Can the history of economic growth in various countries and civilizations be considered as a story of the evolution of hygiene and hygiene?
This question is trying to be answered by the British Economist report. During the decades that followed the Industrial Revolution, modern cities in the West were suffocating under piles of dirt.
Charles Dickens, a writer whose writings were characterized by documenting the hardships of life at the beginning of the modern era, was described in his famous novel, "Oliver Twist", a neighborhood in south London, indicating how people lived in small rooms very dirty, narrow and lacking ventilation, and filled with mold, dirt and garbage.
The magazine adds that London today is considered a global center, characterized by skyscrapers and high salaries, just like most cities in the world, and the British capital witnessed a large population concentration, and increased economic activities, innovation and development, as this city witnessed a significant increase in the income of individuals thanks to the urbanization and urbanization movement.
Cities and civilization
These cities where people gathered were through the ages the best way for humanity to create great markets and exchange ideas, from the School of Athens that brought out ancient scholars and philosophers to the startups of Silicon Valley today.
But whenever people gathered to exchange goods and ideas, germs were also exchanged inevitably, and at several times the path of industrial revolutions in the world seemed threatened by the filths that Charles Dickens spoke of.
In order to unleash the human capabilities to achieve development and prosperity there was a need for a revolution in the way people live and interact with each other, they needed to learn how to clean themselves and clean their cities, and therefore it can be considered that the history of economic prosperity is in large part a story of the evolution of the rules of personal hygiene.
City epidemics
Throughout history, epidemics have been among the greatest makers of change in the course of humanity, and affected civilizations since the first known outbreak in ancient Greece in 430 BC, through the plague of "Justinian" (541 - 750 AD), "black death" in the Middle Ages, and cholera In the 19th century, the Spanish flu a century ago.
The epidemics formed aspects of human life and led them to think about philosophical questions about life and existence, as they contributed to the development of modern science, building health policies, and redistributing income and wealth.
The magazine notes that the Roman Empire - which was characterized by high levels of urbanization and urbanization - suffered from epidemics in many periods, even threatening to overthrow the state itself.
Among the most prominent of these crises spread the bubonic plague during the sixth century AD, which led to the death of 30 million people, and the same epidemic has returned to spread in the Eurasia region during the 14th century to claim the lives of 30 to 60% of Europeans, because it was simply spread between cities, moving with Merchants.
Although people during those ages did not know anything about microorganisms and the causes of infection and believed that the disease was purely divine punishment or misfortune, it was clear that there was a danger called infection.
Therefore, cities and population centers began to impose measures to preserve public health, by closing their doors to strangers, and adopting a new thing called "carinthia" or quarantine, and this is an Italian term meaning "40 days", referring to the time period that ships were coming She is committed to staying in isolation, before people can get off her board and enter the city.
An unclean old life
Despite the emergence of quarantine measures, life in the late Middle Ages in Europe remained filthy, as people were eating without washing their hands, sharing a single plate, gathering in narrow places, and serving their needs in a chaotic manner, so that some of them were urinating on the floor in their homes, and the spit was Very common, people clean their noses with their hands.
But little by little, these bad habits began to change, not because of fears of the spread of diseases, but because these behaviors were considered offensive to others, and the maintenance of personal hygiene became a positive aspect that distinguishes people from high-class social classes in the West.
By the 18th century a more sophisticated approach to maintaining public health emerged, as the major cities established formal structures responsible for defining quarantine policies and dealing with communicable diseases such as smallpox, and hospitals were established to care for patients.
Manufacturing era
However, the beginning of industrialization remains the event that accompanied the growth of cities significantly, and its impact on the development of hygiene and health has been proven, as the population of London, for example, doubled during the 18th century to reach one million inhabitants, and then multiplied 7 times during the 19th century.
As for the population of New York, it increased from 30,000 to 3.5 million residents between 1790 and 1900, and manufacturing centers in Europe and North America have turned from simple villages and towns to cultural centers full of life.
This shift had devastating effects on public health, since factories caused air pollution and were dumping waste in rivers and lakes from which people drink, which led to outbreaks of water-related diseases, such as cholera and typhoid.
This has led to more deaths in cities than in rural areas, and at the beginning of the 19th century, about half of the children of working-class children in London were dying before reaching the age of five.
The magazine says that these conditions caused people to become fed up with the capitalist system, and protests emerged among the working classes, and this state of filth and pollution - on which cities were present - represented a real threat to the development of capitalism, and people were convinced that living in cities was harmful to health even though they did not limit this harm Scientific way.
Demographic transition
But thanks to the changes in the public policies of cities, and the trend towards scientific research, death rates decreased, which led to a rapid rise in the numbers of urban residents, and the concentration of skilled and educated workers, in the context of what is known in sociology as "demographic transition", as the population density and urbanization Thanks to the increasing number of children who have grown up, it has accelerated dramatically, so families have not had to have children several times.
Meanwhile, the demand of skilled industrial economies for skilled labor has increased, and the focus has begun on education, and families have invested a lot in sending their children to schools, and this investment has resulted in technological development and increased per capita income.
By the end of the 19th century the bacteria responsible for many infectious diseases were identified, and during the first half of the 20th century antibiotics were discovered and vaccines were developed.
Over the course of this century, public health became a personal responsibility, and people began to turn towards caring for their diet and agility, thinking about avoiding alcohol and drugs, and personal hygiene became a priority issue and a common habit that reflected sophistication and development, especially in rich countries.
The magazine believes that the economic prosperity of the past and the present is closely linked to human interactions within the major cities, as this world, whose population has increased and is more interconnected than ever, will continue to face the risks of outbreaks of epidemics.
What is not yet clear is the size of the procedures and preparations needed, and what public investments and policies must be followed to prevent the spread of infection and cause it to close the global economy? What are the behavioral changes that will impose themselves in the coming years after the outbreak of this epidemic? What are the virtual walls that will be erected in response to our need for social life and our concern to maintain public health?
The magazine says that no matter how we consider ourselves modern and sophisticated, our efforts to manage health risks in this global economy may seem simple and unsuccessful, and it is possible in the future to shock new generations of people who are healthier and more prosperous.
As in the past, previous epidemics have completely reshaped the world and caused empires to collapse, crack governments, and even replace entire generations, which could also happen with the current Corona pandemic.