I’ve always been struck by the things we take for granted: electricity, plumbing, TV, cars and highways, doctors, newspapers. And a ton of other stuff that’s unique to the last two centuries. And not always technology. It’s nice to be living in a democratic state where the police can’t simply show up and carry us off because we made the mistake of saying something negative about one of the local bosses. There’s something else we take for granted that isn’t unique for us, some

We take a lot for granted. There’s usually a grocery store within range. If necessary we can ride over in a car. On a highway. Living in Georgia is possible mostly because of air conditioning. We also have doctors, electric lights, and chocolate ice cream. And books. What would life be like if there were no books? The printing press was invented in the middle of the 15th century by Johannes Gutenberg. I’d be hard-pressed to name any human being anywhere who has made a larger