Everyone's situation is different, there are certainly people in the US whose life circumstances are pretty terrible. As for the ongoing changes, they are good to think of from time to time. My mom's aunt didn't have running water when my mom was a child. My dad's mother grew up with a 'mammie'. I just recently underwent a surgical procedure which involved an electrode catheter, an x-ray machine and no incisions of any kind. As the proverb says, "May you live in interesting times." Lin