> other half Flip that and you can argue that the first half (half!) of the population lives in a way that would be viewed as leisurely less than a century ago

> other half Flip that and you can argue that the first half (half!) of the population lives in a way that would be viewed as leisurely less than a century ago. If anything, that makes the polarization even bigger, because the other half has every right to ask "why not me" and resent. I think GP's comment however had a tone of "despite all those luxuries, people are actually wasting their lives", which is another angle to the whole situation.