3 ms·
> Beyond the fact that we have access to all kinds of technology that did not exist 70 years ago even for the richest people on the planet This is a standard e
by tivert 2y ago
> Beyond the fact that we have access to all kinds of technology that did not exist 70 years ago even for the richest people on the planet
This is a standard element of conservative/libertarian gaslighting: "Do not complain about your precarity or inequality, because you HAVE COLOR TV!!! OMG, NOT EVEN KINGS OF OLD, COLOR TV!@!! FOCUS ON THE TV, IT'S COLOR!!112!!"
> It’s not really our fault: Humans have memories that are both short and bad, which leads us to forget just how bad many things used to be in even the recent past, and take for granted the improvements that have been made.
That works both ways. Bad things can become the new normal, the degradation only clearly visible at the transition, then fogotten.
- bryanlarsen 2y agoIt's not just color TV. For example, people in the 2020's eat a lot more restaurant meals than people in the past did. Yet restaurant meals are more expensive today relative to other goods than they were in the past. Virtually all consumables show similar patterns. For example, housing is significantly more expensive than it was in the past, yet square foot of living space per person has increased substantially.
- M95D 2y agoHaving a house would bring me a lot more happiness than a TV and eating frequently at a restaurant. In fact, having a house would bring me a lot more happiness than all tech improvements in the last 30 years combined.
- xnx 2y ago> This is a standard element of conservative/libertarian gaslighting I think a lot of things are worse than they once were, but there's also no other point in human history I'd rather live in than the present.