How to Tell Your Society Is Too Rich

One: In your society, the poor suffer from obesity. Two: In your society, every Tom, Dick and Harry thinks his own personal life story is so precious it deserves a throne to sit on. "Write about what you know" is a good piece of advice, but it has been mistaken to mean that your - yes, your - personal experience is so valuable it ought to be translated into a work of art. Rather, it means you shouldn't start writing before your research is finished.