[temporarara]

>You live in the same crumbling leaking house that half your extended family has lived in for over a century, marry who you are told to marry, learn only what the local preacher tells you to learn-- and nothing else.

My grandparents were what you would call peasants too. They liked that simple life, and they could fix the leaks in the house, and they loved each others deeply. They learned a lot of practical stuff during their lives, and in many days they travelled more than 7 kilometers by foot, later when bicycles became common the travel possibilities were enormous, life generally happened in a circle with diameter of about 50 kilometers. It's hard to imagine how their lives would have been actually better if someone taught them quantum physics and there would have been infinite consumable content and endless doomscrolling available at all times.

The experiences differ wildly, and life could definitely suck back then, especially if you were a peasant, but it could be just fine, even excellent. And that's exactly how it is these days for the modern day peasants too. I would say that the quality of life of your average amazon-worker is no better than those old time peasants. Modern medicin is the only real perk that comes to my mind, anything other is on similar level or even worse. People back then were not idiots at all.

[prmejc]

My grandmother was born and died in the same house at age 95. She never had a job and only 8 years of public school. She worked on family owned fields, foraged forest for mushrooms and berries. Her handwriting was like of a machine, beautiful, she left over hundred of letters and diary entries behind. She knew what to plant and when, she knew what berries and mushrooms are growing where almost to the exact hour. She loved her kids and grandkids and made sure each of them received an education that she so much wanted for herself. But 2nd world War happened when she was 14. I, on the other hand, an ex-amazonian, do not feel in any way superior. She had determination, organization and calmness in her life, and I feel I'm in a constant chase, even though I earn more in a month, than she earned in a year. I pay a lot of money, so that my kids can eat healthy. I still feel I can not provide the healthy lifestyle for my kids, that she has provided for my father.

[lotsofpulp]

>I still feel I can not provide the healthy lifestyle for my kids, that she has provided for my father.

I don’t know what you mean by healthy, but I would guess what you feel is simply due to you knowing you could be doing better for your kids than your grandmother thought she could do for your father.

You know there’s sophisticated healthcare and medicine available, but you don’t know if you have secured access to it, and you are in the gray area where you could be in position to secure it.

Or you know there are significant advantages to sewing your kids into the right social circles, and with the right movies, you could achieve that.

So you cannot settle knowing that you could have done more (given your desire to give your kids the maximum support).

However, with your monthly income, you could easily limit your kids’ luxuries in many aspects to what your grandmother gave your dad. But you probably will not be happy with that.

[Nicook]

Most likely food and exercise related. Feel like guy above you is basically alter ego me. In most cases sophisticated healthcare and medicine is more about fixing problems than staying healthy imo.

Am also ex-Amazon. Made good money there, which I am grateful for, but definitely didn't emerge healthier.