William Graham Sumner “What the Social Classes Owe to Each Other”

Biography Born in Paterson, New Jersey Studied theology and philosophy at Oxford He left Yale to be rector of churches in NYC and Morristown, NJ Became the first professor of political and social science at Yale Produced a work that gave him worldwide renown, “Folkways” Sumner died in Englewood, NJ

Main Points The State has one obligation and that is to ensure the safety of the people “also whether there is anything but a fallacy and a superstition in the notion that “the State” owes anything to anybody except peace, order, and the guarantee of rights”

Main Point #2 It is God’s and Nature’s intent that everyone will have hardships, and who are we to change this. “But God and Nature have ordained the chances and conditions of life on earth once and for all. The case cannot be reopened. We cannot get a revision of the laws of human life. We are absolutely shut up to the need and duty, if we would learn how to live happily, of investigation the laws of Nature, and deducing the rules of right living in the world as it is” “Certain ills belong to the hardships of human life. They are natural. They are part of the struggle with Nature for existence”

Main Point #3 The gains of some imply the loss of others “ We shall find that all the schemes for producing equality and obliterating the organization of society produce a new differentiation based on the worst possible distinction…the right to claim and the duty to give one man’s effort for another man’s satisfaction! We shall find that every effort to realize equality necessitates a sacrifice of liberty.”

Main Point #4 Our first duty is to take care of himself and mind your own business “ Every man and woman in society has one big duty. That is, to take care of his or her own self.” “..there is a danger that a man may leave his own business unattended to; and second, there is a danger if an impertinent interference with another’s affairs”

Main Point #5 Our society does well under a contract, because contracts are rational. “ Contract, however, is rational- even rationalistic. It is also realistic, cold, and matter- of-fact. A contract relation is based on a sufficient reason, not on custom or prescription. It is not permanent. It endures only so long as the reason for it endures.”

Main Point # 6 The Forgotten Man is the person who suffers quietly, works hard, and takes care of himself. “He passes by and is never noticed, because he has behaved himself, fulfilled his contracts, and asked for nothing……” “He will be found to be worth, industrious, independent, and self- supporting. He is not technically, “poor” or “weak” he minds his own business, and makes no complaints. Consequently the philanthropists never think of him, and trample on him….”

Main Point #7 “The pursuit of happiness” should not be confused with the possession of happiness “Rights do not pertain to results, but only to chances. They pertain to the conditions of the struggle for existence….It cannot be said that each one has a right to have some property, because if one man had such a right some other man or men would be under a corresponding obligation to provide him with some property.”