I was once told that the nobility (about 500-years ago) possessed very little compared to the mega-rich people of today. I believe that King Edward I (an absolute monarch in England) possessed just eight books – none of them he could personally read or understand properly (as they were written in Greek and Latin – and had to be interpreted by specially trained Church-scholars). Despite elaborate and exotic clothing – numbers of outfits were few – with cloths seldom ‘washed’ or changed! Indeed, personal (and civic) hygiene has only existed for less than 200-years!
Despite all the inequalities and injustices that exist throughout (modern) capitalist society (many places and people in the world are still forced to exist in a terrible, pre-moden state) – the modern generation of wealth has been so prolific that the standard of living for the majority of people in the most developed countries is better today for the ‘average’ person than it was for that privileged minority that once dominated the feudal societies of the West (many of whom would only live to 30-50 years if illness or injury did not strike them down)!
As immense wealth was generated through the labour of the exploited masses (which involved the development of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade) a privileged middle-class developed – particularly after the English Civil Wars of the 1640s. This development saw the successful transference of the control of the ‘means of production’ (and political power) from the Aristocracy (the upper-class) to the Bourgeoisie (the middle-class) and with it the unleashing of tremendous creative force (a process magnified enormously by the ‘discovery’ of the Americas and the effective stealing of immense tracts of ‘free’ land and other resources)! Of course, the spread of British power and influence throughout other countries of the world – including Africa and Asia – opened all kinds of diverse markets which spread commodities to the four corners of the earth!
Needless to say, middle-class British people who benefitted from this process often bought large tracts of land in the countryside areas of England, Wales, Scotland and Irelandfor their private use – and developed immense private estates dominated by impressive and imperious country mansions within which their families would live lavish life-styles served by a small army of permanent domestic staff. These middle-class people did NOT ‘work’ in the conventional sense as their families had already made immense fortunes through successful speculation and investment – allowing these privileged people to dedicate their lives to the pursuit of cultivated leisure. As a consequence, these people were served by a Bulter (man), a Cook (woman) and a Governance (woman) – empowered individuals who headed three very well staffed divisions that included various types of maids, footmen, groundsmen, game-keepers and a host of local tradesmen – who would deliver goods and services around the clock. Indeed, these private estates would quite often provide employment for hundreds and thousands of working-class people.
Today, we vested what is known as the ‘Carshalton Water Tower’. This is situated in the grounds of what is today an exclusive ‘Catholic’ School for Girls (St Philomena’s) – but in the past this was the country estate of Sir John Fellowes and his family during the 1700s. Although effectively existing on private ground – for a few Sundays a year – this ‘Water Tower’ is open for inspection by the general public (obviously when NO students are present). The ‘Water Tower’ was an experiment in the gathering, channelling and providing of running water to the nearby mansion house! The ‘Water Tower’ is something of a ‘folly’ – as it ressembles a Church spire or a military fort! Water cleaned by the natural process of flowing through chalk and gravel would be gathered from nearby streams and fed through a water-wheel up to the top of the tower – where gravity would be used to ‘drop’ the water through the numerous pipes heading in different directions.
The building containing the ‘Water Tower’ has two levels with the tower being situated at its pinnacle. This is reachable by climbing the 37 steps up to the roof. Meanwhile, downstairs is a mixture of bright (and large) day rooms designed to host the good and the great. The Fellow family – and their ‘guests’ – were wined and dined on the lower level – probably before and after heading into the bathing area to be immersed in hot water or ‘showered’ with ‘hot’ or ‘cold’ water depending upon doctor’s orders (the health fads of the 18th and 19th centuries often involved ‘baths’ and ‘showers’ of various sorts)! There is something of the decadent Greco-Roman world about it all – but what once was only the prerogative of rich – is now the ‘normal’ expectation of the masses (usually lnked to ‘Human Rights’). In the developed world at least, everyone expects refreshing clean water to flow out of tap when the tap is turned ‘on’!
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 