![\"child-labor\"](\"http:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/quallsk\/files\/2016\/02\/child-labor.jpg\")
<\/a>Barefoot children working in a mill<\/p><\/div>\n
Abhorrent working conditions with little to no regulation pushed many workers to the brink of uprising. H. Heine\u2019s poem \u201cThe Silesian Weavers,\u201d about a protest by workers of the same name, claimed the weavers were producing Germany\u2019s funeral shroud as they \u201c[sat] at the spinning wheel, snarling cheerless.\u201d ((The Silesian Weavers, H. Heine)) The Weavers\u2019 protest pushed the King of Prussia to give his people a constitution. To many, such an uprising would be seen as a success, but the economist Karl Marx would consider it an incomplete revolution because the workers remained in their debased position in the aftermath. Marx viewed increased regulation and improved working conditions as nothing more than appeasement\u00a0which made workers complacent slaves to the capitalist system. The enlightened idea of progress was dominant in many thinkers\u2019 rationales, but what progress looked like often differed. In regard to Marx\u2019s view of progress and the necessary worker revolution, do regulatory policies such as shortened work days and minimum wage significantly improve workers\u2019 lives, or simply keep them in a perpetual state of oppression?<\/p>\n
Picture from:\u00a0https:\/\/geopolicraticus.files.wordpress.com\/2010\/04\/child-labor.jpg<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The nineteenth century saw an explosion of industrialization which spurred innovation, but had grave consequences for the growing working class. Child labor was rampant and the conditions in factories were detestable. Richard Oastler, a proponent for the ten hour working … Continue reading