What Social Classes Owe To Each Other [Paperback]

William Graham Sumner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1883

Distributed by the University of Nebraska Press for Caxton Press

Classic treatise on the importance of maintaining the rights of the individual in the face of expanding state control manipulated by organized pressure groups.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Graham Sumner was a 19th century social scientist who became famous as one of the first philosophers that stressed the rights of the individual over the control mechanisms wielded by the state.

Product Details

• Paperback: 145 pages
• Publisher: Caxton Press (January 1, 1883)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0870041665
• ISBN-13: 978-0870041662
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #336,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #9 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Business & Investing > Economics > Economic Conditions
  • #12 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > History > Historical Study > Social History
  • #36 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Nonfiction > Social Sciences > Political Science > Political Doctrines

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sumner promoting the virtue of limited government., December 2, 2000

By 

Jasleen Matharu - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Social Classes Owe To Each Other (Paperback)

First published in 1883, Sumner's "What Social Classes Owe to Each Other" is an excellent source for the promotion of limited government. Sumner talks about the "Forgotten Man" in context to the socio-political and economic of a state. He defines the differences between the "weak", "poor" and the "burden" and how the humanitarians, reformers and the philathropists of our society seek forced charities from the "Forgotten Man" to support the above. In this book he promotes the principles of democracy and voluntary charity. He gives solid reason and logical explainations about his philosophy. I higly recommend this 145 page read to the students of Political Theory and Philosophy.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the all-time best books on Freedom, June 20, 1999

By 

D. New "History Traveler" (Republic of Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: What Social Classes Owe To Each Other (Paperback)

No author has ever done a better job, in such a short book, of taking the bark off the socialist concepts of one social class owing anything to another. The philosophy of Sumner, who was a professor at Yale, (but a great thinker, nonetheless!) has shown up in the rhetoric of many politicians throughout this century. The Marxist idea of forced redistribution of the wealth is profoundly defeated. Every politician should be required to read this book before taking office. Sumner's caustic pen and penetrating analysis make this one of the best five I've ever read in the Annals of Freedom.

10 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An excellent, concise defense against socialism, January 22, 2002

By 

"ospawno" (Chicago, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Social Classes Owe To Each Other (Paperback)

I have found no other work that so clearly destroys the foundations of socialism in so few pages as this work. The rhetoric is fertile ground for effective debate, as it rarely uses gobblygook economic theory... which fortunately was not around at the time this work was written. No Supply/demand curves here.