The Binding Blight

keeps the slaves too poor and ignorant to do much more than scramble
put food on the table

feeds children on dreams that dry up and go away
as they face the reality of the wipe outs and accidents and the 'but for the grace of God'
that crowd the real world

the Romantics almost single handedly invented childhood
the idea that they were more than small, easily brutalized humans

some cultures still don't have it.