I was watching a short documentary about the battle of Verdun which took place during World War I in 1916.  I was amazed by the high quality detail of the video and , being in colour also , there was a feeling that one was closer to the to action.

But I was also amazed at the conditions the men had to fight in.  The dark cold trenches, the many dead lying around, the disease they had to put up with.  The killing was on a gigantic scale ; soldiers running through a barrage of exploding artillery shells and machine gun fire.  Not only that but towns , villages and land were utterly torn apart from the constant bombing.  Civilians being caught up in it had their homes and livelihood destroyed.  Young men were sought and automatically drafted into the army and thousands of dead soldiers needed replacing.  It was gruesome to watch them go ‘over the top’ as you knew they could moments away from either an instant death, or a slow painful end with their torsos ripped in half.

The documentary really got me thinking about life in general.  Now, the fields of Europe are calm and at peace.  People probably walk their dogs not realising that 100 years ago men fought and died there.

The Great war started in 1914 and ended in 1918.  But it didn’t really end at all.  Germany were heavily sanctioned and penalised as losers which would have repercussions when the Nazi party came into power to kick start another traumatic war where millions died: The Second World War (1939 – 1945) . And In between these wars the USA suffered from the Great Depression (1929 – 1929) which saw millions of investors being instantly wiped out.  And then of course there came the post war depression.  Europe was in utter collapse.  People were homeless and hungry, and many nations who spent millions on the war effort were up to their eyeballs in debt.

Has there ever been such great carnage?  I like to think that this was perhaps the pinnacle of human suffering there has been.  But then when I open a history book one gets a feeling of how utterly Lucky we truly are.

Indeed, there are still injustices in this modern world.  But no way do they compare to what people throughout time had to live through.  We are in a sense so lucky to be alive at this moment of time.  We are free to wake up and leave our house and pursue, to a large extent anyway, what we like.  Indeed, we are free to choose what career or job we would like.  we are free to choose who we want to live with and marry ; no longer do we live under feudal obligations or as surfs where we need permission from the landlord for the smallest reasons such as to leave the manor or marry.  Indeed we are free to roam about the country , something that would have been extremely difficult to do during Medieval times.  We are free to criticise the heads of state and the church.  No longer do we live in fear of the Inquisition, or run the risk of being executed for treason.

We have free access to a wealth of knowledge and learning through books and now the internet, whereas in the past knowledge was largely controlled by the church, and if you wrote or had access to something the church didn’t agree with then only trouble lay ahead.

Never have we had so much leisure time, a minimum wage , and decent working conditions.  Of course it is never perfect and there is always something that needs to be improved upon, but relatively speaking we should be happy with what have achieved.  We can work toward and better ourselves economically and educationally ; we are no longer born into a caste or a slave to the master of the manor.  Never have we had so much materialistic possessions ; the ability to become a home owner, to own a car and travel pretty much anywhere we want.

And under the lucky stars , we have Avoided living in times of war.  We have avoided the many revolutions that shook Europe during the 18th century.  We have slept through the first and second world wars and bypassed the era of depression.  We have avoided the 30 year war between the Catholics and Protestants , the hundred year war between England and France , the Roman conquests and early Muslim conquests of the 6th and 7th century… Do I need to go on?

Indeed, one doesn’t have to go through history to make the point.  What if you were born in a third-world country? in a village in India, or a theocratic state such as Iran? Where women are not allowed to sing in public , and wearing the hijab isn’t a choice but a demand by the state?  Or what if you were born into a desert tribe or live in abject poverty?

I think the next time we complain about the lack of working opportunities , gender pay gaps , or the divide between rich and poor we should really look back at history and perhaps do a little travel to see that actually we have never had it so good.