Okay, there is a lot wrong with
society today, but what are we comparing it to?
(Note that throughout the
comments below, I am referring to
our society, the society that has the 'net, and can access E2)
From prehistoric times to the 15th century, average human
life expectancy was in the 20's, by the 1600's the mid 30's -- at the beginning of the 19th Century it was 37. So far in the 20th century, life expectancy has increased by 24 years in
Sweden and by 27 years in
England and
Wales, typical of Western European countries. In
Italy life expectancy has risen by 32 years, from 43 to 75, and in
Czechoslovakia it has increased from 40 to 71.
U.S. life expectancy
reflects the rise in Europe, though it is less well
documented.
Historically, those with
money were, in general, leisured, while the "lower orders" worked like
slaves for little return to keep the
wealthy happy. Nowadays you are far more likely to find that top
executives and managers are working long hours, while general
staff either stick with an eight hour day, or demand higher salaries. A much fairer situation, surely?
Poverty today is
stark and unpleasant, but compared with that encountered even 100 years ago it is luxurious.
Public health and education, however many
faults it has, exists.
Literacy levels are at a
record high,
children don't work full days in factories, and many
debilitating diseases have been totally erradicated.
Morality though, that has taken a
tumble, right? Wrong. Can you imagine now a
priest with children becoming
Pope?
Prostitution was a
prestigious career in the
Middle Ages, and child prostitution was far more common, even up to Victorian times, than it is today.
While
teenage pregnancy and
illegitimate birth are
serious problems today, few realize that in the sixteenth century most marriages occurred as a result of the obvious
pregnancy of the bride. The
paternity of the child was often doubtful and the likely fathers might draw straws to see who was to be the
groom. And, of course, girls as
young as twelve married. As divorce was almost
impossible to obtain,
adultery was rife, and village herb-women sold preparations to bring on abortion as often as they did
love charms --
abortion isn't new, all that is new is
safe,
legal abortion. Perhaps some people may think that
death is a just
punishment for a woman who tries to kill her child; but then again, many women died in
childbirth too.
Child Abuse is a huge
topic now of course -- but in the "spare the rod and spoil the child" times of the middle ages a
parent would not even have been
prosecuted for killing their child, if
death resulted in the course of 'normal
discipline'.
And, of course, voicing an opinion
contrary to
prevailing thought was often called
heresy or
sedition or
treason and could be punishable by
death.
Things are better now because people have fought for,
died for, and won
rights. These rights are enshrined in
law and go way beyond anything our ancestors would have even
imagined.
I'm not minimising today's
problems, they need to be dealt with, but they do need to be seen in a truthful context, and not with
nostalgia -- let's deal with them in a
forward-looking way.