25th
Giving thanks in the eye of the shit storm
(My friend Brian asked me to post this, an e-mail I sent to friends today. I’ve tried to take this day each year and provide some context for why the thought-act of gratefulness is not only important, but why the nihilism and jadedness pervasive in our society needs to stop for a moment, at the very least once a year. -DG)
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My dear friends,
Most of us were born in the 1980’s; most of us were either born — or found ourselves shortly thereafter — in the United States. On the whole, we occupy the most prosperous segment of the most prosperous country at the most prosperous time in global history. I do not mean to diminish the hardships we face, simply to contextualize that, of all the forces outside our control which determine our lives, we enjoy by far the least catastrophic.
And it’s worth noting two stylized facts here: first, that while we are privileged enough to be far from the prospect of catastrophe, we aren’t that far; second, that none of this we owe to our own cleverness, hard work, or perseverance — we are the beneficiaries of blind luck, of historical accident and our antecedents’ missteps.
And given our privileged position, we forget that freedom from imminent destruction is the greatest gift: and a relatively recent blessing, at that.
1914 to 1918 — three generations ago: our grandparents’ parents. The first “great war” left 10 million dead; 10 million maimed; 10 million lightly injured.
1937 to 1945 — two generations ago: our grandparents. By the end of the catastrophe, 40 million in Europe were dead by violence or starvation, with about 10 million in Asia. All told, this would be like wiping out South Africa (or Spain, or South Korea) today. Fewer than half of those killed in the war were soldiers. 1 in 8 Soviet citizens were killed — 23 million people (that would be Australia today). 1 in 6 Poles. 70% of the European Jewish population.
The Great Leap Forward (our parents’ generation): 30 million. The First Congo War (our generation): 4 million. Sudan (ongoing): 1-2 million.
The point is the people who experienced this had no agency, choice, or control in the matter. There is no justifying rationale — ethical, moral, or even purely explanatory. They were casualties of collective nightmares brought on by random chance.
Then there is the luck of material circumstance.
If you make $26,000 this year, you’re in the top 10% of global wealth today. If you make $35,000, you’re in the top 5%; $50,000, the top 1%. And this is not because we are intrinsically smarter, or harder-working, or somehow more deserving than the other 90% of the world.
We were handed education, and English, and access to the US labor market — things people are (today, right now) risking their lives in the desert border areas, or in container shipping crates, to get (and not for themselves, but for their kids).
So I ask that you give thanks: day, night, and yet again.
Our hardships and our challenges are real. We will have trouble finding fulfilling jobs; we’ll wonder what we’re doing day-to-day and why; we will have to fix the unsustainable things in our lives and our country; we will bicker and misunderstand and even think (at times) that we hate each other.
But these, truly, are luxuries.
I love you all, and appreciate the heck out of having you in my life. And I wish you the happiest and most fantastic of Thanksgiving holidays.
And I ask one more thing: that you watch this.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccj2BH25c0I
Your friend,
Dave
(Many of the historical figures here are taken from the work of Brad Delong, available at: http://delong.typepad.com )
