Essays in medical sociology, Volume 2 (of 2)Blackwell, Elizabeth
Science
Essays in medical sociology, Volume 2 (of 2)
Blackwell, Elizabeth
Prostitution; Sexual ethics; Social medicine
It is the slow but sure result of the irresponsible monopoly of the
soil by individuals which is at the root of a great evil--viz., the
unnatural and diseased growth of great unorganized or selfishly
organized towns. Our towns, formerly the haphazard growth of accident,
are becoming more and more the growth of selfish speculation--_i.e._,
the false organization of self-aggrandizement. The hereditary or
other holder of land leases it to speculators, whose one object is
to make as much pecuniary profit as possible out of the lease. This
is the one point held steadily in view, often through a series of
underletting, in which each fresh speculator seeks to make a new
profit. Health, convenience, human welfare in its necessities and
interlinkings, are never thought of, or are entirely secondary to
gain. A showy neighbourhood for the rich, yielding the highest rents
that can be screwed out, and a crowded neighbourhood for the poor,
with still higher proportionate rents, are created. Gardens disappear
in the dreary mass of showy, badly-constructed brick-and-mortar
quarters in which the young generation grows up--dreary quarters, but
where rents and rates are constantly rising. This is the result of
irresponsible individual ownership and perverted organization in all
our rapidly-growing towns. It is a potent cause of growing immorality.
The control of land by a society or colony living upon it and using it,
does not forbid the leasing of land, under wise conditions, to persons
who are members of the society. It is the irresponsible individual
possession of land, with the speculation which such a method of holding
gives rise to, which is the principle always ultimately injurious to
society.[21]
2. Economy in distribution and management. A rational economy in the
retail distribution of products, in the domestic arrangements of our
homes, in the official management of local and general government, will
set free an immense number of persons whose time is now needlessly
occupied. The talent and energy of this wasted multitude should be
turned to increase of production and other necessary and valuable
employment, under the wise freedom of united interests.
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