In 1813, a wealthy American man wishes to communicate with a friend who lives far away. He writes a letter with ink and a quill, updating his friend on his life and asking him about his family. The letter will arrive to his friend a little over a week later on horseback.
He bathes once a week with a basin of water shared by the entire family.
Fever, smallpox and cholera are a major source of worry. Getting sick can mean death.
In 2013, a poor American man wants to communicate with a friend who lives far away. He sends him a text on his iphone, it arrives on his friend’s phone almost instantly. It is a picture of a butt.
If he wants to bathe, he hops in the shower.
If he gets hungry, there is a fast food restaurant with a dollar menu right down the road. Or if he is sensible, 30 servings of Oatmeal are like 3 bucks.
Vaccines and medicine like antibiotics take care of the devastating medical worries of the past.
Let’s bring it back into focus:
Is our measure of how “rich” or “poor” someone is just relative to those around them? Does that make it pretty much irrelevant in determining actual quality of life?
and
How much sympathy do you have for “poor” people, really?
