My parents lived much more comfortable lives... grandparents even more so...
Interesting how you stopped at "grandparents".
To be clear, absolutely not intended as any kind of attack on you or what you've written - just some thoughts passed on to me that made it easier to be grateful for that which is in my life, period:
Consider past generations - we're in "the 1%" by that metric alone. No / hardly (any "real") medicine, completely unstable food supplies, other tribes coming over the hills and killing everyone ... and, that's describing more of the "history" part of human existence, to date.* Further, a core bias of psychology is "the golden age bias".** Including feelings as simple as: when events are in the past, things can seem so "neat", "orderly", and ... "simple". Oh for one income to feed a family of four, right? But, how many had that experience - what proportion? And, that ties in with "survivor bias" etc.
Don't get me wrong, instability is a PITA. I get where you're coming from. It's not as though I don't have such thoughts. But, I can always come back to various bits of wisdom I've picked up from a myriad of sources, including a phrasing I've always liked that AFAIK is from Bill Maher:
If you think you have it tough, read history books.
That always helps me to remember that I didn't just watch my village burn to the ground due to the Mongol or European or etc. raiders, my relatives get raped and murdered, my child die of ... well, just about anything ...
... maybe some in this thread will find these ideas useful as well.
* Zooming out a bit more ... I always find it amusing walking in a park, especially - hearing the birds chirping, seeing the squirrels "frolicking" ... what passes for a pleasant "pastoral" experience for us, is filled with advertisements for sex / nasty "neighbor property line disputes" (birds chirping), animals desperately trying to find the next meal or water, etc.
Also just the proportion of people doing HARD jobs. Being a farmer was brutal and not long ago 70% of the population worked in agriculture; now it’s like 2%. Machinery had simplified many tasks from ag labor to even housework. The laundry machine has been a game changer for women I’ve heard.
1000% agree with you that things were much worse once we go beyond grandparents. Just antibiotics and democracy alone have improved every person's life.
>> AFAIK is from Bill Maher: If you think you have it tough, read history books.
Be careful when Conservatives tell you to be complacent or grateful. There is a typical line "you are worrying about your $15hr minimum wage when kids half your age work in coal mines".
You can use such arguments for all sorts of nefarious purposes "you think your public school is overcrowded? go to Africa" "you think healthcare in the US is bad? go to rural Nepal" "you think crime is high in SF? go to 1800s NYC"
But why should we aspire to that? Why not aspire to more?
Interesting how you stopped at "grandparents".
To be clear, absolutely not intended as any kind of attack on you or what you've written - just some thoughts passed on to me that made it easier to be grateful for that which is in my life, period:
Consider past generations - we're in "the 1%" by that metric alone. No / hardly (any "real") medicine, completely unstable food supplies, other tribes coming over the hills and killing everyone ... and, that's describing more of the "history" part of human existence, to date.* Further, a core bias of psychology is "the golden age bias".** Including feelings as simple as: when events are in the past, things can seem so "neat", "orderly", and ... "simple". Oh for one income to feed a family of four, right? But, how many had that experience - what proportion? And, that ties in with "survivor bias" etc.
Don't get me wrong, instability is a PITA. I get where you're coming from. It's not as though I don't have such thoughts. But, I can always come back to various bits of wisdom I've picked up from a myriad of sources, including a phrasing I've always liked that AFAIK is from Bill Maher:
If you think you have it tough, read history books.
That always helps me to remember that I didn't just watch my village burn to the ground due to the Mongol or European or etc. raiders, my relatives get raped and murdered, my child die of ... well, just about anything ...
... maybe some in this thread will find these ideas useful as well.
* Zooming out a bit more ... I always find it amusing walking in a park, especially - hearing the birds chirping, seeing the squirrels "frolicking" ... what passes for a pleasant "pastoral" experience for us, is filled with advertisements for sex / nasty "neighbor property line disputes" (birds chirping), animals desperately trying to find the next meal or water, etc.
** https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Good_old_days