Don Boudreaux over at Cafe Hayek had a very interesting post that I have been thinking about this week. Long story short is that prosperity allows us to complain about the most ridiculous things. Since we do not have to worry much about food and shelter, as our ancestors did, we can now worry about shooting pigeons that poop on our park tables.
Megan McArdle adds to this line of thinking on her blog:
Prosperity allows us to have things that we all now regard as moral requirements. It permits us liberal democracy, a form of social organization that doesn't much work in hunter-gatherer tribes. It enables us to forgo infanticide, a necessary form of population control when Mom has to carry the babies everywhere and an extra unnecessary mouth might doom the whole tribe. It lets us reserve the death penalty for the most heinous violent crimes, because stealing a loaf of bread no longer threatens its owners own nutritional health. We don't have to stone adulterers, because we have enough breathing room that such behavior no longer poses an existential threat to the tribe. Wealth enables charity in the deeper, older sense of the word.
That this is true in no way undermines the decision to be charitable. Morality lies in doing the best you can with what you have. Given that I do have the luxury of finding delicious vegan food and non-leather shoes, I believe I have an obligation to do so. If that should change, I will go back to eating and wearing animal products without moral regret--though with a fair amount of digestive distress.
It's nice to be free.
Showing posts with label prosperity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label prosperity. Show all posts
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Things are not that bad....
It is hard to tell these days, but things really are not that bad. As much as B Hussein and Billary want you to think life has never been worse, it is actually the opposite. Things have never been better. Ignore the politicians and enjoy what you have.
WSJ Op-Ed
WSJ Op-Ed
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
John Adams and The Way Things Were
I have to say that I have really enjoyed watching the first two episodes of John Adams on HBO. Tom Hanks appears to have done a fabulous job of capturing the Spirit of 1776 on film. Perhaps the most satisfying thing for me is just observing how people lived 250 years ago and that is certainly reflected in the program.
Two centuries ago, even the rich people like John Adams did not have indoor plumbing. They had to go to the public hand pumps in the city or pull water from the well when they were at the farm. Today 99% of homes have running water in the US. Homes were also very sparse and they heated with wood or coal. This meant huddling around the fire to stay warm in the winter. On the flip side, the summers were brutal (not to mention they wore those hideous suits and wigs) and you could clearly see the uncomfortableness of even the rich in Philadelphia in July of 1776. Today most American homes have air conditioning, even the "poor."
Abigail Adams, maybe one of the most influential women in American history, yet she could be seen on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor. Personally, I would take the carpeted floor and the vacuum we enjoy today (as would my bride). Abigail also made the decision to infect her children with small pox in hopes that exposure would lessen the chance of the disease being fatal. Today, we have vaccines that have essentially eliminated small pox as opposed to what the disease could have done to entire populations 250 years ago.
Episode two ended with John Adams returning to Philadelphia from Boston, on horseback. There was no airplane, car or even a train to help him make the trip. John Adams had to send correspondence to his wife through courier, not email, not to mention there was no ability to call home on a phone, cell or otherwise.
So when people talk about a return to the good 'ole days, I have to respectfully decline. There was not less stress 250 years ago, just different stresses, like survival. I would bet that there would not be one person 250 years ago that would not trade their position in life then for that of the "poor" person of today. Medical breakthroughs, mechanization, communication and overall standard of living improvement make today's society superior in every way. It was made possible by the Liberty the Founders were able to gain in the summer of 1776.
Two centuries ago, even the rich people like John Adams did not have indoor plumbing. They had to go to the public hand pumps in the city or pull water from the well when they were at the farm. Today 99% of homes have running water in the US. Homes were also very sparse and they heated with wood or coal. This meant huddling around the fire to stay warm in the winter. On the flip side, the summers were brutal (not to mention they wore those hideous suits and wigs) and you could clearly see the uncomfortableness of even the rich in Philadelphia in July of 1776. Today most American homes have air conditioning, even the "poor."
Abigail Adams, maybe one of the most influential women in American history, yet she could be seen on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor. Personally, I would take the carpeted floor and the vacuum we enjoy today (as would my bride). Abigail also made the decision to infect her children with small pox in hopes that exposure would lessen the chance of the disease being fatal. Today, we have vaccines that have essentially eliminated small pox as opposed to what the disease could have done to entire populations 250 years ago.
Episode two ended with John Adams returning to Philadelphia from Boston, on horseback. There was no airplane, car or even a train to help him make the trip. John Adams had to send correspondence to his wife through courier, not email, not to mention there was no ability to call home on a phone, cell or otherwise.
So when people talk about a return to the good 'ole days, I have to respectfully decline. There was not less stress 250 years ago, just different stresses, like survival. I would bet that there would not be one person 250 years ago that would not trade their position in life then for that of the "poor" person of today. Medical breakthroughs, mechanization, communication and overall standard of living improvement make today's society superior in every way. It was made possible by the Liberty the Founders were able to gain in the summer of 1776.
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