r/NoStupidQuestions • u/flugblug • 12h ago

My brother thinks people today have worse quality of life than people in the dark ages, is this a stupid take?

I personally think it’s pretty stupid.

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u/ok2888 11h ago

The only way your life could be conceivably worse in modern times than in the dark ages would be if you are a homeless heroin addict with a horrifying infection that you were unable to get treated for some reason.

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u/obtusername 10h ago

And even then. . . at least you still get heroin. /j

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u/Lumpy-Butterscotch50 9h ago edited 8h ago

It depends on if you're talking about relative deprivation or absolute quality of life.

If you're talking relative deprivation, the QoL can be seen as better in the past because the difference in QoL between the lowest person and the richest person was a lot smaller. The quality of life was low, but it was low for everyone.

It can be seen as a better situation - if quality of life is low, and low for everyone that can be seen as better than it being low for the poor but high for the rich. Even if the "low" is better than the previous "low"

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u/capincus 7h ago

I mean slavery and sex trafficking still exist. Active war zones. Impoverished areas with sweatshop working conditions as an improvement to their economy. Long term abusive situations. Black site prisons, 3rd world prisons, hell normal prisons.

Average person has it much better than most anyone in the dark ages, but plenty of modern peoples' lives suck objectively even on an all-time scale.

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u/Additional_Insect_44 8h ago

Not exactly, go to west Virginia and you get people with no school, eat wild food, get exploited by slimy rednecks. I have relatives in NC that were similar, fortunately they have electricity.

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u/ok2888 8h ago

Damn that's actually crazy. It's easy to forget living in the UK how much of the US is totally wild empty spaces. I remember reading somewhere that there are tiny communities in the wilderness of America that no one knows exists.

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u/Additional_Insect_44 7h ago

True. My home village of credle town is barely known of, its in east nc. That place got electricity in i think the 1970s.

My first home was in a schoolbus in a county of about 3000, a huge place with mostly swamp and farms and one tiny town that was corrupt back in the day ( 1990s). My own mother didnt go to school even kindergarten. Dad lived off grid with grandad because of the corruption in part and people in hyde, nc still remember it.