The Concept Of Sanitation In Johan Norberg's Progress

In chapter two of Progress, Johan Norberg explores the concept of sanitation. Norberg talked about food being necessary to sustain life, yet life would be shorter and miserable without a safe way to deal with human waste. According to Norberg water has been the source of great suffering in the world through history, despite the fact that it is the source of all life. Water contaminated with human waste due to the lack of sanitation and inadequate provision of safe water was the cause of diseases such as typhoid and cholera, which were responsible for the millions of deaths of across the world mainly in Europe. Norberg explores the idea of contaminated water and how it allowed for the historic popularity of alcoholic beverages. Because of the lack, safe water people …show more content…
Throughout history one of the main environmental health problems is that the world is still unsafe. The overpopulation of people in cities made sanitary problems acute. The greatest cities of Europe were filled with huge piles of waste, and contaminated sources of water. The spread of diseases would get even worse when the rain would wash into the local the watershed, the waste dumped onto the streets. Toilets were not as common and were built near a body of water, which then polluted the waterways. If the river was not available the filth, as described by Norberg, was held in cesspits or thrown out the window onto the street. Rising wealth made it possible for modern water and sewer systems to be built, as well as a systematic garbage collection programs to be implemented. These costly ventures are responsible for the increase in life expectancy and reduction in mortality. Sanitation issues are not as prevalent as they used to be, yet some countries have problems with giving people access to safe water, even if water is common.
Living in the twentieth-century water is not something that people really worry about. Humanity is narrow-minded that we take things for