Let us return to the above quote, specifically the section that refers to your incredible privilege and social insulation. Go tell my friend in Ghana that he lives in one of the most prosperous times in history, and he’ll ask you prosperous for whom? Not him, surely. The multinational corporations that rape his country for raw materials and abuse his countrymen? Yes, definitely a prosperous time for them.

Prosperity isn’t just equally distributed around the world, or even within one country. The US has sections in worse condition than many undeveloped nations, and millions of residents without access to adequate nutrition or long term housing prospects. The prosperity of the few relies upon the suffering of the many in our system. Many of my own luxuries are themselves dependent upon exploitation and suffering of other groups of people, not inherently, but regardless it is true, and a lot of effort is spent to ensure any possible alternatives that may arise are sabotaged as much as possible.