Charles Hall (1740–1825) was a British physician,

social critic Social criticism is a form of academic or journalistic criticism focusing on social issues in contemporary society, in particular with respect to perceived injustices and power relations in general. Social criticism of the Enlightenment The orig ...

and Ricardian socialist who published ''The Effects of Civilization on the People in European States'' in 1805, condemning capitalism for its inability to provide for the

poor Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little income. Poverty can have diverse

. In the book, Hall argued that inequalities in wealth and the production of luxuries resulted in the exploitation of the poor, and their suffering. Hall famously claimed that the exploitation of the poor was so severe that they "retained only the product of one hour's work out of eight". As a remedy for the problems in society, Hall proposed

land reform Land reform is a form of agrarian reform involving the changing of laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership. Land reform may consist of a government-initiated or government-backed property redistribution, generally of agricultura ...

and

progressive taxation A progressive tax is a tax in which the tax rate increases as the taxable amount increases.Sommerfeld, Ray M., Silvia A. Madeo, Kenneth E. Anderson, Betty R. Jackson (1992), ''Concepts of Taxation'', Dryden Press: Fort Worth, TX The term ''progr ...

. His opinions and economic theory, particularly his opinions concerning the exploitation of the poor, were important to the development of

Marxism Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

, and have caused many to consider him one of the earliest socialists.

Biography

Hall was born in England about 1740, and studied medicine at the

University of Leiden Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; nl, Universiteit Leiden) is a public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. The university was founded as a Protestant university in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, as a reward to the city of Le ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. After completing his medical studies, Hall practised in the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glouc ...

of England, where he acquired "intimate knowledge of the living conditions of the poor". Hall read the theories of a number of influential classical economists, including

Malthus Thomas Robert Malthus (; 13/14 February 1766 – 29 December 1834) was an English cleric, scholar and influential economist in the fields of political economy and demography. In his 1798 book ''An Essay on the Principle of Population'', Mal ...

David Ricardo David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British political economist. He was one of the most influential of the classical economists along with Thomas Malthus, Adam Smith and James Mill. Ricardo was also a politician, and a ...

and

Adam Smith Adam Smith (baptized 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish economist and philosopher who was a pioneer in the thinking of political economy and key figure during the Scottish Enlightenment. Seen by some as "The Father of Economics"——� ...

. While he disagreed with many of the ideas of classical economics, they evidently influenced his thinking. Hall's thinking was also influenced by his friendship with the land-socialization advocate

Thomas Spence Thomas Spence ( 17508 September 1814) was an English RadicalProperty in Land Every One's Rightin 1775. It was re-issued as ''The Real Rights of Man'' in later editions. It was also reissued by, amongst others, Henry Hyndman under the title o ...

, with whom he corresponded regularly. Hall relocated around throughout his career, but probably spent most of his life in

Tavistock, Devon Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town within West Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy from which its name derives. At the 2011 census the three electoral wards (North, South and South West) had a population of 13 ...

, practising medicine. In 1785, he published ''The Family Medical Instructor'', a medical reference book. Thereafter, his publications were primarily economic in nature. In 1805, he published his principal work, ''The Effects of Civilization'', followed by ''Observations on the Principal Conclusion in Mr. Malthus's Essay on Population'' in 1813. In 1816, Hall was arrested for failure to pay a debt of £157, and he spent the next nine years in the Fleet Prison, before being released on 21 June 1825. While the exact date of his death is uncertain, it is believed that he died soon thereafter.

''The Effects of Civilization''

After witnessing costly

food prices Food prices refer to the average price level for food across countries, regions and on a global scale. Food prices have an impact on producers and consumers of food. Price levels depend on the food production process, including food marketing ...

and food shortages in England from 1795 to 1801, Hall began to write ''The Effects of Civilization on the People in European States'', which set forth his economic theories. Hall argued that the main cause of food shortage was that too few people worked in agriculture, and too many were employed in trade and manufacturing. From that argument, Hall proceeded to his definition of wealth, arguing that "wealth consists not in things but in power over the labour of others".

The cause of shortages

From his definition of wealth, Hall argued that the problem of poverty in civilised societies derived from the ability of the wealthy, through their control of the labour of others, to determine what is produced. Because the wealthy quickly provide for their own necessities, they spend their surplus on

luxuries In economics, a luxury good (or upmarket good) is a good for which demand increases more than what is proportional as income rises, so that expenditures on the good become a greater proportion of overall spending. Luxury goods are in contrast t ...

, which "make it possible for a rich man to consume and destroy infinitely more of the produce of other men's labours than he would be able to do if only foodstuffs and basic necessities were available". Because the rich exploit the poor to produce their luxuries, Hall argued that "the wealth of the rich and the misery of the poor increase in strict proportion". Thus, the increasing power of the rich is the cause of the suffering of the poor.

Statistics

In addition to developing a theoretical model in ''The Effects of Civilization'', Hall attempted to use scientific methods and government statistics to provide evidence for his opinion. According to his estimates, the top 20% of society, the rich, consumed seven eighths of what was produced by the poor, leaving the poor with only one eighth of what they had produced. Later scholars, however, have computed that the inequalities described by Hall were not quite so severe.

Remedies

After describing the cause of poverty, Hall proposed several remedies. Hall was a strong proponent of

to end the inequalities of society and also argued that if

marriages Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

between two people who owned land were prohibited, wealth would gradually spread more evenly throughout society. Most importantly, on the basis of his argument that luxuries caused the suffering of the poor, Hall argued that luxury goods "should be prohibited, or subject to punitive taxation". Hall believed that his remedies were "readily practicable" and would improve the station of the poor but that they were unlikely to solve the problems of society completely.

Legacy

Hall is regarded widely as important to the development of

Marxist Marxism is a left-wing to far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand class relations and social conflict and a dialecti ...

thought, and

Karl Marx Karl Heinrich Marx (; 5 May 1818 – 14 March 1883) was a German philosopher, economist, historian, sociologist, political theorist, journalist, critic of political economy, and socialist revolutionary. His best-known titles are the 1848 ...

referred to him as "a true phenomenon in the history of economic thought". Hall was also an important precursor of

Henry George Henry George (September 2, 1839 – October 29, 1897) was an American political economist and journalist. His writing was immensely popular in 19th-century America and sparked several reform movements of the Progressive Era. He inspired the eco ...

and one of the first modern land reformers. Many scholars also identify Hall as one of the "first of the early socialists" and one of the first thinkers to recognise the importance of surplus value and rents to societal inequality.