outsource pain and chaos to others (whether in our own backyard or the other side of the planet) while shielding ourselves from the blowback like we once did. Therefore people feel worse off, not because they are necessarily worse off, but because they fear that the nearing chaos will make them permanently worse off. The richest <1% don't have to directly deal this problem, since they can easily still pay for that separation.

lm28469 5y ago

Length of life and comfort don't mean much once you reached the bare minimum. If you have running water, central heating, a mattress and own any kind of motorised vehicle you live a more comfortable life than any medieval king. So yeah, sure, we have netflix, smart bulbs and food delivery. Can you sustain a family as easily as your grandparents ? Will you retire as early as them ? Will you acquire an house as easily and as early ? How meaningful is your job ? The endgame of "length and comfort" is to live in some kind of coma pod like in The Matrix, you'd probably live to 150 years in absolute comfort https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Letter_93 https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Moral_letters_to_Lucilius/Let...

Clubber 5y ago
There's an old bluegrass song called "I'll Fly Away," the music is very happy and upbeat. When you listen to the lyrics, you realize it's a slave song about how the narrator is looking forward to death so they can escape the horrible life they are living. The point of that is just because we live longer doesn't mean we live better.
- all2 5y ago
  For more on the song: http://www.trialanderrorcollective.com/collective-collab-blogs--playlists/ill-fly-away-a-brief-history-of-the-quintessential-gospel-song-and-ten-great-renditions http://www.trialanderrorcollective.com/collective-collab-blo...
- germinalphrase 5y ago
  Relevant African American Folktale: “The People Could Fly” https://www.wheelcouncil.org/stories/the-people-could-fly/ https://www.wheelcouncil.org/stories/the-people-could-fly/
- NateEag 5y ago
  A few point out that 1) A ton of bluegrass sets grim, sad lyrics to bouncy major music - it's pretty much how the genre works 2) I'll Fly Away is a Christian song, so it's not exactly "looking forward to death" so much as "looking forward to heaven and communion with God". Granted, those two things are closely linked in the religion.