Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell was the book I had to read for the May meeting of my reading group. I did not enjoy it. It describes poverty in Paris and then in London. I don’t like reading about poor people, especially when they spend most of their earnings on alcohol.
While reading the book, I did have all sorts of thoughts about Protestant countries (like England) versus Catholic countries (like France). Have you noticed that Protestant countries tend to do better economically? That they have a bigger middle class than Catholic countries? That the contrast between the very rich and the very poor is not as striking?
Religion has a lot to do with life – more so than we realize. Religion influences one’s take on work, for instance. There was an atheist in the book who hated the bourgeoisie and stole from every employer he ever had simply because he hated anybody with a business. Of course, he was also a Communist. Continue reading