And because we're facing several potential species-ending threats which hasn't happened before 1945, and is worse now than it was then.
this post was submitted on 14 Apr 2026
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
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No because we feel like we are on a downward trajectory...
yep. Rand calls it neomedievalism, where we're going back to the peasant/noble tiers
That's the trouble. We feel like we are, but in fact, we are not. Hunger has decreased incredibly over the last decades. Infectious diseases are way down. The standard of living is way up over the last three decades. The tools and technologies available to us are far beyond what former generations even dreamed of. Global conflict deaths are down. The average lifespan has double since 1900.
The average lifespan has double since 1900.
Which is another way of saying child mortality is down, but wait! Look what direction that is trending!
Hunger has decreased incredibly over the last decades.
Food insecurity is currently a big problem for American children and families.
Infectious diseases are way down.
We just ended vaccine mandates, ended funding for RNA vaccines, and infectious diseases are on the rise.
The tools and technologies available to us are far beyond what former generations even dreamed of.
And largely are subscription services designed to prey on us rather than make life easier. I have a robot vacuum that takes more effort and maintenance than my grandparents' Electrolux ever did.
Starting in the year 1900 and going back 300 000 years, would you trade places with the average human on Earth?
Who cares? I can’t time travel.
Food is available but becoming unaffordable. Ownership is being taken away. Simply existing is taking all our wages and then some.
There’s no point in technological progression if it is only being used to extract my life for someone else’s gain.
The point is, you wouldn't because any time before that, the average human worked 10 to 12 hours a day, six days a week, 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. You were a serf or serf-like or a slave. 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. There were no cars, no planes, no electricity, virtually no leisure time. There was minimal heat in winter, no cooling in summer. We are indeed fortunate to be living now.
Keep in mind that your average life expectancy stats include child mortality rates. If you could survive childhood, you had a good chance at living to be over 50.
Frankly, I think my dad's generation had it better. And I think I have it better than my millennial kids. And it looks like they will have it better than my teens.
I wouldn't probably say I'd trade places with the average person because there are a lot of poor folks who have things worse than me. But quality is life in America is getting worse.
Everything you've mentioned is going back up again.
Fun fact: when research showed that vaccination against Covid results in way fewer hospital admissions, Trump blocked the publication.
Lmao could you elaborate please.
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.
People don't know how good they have it. It's ironic that being on Lemmy is likely to speak volumes about one's level of luxury yet people here really, really don't like to be reminded that they are probably doing way better than most people in the world. Definitely unimaginably better than most people in the world in all history.
Yeah the top 1% sucks and capitalism has to be reigned in but there's a lot of people here who are only interested in wallowing in their self-pity with the occasional whimper about how Communism/Socialism/Anarchism etc. would be a totally better system if not for capitalism and if everyone just agreed to do it (and somehow they actually don't see the problem with the argument). They make these posts and then pat themselves on the back about what good activists they are and then return to bitching about things happening half-way across the world but never give a single thought to doing something in their local community (because that would require actually dealing with real humans).
It's kinda like the flip side of people who bitch about taxes not doing anything, while using infrastructure, probably in some level of safety, benefitting from public healthcare (if applicable) and schools etc. but because they're just used to it, they don't realize how big of a difference it makes. Most people on Lemmy have 0 concept of what it's actually like living in an oppressive and corrupt regime. They are addicted to misery because it gives them the reason to be inactive and permanentley outraged. They buy into all the doomscrolling (on their luxury devices, during their luxurious amount of free time) about how much things suck and of course, this just aids the capitalistic system because passive people seething at home about the injustices in the world are always better than active people on the streets trying to actually make a change happen.
What people would need to do: consciously practice gratitude (this gives you energy) over what they have and especially who they have in their life, find LOCAL opportunities to engage in activism and connect with people (opportunities to practice what you preach too).
What's easier to do: sit on your device, get angry about another injustice in the world, feel exhausted with "all the bad stuff in the world", don't do anything but post another meme that perpetuates the cycle.
Also, inb4 Mr. Gotcha meme. Yeah, go ahead, compare yourself to a serf who couldn't even imagine the level of comfort you're living in.
Totally. I don't know if it's unique to Lemmy (I'm not on other social medias) or a movement in general, but there seems to be some kind of satisfaction in being able to say how terrible like is. I've lived in a third world country and am a history author. We in the west have it really good in comparison.
Lemmy is like "OMG MY INTERNET IN THE 90s! gOoD oL' dAyS!"
I'm like: Bitch, my family didn't even have internet till 2010 when we emigrated from China
And we had to boil water... was a culture shock to hear about just... filing up a cup water at the sink...
It's also one of the most peaceful times in human history, which is saying a lot about the past.
So how is it the best times if the last generation had it better. People are frustrated because life is getting worse due to income disparity. The same thing that caused the last bad time during the depression.
So how is it the best times if the last generation had it better.
The sentence was "one of the best", not "the best", so it's not a contradiction at all.
Ultimately my point was if the wealthy had it as relatively bad as the plebs the upset would be less. People don't like sacrificing for people of much greater privelege having a bit more.
I said, "one of the best times." There may be .001 % of times that were better than the present. Surely you can't expect to live in the very best time of the 300 000 years of human existence.
The thing again though is if it was a case where the ones with the most made as much or really the most sacrifice. I bet not many people would be frustrated. But when you are forced sacrifice so the world can see the first trillionaire be birthed. thats a big rasberries all around.
It has always been like this relatively speaking, in post hunter/gatherer society. Except there was a very small middle class in those days The nobles as compared to the serfs were the same. Except that the serfs hung at the edge of survival whereas we have indoor plumbing, decent shelter, electricity, tv, internet, healthcare, workers rights, and the priviledge of travel.
eyup and if it was 50 years ago we would add paid off home property and secure pensions. It has gotten better except when it doesn't.
Can I get some of what you're smoking, OP? That's some top-tier copium.
Define better. Net worth or something?
My parents had a way worse life than mine was. Maybe yours had a better life than you?
The only people I know who seem to legit feel this way are the rich kids who are mad they won't be richer than their parents. Like temper tantrum butthurt they won't own a big house and a giant SUV car their parents drive. But they spend all their money traveling and drinking and eating at expensive restaurants anyway...
Home ownership, retirement. My janitor dad payed off a 5 bedroom house in a nice suburb with no education (he did not just not graduate high school he never went at all) and had a nice retirement. I have a masters and dual major bachelors and can't afford to live in a free standing house (and luckily could not afford to have kids). travel - nope, drinking - long term less than once a year, expensive restaurants - nope, heck can't even afford fast food at this point. Sounds to me like your social group is all rich kids. Heck I grew up with rich kids and still don't know any.
You have a masters, in what?
The median salary for a MA holder is 95K. More than enough to afford a nice home in most places in the USA outside of HCOL. And a good quality of life.
Education but my bachelors degrees are microbiology and chemistry although I work in IT. You have to have a job to be making that and that is more difficult outside of HCOL areas. 95K in a city with a metro is barely enough to afford a place but likely not a stand alone home. Truly HCOL like new yor or san fran its have a few roomates. Aslo these jobs often do not have pensions and the people in it have serial unemployment over the course of their careers. They were not making something like that for 30 years. My father did way more than have a nice home. I mean it was kinda ramshackled but most folks would be ga ga to have it today. It was very much like the family at the start of caddy shack. That size house, single salary, with that many kids. Pension to boot. Thats a pipe dream for anyone who did not start workin in the eighties and even then unlikely. Xers are just about to start retiring and oh man is it going to be a trump show with social security barely covering medicare costs now. Combine that with no pension and savings only if someone is very successful like myself. So super successful today is < typical pleb of yesteryear.
Are you AI? You write like it.
Thats kinda funny gvien how other people complain about my writing. Usually people put stuff into ai to get a more well formatted and grammar correct writing. I think you could take a min and look at my profile and make a better determination.
your profile makes me think you are not a human being at all. nothing about you seems real. you write like child.
I don't put enough time in my writing. I will give you that but were is this going. What are you going to do with your belief? Talk me to death.