@bolwerk Every generation has had to deal with what the previous generation left behind, and it is all to easy for those without the perspective that one gains with age to place emphasis on the problems of the world and (for lack of a better word) blame their forefathers for all of the ills while overlooking (aka. taking for granted) the benefits of the progress of previous generations.
I would argue that this somewhat skewed perspective is healthy and beneficial for without that wonderful combination of youthful exuberance and an innate desire to make it better coupled with the perception of things being in urgent need of fixing most advances in civilization would probably not have occurred. However, while it is true that there are many things in the world that need fixing, It is quite important to note that in the not too distant past what is today considered a minor infection could often prove fatal. In the not too distant past their was no such thing as health insurance, in fact you were darned fortunate if you even had a doctor to visit that was less than a day’s travel away. Further, while it is true that we have poverty and slums, that poverty is quite relative. There was a time in the not too distant past that there was little or no assistance available at all for the impoverished and the prospect of literal starvation was a very real thing.
This is, in part, that sense of entitlement I referred to earlier. It is all to easy to take for granted that for the past several generations we have enjoyed a period of unprecedented prosperity.