I’m a little behind the curve here, but it’s still Thanksgiving weekend, and it occurred to me that I should make a list of things for which I am personally thankful.

First of all, I’m thankful to have had the privileges that went with being a white male, growing up and building a career during an era — perhaps temporary — in which open anti-Semitism had become socially unacceptable. To my shame, until recently I didn’t fully appreciate just how big those privileges were (and at a deep level I probably still don’t). I knew that racism and sexism were real and continuing, but was oblivious to just how vicious they were (and are).

I’m thankful to have been born to a middle-class family in a wealthy nation, during an era when the middle class still shared fully in the nation’s wealth and social mobility was still high.

I’m thankful to have witnessed a huge improvement in America’s environment. This is a much bigger deal, and has made much more difference to the quality of life, than most people realize. But I remember what the air in major U.S. cities was like before environmental protection cleaned them up; the air in New York is still far from perfect, but I’ve spent time in modern Beijing and New Delhi, and believe me, it’s infinitely better than it could have been.