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And what were the working conditions of the average people in pre-industrial economies? >The fact remained that at the beginning of the nineteenth century an e

And what were the working conditions of the average people in pre-industrial economies? >The fact remained that at the beginning of the nineteenth century an estimated three-quarters of all people alive were trapped in bondage against their will either in some form of slavery or serfdom. [1] The common historical interpretion today is that the industrial revolution _improved_ the standards of living for the average person, so it's contradictory to your thesis. [1] Forsythe, David P. Encyclopedia of human rights. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press, 2009. (399)

aalleavitch 7y ago
The past is almost unanimously a worse place to live than the present, but this is due to a large number of social, political, and technological changes that have occurred over time. Part of the reason the industrial revolution improved standards of living overall was due to atrocious living and working conditions, along with higher access to information, driving workers to secure their own rights. I wouldn't argue that feudalism is a better way to live than industrialization, but I think there's room to question how it has caused direct negative impacts in our lives. Anyway, this study shows that medium development countries have significantly lower suicide rates than high and very high development countries, which could lend support to my position: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210600616300430 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221060061... > There has been no worldwide ecological study on suicide as a global major public health problem. This study aimed to identify the variations in suicide specific rates using the Human Development Index (HDI) and some health related variables among countries around the world. In this ecological study, we obtained the data from the World Bank Report 2013. The analysis was restricted to 91 countries for which both the epidemiologic data from the suicide rates and HDI were available. Overall, the global prevalence of suicide rate was 10.5 (95% confidence intervals: 8.8, 12.2) per 100,000 individuals, which significantly varied according to gender (16.3 in males vs. 4.6 in females, p < 0.001) and different levels of human development (11.64/100,000 individuals in very high development countries, 7.93/100,000 individuals in medium development countries, and 13.94/100,000 individuals in high development countries, p = 0.004). In conclusion, the suicide rate varies greatly between countries with different development levels. Our findings also suggest that male gender and HDI components are associated with an increased risk of suicide behaviors. Hence, detecting population subgroups with a high suicide risk and reducing the inequality of socioeconomic determinants are necessary to prevent this disorder around the world.
- throwawaylolx 7y ago
  >this study shows that medium development countries have significantly lower suicide rates than high and very high development countries That basically follows from the definition of HDI: one of the three components of HDI is life expectancy, so even if people in countries of different HDI would have equal tendencies to commit suicide, a lower proportion of people would actually end up committing suicide in lower HDI countries as they would likely die due to other causes either at birth or later.

aalleavitch 7y ago

The past is almost unanimously a worse place to live than the present, but this is due to a large number of social, political, and technological changes that have occurred over time. Part of the reason the industrial revolution improved standards of living overall was due to atrocious living and working conditions, along with higher access to information, driving workers to secure their own rights. I wouldn't argue that feudalism is a better way to live than industrialization, but I think there's room to question how it has caused direct negative impacts in our lives. Anyway, this study shows that medium development countries have significantly lower suicide rates than high and very high development countries, which could lend support to my position: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2210600616300430 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S221060061... > There has been no worldwide ecological study on suicide as a global major public health problem. This study aimed to identify the variations in suicide specific rates using the Human Development Index (HDI) and some health related variables among countries around the world. In this ecological study, we obtained the data from the World Bank Report 2013. The analysis was restricted to 91 countries for which both the epidemiologic data from the suicide rates and HDI were available. Overall, the global prevalence of suicide rate was 10.5 (95% confidence intervals: 8.8, 12.2) per 100,000 individuals, which significantly varied according to gender (16.3 in males vs. 4.6 in females, p < 0.001) and different levels of human development (11.64/100,000 individuals in very high development countries, 7.93/100,000 individuals in medium development countries, and 13.94/100,000 individuals in high development countries, p = 0.004). In conclusion, the suicide rate varies greatly between countries with different development levels. Our findings also suggest that male gender and HDI components are associated with an increased risk of suicide behaviors. Hence, detecting population subgroups with a high suicide risk and reducing the inequality of socioeconomic determinants are necessary to prevent this disorder around the world.

throwawaylolx 7y ago
>this study shows that medium development countries have significantly lower suicide rates than high and very high development countries That basically follows from the definition of HDI: one of the three components of HDI is life expectancy, so even if people in countries of different HDI would have equal tendencies to commit suicide, a lower proportion of people would actually end up committing suicide in lower HDI countries as they would likely die due to other causes either at birth or later.