The theme of this reading is workers' rights in the 19th century. This reading is a petition sent to the legislature House from workers. The petition expresses the concerns of the exhausted and often starved workers. The workers complain of too much taxes and ask that taxes be on property and not industry. The petetioners demand universal suffrage, the right to vote, and fair reresentation in parliament. They ask the House to allow every able man to vote, to direct elections with secret ballots, only allow people to be in parliament a year at a time, and do away with property qualifications on parliament members.
The textbook discusses much about workers' rights and struggles. In countries all over Europe and in the United States the second Industrial Revolution causes much social and economic hardship. There was more being produced than what could be consumed, and manufacturers kept costs down by requiring long hours and lowering wages. Also, people traveled to the cities for work, and made things even harder because there was just not enough to go around. These conditions caused workers to organize themselves and respond with strikes and oftentimes violence. Socialism appealed to many workers because socialism was all about helping workers acquire rights and establish welfare programs for the unwealthy.
The phrase that stands out to me is the phrase, " the laws that make food dear, and those which by making money scarce, make labor cheap, must be abolished". I think this gets the point across very well. Everything that makes money hard to get and makes labor cheap needs to get abolished, so everyone can have enough to eat. This basic statement of survival gets to the bottom of the issue, which is that most workers and barely surviving and are trying to provide for their families.
One modern parallel is the potential strike with at&t. Workers are organized in their unions and are demanding that their bosses improve conditions revolving around job security, healthcare costs, benefits, and work rules. Around 40,000 emplyees, or 15% of employees, may strike.
New thoughts that come to me are about the connection between large populations and poverty. When people flooded the cities for work, and the average number of children was around six, although it was gradually decreasing, the population in the cities was too much for the economy to handle. Also, the public water and health care systems were not prepared for this population boom. There were housing shortages and horrible living and working conditions, and it made a mess for everyone. Of course, once a population is large, and a mess is made, there is nothing you can do but work to fix it. However, the choice to limit the number of children in a family is one way to keep the population a little more manageable.
Sources:
Text book
http://news.yahoo.com/40-000-t-workers-may-strike-talks-fail-024101541.html
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Friday, April 20, 2012
Women Miners in the English Coal Pits
This reading is all about women working in the mines in England and Scotland, and was written in 1842 during the Industrial Revolution. Men and boys working in the mines either were naked down to the waist or completely naked as they worked. Many girls and women working in the mines were naked down to the waist, although some were clothed. The common clothing among all were the belts around their waste with chains passing between their legs, and many times these chains would wear holes in their pants between their legs, which was very indecent. The hard work of mining coal was distributed evenly across male and female workers. The fact that women and young girls were working with naked men in dark chambers led to common sexual occurrences. Much of the time the women had very little to eat all day long and went home exhausted and filthy to their children in the evening.
The textbook discusses the large numbers of women and children that were recruited into the workforce during the Industrial Revolution, especially in the textile and mining industries. Female and child labor was plentiful and cheap. Children only received 1/6 to 1/3 of what a man would earn, and women received 1/3 to 1/2 of what a man would make. The women and children did not have a choice but to take one of these low-paying jobs. Families needed money, and everyone had to work and earn what they could. After some time, women could no longer care for their children while on the job, which led to the trend of women taking care of the children at home while the men earned wages and worked outside the home.
The sentence that stood out to me the most was, "When it is remembered that these girls hurry chiefly for men who are not their parents; that they go from 15 to 20 times a day into a dark chamber (the bank face), which is often 50 yards apart from anyone, to a man working naked, or next to naked, it is not to be supposed but that where opportunity thus prevails sexual vices are of common occurrence." I cannot imagine being a girl or woman of any age having to work around naked men and being raped in a coal mine. I cannot imagine being that desperate for money that I would take a job where I did hard manual labor for twelve hours a day, and would be frequently taken advantage of at any given moment. I cannot imagine only having bread and butter for lunch, and just having potatoes for dinner, and maybe every once in awhile, some meat. People were really struggling just to survive and had to do whatever they could to make some money, even if that meant being taken advantage of, or choosing to let your children be taken advantage of.
This reading reminds of the poverty in third world countries, where people are so desperate they either sell their children or themselves into prostitution. I am sure that word spread, and the women and young girls knew what additional services they would be providing in addition to their back-breaking physical labor. I'm sure women and young girls realized that in addition to being miners, they were also agreeing to be prostitutes, except without any extra pay. In some respect, you could say that these girls and women had it worse than prostitutes because they had to do hard, filthy labor for twelve hours a day, in addition to being victimized by men in the mines for no additional pay.
In modern times, there are still sweatshops, where most often, young, uneducated women work for an unfair wage, and cannot meet the standard of living with this as their only income. These women often have to work in unsafe and unsanitary working conditions, and are the victims of sexual harassment. The garment industry is based on a system where retailers like Wal-Mart and Target are at the top of the sub-contracting chain. Manufacturers hire contractors and subcontractors, who then hire the garment workers. Most contractors are in a tough position due to competition, and they have to pay low wages and cut corners with safety and conditions because they are not being paid enough by the manufacturers. Thus, the garment workers get the short end of the stick and have to work very hard for low wages and be a victim to whatever the conditions may be.
Sources:
Text book
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~nshah/fashioncrimes/Sweatshops.html
The textbook discusses the large numbers of women and children that were recruited into the workforce during the Industrial Revolution, especially in the textile and mining industries. Female and child labor was plentiful and cheap. Children only received 1/6 to 1/3 of what a man would earn, and women received 1/3 to 1/2 of what a man would make. The women and children did not have a choice but to take one of these low-paying jobs. Families needed money, and everyone had to work and earn what they could. After some time, women could no longer care for their children while on the job, which led to the trend of women taking care of the children at home while the men earned wages and worked outside the home.
The sentence that stood out to me the most was, "When it is remembered that these girls hurry chiefly for men who are not their parents; that they go from 15 to 20 times a day into a dark chamber (the bank face), which is often 50 yards apart from anyone, to a man working naked, or next to naked, it is not to be supposed but that where opportunity thus prevails sexual vices are of common occurrence." I cannot imagine being a girl or woman of any age having to work around naked men and being raped in a coal mine. I cannot imagine being that desperate for money that I would take a job where I did hard manual labor for twelve hours a day, and would be frequently taken advantage of at any given moment. I cannot imagine only having bread and butter for lunch, and just having potatoes for dinner, and maybe every once in awhile, some meat. People were really struggling just to survive and had to do whatever they could to make some money, even if that meant being taken advantage of, or choosing to let your children be taken advantage of.
This reading reminds of the poverty in third world countries, where people are so desperate they either sell their children or themselves into prostitution. I am sure that word spread, and the women and young girls knew what additional services they would be providing in addition to their back-breaking physical labor. I'm sure women and young girls realized that in addition to being miners, they were also agreeing to be prostitutes, except without any extra pay. In some respect, you could say that these girls and women had it worse than prostitutes because they had to do hard, filthy labor for twelve hours a day, in addition to being victimized by men in the mines for no additional pay.
In modern times, there are still sweatshops, where most often, young, uneducated women work for an unfair wage, and cannot meet the standard of living with this as their only income. These women often have to work in unsafe and unsanitary working conditions, and are the victims of sexual harassment. The garment industry is based on a system where retailers like Wal-Mart and Target are at the top of the sub-contracting chain. Manufacturers hire contractors and subcontractors, who then hire the garment workers. Most contractors are in a tough position due to competition, and they have to pay low wages and cut corners with safety and conditions because they are not being paid enough by the manufacturers. Thus, the garment workers get the short end of the stick and have to work very hard for low wages and be a victim to whatever the conditions may be.
Sources:
Text book
http://www.mtholyoke.edu/~nshah/fashioncrimes/Sweatshops.html
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Galileo
The theme of this reading is heresy, and revolves around the trial of Galileo before the Roman Inquisition. It was heretical for Galileo to go against current interpretation of scripture that the earth was stationary and the sun moved. Galileo was being tried for heresy because he published books and furthered the Copernican view of the sun being immobile and the earth rotating around the sun. The Roman Inquisition forced Galileo to denounce his views and abandon all efforts to further them.
The text provides adequate background information of the trial of Galileo. The book, The Assayer won Galileo the support of Pope Urban VIII who took Galileo under his wing because he wanted to be associated with the latest intellectual activity. However, when his book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, was published it caused him a lot of problems. This book promoted Copernicanism more forcefully. This book caused Galileo to lose support from Pope Urban because the pope felt it was a direct insult to him. Throughout the trial Galileo denied that he felt Copernicanism as being undeniably true, he simply thought it was probable. However, the Roman Court said that any view that is contrary to scripture is not probable. The Court made Galileo renounce his views and he was sent to Sienna for a year, and then he returned to his home in Arcetri where he remained under house arrest for the rest of his life.
This is so interesting that the church was trying to respect scripture and prevent anyone from going against scripture, when they did not know that scripture is not in opposition to the earth rotating around the sun. They really thought they were doing what was right as Christians in defending scripture, but they basically ruined a brilliant man's life in the process. This whole account reminds me of the trial with Socrates, where Socrates is accused of corrupting the youth and believing in other gods, neither of which were true. Socrates simply wanted to embrace wisdom and challenge people to look at themselves deeply and seek out wisdom as well. He was the only one really doing that at the time and the young people that wanted to follow in his ways were those he was accused of corrupting. Socrates was sentenced to death for these things because he would not give up the life of philosophy he wanted to live. Would Galileo have been tortured or put to death if he had refused to renounce his beliefs? Perhaps the story would have been even more life Socrates if Galileo had refused to give up his beliefs.
One thing that stood out to me was that Galileo was seventy years old when he was put on trial for this, and Socrates was seventy-two I believe. Both of these men were late in years as they were put on trial. Galileo lived nine more years, one year as an outcast and eight under house arrest. Something else that stands out to me is that the pope is being referred to as his Holiness. I think that is way too grand a title for any person to have. No one is holy except God. Every person falls so short of absolute Holiness. When the pope is referred to as his Holiness, the "h" is capital, and later when it is said, "the most holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ", the "h" is lowercase. I think Jesus' name deserves a capital "h" much more than the pope's title.
A modern parallel I see is the controversy over evolution and scripture. To be honest, I am a six day creationist, and a science major. I have read many things that cause me to believe that carbon dating is flawed and is probably not accurate. I support a literal interpretation of Genesis and a young earth perspective. Perhaps an old earth and evolution are compatible with scripture, or perhaps they are not. Maybe those who want to stand by a literal interpretation of scripture and not by science are wrong and we just haven't seen how they are compatible yet, or maybe they are right. Either way, that point is not a salvation determining factor. As long as the church does not ostracize and punish anyone who would go against their interpretation of scripture, we are doing better than the church of the 1600's.
Source:
Text Book
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/galileo/galileo.html
The text provides adequate background information of the trial of Galileo. The book, The Assayer won Galileo the support of Pope Urban VIII who took Galileo under his wing because he wanted to be associated with the latest intellectual activity. However, when his book, Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems, was published it caused him a lot of problems. This book promoted Copernicanism more forcefully. This book caused Galileo to lose support from Pope Urban because the pope felt it was a direct insult to him. Throughout the trial Galileo denied that he felt Copernicanism as being undeniably true, he simply thought it was probable. However, the Roman Court said that any view that is contrary to scripture is not probable. The Court made Galileo renounce his views and he was sent to Sienna for a year, and then he returned to his home in Arcetri where he remained under house arrest for the rest of his life.
This is so interesting that the church was trying to respect scripture and prevent anyone from going against scripture, when they did not know that scripture is not in opposition to the earth rotating around the sun. They really thought they were doing what was right as Christians in defending scripture, but they basically ruined a brilliant man's life in the process. This whole account reminds me of the trial with Socrates, where Socrates is accused of corrupting the youth and believing in other gods, neither of which were true. Socrates simply wanted to embrace wisdom and challenge people to look at themselves deeply and seek out wisdom as well. He was the only one really doing that at the time and the young people that wanted to follow in his ways were those he was accused of corrupting. Socrates was sentenced to death for these things because he would not give up the life of philosophy he wanted to live. Would Galileo have been tortured or put to death if he had refused to renounce his beliefs? Perhaps the story would have been even more life Socrates if Galileo had refused to give up his beliefs.
One thing that stood out to me was that Galileo was seventy years old when he was put on trial for this, and Socrates was seventy-two I believe. Both of these men were late in years as they were put on trial. Galileo lived nine more years, one year as an outcast and eight under house arrest. Something else that stands out to me is that the pope is being referred to as his Holiness. I think that is way too grand a title for any person to have. No one is holy except God. Every person falls so short of absolute Holiness. When the pope is referred to as his Holiness, the "h" is capital, and later when it is said, "the most holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ", the "h" is lowercase. I think Jesus' name deserves a capital "h" much more than the pope's title.
A modern parallel I see is the controversy over evolution and scripture. To be honest, I am a six day creationist, and a science major. I have read many things that cause me to believe that carbon dating is flawed and is probably not accurate. I support a literal interpretation of Genesis and a young earth perspective. Perhaps an old earth and evolution are compatible with scripture, or perhaps they are not. Maybe those who want to stand by a literal interpretation of scripture and not by science are wrong and we just haven't seen how they are compatible yet, or maybe they are right. Either way, that point is not a salvation determining factor. As long as the church does not ostracize and punish anyone who would go against their interpretation of scripture, we are doing better than the church of the 1600's.
Source:
Text Book
http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/galileo/galileo.html
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