Considering things like modern medicine not being available, infant and child mortality, the gruesome nature of most work back then… would a “standard” commoner from back then laugh at how ‘soft’ our world has become from their point of view?
What can we infer from people’s mindsets and resilience back then vs now, and do you think we’re on the verge of a return to these conditions?
I think techno-feudalism has the capacity to be much more brutal than any old time machiavellan clown. The way our minds are deliberately manipulated by algorithms nowadays are much more subtle and insidious than anything the tyrants of yesteryear could’ve dreamt up, while at the same time convincing people they have it better than ever.
In a lot of ways, our current way of living has made us more resilient. Malnoutrition, frequent serious diseases and a high amount of environmental and food-borne poisons (soot, heavy metals, the snake oil that often passed as “medicine” back then) don’t make people stronger, they make them weaker. Our civilization diseases like obesity and allergies are their own issue, but they still beat dying from syphilis or influenza at age 30.
As far as propaganda goes, they had plenty of propaganda as well - it might have been cruder than today, but they also had less access to dissenting voices.
The health trend is definitely pointing downward in places like the USA, though. Let’s hope most of Europe can avoid the worst of that …
I’m not sure I have seen any evidence to suggest that US life expectancy is decreasing. Mind sharing any sources on that? As far as I can see it has been growing since 2021 annually, obviously having been lowered because of COVID-19.