Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Plus Ca Change

IT is one of the most melancholy reflections of the present day, that while wealth and capital have been rapidly increasing, while science and art have been working the most surprising miracles in aid of the human family, and while morality, intelligence, and civilization have been rapidly extending on all hands;—that at this time, the great material interests of the higher and middle classes, and the physical condition of the labouring and industrial classes, are more and more marked by characters of uncertainty and insecurity.

What hasn't changed, of course, is the tendency of the press to see problems where others see progress.

(Thanks to Pejman at A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days for the pointer.)