Who Does No Work, Shall Not Eat

[Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema]

The glorification of premodern life leaves me cold. Like Brad and Michael, I
wouldn't have survived infancy without the medical science of the 1940's.
Also, a bit of social-historical reading tells us that any city before 150
years ago in Europe or North America smelled of shit in most places.
Pre-modernity also meant people didn't bathe and had untreatable
dermatological problems. Etc. Check out Shorter's A HISTORY OF WOMEN'S
BODIES for more gross-out detail -- there's a fine chapter on the history of
vaginal discharges before modern medicine could address them.

As for the factory, I always think back on my two visits to the Shaker
village in Hancock, Massachusetts. Early Socialists were interested in
Shakerism, because, despite its obvious nutty qualities, it also was a
serious attempt to bring industrial work together with social life in a
humane mix. Think yourself into the prevailing situation in about 1830 and
you can see why it was popular for a while.

Christopher Rhoades Dÿkema