On the Fact that Prior to the Industrial Revolution and Free-Enterprise Capitalism, the Only Times In Which Individuals Experienced a Hike In Their Standard of Living Was In the Wake of Plagues and Other Mass-Disasters that Caused a Sharp Reduction In the Population

Yeah, it was basic supply and demand (less workers causing a bidding up of wages by employers) and being that everybody essentially did the same farming job with zero division of labor, as long as you survived the disaster you ended up reaping a benefit from it. Scary but, yeah.