May 292011
 

In some of the darker days of my existence, certain well-meaning people would try to comfort me with a sentiment like the following:

You should be happy.  You have so many advantages.  You are better off than 99% of all people who have ever lived, and probably better off than 90% of all people alive today.

So perhaps nine out of ten people are worse off than I am in important respects.

This fact is supposed to make me feel…better?