The forgotten man... He works, he votes, generally he prays, but his chief business in life is to pay.
William Graham SumnerRead
It is the tendency of the social burdens to crush out the middle class, and to force society into an organization of only two classes, one at each social extreme.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Social burdens can diminish the middle class, leading to a polarized society.
The quote by William Graham Sumner highlights the societal tendency where increasing economic and social pressures disproportionately affect the middle class, causing it to shrink and resulting in a society divided into two extreme classes: the very wealthy and the very poor. This polarization threatens social stability and creates significant gaps in wealth and opportunity, ultimately undermining the foundational role of the middle class in a balanced society.
Themes
Social BurdensMiddle ClassPolarizationSocietyEconomic PressureSocial Justice
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be mentioned in a discussion about economic policies at a community meeting.
More from William Graham Sumner
All quotes βWe shall find that every effort to realize equality necessitates a sacrifice of liberty.
William Graham SumnerRead
The Forgotten Man is delving away in patient industry, supporting his family, paying his taxes, casting his vote, supporting the church and the school, reading his newspaper, and cheering for the politician of his admiration, but he is the only one for whom there is no provision in the great scramble and the big divide. Such is the Forgotten Man. He works, he votes, generally he prays β but he always pays β yes, above all, he pays.
William Graham SumnerRead
The men who start out with the notion that the world owes them a living generally find that the world pays its 'debt' in the penitentiary or the poor house.
William Graham SumnerRead
We throw all our attention on the utterly idle question whether A has done as well as B, when the only question is whether A has done as well as he could.
William Graham SumnerRead
Civil liberty is the status of the man who is guaranteed by law and civil institutions the exclusive employment of all his own powers for his own welfare.
William Graham SumnerRead
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