Folk wisdom

 Here's the start of an article at The Atlantic entitled:

Postpone Your Pleasures, And enjoy them all the more.

which I haven't read in full (paywall), but the point appeals to me:

My father-in-law, with whom I was very close, spent most of his life on the same working-class street in Barcelona’s El Clot neighborhood. Born in 1929, he saw Spain’s bloody civil war taking place literally in front of his house. His family experienced a lot of suffering. Some died; others spent years in jail or were forced into exile. He himself spent a year in a refugee camp, an experience that affected him for the rest of his life. Every time he wanted to make a point about society or culture, he always started with: “Well, during the civil war …”

One evening, a few months before he died, he read  in his local paper an article of mine about unhappiness. “You have a lot of complicated theories,” he told me, “but the real reason people are unhappy is very simple.” I asked him to elaborate. “They don’t enjoy their dinner,” he responded. I asked him what he meant. “Well, during the civil war, we were always hungry,” he said. “But one day a year—Christmas—we got to eat whatever we wanted, and we were so happy. Today, people snack all day long, are never hungry, don’t enjoy their dinners, and aren’t happy—even on Christmas.”

Would I be happy with an Atlantic subscription?   Possibly.   Digital is $90 (US) a year.   Maybe I ask the family to each pay a third.

Meanwhile, I still, lazily, haven't decided if I should drop the NYT or WAPO.   I feel I only need one.