Humanity has been around for around 300 000 years. For the first 95 % of that, we were hunter/gatherers - ravaged by disease, tribal wars, accidents, exposed to the elements, no running water, no toilets, no doctors, no electricity, no easy transportation, the average lifespan between 25 and 33 years. For the next 4.5 % the average human was a serf, serf-like or a slave - worked 10 to 12 hours a day, six days a week(or more), no vacation, lived to about 50, had no doctors, no indoor toilet, no indoor water. Water was likely a long distance away and had to be carried by hand to your hovel. Worker’s rights were virtually non-existant. You had intestinal parasites with no health care to relieve you. You were at the whim of the wealthy. Up to half of children didn’t make it to the age of 5. 4 % of women died in childbirth. Women were treated as property. There were no cars, no planes, no electricity, virtually no leisure time. There was minimal heat in winter, no cooling in summer. It is only in the last 0.1 % of our history that we (on average) have had any kind of comfort. We are indeed fortunate to be living now.
Humanity has been around for around 300 000 years. For the first 95 % of that, we were hunter/gatherers - ravaged by disease, tribal wars, accidents, exposed to the elements, no running water, no toilets, no doctors, no electricity, no easy transportation, the average lifespan between 25 and 33 years. For the next 4.5 % the average human was a serf, serf-like or a slave - worked 10 to 12 hours a day, six days a week(or more), no vacation, lived to about 50, had no doctors, no indoor toilet, no indoor water. Water was likely a long distance away and had to be carried by hand to your hovel. Worker’s rights were virtually non-existant. You had intestinal parasites with no health care to relieve you. You were at the whim of the wealthy. Up to half of children didn’t make it to the age of 5. 4 % of women died in childbirth. Women were treated as property. There were no cars, no planes, no electricity, virtually no leisure time. There was minimal heat in winter, no cooling in summer. It is only in the last 0.1 % of our history that we (on average) have had any kind of comfort. We are indeed fortunate to be living now.
It’s also one of the most peaceful times in human history, which is saying a lot about the past.