and
>Things were certainly not better in Manchester in 1840 than they are in
>(most of) NYC today. In fact it's hard to think any condition that is
>not better than Manchester in 1840.
Which, to my mind are contradictory statements.
If most changes are destructive, one would expect change on the whole to make things worse. In which case Manchester in 1840 would be recognised as a Golden age, as would China under the Opium trade and southern slavery.
But in fact all of those historical examples only demonstrate that, to the contrary, the aggregate of social change has improved life rather than worsening it.
-- James Heartfield