5 Reasons Things are Better Than They Were During the Middle Ages

People like to complain about the times in which we live and everyone I am around is always full of gripes. There is nothing wrong with trying to improve the quality of our lives, but it's also good to look back and remember how much we have accomplished. Being a medievalist makes this an easy thing for me to do.

Here are a few things to be thankful for:

• Usury Laws - You might think banks are full of crooks, but in the old days there were not always laws against excessive interest (until you tried it on King Phillip the IV). Today, even the stupidest investor is protected by laws against unconscionability. Of course, if Jesus were in the temple that day, you were in luck.

Jesus - 1; Userers - 0

• Disease - There are people today who think we shouldn't use soap so we can build up our own natural immunities. They wouldn't say this if they remembered the great plagues that destroyed Europe. The black death struck young men first; when the older men and women died there were no younger people to replace them. It took Europe 300 years to re-populate; until then, the country side was empty and devoid of life. This kind of thing is unimaginable to us.

"But we're not dead!"

• Taxes - Sometimes, one class group accuses another group of not paying taxes. Since all of us do pay taxes this is an obvious hyperbole, but at one time it was true that the rich didn't pay taxes but used them to take money from the poor. Even in its most corrupt and broken form, the U.S. tax system is far more equitable than the old Roman system.

"Just think, in 1000 years people won't have to wait in line at the tax office!" (Also, what are those midgets doing there?)

(Image from Paradoxplace.)

• Literacy - My favorite. The printing press led to great reformations that were not as possible before people could read and pass the word along to others. (By they way, these medieval barbarians always wrote better than the average YouTube commenter.)

"Should I tell William that he misspelled France on ALL of these?"

• What do you want to do with your life? This question was not relevant to a medieval person. Almost every individual had to be involved in food production every single day so that people could eat. You didn't get to be an astronomer or an actor because your heart so desired it; instead, you got to grow plants or raise cattle. Every day. Today, you can pursue anything you want; even poor people in poor countries have an outside shot at success, which is more than anyone could ask for in the olden days.
  

"I wonder what I should have for dinner, tonight. Cabbage? No, not cabbage..."

I could go on and on, but you get the idea. My life isn't perfect, but I have a lot of comforts for which I am thankful.