Comment by bandrami
18 days ago
The dire urban poverty was so much better than the pre-industrial rural poverty that nearly half of Great Britain moved from the countryside to a city during that period.
You see the exact same patterns in India and China today.
Not quite. There was more work in the cities, but living conditions were more cramped and pollution was rife.
You can second-guess their decision all you want but they voted with their feet
How am I second guessing their decision? Many of my ancestors were evicted from their native lands by hostile landlords so had to go elsewhere. It wasn't their decision to make in the first place.