> I maintain that the lives of most people—while measurably better in many ways—are not fundamentally different than they were 100 years ago. Average hours wor

> I maintain that the lives of most people—while measurably better in many ways—are not fundamentally different than they were 100 years ago. Average hours worked per week was about 25% more than today, with much more of your earnings going to necessity. Your odds of surviving from 18 to retirement age were roughly 50-50. You might not expect to be able to afford to actually retire depending upon your occupation. > Substitute laptop for radio and that story is still happening today. A cheap radio in 1923 cost far more than a cheap laptop today. Even more so if we compare to typical wages, and even more so if we compare to disposable income. > So I reject OP’s premise that the “growth” of the economy is unsustainable or somehow alarming. Resource intensity per person is far higher than in 1923. See the graph on page 3 of https://pubs.usgs.gov/annrev/ar-23-107/aerdocnew.pdf https://pubs.usgs.gov/annrev/ar-23-107/aerdocnew.pdf