The objection is not most pertinently to his view of the present, which he is entitled to see as good, bad, mediocre, or whatever else. I may agree or disagree, but perspectives about what the present *is*, in and of itself, can and will differ. Is the sun setting on one part of the world, or rising in another? Is the glass half empty, or half full? Are we living our lives, or dying our deaths? But this is not the big problem.
The big problem is the historical comparison. I understand the idea that someone would see the modern person as chained in their own way to the problems of our time. To a large extent I agree - as I'm sure I've demonstrated over the years, I'm far from a polyanna about how things are going. But the notion that this justifies a bald-faced comparison with the slavery of the past, strikes me as demonstrably inaccurate, and more than a little insulting to the memory of those who suffered those injustices. Paying a chunk of your cash in taxes sucks, but it bears almost no relation to the historical experience of slavery. That doesn't seem to me to be as simple a perspective problem as you seem to be arguing.
-Jester
The big problem is the historical comparison. I understand the idea that someone would see the modern person as chained in their own way to the problems of our time. To a large extent I agree - as I'm sure I've demonstrated over the years, I'm far from a polyanna about how things are going. But the notion that this justifies a bald-faced comparison with the slavery of the past, strikes me as demonstrably inaccurate, and more than a little insulting to the memory of those who suffered those injustices. Paying a chunk of your cash in taxes sucks, but it bears almost no relation to the historical experience of slavery. That doesn't seem to me to be as simple a perspective problem as you seem to be arguing.
-Jester