A day after the September 11th terrorist attacks, every member of Congress stood on the steps of the U.S. Capitol and sang God Bless America.

Could you imagine that happening today? It’s easy to say no, given how nasty politics has become. But if America faced an existential crisis like 9/11 again, I think you’d see the same kind of unity return. There’s a long history of enemies putting their differences aside when facing a big, devastating threat. People get serious when shit gets real.

If that sounds like wishful thinking to you, let me propose a reason why: Part of the reason today’s world is so petty and angry is because life is currently pretty good for a lot of people.

There are no domestic wars.

Unemployment is low.

Household wealth is at an all-time high.

Innovation is astounding.

It’s far from perfect, and even an optimist could list hundreds of problems and injustices. A pessimist could do worse.

But let me put it this way: As the world improves, our threshold for complaining drops.

In the absence of big problems, people shift their worri