Re:I'm Wil Wheaton. I Live with Chronic Depression and Anxie...
by coldtea on Saturday August 25, 2018 @11:42AM
(#17841247)
>We all have better luxuries now than kings had hundreds of years ago.
If by luxuries we mean trinkets, then yes.
But power is also a luxury, and kings had it.
A nice house is also a luxury, and kings had the best (and actually, several).
Free time is the biggest luxury of all, and kings had it (what with personal cooks, a ton of attending stuff, etc).
The ability to influence your society is a luxury, and kings had it in spades.
A sense of purpose is also a luxury, and kings had it handed to them (e.g. leading their nation, etc).
Luxury is also comparative, and you don't miss what you don't even know (e.g. a 16th century king wouldn't miss not having internet). On that comparative level, to their peers, kings were above everybody else.
So, yeah, they didn't have Advil and iPhones, but their lives could be very much better than someone who had.
If by luxuries we mean trinkets, then yes.
But power is also a luxury, and kings had it.
A nice house is also a luxury, and kings had the best (and actually, several).
Free time is the biggest luxury of all, and kings had it (what with personal cooks, a ton of attending stuff, etc).
The ability to influence your society is a luxury, and kings had it in spades.
A sense of purpose is also a luxury, and kings had it handed to them (e.g. leading their nation, etc).
Luxury is also comparative, and you don't miss what you don't even know (e.g. a 16th century king wouldn't miss not having internet). On that comparative level, to their peers, kings were above everybody else.
So, yeah, they didn't have Advil and iPhones, but their lives could be very much better than someone who had.