Close Reading

In the UK in 1860 7 year old boys (and girls) worked 12 hour shifts in mines and factories, most died before they had children themselves. A hundred years later in 1960 the school leaving age was 15 and life expectancy had reached 70 plus and people worked a 40 hour week with paid holidays and a pension to come in your later years. The first time in thousands of years that the average person could have a decent life and live more than an average of thirty years. We now just take that for granted and the third world instead of working to improve their own countries want to come here and live off the system we have created. Our polticians have guilt tripped us into having compassion for these people and now the shear weight of numbers is dragging us backwards and reversing 150 years gains, we are now at the point that if drastic is not taken we will be back to pre Victorian times within 10 years.