This quote was true for the wealthy monarchs and aristocrats ruling Europe in Hugo’s day, but no longer so. In fact, I ran across a column from the Los Angeles Evening Herald from 1918 which eloquently explains why this no longer applies. Written at a time when the standard of living was much lower than today, but when sane perspectives were still found in newspapers.
Some excerpts:
🔹”In India you might see a rajah sleeping, and a miserable slave awake all night moving the “punkah,” or fan, to keep the air running. There the misery of all-night labor inflicted on a poor man gives pleasant sleep to a rich man. But in the American Pullman car, in July, the commercial traveler sleeps by night—and an electric fan, representing human intelligence, keeps the air moving, and nobody suffers.”
🔹”When the Queen of Sheba went to see Solomon, a camel probably carried her jolting on his back. And slaves ran beside her keeping off the flies, tiring themselves out. Later, in fashionable Paris, the rich man going to his dinner was carried in a Sedan chair, with poorly paid human beings running and carrying the weight of his body.”
🔹”There the comfort of the rich was based upon the discomfort of the poor. But today the prosperous gentleman rolls along in a large limousine car on the air which fills rubber tires. A chauffeur, paid a hundred dollars or more a month, well clothed and well fed, turns a little wheel.”
🔹”In tropical countries slaves brought down snow and ice from the mountain tops to cool the drinks of their masters. Now a cheap little refrigerating device, run by a small engine, supplies ice and ice-cold water and even the poorest workman drinks it.”
🔹”Fortunately for the world the number of those who enjoy luxury or comparative luxury is constantly increasing. And the extent to which the happiness of a few is based on the torment of many is diminishing every day”
🔹”But it is not wise to tell any man, rich or poor, that his troubles are all based on the crimes or heartlessness of somebody else, that he is a being without faults, and would be absolutely happy if somebody would kindly get off his back.”
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LAH19180402.2.856&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------
So many of these right wing accounts are just whiners now, this is a diatribe about automatic sinks and towels, the horror! As I explained in a prior post, most of the newer terminals have great bathrooms, some now have completely private stalls and plenty of them. The worst and most crowded airport bathrooms are invariably found in aging terminals that are decades old. It’s a reminder that airports were usually drab and uncomfortable.
I think the heyday of the air hand-dryers was like 15-20 years ago, where often you couldn’t find real towels. Now you can at least usually get real paper towels in airport bathrooms. Remember those old cloth roller towels that would go in a loop and somehow “clean” themselves? Yuck! Public bathrooms have always been gross, it seems some are deliberately having selective memories.
Airport food and drinks were always expensive, but now practically everyone brings those huge cooler flasks with them and fills them up. So not sure what he means that ...
I first critiqued this terrible take by looking at how food has actually improved substantially. Even though I said the same could be done in every category, people said “you’re only doing food.” So let’s do air travel and see why it’s not gotten better, not worse.
▪️Aircraft have greatly improved. Just 15-20 years ago, many domestic routes (~15%) were flown by turboprops like the Brasilia, Dash 8 or Saab. Now, almost everything is in jets, and most aircraft have WiFi. Some even have Starlink, where you probably have faster WiFi than your home. Most major airlines offer dozens or hundreds of movies and shows to watch.
▪️Newer designs like the 787 have lower cabin altitudes and improved humidity, which make a huge difference in passenger comfort on long haul flights. The first/business class international market has gotten very competitive globally, with many carriers offering excellent service and amenities. Pods, suites, showers, etc. Coach still sucks but is dramatically cheaper ...
This is the complete opposite of an empirical fact. The right has now joined the left in being pessimistic about the modern world and completely unappreciative of the amazing abundance we now have. I’ll just focus on food here, but you could do it for almost every category.
▪️Fresh produce used to be available only in season. In the winter it was canned or frozen. People used to send fruit for Christmas gifts, it was that much of a luxury good. Now, you can get giant, sweet berries year around in every grocery store. Corn on the cob in February. Not to mention once rare items like dragon fruit, heirloom tomatoes or baby bok choy.
▪️If you didn’t live on the coast, seafood was either not available, frozen, or extremely expensive. If you lived in the Midwest and traveled to coastal locales you would quite literally be able to eat food you had never seen. Salmon has become much more abundant and accessible. You can get fresh ahi at Walmart today. Sushi and oyster bars exist everywhere ...
