[PatrickHenry]

We really can't appreciate how horrendous the mills were at the time. Why were some children born to play in the sunshine and go to heaven? Why were some children born to labor in the mills?

The mill workers weren't slaves, so they presumably chose to work in those ghastly mills in preference to whatever other opportunities their relatively undeveloped society offered at the time. I think we therefore can appreciate that those mills were a better option than staying in the countryside, conveniently out of sight of social critics (who delighted in sonnets about the joys of pastoral life), where those mill workers knew they'd be toiling even harder for even lower wages. It's difficult for us to grasp now, but those "satanic mills" must have been seen as a big step up for those who toiled there.

[CobaltBlue]

Yes, I suppose that the life of the millworkers must have been marginally preferable to the alternatives, as they were not slaves so chose their occupation.

Nevertheless, it was not a good life.

Further, it always baffles me, why the working conditions and the living conditions had to be so harsh, so cruel.