kisyjyk

Contemporary advocates of laissez-faire want to rewrite the history of the Industrial Revolution. They make little secret of their reason for doing so. Popular fears engendered by the on-going popular acceptance of the "collectivist myth" of the Industrial Revolution stands in the way of efforts to demolish the welfare state. In their view, the Industrial Revolution was not the cause of unnecessary social trauma. From its very beginnings, and even in the absence of protective state intervention, they say, it was a liberating force.
"Dickens was wrong" declared the banner headline of the lead article in the review section of The Australian Financial Review (24.4.98). Written by Roger Kerr, the Executive Director of the New Zealand Business Roundtable, the article claimed that the popular image we have of the Industrial Revolution is false. It derived from "misleading accounts, repeated exaggerations and occasional fabrications" about the alleged excesses of laissez-faire capitalism du...