You're right, I'm rather callously assuming that this writer, formerly of The New Republic and now The Atlantic, has benefited from advances in health care and

You're right, I'm rather callously assuming that this writer, formerly of The New Republic and now The Atlantic, has benefited from advances in health care and medical technology, better and more reliable cars, cheaper and more varieties of food and clothing, international travel, free communication that would have seemed like science fiction a handful of years ago, pervasive access to culture of all kinds in all languages in all media, the ability to participate in labor markets, local and global, that did not exist a decade ago, and video lectures from leading scholars at top universities from all over the world on every conceivable topic available upon request for zero dollars in the convenience of his own home or wherever else he happens to go anywhere on Earth. I don't know how I could have been so thoughtless.