Kerby Anderson

Charles Cooke has written a powerful essay with the title, “Against Misery.” He has had enough of the “long faces” of Americans. We should have gratitude for what we enjoy and usually take for granted.

“A baby who is born in America today would have been envied by pretty much every other human being who came before. Without having done anything to earn it, that baby is the beneficiary of thousands of years’ worth of other people’s effort, experimentation, and pain.”

He certainly understands that we face cultural, political, and economic challenges. The government is in debt, with entitlement programs that are unaffordable. Our education system is “producing students who can’t read, write, count, or think straight.” We have work to do in every area of life, but we should be grateful for what we have.

His essay reminded me of a commentary I did four months ago based on the essay by Kelsey Piper. She reminds us that “Medieval Kings Would Envy You.” We live in a world of affluence that people in other centuries could not even imagine.

She walks you through her house and counts 27 varieties of tea in a cupboard stuffed to the brim. She looks at her bookshelf and reflects on the fact that when the Library of Congress was founded, it had 740 books. She has more.

She walks by glass windows, which were “a luxury adornment for the homes of the ultra-wealthy since the time of Rome. Though, that’s underselling modern windows; they weren’t transparent back then.” She also talks about her refrigerator and flush toilets.

Both these essays remind us that we are rich beyond the dreams of people who have lived before us. Perhaps we should have more gratitude and look less miserable.