What Marx did not anticipate is that the free market system could reform itself. William Wilberforce, the evangelical who led the charge against slavery in the British parliament, also campaigned for workers’ rights, including limiting the work week, paying a living wage, setting restrictions on child labor, and a host of other issues. As the nineteenth century progressed, trade unions — many led by Christians — pushed for reforms, and governments responded, so that over time the abuses in the factories were overcome and the horrendous living conditions of the workers were improved through a
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