Great Britain was the center of it all. It had mines for a variety of minerals and ores; the main one being coal. Factories also sprouted up along with cities due to the high demand for cotton products. The workers at factories consisted of lots of children and many women. This meant every family member could help support their family. Almost all families had all family members work while the younger children did household chores. In the long term, the industrial revolution improved the standard of living in the industrialized countries.

                The great economical shift into cities also caused problems. Due to the mass production of cotton products, many workers were needed and poor  farmers were forced to move into cities in order to provide for their family. This in turn caused cities to be overcrowded and many people to live in small blocks call “slums”. In slums, diseases spread like wild fire because most houses didn’t have proper plumbing or flowing water. The work conditions in factories were very unsafe. The machines could pull in body parts, slam peoples’ arms, and hurt them in other ways. Not only adults but also kids worked in these hazardous environments. While some kids were privileged to go to school, the majority of them already had a twelve hour work day. Some laws were passed later that cut back the hours a child was permitted to work. Although this was an improvement, more of them could have been made.

                The Industrial Revolution had problems that could have been taken care of better. For example, in order to provide employees with a better home, the wealthy factory owners could have made sure that the slums had some form of drainage and water system. This would have helped lessen the spread of diseases. Another thing that factory owners could have done is to test and ensure that conditions at the factories were safe. The biggest help the poor factory workers and miners could have gotten is if the government would have stepped in and written some safety regulation laws. For these laws to be effective, they would have had to be enforced. 

Chickens are three times the size of what they were back in the day.  Not because they’re just fatter but because they are mass produced, fed things they shouldn’t be. They don’t live on corn and grain anymore.

It’s the same with cattle. They are often fed steroids and meat, things they should not be eating.

We are what we eat and it shows.

Many males are developing breasts, yes partially because they are overweight but mostly because of the things like steroids used as growth enhancers that are put in our foods and drinks.

The animals, unless what is now called free range, are left inside all the time, never seeing the light of day. Chickens are literally couped up in mass amounts all the time not allowed to roam free and get exercise.

They are fed steroids to make their breasts grow faster which is causing health problems in them and in us because after all, we are what we eat.

Gone are the days when eating meat was good for you because the animals were all grain and grass fed. Sadly that is not the case anymore.

Now if you want healthy food you have to buy organic which again is what used to just be normal.

Soy milk is thought to be good for us but it too is causing breasts in male children.

The sad fact is, to get the food we used to buy without a thought, in our grocery stores, we have to buy organic and pay extra to eat healthy.

Many families cannot afford to do that so they are forced to eat the garbage that is put on the shelves.

I once spoke to Swede , whilst living in Canada, in 1986, he said” There are many rich people in Sweden, ( A Socialist Country) but most people are just average.”

Having big buisness in a country is a great thing. Private enterprise has it’s place. These companies expand and become global. Goods and services are being produced more efficiently ,powered by computerized systems and the Interent.

I see a huge disconnect, when mass production- machinery displaces thousands of workers. Products are produced cheaply by lean and mean corporations; from tooth picks to automoblies. When corporations lay off staff, the buying power of communities are severly diminished; now we have consumerables, stores stocked, but less money to buy our desires.

The world economy revolves around the production of goods, services and bill- payment. Any break in this cycle adversely affects large sections of the world’s population. I do not think any single System can be the solution. Any System of Government will have to ensure that most folks are employed by some company or are self employed. The larger percentage of the populace getting beyond-poverty wages; the better it will be for all.

America will never consider communism, but China, having the largest population and a huge supplier of manufactured goods; is a communist country; dabbiling with Capitalism. America sells many of her Bonds

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to China. The Noble Prize Committe is searching for A System to better handle the rapidly growing population of our Universe. Do you (Out There) have the answer?

Mass production—-cheaper prices—- higher sales—- bigger profits—- more employment—- steady income

Causes of Economic boom.

Benefits of World War 1: technology became more advanced and made many people wealthy.

Growth of advertising: Advertising was everywhere newspapers,posters and magazines this made luxuries more desirable so, people began to spend more. people were seduced into buying goods that they didn’t really need.

Arrival of electricity: the arrival of electricity powered up new and exciting luxuries such as; radios, refrigerators, telephones,hovers and powered up factories which made industries faster. This aloud the new mass production techniques and gave rise to house hold electrical goods.

Tax cuts: this aloud film makers to invest in developmeant and growth which gave Americans more money in their pockets to protect from foreign competition.

Tariffs: this put a tax on imported goods which made it more expensive than US goods. Harding (US President) kept tariffs high. This meant that Americans bought American goods rather than foreign goods.

Availability of natural resources: the amount of resources left were going down. Resources such as; steel, iron and coal were used the most in cars and big industries. More trees were cut down to make frames of radios, steel was used for cars and food stores.

Americans realized the need for a good transportation system to create a stable economy. Transportation would allow goods to travel to far away places, especially raw materials and food. The Northeast was able to gain food much faster as the transportation system in America developed, this meant the small farmers in the Northeast were no longer needed and the small farmers could join the factories. America ensured their strong economy by developing turnpikes, canals, and railroads. Canals were an effective form of transportation for some time because it was much cheaper then transporting items across land. Railroads lessened “the dependence of the West on the Mississippi, the railroads also helped further the connection between the Northwest and the South” (Brinkley 256).

The South was dominantly agrarian, and contributed to most of Americas Agricultural goods. With the developments of the cotton gin and the reaper, the Southern farmers were able to produce their goods very efficiently. The Southern agricultural products contributed to most of the Southern economy, and also created raw materials that could be used by manufacturers to the North. An example of an abundant raw material the South or the Northwest farmers created was cotton, which was very useful for the Northeast textile industry. This saved America money because it did not have to travel further distances for the raw material it needed to allow its manufacturing industry to expand. Also, a lot of Agricultural goods could be exported to Europe for more markets producing a lot of income for many American citizens.

Manufacturing though dominated mostly by the Northeast, was minimally present in other regions of America. With the abundant supply of raw materials in America, and the great advancements in transportation, manufacturing was able to flourish. Manufacturing allowed the abundant cheap raw materials to transform into lucrative manufactured goods. These lucrative manufactured goods allowed America to become more independent, because it wouldn’t have to require the assistance of European countries anymore. Thus, it would save money from not having to transport the good from across the Atlantic ocean, and it could sell it to the European countries at a high cost.

Conclusively, the developments in manufacturing, agriculture, and transportation aided in the development of a prosperous American economy. Transportation allowed for the efficient travel of manufactured goods and raw materials. It also allowed for the development of manufacturing and helped agriculture become more prosperous. Agriculture, created a stable source of income for Americans, and its products were a good source of raw material for manufacturing especially cotton. Manufacturing allowed America to create a massive amount of wealth because it allowed mass production. Not to mention, its manufactured goods made America less dependent on its European

If the majority of the population works, then crime and stress goes down. Leisure and longevity will increase. There are as many benefits as the mind can imagine.

The problem is, can we enjoy a climate of diminished crime, less need for crimanal lawyers, longer lasting relationships and miles of happy smiling faces? Will folks still enjoy or distaste the evening news? I feel confident that more people can be employed the question is ” Can we handle it”.

Causes of the Industrial Revolution

1. Population Growth

   The end of Feudalism and the English civil war all played a role in the population growth. Disease resistance grew as survivors of various plagues and diseases began to bear more children that were resistant to these diseases. Early marriages among young couples in society began to also lead to higher birth rate so more the population makeup was characterized by a large young population because of these children.  The direct result of the young population was large labor workforce that was made available throughout Britain and Europe.  People also began to migrate in large numbers to cities and began to develop new methods of labor like the factory systems.

2. Agricultural Revolution

   The agricultural revolution began well before the 18^th century with the introduction of new crops from the New World into the European society. The rise of new staple foods rich in carbs needed to sustain large populations such as Potatoes  were readily available throughout Britain (Ireland) and Europe. The Columbian exchanged played a huge role in this as new products were shipped into Europe from the New Work as well as development of colonial workforce (slaves) for intense labor conditions (sugar and cotton production). The cattle industry as well as the cattle production was increased so more alternative foods (dairy products) were mass produced. The enclosure movement by wealthy landowners in Britain led to more privatization of land instead of open grazing lands used by the commons. Thus the tragedy of the commons was avoided at the same time, the profits and fruits of the land were more exclusive to the landowner. It also gave rise of tenant workers and landless laborers throughout Britain. Such people began to move into cities to seek better employment opportunities as more food enabled specialization to develop in the various aspects of society.

3. Trade and Inventiveness

   The driving force behind all of this development was demand. It is often said that “necessity is the mother of all inventions” but that can readily be rephrased as “Demand is the mother of all inventions.” Thus the increased demand for goods leads to increased stresses for more production. This was a contributing factor in slavery for cash crop production as well as the technological invocations such as the assembly line, replaceable parts and factory style intense labor system that developed in the cities. The development of the “Putting out system” or a form of subcontracting work where certain elements of labor was given to various individuals to do at their own facilities (usually at home or within your factory or workshop) was in full swing. In general, Europe was fascinated by technology and driven largely by the Enlightenment principles to understand the world and solve social problems through technology and scientific methods.

4. Conditions in Britain and continental Europe

   Britain was most unique in this time period. As wars raged throughout Europe, Britain finished its civil war and ended the Feudalistic system to the replaced by a constitutional monarchy and thus peace was relatively existent throughout Britain. This led to large economic growth as a strong merchant marine class developed in Britain. The population growth also enabled a larger workforce and gave rise to various new ideas for further social development. The social structure was also well established with a lot of fluidity for success and rise in wealth. Britain, since it was a island, has to establish good naval and water transportation systems so when it came to the industrial revolution, this well established water transportation system played a large role in helping to trade with nations in Europe and into Asia (as well as Africa) and contributed to acquiring the various natural resources needed to manufacturing.

   Thus the highly developed commercial system marked by Mercantilism and foreign trade was essential for the industrial development in Britain. Continental Europe only began to catch up with Britain and develop the same industrial progression as Britain much later. This was largely due to the wars that plagued Europe from 1789 to 1815 and this impeded economic and technological growth as people were unwilling to invest in infrastructure due to the risks involved and losses from the war. After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, Europe rushed into an age of technological and Industrial development and reaches on the same level as Britain in a relatively short time. Belgium and France were the two nations that were remarkably successful in this sector of industrialization after the end of Napoleonic wars.