Quote:
Originally posted by Flame Of Liberty+Jan 18 2005, 05:23 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Flame Of Liberty @ Jan 18 2005, 05:23 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Agamemnon@Jan 18 2005, 05:01 PM
Unions have provided blue-collar jobs with middle-class lives.# Today.
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And here I thought it was the rise of productivity that followed the industrial revolution what caused the dramatic increase of overall wellbeing. [/b][/quote]
Nope. The rise of productivity in the Industrial Revolution provided little increase in real wages for workers, especially in the 1800's and early 1900's. Conditions were horrible for most of the workers, and the IR saw a substantial rise in the labour of women and young children. Workers were often mistreated, and owed more to the company at the end of their employment (death) than the start. It wasn't until the Labour movement, as well as the Welfare State, that the 'average' worker's lifestyle became 'middle-class' as opposed to 'lower-class'.
And the 'dramatic increase in overall well-being' has yet to be felt in most reaches of the globe.