Monday, July 29, 2013
The Gheel colony
While looking for something else, bumped into this remarkable 1840 account of the Gheel city-based insane asylum in Belgium.
It obviously worked, for obvious reasons. Normal life, exercise, sunlight, and above all USEFULNESS, all totally lost in modern asylums. Note especially the last sentence about the whole community acquiring a natural skill in caring for the insane.
The cost is given as 200 florins annually paid to each household. Since this was written in England, I assume they were referring to the English florin, which seems to have been a 2-shilling coin or 1/10 of a pound. 200 florins would thus be 20 pounds. At 5 1840dollars per 1840pound this was 100 1840dollars. Finally, an 1840dollar is 30 Bernanke Bucks, so the payment would be 3000 Bernanke Bucks per inmate. Seems fair, considering that the inmates were doing useful work for the families.
¶ 7:35 PM 
It obviously worked, for obvious reasons. Normal life, exercise, sunlight, and above all USEFULNESS, all totally lost in modern asylums. Note especially the last sentence about the whole community acquiring a natural skill in caring for the insane.
The cost is given as 200 florins annually paid to each household. Since this was written in England, I assume they were referring to the English florin, which seems to have been a 2-shilling coin or 1/10 of a pound. 200 florins would thus be 20 pounds. At 5 1840dollars per 1840pound this was 100 1840dollars. Finally, an 1840dollar is 30 Bernanke Bucks, so the payment would be 3000 Bernanke Bucks per inmate. Seems fair, considering that the inmates were doing useful work for the families.
¶ 7:35 PM
