WHISKEY IN THE JAR

my knowledge of the world comes extensively from a very limited framework. most of what i know in the world is contained within four places:

toronto, ontario
winnipeg, manitoba
kingston, ontario
montreal, quebec

yet i often speak for those who have lived in far off places and different planes of history. i think of life at other time periods, such as the second world war, for instance, or during the belle epoque. i like to think about where we are now as a species, as a civilization, and i wonder: is it better now? was it better then? or is it always just the same?

some things are better, for some people, but we have yet to come to the point in human history where we can say that 50% of our population was living happily. we're nowhere near it, and i wonder if in my lifetime i'll be able to look at statistics with optimism.