Absolutely absurd.
You really think you have it worse than somebody born into slavery? Or worse than a medieval serf?
A large fraction of humans alive right now would look on your lifestyle as extremely privileged.
This kind of statement comes across as pitifully ignorant whining. You actually hurt the cause of fixing real injustices when you fly off into hyperbole like this.
I do think that "perhaps more so for our generation that any previous" is hyperbole though.
Like everything else young people find persuasive? (That was whiny and hyperbolic, too, because young people like irony.)
According to Historian David McCullough, the functional literacy rate in 1900 was 11%.
Sure, the article focus on students. But, by historical standards, you are extremely lucky TO BE ABLE to be a student into your early 20s.
By historical standards, we are very privileged. This "toughest generation ever" bit is both naive and sad.
You really think we have it better than someone who owned a few dozen slaves, living leisurely on a huge plantation? History has treated some well, and some not so well.
Four reasons off the top of my head:
1. Dentistry
2. Antibiotics
3. Indoor plumbing
4. Central AirGiven the choice of being rich during the age of slavery, or being rich today, I'd prefer today.
Historically, slaves could be (and were) raped or killed by their "owner." When you talk about "slaves" today, are you talking about someone with a low wage? That's not slavery.
Unfortunately, there is still slavery in the 21st century, but that has nothing to do with the people discussed in this article.