Most people assume the past was pretty much like things are today but with older tech. They don’t realize how deeply ingrained famine is to the human experience for thousands of years up until recent decades. In tsarist Russia in the 19th century there were 5-8 major famines that killed roughly 40 million people. In China, I recall seeing that for the 2,000 years until the Revolution, there was a major famine in at least one area on average once per year. When I’m tempted to think that life under feudalism actually sounds kinda nice, I recall how much famines suck (and medical technology). Famines happened a lot in the past, the Ukrainian famine was much more the historical norm. And it was the Soviets who ended famine within their borders after that (other than the famine right at the end of the war, but that was caused by the Nazis).
Most people assume the past was pretty much like things are today but with older tech. They don’t realize how deeply ingrained famine is to the human experience for thousands of years up until recent decades. In tsarist Russia in the 19th century there were 5-8 major famines that killed roughly 40 million people. In China, I recall seeing that for the 2,000 years until the Revolution, there was a major famine in at least one area on average once per year. When I’m tempted to think that life under feudalism actually sounds kinda nice, I recall how much famines suck (and medical technology). Famines happened a lot in the past, the Ukrainian famine was much more the historical norm. And it was the Soviets who ended famine within their borders after that (other than the famine right at the end of the war, but that was caused by the Nazis).