I do not think that for the west the problem is a lack of technology but a lack of opportunities.
When all growth goes to the top .1% the rest are left disfranchisement. Countries go to war without citizens consent, companies change contracts by sending a simple email and without recourse, draconian surveillance and break of privacy is accepted with a click... people does not just need food and entertainment, we need to be part of society and have a say on it. Inequality has removed that possibility.
We crave freedom and power to change things. Currently, our only freedom is to accept what we are offered or to get nothing.
A better world is possible, unionizing, collective agreements, more accountability from our political representatives, split powerful monopolies...
I like my phone and my computer. I like good movies and video games. But I need to be able to participate in society as an active actor not just as a puppet for the powerful.
But if we go onto larger scales it flips again. Before the rise of cities, smaller societies allowed for a more involved social participation. I doubt that live was better back then, but labor was dependent mostly on one self and immediate family and neighbors. So, autonomy was higher even if the rest of parameters for well being were worst.
> the level of agency you have in the way your country works is better now than ever before.
any link to justify this?
In general, though, I find cynical people insufferable, because they find everything insufferable.
It reminded me of wabi-sabi, which essentially says you should appreciate the imperfection and impermanence of things.
This is such a common trope that you can see it everywhere. "Do you remember how the internet was in the 2000s??? with AOL and IRC??".
Iced drinks have been a thing for millenia.
In Europe they'd cut blocks of ice from glaciers or simply high mountains and cart them down to the cities covered in hay for insulation.
They aren't like chilled completely in the sense of fridges/ice though but they keep water pretty cool.
had to search it up and ancient sites show that pots have been around for 10 thousand years to 7 thousands years as far as I can see.
I am sure that western civilization must also have this concept?
How does one disinfect them?
In the West, if water has to be stored for drinking, large glass pitchers work, but they're not cooling.
I think that to disinfect them, firstly we don't use any glass/steel glasses which we have drank from with our mouth into the pot again. There is a steel glass with steel handle that is bought mostly with pot whose only purpose is to take water from the pot and handle it into another containers without infecting.
Even then, every night when its time to usually refill it. We remove the remaining water and usually wash it with hands/water itself rather than brush. In my understanding if you actually brush pots, you will lose layers and you might actually generate more sediments (just a hunch)
The whole process doesn't take too much time maybe 5 minutes and then you just fill it up with any source of water you like and it costs less than a dollar or two and nearly everybody has it.
I understand that the pot cannot be brushed. Using dish soap also may not make sense because it then takes a lot of water to fully rinse away the soap. When you run your finger on the inside, does it feel slimy at all?
With a water bottle, the slime layer forms within weeks, not months, although a water bottle is different because it does touch the mouth. It is necessary to scrub and clean the water bottle every week from the inside, ideally with soap.