Actually the term "term dark satanic mills" is from a poem by Blake and has nothing to do with the industrial revolution:
The reference to "dark Satanic mills", is not, as many think, a reference to steel or textile mills (which scarcely existed at the time of writing), but a satirical reference to neolithic monuments such as Stonehenge, which Blake thought were Satanic. Other interpretations are that the line was a coded jibe at either the established Church or the (then) theologically dominated universities at Oxford and Cambridge. (from Bradford encyclopedia) Aboriginal people had some gains from capitalism. They were able to trade furs for useful goods such as guns and utensils etc although the trade was no doubt not on terms favorable to the aboriginals. --- paul phillips <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > In the famous 'standard of living' debate over the > impact of the > industrial revolution on the standard of living of > the British worker, > Hobsbawm and others argued that the actual standard > of living of the > average worker declined as they were forced to > relocate from rural > agriculture to accept, against their will, the > horrors of the satanic > mills.
