A few years ago, I was visiting the Chittorgarh fort, which is extremely imposing, to say the least. But if you look at the quarters in which the king used to stay, you realize that a modern 3 BHK has a better finish and amenities.
This is not to imply that the kings did not live in luxury.
But given our modern technology, healthcare, and amenities, a middle-class person today lives an objectively better life than the kings of yore.
However, do we feel that way? Of course not, because our brain acclimatizes to and normalizes everything. There is no luxury so great that you won’t get used to it.
So it is not that our life doesn’t have good things. It is just that we can’t see them.
Humans learn to value things only when they lose them. And that is a tragedy.
– Rajan