70% of the population lived just enough to get by … 29% lived with absolutely nothing … and 1% lived with everything
And it’s still the same today.
Except until very recently, 100% of those people didn’t have refrigerated or canned food. The best they could hope for was smoked or salted. They didn’t have antibiotics or anaesthesia, they had whiskey.
“Just enough to get by” wasn’t “I paid the bills this month”, it was “I fed my children this week.”
Most children died as children. Most adults died from “consumption” (tuberculosis). Almost everyone was literally - constantly - desperately - keeping themselves alive.
It’s not the same today. Far more humans - rich and poor - survive to adulthood, far less humans starve or experience chronic malnutrition, and average human quality of life has skyrocketed.
We have come so far that we cannot imagine life before or life without. And so, many of us have turned against progress in ignorance and apathy. But the human species still has work to do. We still have the chance to ensure that the future remains better than the past.
Except until very recently, 100% of those people didn’t have refrigerated or canned food. The best they could hope for was smoked or salted. They didn’t have antibiotics or anaesthesia, they had whiskey.
“Just enough to get by” wasn’t “I paid the bills this month”, it was “I fed my children this week.”
Most children died as children. Most adults died from “consumption” (tuberculosis). Almost everyone was literally - constantly - desperately - keeping themselves alive.
It’s not the same today. Far more humans - rich and poor - survive to adulthood, far less humans starve or experience chronic malnutrition, and average human quality of life has skyrocketed.
We have come so far that we cannot imagine life before or life without. And so, many of us have turned against progress in ignorance and apathy. But the human species still has work to do. We still have the chance to ensure that the future remains better than the past.