Friederich Engel: Industrial Manchester

                 In Friederich Engel: Industrial Manchester the main theme was the impact Engels had on conditions regarding the working class. It depicts, for the reader, what the conditions really were and the author described them as, “…so dirty that the inhabitants can pass into and out of the court only by passing through foul pools of stagnant urine and excrement.” This reading tells the story of what it would have been like to experience life in the working class back in 1844.

                I was grasped by the idea of everything being so dirty, “…for even the shops and beer houses hardly take the trouble to exhibit a trifling degree of cleanliness.” The places that today would be kept clean and made to feel inviting so people would visit were dirty. There was little care for cleanliness or, possibly, no leadership to impose guidelines for cleanliness. The ideas and questions these conditions sparked were what changed between then and today. It makes me wonder, was such due to the fast spread of disease, improving science, or did things just evolve over time.

                I see modern parallels with today’s third world countries. I suppose such countries probably desire greater cleanliness, as did the people in 1844, they lack the ability to create a cleaner environment. Similarities between today’s third world countries and Engels’ industrial Manchester include trash in the street, which I have personally witnessed in the city streets of Mexico.  It seems, in some places, such as a way of life has simply become acceptable.

                I believe this reading relates to Chapter Twenty of our class text as it talks about the standard of living during the Industrial Revolution. Our text adds several details explaining the distinctions between the pessimists and the optimists. These two camps argued about the effects of the Industrial Revolution and focused on the concerns surrounding conditions of work and living. The book states, “Worker lost their independence as well as any control whatsoever over products of their labor.” The people also lost their sense of pride and had little or no control over their lives because they had such limited options.