Techno-optimism is a dangerous philosophy whose adherents espouse the blind faith that market capitalism and technology will solve the world’s problems. In reality, this kind of optimism simply justifies elite power and promotes indifference to human suffering.
I don’t agree that now we have the highest standard of living. For me standard of living is how nice an environment a family can have. So how large and nice a home, quality of food, and time to interact together especially for the parents to be active participants in rearing their child.
For most of human history, people have lived without sewage, power, running water, or information about the world around them. A vast number of people now have all four. It could be better, obviously, but in raw terms, they do have a higher standard of living. I’ve lived under those conditions, and while they have a certain simplicity, I much prefer not.
okay yeah. if we take a long enough time period for comparison and chunk it up in pretty large sections. then yes currently. Like the last century or so. Has been the best times. If we are talking decade chunks then we have fell a bit.