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The Forgotten Man
Half Century before the Depression of 1930, a Yale philosopher named William Graham Sumner penned a lecture against the progressives of his own day and in defense of classical liberalisism. Classical liberalism in that time period would be Laissez-Faire minded people who did not support government intervention in economics.
The lecture eventually become an essay titled "The Forgotten Man." Applying his own elegant algebra of politics, Sumner warned that well-intentioned social progressives often coerced unwitting average citizens into funding dubious social projects. Sumner wrote:
"As soon as A observes something which seems to him to be wrong, from which X is suffering, A talks it over with B, and A and B then propose then propose to get a law passed to remedy the evil and help X. Their law always proposes to determine...what A, B, and C shall do for X. But what about C? There was nothing wrong with A and B helping X. What was wrong was the law, and the indenturing of C to the cause. C was the forgotten man, the man who paid. The man who never was thought of."
The lecture eventually become an essay titled "The Forgotten Man." Applying his own elegant algebra of politics, Sumner warned that well-intentioned social progressives often coerced unwitting average citizens into funding dubious social projects. Sumner wrote:
"As soon as A observes something which seems to him to be wrong, from which X is suffering, A talks it over with B, and A and B then propose then propose to get a law passed to remedy the evil and help X. Their law always proposes to determine...what A, B, and C shall do for X. But what about C? There was nothing wrong with A and B helping X. What was wrong was the law, and the indenturing of C to the cause. C was the forgotten man, the man who paid. The man who never was thought of."
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mark Howard on -
So true, so obvious, so sad: that logic never works when debating the obvious with those who rationalize anything in order to do what they want to do.
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Permalink Reply by Mark Howard on
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who is 'the forgotten man' in THIS story? This story should be leading all newscasts, but it takes the right-wing 'Fix' News channel to get it out, and not very successfully.
Lawsuit: Florida Clinic Botched Abortion, Threw Out Live Baby -
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,488644,00.html
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1. Please use your real name (first and last) when you sign up, or we cannot open your account
2. Please do not use logos or commercial images for your profile photo
3. Events should be posted in the events calendar
4. You can post pretty much anything you want on your own personal page (self promotion, etc), and you can change the style of your personal profile page to reflect your corporate identification if you so choose.
5. Please keep all comments civil and polite. It's OK to feel strongly about a subject, and it's OK to be critical of ideas, but please refrain from personal attacks of any kind.
If you witness or experience any issues, please contact admin@smallerindiana.com and we will look into the matter.
6. Smaller Indiana is supported by its members, and by corporate sponsors. If you're interested in learning more about sponsorship, please call Pat Coyle at 317 332 7878.
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