The forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
Interpretation
The quote highlights the plight of the most disadvantaged individuals in society who are often overlooked in economic discussions.
Franklin D. Roosevelt's quote emphasizes the importance of considering the needs and struggles of the most vulnerable members of society, often referred to as the 'forgotten man.' It serves as a reminder that economic policies should prioritize the welfare of those at the bottom of the socioeconomic hierarchy, ensuring that their voices are heard and their needs are met.
In practice
In a speech about social justice, one might quote Roosevelt to highlight the importance of supporting low-income families.
There has been one persistent theme through all Axis propaganda. This theme has been that Americans are admittedly rich, that Americans have considerable industrial power - but that Americans are soft and decadent, that they cannot and will not unite and work and fight. ... Let them tell that to the Marines!
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.
A war of ideas can no more be won without books than a naval war can be won without ships. Books, like ships, have the toughest armor, the longest cruising range, and mount the most powerful guns.
Better the occasional faults of a government that lives in a spirit of charity than the consistent omissions of a government frozen in the ice of its own indifference.
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
A world turned into a stereotype, a society converted into a regiment, a life translated into a routine, make it difficult for either art or artists to survive. Crush individuality in society and you crush art as well. Nourish the conditions of a free life and you nourish the arts, too.
Some people say we have this inequality because some people have been contributing much more to our society, and so it's fair that they get more. But then you look at the people who are at the top, and you realize they're not the people who have transformed our economy, our society.
In our high-tech, high-skilled economy where low-skilled work is being scaled back, phased out, exported, or severely under-compensated, all the right behavior in the world won't create better jobs with more pay.
People stop buying things, and that is how you turn a slowdown into a recession.
Yes, over the centuries economic progress has reduced some gross disparities - modern Americans are relatively unlikely to simply starve to death (though it can happen), so in that sense the gap between rich and poor has narrowed. But the question isn't whether society is, in some sense, more equal than it was in 1900. It's whether it is radically more unequal than it was in 1970. And of course it is.
An economy hampered by restrictive tax rates will never produce enough jobs or enough profits
One of the things that happens when you have austerity is that wages get lower, and some people think lower wages in the short run can increase corporate profits.
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