https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2022/05/medieval-history-peasant-life-work/629783
This article talks about the romanticisation of peasant life in the middle ages. And how people say they had it easier back then, having fewer working days, more community life, less modern-day stress of the internet, and climate change, yada yada yada… But actually, they had it just as hard, they still had to work every day to tend to their farm, even if their lord gave them “a day off”.
I'm very aware of how this is a western view on everything, with references to western culture, and that other cultures will view things much differently.
There's an understandable trend to think that today we're spiralling towards disaster, and that we should try and go back to the “good old days” when life was simpler and more predictable. But it really wasn't back then. They were constantly revolting against their masters, war or attack of a neighbouring land was always on the radar, disease, weather, etc… They also always wanted this return to the original good: The Garden of Eden.
We aren't that different to them now, the future will also look back on us and think how easy we have it now, when it is just different. The hardships will different, but some things will be easier.
I think:
- Climate change won't necessarily be solved, and global warming won't have been stopped in time, but we'll have come up with very “human” techniques and technologies to compensate for this problem. This will have its fair share of issues, creating more inequality around the globe, but things will stabilise in this new way of living with time.
- We'll have mostly transitioned to green energy, to stop the problem getting worse, and eventually, the climate will heal again. (several generations time scale)
- All the old conservative politicians will eventually die off, and new ideas will be given space to grow: shorter work week, UBI, ecological transition, new economy…
- Current instability is temporary, and is a symptom of the end of a current world order, with current leaders panicking and trying desperately to cling to this past, all while knowing it's untenable.
These are all themes (among others) we will struggle through in our lifetimes, and it probably won't get much better for us, but I have faith it will get better in the long term, for our children, or theirs.
But to be human is to struggle, and there hasn't been a period in history without struggle, so we will get through this eventually, before having different problems.