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2026 - 200 = 1826 Yeah no. It's only since 1950 that conditions improved for everyone. Before then everything from sewage, to coal smoke, to chronically low wa

by noosphr 2mo ago

2026 - 200 = 1826 Yeah no. It's only since 1950 that conditions improved for everyone. Before then everything from sewage, to coal smoke, to chronically low wages made life worse for everyone involved. The most miserable people to live in history were the British working class in the mid/late 19th century.

nubg 2mo ago
> The most miserable people to live in history were the British working class in the mid/late 19th century. I find this topic very interesting, do you have any reading you could recomment on this?
- smallmancontrov 2mo ago
  Oliver Twist. If you want a high level economic perspective, try A Brief History of Equality by Piketty.
- eli_gottlieb 2mo ago
  _The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844_ would be a classic on the subject: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17306 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17306
prewett 2mo ago
Early in the Industrial Revolution people voluntarily moved from the countryside to the cities despite all that, so apparently a lot of them thought it was an improvement. Some of the cities were proud of the soot, since it showed that they were participating in Progress. You can see some of this repeating in China. Migrant workers move to the cities because, while what they can earn is low, it is a lot higher than subsistence farming in the countryside. "The Last Train Home" (documentary) follows such a family, although to understand the tragedy in the documentary you need to understand that Mao created the hukou system to prevent exactly this, which means that their children can only receive state education in the countryside.
- smallmancontrov 2mo ago
  Enclosure. People were pushed into the city, not pulled into it.
- bossyTeacher 2mo ago
  > Early in the Industrial Revolution people voluntarily moved from the countryside to the cities despite all that, so apparently a lot of them thought it was an improvement The industrial revolution took many of the countryside jobs to the city. You cannot stay in a place that no longer has jobs

by noosphr 2mo ago

nubg 2mo ago

> The most miserable people to live in history were the British working class in the mid/late 19th century. I find this topic very interesting, do you have any reading you could recomment on this?

smallmancontrov 2mo ago
Oliver Twist. If you want a high level economic perspective, try A Brief History of Equality by Piketty.
eli_gottlieb 2mo ago
_The Condition of the Working-Class in England in 1844_ would be a classic on the subject: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17306 https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/17306

prewett 2mo ago

Early in the Industrial Revolution people voluntarily moved from the countryside to the cities despite all that, so apparently a lot of them thought it was an improvement. Some of the cities were proud of the soot, since it showed that they were participating in Progress. You can see some of this repeating in China. Migrant workers move to the cities because, while what they can earn is low, it is a lot higher than subsistence farming in the countryside. "The Last Train Home" (documentary) follows such a family, although to understand the tragedy in the documentary you need to understand that Mao created the hukou system to prevent exactly this, which means that their children can only receive state education in the countryside.

smallmancontrov 2mo ago
Enclosure. People were pushed into the city, not pulled into it.
bossyTeacher 2mo ago
> Early in the Industrial Revolution people voluntarily moved from the countryside to the cities despite all that, so apparently a lot of them thought it was an improvement The industrial revolution took many of the countryside jobs to the city. You cannot stay in a place that no longer has jobs