Lesson from the Past

The siblings playing in the crematorium, the Swine flu, the Global warming remind me of the following about the Renaissance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance
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In the wake of the black death, reduced population left work-forces depleted: this tended, throughout Europe, to give workers more bargaining power, particularly skilled workers. This lead to a shift of power away from rulers and towards workers and merchants, particularly in smaller states (such as composed Italy at the time). Thus, regardless of its spiritual and psychic impact, the plague's economic (and consequent political) legacy may have helped set the scene for the Renaissance.
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