Hi. This is my first post here and I hope I get it right. English is not my first language, but Reddit uses it and in order to be part of the discussion here, I have to use it as well.
I know that everyone is entitled to have an opinion. That in Reddit, they are entitled to comment. I don't intend to stop them from doing that, but I do intend to explain why I feel they are … how should I put it… ignorant.
Beneath posts that share technological, economical, scientific, and mathematical improvements, there will be quite a few 'doomsday' comments where the commentor will claim that such improvements are 'useless' or 'small' (which they are but the internet didn't just appear overnight) and the world is worsening so such improvements won't be of use and are completely worthless. That their life sucks and humans are doomed so it doesn't matter. Extreme poverty being reduced doesn't matter, innovations don't matter because humans are doomed.
I remember wanting to know more about what poverty would look like in the future. Predictions and discussions. There was one post that claimed (paraphrased) that people who are poor will remain poor and people who can't afford houses will never be able to do that. I know they weren't doomsayers, but I felt … strange. I know that even in the future, some individuals won't be able to buy houses, but to be that sure, it felt strange because I've seen the change in my parents' lives brought on by a few decades.
In the 1970s, China was reeling from the Great Famine and other disasters. The country was in no way rich. The common folk lived in poorer quality houses and McDonalds was seen as a place you would have your engagement dinner at because it was clean and air-conditioned. In my mom's words, it was a good place to tan lian ai.
My mother's family lived in a room, and shared a bathroom, kitchen and more with other families. They weren't considered poor and they didn't see themselves as unfortunate. My mother said that the worst off would huddle beneath a blanket, with one pair of good pants for when one member of the family needed to go out.(paraphrased) Or they would live in densely packed buildings where a number of families would line up to share bathrooms and kitchens.
Buying a house was an impossible dream. Doctors, nurses, businessmen simply could not afford an apartment.
After a decade, when my mother was in high school, they were able to move out into their own apartment with an indoor bathroom and kitchen.
Decades later, my parents moved. They were able to afford a house with 4 rooms and 2 bathrooms. They had me. My mother is a pHd holder and my father is a businessman currently in China.
Just 4/5 decades earlier, such technology, such infrastructure would be unavailable if they had the jobs they do now.
My mother had to write her thesis paper by hand. That's 50 plus pages of rewriting, editing and correcting. Typewriters were expensive and computers the like of which Americans had were simply unaffordable. The computer that I have was a dream. The thing is, life gets better.
When the redditor wrote those sentences in his/her post, I felt personally attacked. I felt they were being dismissive of the lives that have been changed and improved over the last few decades. Mine included. It seemed to me that the countries they lived in were and are first-world ever since the 20th century. For people like my parents and countries that were impoverished in the 1900s, that was not the case, and as such, I know for a fact that life has improved.
I know now that isn't the case. I think they felt that their lives weren't improving, and didn't see such innovations ever being used by them. How important is the research for a new thing discovered that could increase life-spans, if they can't live without the fear of poverty? How important is that new thing, if it will probably never be used by me?
I know your life is terrible.
That house prices are increasing everyday. That politicians in certain countries simply don't care. You feel that since those innovations will take years upon years of research, and even then be too expensive for you to use, you simply don't have the energy to feel happy. That even if extreme poverty is alleviated, because you are just one paycheck away from homelessness and poverty itself, you can't bring yourself to feel happy for them.
But while I can't promise you life will be better immediately, I can promise you this : things will change. For the better or the worse, I have no idea. But I do hope it's the former.
Thirty years ago, computers we have today were a dream. Now, they're pretty commonplace. Through it, I have been able to improve my language skills, have discussions with people from all around the world, engage in a few criminal acts of pirating, and store hundreds of books in just a few centimeters of space. Thirty years ago, the house my parents bought would be unattainable, even if they were to hold their exact same jobs.
Life does and will get better. It won't be quick, (3 decades is long) it won't be instant, and while life gets better, your struggles living in the 21st century is not invalid. But please don't invalidate the small/huge/slight importance of new innovations. Technology wasn't invented overnight. Neither was modern medicine.
You don't have to stop being pessimistic, but I ask of to not dismiss innovation and improvements because they won't improve your life immediately. Because while the impact they have on the lives of average, common folk are minuscule, they are improvements.
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