Background information: flora tristan was a women's rights advocate from france. she wrote this excerpt in her journal about life in manchester. unless you have visited the manufacturing towns and seen the workers of manchester, you cannot appreciate the physical and moral degradation of this class of the population. most workers lack clothing, bed, furniture, fuel wholesome food–even potatoes! they spend from twelve to fourteen hours each day shut up in low-ceilinged rooms where with every breath of foul air they absorb fibers of cotton, wool or flax, or particles of copper, lead or iron. they live suspended between an insufficiency of food and an excess of strong drink; they are all wizened, sickly and emaciated, their bodies thin and frail, their limbs feeble, their complexions pale, their eyes dead. if you visit a factory, it is easy to see that the comfort and welfare of the workers have never entered the builder's head. god! can progress be bought only at the cost of men's lives? what is the main idea of this passage?