Status Updates From Civilization and Capitalism...

“Following the catastrophes of the Black Death, living conditions for workers were inevitably good as manpower had become scarce. Real salaries have never been as high as they were then […] It is often thought that hardship increases the farther back toward the Middle Ages one goes. In fact the opposite is true of the standard of living of the common people—the majority.”

Braudel is absolute titan. One of the greatest minds to ever grace the world with his insights and study. This is so well-done, it makes me just want to die because I could never write something as good as this.

“Luxury does not only represent rarity and vanity, but also social success, fascination, the dream that one day becomes reality for the poor, and in so doing immediately loses its old glamour … The rich are thus doomed to prepare the future life of the poor.”