On 23 December 2014 at 10:03, LizR <[email protected]> wrote: > On 23 December 2014 at 00:07, Telmo Menezes <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Modern societies provide more potential freedom, for sure. I could >> theoretically travel to almost any part of the world I desire and be there >> having breakfast before Christmas. >> >> Do modern societies provide more real freedom? Consider the life of the >> peasants under european medieval feudalism. The modern view on this part of >> history is that peasants had much more free time to use as they pleased in >> comparison to modern middle class workers. >> >> Consider even kids. They are less free than they ever were. These days, >> their entire lives consist of structured activities (which is necessary to >> accommodate their parents also highly structured lives). >> > > I absolutely agree with you on this. I always pooh-pooh anyone who harks > back to some mythical "golden age" of rustic simplicity and new age-ness, > but I also agree that THIS isn't a golden age either. The awful thing is > that this actually could be, but of course the system has been hijacked by > a few ultra rich people ... "because they're worth it" ... while everyone > else is stuck in the shoulders-to-the-wheel noses-to-the-grindstone to > support them. So on that basis it's just medievalism wearing suits rather > than crowns. Why is Apple Inc worth more than Sweden? Because the Swedes > don't employ enough Third World slavery... > > And yet 50 years ago some of us were hoping for a technological utopia. > Turns out it wasn't for everyone, just the lucky few. The rest of us (the > "99%") get "bread and circuses". >
Oh and I just learned (the Qi book of 1411 facts is wonderful!) that Medieval peasants ate twice as many calories as the average person does now. I assume that means (being QI) the average persons / peasant in the UK rather than globally. Still, maybe it was a golden age after all... -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
