My 93-year-old grandfather is bowlegged, having suffered rickets as a child. My great grandmother on my father's side outlived all her children. My aunt remembers hearing my father crying from hunger as a baby born in the 1930s, and my father recalls living in a coldwater flat; both were the result of the depression coupled with my inability of my grandmother--a single mother who worked as a proofreader--to join the union.
By almost any measure, the lives of those of us living in the United States have improved dramatically since 1900. In the 20th Century, we discovered penicillin, eradicated smallpox and developed an effective polio vaccine; yet an estimated 212 million were murdered by their own governments.
In the 21st Century, our quality of life is even better. Gene therapy and nanotechnology hold the promise of eliminating even more diseases, perhaps even reversing aging. Yet men are still killing each other in Darfur; North Korea is one giant concentration camp and radical Islamists would like to bomb us back to the 7th Century.
Call it original sin. Call it evil. Or call it human nature. But the fact remains: No matter how much progress we make materially, there's always someone waiting in the wings to take it away from us.
A pretty dim view? Perhaps. Better to be pessimistic than to hew to the beliefs of the peace activists now being held hostage in Iraq. Peace on earth doesn't come through wishful thinking. Besides you have a better chance of solving a problem if you look at the situation realistically.
Until the next man on horseback comes riding into town.
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