[deltaburnt]

I think most people aren't leaving their house each day with the same worries people in the 20th century had. It is certainly much nicer to be alive now than then, especially in places like Europe.

What personally has me worried is the derivative and 2nd derivative. How much is my current comfort sustained purely because of the momentum of systems made possible less than a lifetime ago (post WW2 reconstruction). So ironically your comment induces more stress in me. The idea that just as recently as the 20th century, times that my grandparents were conscious for, that many people lived through that much suffering. To me it seems incredibly easy to end up right back there.

[wkat4242]

I don't know, in the 80s we had a really nice welfare system in the Netherlands that alleviated worry because there was always a safety net. Rent prices were government-set. Healthcare was good and very cheap.

In this century everything was cut and privatised due to globalization, neoliberalism and the financial crises. Wages are not keeping up with inflation, social security is less, national healthcare keeps being cut. I don't care about getting rich but I do want to live my life without worry.

[nradov]

It has never been possible to live life with complete security but the amount that you worry about it is completely up to you.

[wkat4242]

No but life was a lot better back then. We had less money (we couldn't even afford a car though one is not really necessary here) but that's not so important.