A call to communism

If you want to read a book that will turn you communist, then How To Be A Victorian is a good place to start.  I am continuing my 'stuff people recommended' book readings, and while this book does not intend to suggest any political affiliation I couldn't help but be filled with despair at the portrayal of life in Victorian England.

The starvation of children is what got to me.  Reading about the 10 course meals the aristocrats were eating while the poor starved to death filled me with rage.  I can hardly imagine the distress I would feel if I were to look at my child, skinny with hunger and misery, and then have to tell her that there is no food today, and maybe not tomorrow.  The rich are throwing away food from every meal, but she just has to suffer, and maybe die.

Even if she got enough to eat in calories, she would probably be eating nothing but bread and would end up with rickets and scurvy because we couldn't even afford vegetables.

The idea of making a careful economic decision to send my 6 year old kid to work for 16 hours a day in the pitch dark of the mines because that way maybe I can afford enough food for her is just beyond my experience.  How could I look at her and then look at an aristocrat of the same age and realize that the aristocrat is 10 cm taller because they get enough to eat without grabbing a pitchfork and joining a revolution?

I am not normally a violent person, or one inclined to armed revolt.  But in that situation, I am pretty sure the rich people had better make sure they have tight security, because I am coming for them.  Communism strikes me, from the perspective of a 21st century Canadian, as impractical.  As a Victorian though, I can see myself getting pretty excited about sharing the wealth.

The book itself is set up in a neat way - it starts out with getting up, washing, dressing, breakfast, and then proceeds through working life and entertainment, while finishing up with sex.  The sections varied a lot in interest for me, as I found the endless lists of specific garments boring but the descriptions of sexual mores and medicine were compelling.  There isn't a plot so you can easily jump around to whatever stuff grabs your attention though, which is good.

The author clearly did a tremendous amount of research and the book is authoritatively written.  Sometimes it is a little dry, so you want to go in with an interest in history because there aren't any thrills otherwise.

People do, from time to time, wax poetic about the good old days and how things are terrible now.  Those people need to read some more history books, because the more I read the more certain I become that there has never been as good a time to be alive as right here, right now.  

We have problems, yes.   But the olden times *sucked*.