Peter Jones

Why do we assume our western good life will last for ever?

The ancients were so used to constant death and disaster they grew worried when things went too well

issue 21 November 2015

The slaughter in Paris is a catastrophe for the victims and their families, but the usual hysterical response across the media reminds us, yet again, what an extraordinary achievement it is that we Westerners simply assume the world owes us a life lived to the full, in comfort and security.

From the ancient world until relatively recently, there was little sense that the world owed us anything.

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