Live better than Louis XIV? You bet!

The King

and I

Count your many blessings!

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King Louis XIV lived an amazing life for sure. For his time, I'd say he maxed out on how good a life a life could be. He had the longest reign in European history, had the Versailles Palace built and kept the nobility and army in check. The link will give you some more information. No, I'm not saying I'm better than the king, far from it. I'm just one among billions. What I am going to talk about is how far we have come in just a few hundred years.

Being King, Louis would have had medical care from the best doctors in France. He had a very long life. Sounds good, right? I still like my doc better. She understands germ theory and applies it when treating me for a cold or flu. If I have a more serious problem, she has access to things like X-Rays, MRI scans, and lab tests. I have more than one hospital I can go to if needed and a good EMS service to get me there in a crunch. I can have professional medical help here at my house in five or ten minutes. It's one of those things you don't want to use but good to know you can. So safe to say I have better health care. But he has / had a much bigger house.

King Louis lived in Versailles while I live in a small house, in a small city, in a fairly poor state. But living in 2019 (as of this writing) has advantages. I control the temperature with the press of a button (most of the time). I have a refrigerator and freezer that keeps my food safe to eat. I have running water that's safe to drink. He may have had something similar but I'll stick with my flushing toilet. I'm sure Versailles looks spectacular, even at night, even more so with all the well to do types running around. The king kicks my ass in the fashion department. But I bet he would dig my electric lights, especially when I had funky colored light bulbs! I think he would marvel at my old TV until he watched a few shows. I'd rather watch live plays at his place too. The internet would totally trip him out. I'd never get my computer back! Sorry sir, no absolute rule here (no matter what The Donald may think).          

Say something bad about King Louis and he could have you imprisoned, tortured or executed or all three. There was no process or get out of jail free cards. Meanwhile, I can criticize Emperor Donald all I want, join radical groups and rage against the machine until the cows come home without fear of imprisonment, torture or execution at least for now anyway. Unlike having a king, my government has accountability. We can vote them out which is a lot easier and cleaner than violent, bloody revolutions. I'll take the win for living in a more free society.

So yeah, I want to learn more about Louis XIV but not trade places with him.