Could we live like our ancestors?

       Now would we want to? Probably not. Would our ancestors want us to give up all the nifty things they worked so hard for us to have? Probably not. Of course they are all dead and gone, so any way to ascribe to them an attitude in general is just conjecture. But for sure, they did OK in their time and with their means, and so can we if we have to.

            Now I personally have an advantage. It's called being deployed in the Marines, and often that means doing without, and getting used to it. And I did OK, though it was not fun. And returning to better means to live by was always enjoyed. Heck, even I like being warm and dry and fed routinely if I can get it. And I suspect our ancestors did, too. Call it all the comforts of home.

            So I wonder why the Army fellow accused of leaking so many things says he "lived in cage" when it sure sounds like a similar tent I lived in, and I thought it was pretty good. Waking up with ice on the tent walls was considered normal to me. If he considered that harsh, well I lived like that, too. And I did not spill the beans. Heck I remember one thirty day period in Korea, when it never got above freezing at all, and that was just normal to me. Nothing like putting your butt on a cold hole to poop. All these stories just remind me that we can live that way, if we have to. Now do we want to, absolutely not! We have a better deal these days, in my opinion.

            So if our ancestors did OK in their time, so can we do so in our time. Now do want to, probably not. It was not always a fun existence.

            Examples and our imagination are limitless. Imagine living without public electricity. Imagine wearing long johns a lot. Imagine no hot water unless you heat it yourself. Imagine no water out of the tap. Imagine having to make things if you want things. Imagine going a month without a bath. Imagine having to use a chamber pot to do the night time bathroom uses. Imagine having to cook and sew. Imagine having to barter. Imagine getting sick, and there are no hospitals. Imagine no gasoline powered cars. Imagine having to sleep in a bed with others just to keep warm. Imagine having to get up during the night just to put wood in the wood stove. Imagine having to cut and split the wood manually. Imagine, imagine, the list is limitless.

            Well, I already know a lot of people in the world already live this way, so I know we can do it if we have to. I just don't want to, if there is a better way.