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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   28507 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of September 2, 2024

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I mean, by 2024 standards, a lot of 1900 Western Europe was indeed a "shithole."

Maybe the rural parts. Major cities were already looking pretty nice, and with much lower crime and decay than today. Here's Berlin prior to WWI: https://youtube.com/watch?v=dZFulqdFgW0

And here are some letters from WWI soldiers, including enlisted men: https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/resources/letters-first-world-war-1915/

The average Western European in 1900 was far more literate than today. We're so obsessed with GDP that we don't see all the ways society has gotten worse.

1910-

In Germany, industrialization and urbanization went hand in hand, as individuals and entire families left the countryside and moved to cities in search of work. Living conditions were often miserable: working-class housing was dank, cramped, and overcrowded, with little fresh air or natural light. Entire families lived in narrow rooms without indoor plumbing. One such quarter on Berlin's Liegnitzer Straße is depicted here. The rent for this type of space would have consumed a large portion of a family’s income.

https://ghdi.ghi-dc.org/sub_image.cfm?image_id=1632

Literacy was great in germany and england and scandinavia, other places...not so much. I would think 99% of germans are literate now unless they have a learning disability. I understand your use to mean that they wrote with better vocab. But everyone can read still.

https://preview.redd.it/p8v0ewbb67u51.png?width=850&auto=webp&s=4176b957198c45f79a78ba7a3690c16473dcadf1

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