Environment and the Industrial Revolution
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The Industrial Revolution in Britain; history and workers What, why and how What was the industrial revolution? Unprecedented change from an organic economy with accompanying growth limits to an inorganic one Organic economy has limitations i.e. land used for agriculture cannot be used to provide housing, a craftsman’s output is limited Inorganic economy does not have these limitations i.e. manufacturing, use of coal Slow and cumulative in Britain; faster in countries that followed Britain Why did it first occur in Britain? Large free-trade area from 1707 Deforestation but resource environment with abundant and easily accessible coal led to change Politically freer (laissez-faire), rich intellectual climate and less bureaucracy: enabled group of inventors and entrepreneurs to thrive outside the establishment: Newcomen, Watt, Boulton Fortuitous geography: close to sea, lots of rivers, largish population relative to size Why did it first occur in Britain? Necessity of providing for growing population (no longer a Malthusian check to growth) London major financial centre Cotton industry first outlet for inventions Trade and dominance of British navy Scientific advances starting with Francis Bacon Newcomen‘s steam engine Steam engine first developed for mining industry 1712. Improved by James Watt in 1776 who was able to apply it to a variety of applications such as grinding, milling and weaving Textile innovations Textile innovations demonstrate cumulative nature of first part of the industrial revolution flying shuttle 1733 was manual spinning Jenny 1764 mechanized but helped home-based industries water frame 1768 that started the move to factory-based production mule (steam powered) 1780’s power loom 1780’s but mechanized on a large scale in 1815 Flying shuttle and power loom Further developments Development of transport infrastructure to serve industries. Poor communications had kept Britain divided into self-contained regions Canals were first: one horse could draw 80 times as much weight by pulling a barge Roads: private, turnpike roads were first Rail – indicative of second, faster phase of the industrial revolution and the most transformative. Established quickly 1830-50 The second phase – capitalism Dominated by development of capital goods industries: coal, iron, steel Limited liability 1855-56 led to rise in larger companies and greater risk tolerance Production for overseas markets needed greater productivity Simple ideas could no longer produce outstanding results Division of labour: Smith’s pin, and button manufacture Factory work became the norm Urbanization and creation of the “working class” “In such an age, the inequalities of life are apt to look less like calamities from the hand of heaven and more like injustices from the hand of man”. Hammond and Hammond. 19th century brought permanent change to the entire population, not simply the working person Growing middle and artisan class in new industries: journalism, engineering Apogee Great Exhibition of 1851 Beginnings of social reform Start of municipal infrastructure, legislation The working person and the industrial revolution Life before the industrial revolution had not changed exponentially for centuries; change occurred but was not transformative People produced sufficient for their own needs, with consumer goods made by local craftsmen. Way of life! As the industrial revolution happened first in Britain the shift from an agrarian to an industrial society was without precedent and was largely unlegislated Move from cottage industries/agriculture partly due to enclosures of land Post 1789 upper class fear of Jacobinism and Radicalism – held back reform? Lack of a social safety net: poor relief responsibility of parishes Poor Law 1834 exacerbated problem Loss of outdoor relief led to workhouses Loss of independence and community Depersonalization of the employment process – profit became sole basis of working relationship Lack of advancement opportunities for many factory workers or miners The textile industry First inventions helped cottage industries but power loom destroyed home-based weaving Women and children could no longer remain at home – forced into factories The Luddites; weavers whose wages were being reduced due to mechanization Weavers eventually starved out of their work First employment legislation applied to cotton mills What brought about change? Need for educated workforce with industrialization Smithian law became inadequate in the Victorian era Previous repressive laws no longer sustainable – trade unions became legal 1830’s but still periodic repression Earl of Shaftesbury; Owen; Place; Peel – awakening of social conscience Rise in popular press, literacy, visibility of working conditions; Dickens; Eliot; Disraeli; Wordsworth; Coleridge; Godwin and Wollstonecraft Peterloo Massacre 1819 when public opinion gradually began to turn Self-help Second generation of industrialized workers Alienation between the classes: no common interest and it became clear there was to be no alliance with employers Workers started to educate themselves – corresponding societies, friendly societies, trades unions, cooperative movement Reforms eventually carried out as concessions to pressure How Britain fell behind/what’s next? Easier for other countries to catch up once move made to capital goods industries and sources of growth became technological Education in Britain liberal arts rather than science and engineering-based? Victorian complacency Rise of the US Has the industrial revolution ever stopped? Trends we see today Move away from union representation; dilution of employment rights Lowering of wages and race to the bottom for most Maximization of profit at all costs Government subsidizing low wages in some economies (UK) Outsourcing Child labour in developing world Technological innovations resulting in job losses Political and social power in the hands of a smaller number of individuals: oligarchy vs democracy? Pre-Industrial Revolution Social Responsibility Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 No Corporate Social Responsibility Decision-Making A firm focuses on one thing and one thing only its profit This creates pressure to reduce costs by cutting costs internally The owners, managers and labour make their own personal charity decisions. Is this is more or less democratic than forcing the firm to give? Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 The Firm without Corporate Social Responsibility The Law & Governmental Administration Individual Owner Charity Profit Charity Profit Charity Profit Profi t Suppliers Profi t Customer s Individual Manager Charity Individual Labour Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 The Firm Charity The Nation, The Community Corporate Social Responsibility Decision-Making A firm giving to charity reduces its ability to reinvest, and its profit This creates pressure to reduce costs by cutting costs internally – this essentially represents a tax on labour Do the owners and / or the manager of the firm make the charity decisions? Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 The Firm with Corporate Social Responsibility The Law & Governmental Administration Individual Owner Charity Profit Charity Profit Charity Charity Profit Profi t Suppliers Profi t Customer s Individual Manager Charity Individual Labour Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 The Firm Charity The Nation, The Community The Protestant Ethic Premise: 1. Stuff = Money 2. Money = Labour 3. Labour ≠ Free Time Therefore: 1. Stuff ≠ Free Time And: 1. Free Time ≠ Stuff Where does charity fit into this equation? Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 Self-Interest and Selfishness “Fellow Feeling“ is crucial = sympathy Bi-directional and inter-dependent sense of wellbeing Self-interest = When you feel good, I feel good The butcher takes care of his own self-interest, but because he is not selfish he takes care of his clientele Not all human actions are selfishly motivated; but he understands that: Altruistic actions are driven by a deep desire within the self; and not by reason alone This applies to all individuals Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 Relationship Between the Individual and the Entity Is business as an entity of men really different to the church, academia, military? What is the purpose the Church & Academia "Consumption is the sole end and purpose of all production; and the interest of the producer ought to be attended to, only so far as it may be necessary for promoting that of the consumer.” Smith: The Wealth of Nations (Page 286) To fund environmental studies? Homeless shelters? What about negative eudæmonia Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 Relationship Between the Individual and the Entity Structure of laws and administration limit all human endeavours: Lag between innovation and legislation Conversely creates a stable environment in which it can grow due to predictability of some facets – The Navigation Acts were in place for 200 years. Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 On Defense Defense of the nation state is not just military in nature More to do with “public interest” Spending on the military nationally was good locally; and business spending on infrastructure was good for military and for business Of course, it is too bad that periodically the military has to be used Defense is dependent upon local capital Surely, the more local the capital the better for a community Boundary between public good and individual good Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 On the Nation Local government and County government was about to be radically restructured; but largely ineffective Closed communities all dependent upon a single business for profit The Wentworth Estate What is good for the nation is good for the community and vice versa Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 Post-Information Revolution Social Responsibility - An Alternative - Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 Smith gone wrong ……! Since the late 1970s the American middle and working classes have fallen further and further behind economically because policy changes in government favor the rich and super-rich Given little to no growth, skimming off some of the proceeds of growth to service the disadvantaged no longer works 1% vs 99% Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 The Individual Richest All together the 400 wealthiest Americans are worth $2.29 trillion - up $270 billion from a year ago: Same as the gross domestic product of Brazil, a country of 200 million people. The average net worth of list members is $5.7 billion, $700 million more than last year and a record high. Forbes 400 (2014) Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 …and there are the business hypocrites (and we can’t get enough of them …..) 1. Yoko Ono Net Worth - $500 million. Tweeted: "I love #OccupyWallStreet. As John said, "One hero cannot do it. Each one of us have to be heroes." And you are. Thank you. love, yoko." 2. Russell Simmons Net Worth - $325 million The founder of a high fee credit card company called UniRush Financial Services visited the protests with Kanye West 3. George Clooney Net Worth - $160 million Says he also supports the movement against corporate greed, but admits he needs to educate himself more about the specifics. 4. Samuel L. Jackson Net Worth - $160 million While on “The View,” the 62-year-old Pulp Fiction star said: “I’m really glad when I look at those kids on Wall Street and I think, ‘Finally, someone got up and did something’. We used to be on the streets in the ’60s.” 5. Sean Penn Net Worth - $150 million Speaking on “Piers Morgan Tonight,” he says, "It resonates a great deal and in many ways. I applaud the spirit of what's happening now on Wall Street. I hope that increased organisation can come to it. 6. Jane Fonda - $120 million 7. Roseanne Barr Net Worth - $80 million Tweeted: "The working class of this country were destroyed by wall street as the middle class was encouraged 2 jeer at them & call them lazy" 8. Deepak Chopra Net Worth - $80 million 9. Kanye West Net Worth - $70 million Arrived to the protests in $1,000 jeans and a $300,000 car. 10. Alec Baldwin Net Worth - $65 million Also the spokesperson for Capital One credit card Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 A Possible Solution: Predistribution Don’t wait until the $$ have been earned and then distribute. Distribute the earnings beforehand they land on a pay cheque. Focus on the voiceless middle classes. Engineer markets to create fairer outcomes from the beginning. Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 How to reinvigorate the centre-left? Jacob Stewart Hacker: Director of the Institution for Social and Policy Studies and Stanley B. Resor Professor of Political Science at Yale University Written works on social policy, health care reform, and economic insecurity in the United States Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Richer Richer--and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 The Precursor to Predistribution James Meade: Nobel prize-winning economist, in his 1964 book Efficiency, Equality and the Ownership of Property older and more radical approach to predistribution called a "property-owning democracy" Looks to fundamentally to change individuals' economic power within markets Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 Predistribution Focus on the economic engine of the middle class Fix the macro economy Provide quality public services Empower the workforce Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 Predistribution Acknowledges The that: state cannot do everything Vital place for active governance in the 21st century economy More than just softening the sharp edges of capitalism by creating a positive role for the state (contrary to Hayek’s thinking) Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 Assumptions: Predistribution: Predistribution: More on education and training to foster greater selfrespect and economic agency Greater capital stake gives people the kind of independence that comes with being less in thrall to the vagaries of the labour market Predistribution: Encourages those with a more secure economic position (since they are freer) to refuse demeaning or badly paid jobs this in turn bids-up wages and reduces inequality Martin Addison - LS812 - 30 March 2015 Environment and the Industrial Revolution how business, science, and religion led to the degradation of the planet Pre-Industrial Revolution I – Attitudes II – Timber and Coal III – Science IV – Agricultural Revolution V – Changes in European Culture Industrial Revolution I – Canals II – Industry/Air Quality III – Case Study – Alkali Acts 1863 Post-Industrial Revolution I – Sewage and Waste Disposal Changing Image of Nature Nurturing Mother Earth (culture restricted destructive human interaction with the earth) Mastery and Domination (culture allowed for the destruction of nature) Mazatlan Wetlands - Mexico Deforestation in Australia Highland Valley Copper – Logan Lake, BC Domination or Stewardship? Greek: - Sacrifices to Greek gods to gain favour - Sacrifices or offerings were often given to ensure that the weather was in favour of the people - Poseidon for safe water passage - Demeter for the harvest - Hades for wealth (precious metals come from within the earth) Domination or Stewardship? Christianity: Genesis 1:26-28 New International Version (NIV) Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” 27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” 26 Genesis 9:1-5 New International Version (NIV) Then God blessed Noah and his sons, saying to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the earth. 2 The fear and dread of you will fall on all the beasts of the earth, and on all the birds in the sky, on every creature that moves along the ground, and on all the fish in the sea; they are given into your hands. 3 Everything that lives and moves about will be food for you. Just as I gave you the green plants, I now give you everything. Pre-Industrial Revolution Britain – subsistence agriculture Early modern period = soil fertility maintained through crop and animal rotation Woodlands are the source of fuel for the community Each family farmed their own lot, but natural resources were shared Medieval landlords did not strive to maximize their gains Pre-Industrial Revolution 1100/1200s – problem with the ownership of woodlots Landowners want to sell the wood to the companies building the ships - Mature oak of 80-120 years was necessary for the hulls, and firs were used for the masts Industries also reliant on timber - Housing - Soap - Glass - Iron/Copper refineries - Docks, bridges, barges, locks (canals) - Brewing industry By the 1200s, there is a shortage of timber for fuel and coal is used instead. Coal as fuel In Elizabethan times, the use of coal had created a major pollution problem – travelers when visiting the capital would have the smog greet them as their first visual The coal burned in the early modern period contained twice as much Sulphur as coal used today - By the 18th century, statues of Stuart kings were covered in soot - The production of English coal rose 1560 - 210,000 tons 1690 - 2,982,000 tons Royal Edicts “It was said that Queen Elizabeth was “so grieved and annoyed with the taste of the smoke of sea coals” that in 1578 she asked the brewers of London and other industries not to use any coal in their operations, but to rely only on wood.” This was not likely to happen because wood was very expensive Science Francis Bacon – formulated empirical methodologies (the scientific method) Moves away from theological and metaphysical thinking (religion) By examining natural causes one could overcome the harsh inconveniences of nature (and politics) The world could now be controlled instead of endured Echoes the principles of domination Agriculture Revolution Uncultivated land was seen as “uncivilized” ‘wild and vacant lands encumbered with bushes [and] briars were like a defamed chaos’ Some saw the decision to have Otmoor (a wetland) unenclosed as “scandal to national policy” Improvements to agriculture was designed to improve the farmer’s status This prompted a shift to “scientific agriculture focused on land management and increased yields.” – CM 56 More food = more profit More food = less people needed on farms = more people available for factory work Enclosure Changing Landscape With improved farming technology that created higher yields, people began to look for new Soil areas that could be fertility declines farmed. Wetlands were drained in an effort to create more farmland - Affected the poor, and nature (birds and fish were a source of food) Less manure for fertilizer Dry land near village used for summer grazing Summer grazing leaves winter food stock depleted Fewer animals can be sustained Changes in Culture “changes arising within human culture affected and were affected by the natural environment” - CM 43 “rise and fall in population” “conflict between landlord and peasant over control of natural resources” change from subsistence to profit model “technological innovation” “spread of capitalist market” Industrial Revolution - Canals The first “true” canal was built in the UK – 1741 “The rendering of these rivers applicable to the purposes of commerce forms one of the most important features in the history of our inland navigation.” – Joseph Priestly, 1831 In a petition from 1698, it was stated that if the “Rivers Ayre and Calder [were] made navigable…[it would lead to the] preservation of the highways, and a great improvement of trade…sometimes roads are unpassable” “much damage happens through the badness of the roads by the overturning of the carriages” Industrial Revolution “Thirty of forty factories rise on the tops of hills I have just describes. Their six stories tower up; their huge enclosures give notice from afar of the centralisation of industry…the soil has been taken away, scratched and torn up in a thousand places…heaps of dung, rubble from buildings, putrid, stagnant pools are found here and there among the houses and over the bumpy, pitted surfaces of the public places…a sort of black smoke cover the city. The sun seen though it is a disc without rays. – Alex de Tocqueville 1835 Industrial Revolution Disease “That such disease, wherever its attacks are frequent, is always found in connexion with the physical circumstances above specified [damp, filth, overcrowding], and that where those circumstances are removed by drainage, proper cleansing, better ventilation, and other means of diminishing atmospheric impurity, the frequency and intensity of such disease is abated; and where the removal of the noxious agencies appears to be complete, such disease almost entirely disappears.” “habits of cleanliness [are] obstructed by defective supplies of water” “the annual loss of life from filth and bad ventilation is greater than the loss from death and wounds in any wars in which the country has been engaged in modern times” – Edward Chadwick, Parliamentary Papers, 1842 The Economist 1849 – on Cholera Argument – that sanitary measures are not necessary because the disease is spread from person to person – not due to poor sanitary conditions “After inflicting much suffering – particularly on the lower classes - the cholera seems to have entirely departed. All the nuisances of unflushed sewers , interamural burials, coffins bursting and pouring forth poisonous exhalations are continued” “it would be most unphilosophical to ascribe cholera to them, and to proceed to create new institutions, or create new laws, to get rid of them” Industrial Revolution - Air “ The sturdy Hawthorne makes an attempt to look gay every spring; but its leaves…dry up like tea leaves and soon drop off. The farmer may sow if he pleases, but he will only reap a crop of straw…the human animals suffer from smarting eyes, disagreeable sensations in the throat, and irritating cough, and difficulty of breathing.” Chemical News, 1862 The cause of this: hydrochloric acid, particularly from alkali trades Alkali Acts – 1863-1884 1862 - Consumed 1,834,000 tons of raw materials - Employed 19,000 men - Earnings: ~871,000 £ (45.84 per person) - Produced finished good worth 2.5 million £ - Contributed to secondary trades - But, in manufacturing, clouds of HCl gas were released into the atmosphere, and rained down as acid rain Attempts to fix the problem were made Make the chimneys higher = no good Smoke was just spread over a larger area instead (they thought it would be diffused in the air, thus having a less potent effect) The landed gentry were the most upset – especially if they were downwind from the factories Attempts to mitigate the effects were not made because there was no incentive to do so (difficult to lay blame, no $$ incentive) 1863 – Lord Stanley of Alderly brought in a private bill “all alkali works be subjected to a fixed standard of ninety-five per cent condensation; setting penalties of fifty and a hundred pounds for first and subsequent offences, and authorizing the Board to Trade to appoint an inspector with the sole powers of prosecution and appeal.” Manufacturers were not pleased with this they insisted the problem had only recently had a scientific solution. Complained that if earlier stages had been subject to inspection, they never would have arrived at this ‘present position’ After the Act is passed: Acid was reduced from 13,000 tons to 43 tons per year Enthusiasm for inspection increased once it was discovered that HCl acid (a waste product) could be turned into hypochloride and into commercial bleach (no more urine!) Only HCl gas could be reported on – not the other noxious gases 1875 – Queen Victoria complains about the smells 1876 – A royal commission was established “to inquire into the working and management of works and manufactories from which sulphurous acid, sulphuretted hydrogen, and ammoniacal and other vapours and gasses are given off, to ascertain the effect produced thereby on animals and vegetable life, and to report on the means to be adopted for the prevention of injury thereto” Result = inspection is extended beyond Alkali plants Post-Industrial Revolution 1948, the Tyne, Tees and Wear Rivers were in some parts “little more than open sewers…the crude sewage of several towns goes untreated into the river” – Kempster 1940s “Darlington, in the 1940s still poured 3 million gallons of sewage a day, in addition to it receiving the effluent from coke ovens higher up and chemical works lower down” Victoria – currently only does primary screening for sewage treatment There is a misnomer that the effluent will be diluted, and therefore okay – however that does not remove what is IN the sewage Been dumping since 1894 Scientific data used for supporters and opponents to treating waste From 1908-1958, municipal garbage was dumped into the ocean BC Ferries dumped waste into the ocean for another 25 years, ending the practice in the 1980s Pascal’s Wager – with the Environment GCC is false GCC is true “Yes” we take action Cost $ Global Depression Cost Livable world “No” we don’t take action Livable world Catastrophe Economic Political Social Environmental Health In the end… We shouldn’t resort to NIMBYism, or claim ignorance when considering the environment. We all have choices to make – what will yours be.
