Because most people in the first world have absolutely no direct experience with less affluent parts of the world. Do you? I don't. Given that they have no experience with it, is it even a reasonable assumption that they have it subjectively better, as in leading a life that feels overall better than 90% of the world? No. Partly it's because they assume that they lead a superior life to people in the rest of the world. Partly it's because some places in the world just plain suck. Is it better to live in a war-torn run down village, where you have to fend everyday for your life, than to live in the first world? No. Is it better to live in the first world than be a subsistence farmer of a part of an Amazon or African tribe? That's debatable. But isn't 90% of the world a war-torn shit-hole? I don't know. That's what the news keeps telling me.
We have become great at having more than enough food and shelter, ie. surviving. Great. But have we learned to live a fulfilling life? That is shrouded in mystery to many people, still. Some people want to live, not merely survive (even comfortably so).
We have become great at having more than enough food and shelter, ie. surviving. Great. But have we learned to live a fulfilling life? That is shrouded in mystery to many people, still. Some people want to live, not merely survive (even comfortably so).