Yesterday I started reading Rob Sewell’s book Chartist Revolution. I’ve been looking forward to this one for a while. Chartism was a working class movement in Britain, which in its most acute phase lasted from about 1838 to 1848. But that description doesn’t quite do it justice. In fact, Chartism was the first true working class movement anywhere—a revolutionary force that sought to end the suffering endured by countless men, women, and children toiling away in factories across England during the Industrial Revolution. Britain was the world’s first industrialized nation. But its unprecedented wealth and globe-spanning empire were built on unprecedented exploitation, misery, and oppression.
And human decency...and empathy...Basically, anything for the greater good in the name of profit.