Chapter 21 Chapter 5 The Health and Strength of the Population

Section 1 General Conditions of Health and Strength. Next we must consider the conditions upon which physical, mental, and moral health and strength depend.These conditions are the basis of the industrial efficiency on which the production of material wealth depends; while, conversely, the greatest importance of material wealth lies in the fact that material wealth, when wisely used, increases the health of the human body. , mental and moral health and strength. Industrial efficiency, in many occupations, requires little more than vigor of the body, which is strength of muscles, a sound constitution, and habits of activity.In estimating muscular strength, or any other kind of strength for industrial purposes, we must take into account the number of hours in the day, the number of days in the year, and the number of years in the life that this muscular strength can be employed.With this consideration in mind, we can measure the strength of a man's muscles, if they are used directly in lifting weights, in terms of the number of feet his work lifts a pound of weight; or in other words , is to measure his muscular strength in "foot-pounds" of work he does.

The strength to sustain a great physical operation, though it seems to depend on physical strength and other physical conditions, yet it also depends on strength of will and strength of character.Energy of this kind—which may be regarded as man's strength, as distinct from his physical strength—is moral, not physical; but it still depends on the physical condition of the nerves.This strength of man, this determination, energy and self-control, in short, this "vitality," is the source of all progress: it is in great enterprise, in great thought, and in the love of true religious feeling. manifested in ability.

Vitality comes into play in so many forms that a simple measurement of it is impossible.But all of us are constantly estimating vitality, thinking that one person is "stronger," more "good qualities," or "a stronger person" than another.Even businessmen engaged in different trades and scholars engaged in different studies set out to estimate each other's strengths.It will soon be known if one type of research needs less power to get "first class" than another. Before the second quarter. In the study of the growth of population, a few incidental remarks have been made on the various causes which determine the length of life.In the main, however, they are the same as the various causes which determine physical strength and vigor, and which we shall return to in this chapter.

The first of these reasons is the climate.In warmer countries we see early marriages and high birth rates, and thus a low regard for human life: this is probably responsible for most of the high death rates, which are generally attributed to unfavorable climates. healthy. Vigor partly depends on the characteristics of the race: but these characteristics— So far as it can be explained--it seems chiefly due to climate. Section 3 Necessities of life. Climate also plays a large role in determining the necessities of life, the first of which is food.The proper preparation of food matters a great deal; and a shrewd housewife who has ten shillings a week for food will often do more to increase the health and strength of her family than an unwise housewife who has twenty shillings a week.The high mortality of infants among the poor is largely due to lack of care and judgment in the enforcement of food; and those infants who do not die in total want of such maternal care tend to grow up weak and weak.

In all ages of the world except the present, want of food has decimated the people.That is to say, in London in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the death rate was 8% higher in a high-valley year than in a low-valley year.Gradually, however, the effects of increased wealth and improved means of communication were felt almost all over the world, and the famines became less severe even in countries like India; while famines were no longer known in Europe and the New World. .Scarcity of food is now hardly the immediate cause of death in England: but it is often the cause of general infirmity, rendering the body incapable of resistance to disease; and a chief cause of industrial inefficiency.

We have seen that the necessities of efficiency vary according to the nature of the work to be done, but we must now examine the matter in some detail. There is a close relationship between a man's available food supply and his available strength, and this is especially true in manual manipulation.If the work is intermittent, as some longshoremen do, cheap and nutritious cereals will suffice. But for very heavy work of continuous tension, such as that involved in the work of ironworkers and the hardest railroadmen, food is required which can be digested and assimilated even when the body is fatigued.The work of superior labourers, which involves great nervous strain, requires food of this quality all the more, though generally in small quantities.

The necessities of life and labor next to food are clothing, shelter and fuel.When these things are lacking, the spirit becomes dull, and finally the constitution is damaged.When clothing is scarce, it is common for clothes to be worn day and night; the skin is infiltrated by filth.Lack of shelter or fuel keeps the people living in a foul air unhealthy to their health and vigor; the English people benefit from the cheapness of coal, but the English people, who want to keep their rooms well-ventilated even in cold weather. Unique habits are not a small one among these benefits.Badly constructed houses, with poor drainage, cause diseases that, even in their mildest forms, are astonishingly crippling to the vitality; overcrowded dwellings lead to moral corruption, and thus reduce the population and the quality of the people.

Rest and food, clothing, and other material necessities are likewise necessary for the growth of a vigorous population.Excessive work of every kind diminishes the vitality; at the same time, worry, worry, and excessive mental tension have a great effect in impairing the constitution, impairing the fertility, and reducing the vigor of the nation. Section IV hope, freedom and change. Then there are three closely related conditions of vitality, namely hope, freedom and change.All history is filled with accounts of the inefficiencies produced in varying degrees by slavery, serfdom, and other social and political oppressions and persecutions.

In all ages the colonial peoples have tended to outdo the mother country in vigor and vigor.This is partly due to the abundance of land, and the cheapness of the necessaries at their disposal; partly to the natural selection of those who are fit for an adventurous life, with the strongest characters, and partly to biological reasons connected with the admixture of the races; but , perhaps the most important reason lies in the hope, freedom and change in their lives. The liberty mentioned above is the liberty regarded as not being bound by the outside world.But the higher freedom which comes from self-control is an even more important condition for the highest orders of work.This freedom depends on the nobility of the ideal of life, which is due to political and economic reasons on the one hand, and personal and religious influences on the other, of which the influence of the mother in childhood is the greatest.

The fifth section is about the influence of occupation. Physical and mental health and strength are greatly affected by occupation. At the turn of the century, the conditions of factory work were unnecessarily unhealthy and uncomfortable for all, especially young children.But the Factory and Educational Acts have purged the factories of the worst of these evils, though many of them persist in domestic industry and in smaller factories. Higher wages, better knowledge, and better medical care for city dwellers should keep infant mortality much lower in the city than in the country.But it is generally higher, especially where many mothers neglect housework for money wages.

The sixth section is the impact of urban life. In almost all countries there is a constant migration to the cities.The great cities, and especially London, draw the best blood from all the rest of England; The most enterprising, the most gifted, the most sound of physique and the strongest of character, all go to the big cities for opportunities to develop their abilities.Among the most able and hardest of character there is an increasing number of people living in suburban areas, where good drainage, water supply, and lighting, good schools, and good opportunities for outdoor games can increase the quality of life. Liveliness, at least as in all conditions in the country.Although there are still many urban areas which are only slightly less harmful to life than the great cities of a few years ago, on the whole increased population density appears to be less of a source of danger at present.The rapid advance of late towards the conveniences afforded for living away from the principal centers of commerce and industry must, in time, surely have to be slow.But the movement of industry to the suburbs, and even to the new garden cities, to find and recruit strong workers does not seem to be slowing down. The statistical averages are, indeed, very favorable to the cities, partly because many of the effects of the less vigorous cities have little effect on the death rate; At the same time, the parents of young people live in the countryside, and when they are seriously ill, they usually go back to their hometown. Public and private funds are best used for establishing parks and playgrounds in the metropolises, contracting the railroads to increase the number of workers' trains run by workers, helping those of the working class who are willing to leave the metropolises to do so, and Help them relocate with the business. If the seventh section is left alone, nature will eliminate the weak.But many well-intentioned human activities contain the growth of the strong and enable the survival of the weak.practical conclusion. Moreover, there are other reasons for concern.For, more than any other cause, the progress of mankind is due to the elimination effect of strife and emulation, which, in the earlier stages of civilization, made the strongest and most powerful leave the greatest number of offspring. But that effect has now partially disappeared.In later stages of civilization it had indeed long been the rule for the upper classes to marry later, so that they had fewer children than the working classes: but this was made up for by the old order still maintained among the working classes themselves; The dying national vitality in the upper classes is replenished by a constant stream of new energy pouring forth from below.But in France, and more recently in America and England, some of the more able and educated members of the working-class population have shown signs of reluctance to grow families; and this is a source of danger. There is, therefore, increasing reason for the fear that, as medical and hygienic advances save ever increasing numbers from death the children of the physically and mentally infirm, the most thoughtful and energetic, Enterprise and self-control delay marriage, and otherwise limit the number of children they leave behind.This motive is sometimes selfish, and it may be best for the harsh and frivolous to leave few offspring like themselves.More often, however, it stems from a desire to secure a good social status for one's own children.This desire includes many elements which cannot be called the highest ideals of human ends, and in some cases also elements which are obviously base; But it is, after all, one of the chief factors of progress, and among those affected by this desire there are many whose children will probably be ranked among the best and strongest races. We must remember that the members of a large family educate one another, and are generally in every way wiser, more lively, and often stronger than those of a small family. No doubt this is partly due to the extraordinary vitality of their parents, and for the same reason they have strong extended families in their turn.The progress of the race is owed to the descendants of a few very large and strong families in a much greater degree than it first appears. But, on the other hand, there can be no doubt that parents tend in many respects to take better care of a small family than of a large one.An increase in the number of children born, other things being equal, increases the number of deaths of infants; and this is a mere evil.The death of a child for want of care and adequate income is an unhelpful strain on the mother and a detriment to the rest of the family. The eighth section continues. There are other reasons which should be considered besides those stated above; however, in view of the points considered in this chapter, the following conclusion seems advisable on the face of it: People can give their children at least as much as they Children should not be born without an equally good education of body and mind; and if self-control is sufficient to keep the family within necessary limits, without violating the laws of morality, proper early marriage is the best thing.The general principles of these actions, coupled with an adequate supply of fresh air and healthy recreation for the urban population, will not fail to increase the strength and vigor of the race.We may now have reason to believe that, if the strength and vigor of the race had increased, the increase of population would not, for a very long time, reduce the average real income of the people. Thus, progress in knowledge, especially in medicine, increasing activity and wisdom of government in all matters of health care, and increase in material wealth--these factors would reduce death, improve health, and lengthen life.On the other hand, the rapid increase of urban life, and the tendency of the higher to the lower ranks of the population to marry later and have fewer children, has reduced vitality and increased mortality.If only the former kind of causes were at work, regulated to avoid the danger of overpopulation, mankind would probably soon attain an unprecedented degree of physical and mental refinement; but if the latter kind of causes were at work unchecked, Humans will degenerate very quickly. In fact, the two types of reasons play an almost equal role, with the former slightly predominating.While the population of Great Britain has grown almost as rapidly as it has in the past, there has indeed been no increase in the number of physically or mentally unhealthy persons in the whole population: The rest are much better fed and clothed, and, except in overcrowded industrial areas, are generally increasing in strength.Life expectancy for men and women has increased steadily over the years.