"Brexit The Movie portrays the 19th century as a glorious period of freedom, but for much of the population it was a nightmare. Life expectancy plummeted, children were mangled in factories, millions were killed in Britain's colonies by famine or massacre." ~Sam Kriss
Reply: Life expectancy most certainly did not plummet (quite the opposite actually). Life expectancy for most of human history was 25 years. It was 37 years for the British in 1700, which rose to 41 years by 1820, 50 years by 1900. Yes conditions were harsh, but, COMPARED TO WHAT? Something no one ever asks. Yes, kids worked in factories, but in previous centuries they simply died early, and often. And when they lived, they lived and worked hard in the country. There is a reason people flocked to factories and clamored to get into these dangerous factories. As Thomas Hobbes points out about life before the 19th century: "No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short." The 19th century represented a transition between the pre-Capitalist starvation and the modern world. 19th century freedom did not create poverty—it inherited it. Compared to the hell those humans emerged from, the living conditions of the poor in the early years of capitalism were the first chance the poor had ever had to survive, and millions were pulled out of poverty. It was a glorious and beautiful time when a simple farm boy, free to act on his ingenuity for the first time, was able to become a Titan of Industry.
"Brexit The Movie portrays the 19th century as a glorious period of freedom, but for much of the population it was a nightmare. Life expectancy plummeted, children were mangled in factories, millions were killed in Britain's colonies by famine or massacre." ~Sam Kriss
ReplyDeleteReply: Life expectancy most certainly did not plummet (quite the opposite actually). Life expectancy for most of human history was 25 years. It was 37 years for the British in 1700, which rose to 41 years by 1820, 50 years by 1900.
Yes conditions were harsh, but, COMPARED TO WHAT? Something no one ever asks.
Yes, kids worked in factories, but in previous centuries they simply died early, and often. And when they lived, they lived and worked hard in the country. There is a reason people flocked to factories and clamored to get into these dangerous factories. As Thomas Hobbes points out about life before the 19th century: "No arts; no letters; no society; and which is worst of all, continual fear, and danger of violent death: and the life of man, solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."
The 19th century represented a transition between the pre-Capitalist starvation and the modern world. 19th century freedom did not create poverty—it inherited it. Compared to the hell those humans emerged from, the living conditions of the poor in the early years of capitalism were the first chance the poor had ever had to survive, and millions were pulled out of poverty. It was a glorious and beautiful time when a simple farm boy, free to act on his ingenuity for the first time, was able to become a Titan of Industry.