Goldsmith proposed that, "The depopulation the poem deplores is nowhere to be seen, and the disorders it laments are only to be found in the poet's own imagination. I inveigh against the increase of our luxuries; and here also I expect the shout of modern politicians against me. For 20-30 years past, it has been the fashion to consider luxury as one of the greatest national advantages; and all the wisdom of antiquity in that particular, as erroneous."