>Scrooge is skeptical that many would prefer death to the workhouse,
>and he is unmoved by talk of the workhouse's cheerlessness. He is
>right to be unmoved, for society's provisions for the poor must be,
>well, Dickensian. The more pleasant the alternatives to gainful
>employment, the greater will be the number of people who seek these
>alternatives,
Or, worse, the higher would be the wage Scrooge would be forced to offer to make working for him more attractive than the workhouse.
> and the fewer there will be who engage in productive labor. If
>society expects anyone to work, work had better be a lot more
>attractive than idleness.
So those aren't the only options. The writer is either deliberately obfuscating, or genuinely stupid. We could make work more attractive. Or we could make idleness less attractive. "The latter is a tad more expensive, but let's do it that way anyhow." Thinks Scrooge.
Thanks for posting that Doug. Merry Xmas!
Bill Bartlett Bracknell Tas