Chapter Four
Demographics
“Demography is destiny,” observed Auguste Comte, a French philosopher and sociologist who lived in the early nineteenth century, smack-dab in the middle of the Industrial Revolution. It was a time of tremendous transformation throughout society (particularly in Europe and America), during which the center of economic activity moved from the rural, agricultural labor of feudalism to the urban, industrial playground of capitalism. This move also helped undermine the power of feudal lords and landowners, leading to the abolition of slavery and serfdom. In this reorganization of power structures there was a strong current of social unrest that triggered political revolutions in America, France, Russia, Greece, Spain, and ...
