William Graham Sumner (1840-1910)

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William Graham Sumner (1840-1910)

• Yale Professor of Sociology Episcopal minister
• Social Darwinist/Evolutionary Naturalist
• Works What Social Classes Owe to Each Other
  (1883)
• Folkways (1906)

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Sumners Beliefs

• A nation cannot allow plutocracy to emerge
  (control of the political system by those with
  the greatest wealth and power) NOR can it allow
  the poorest and least powerful to either.

• Sumner believed that those who must be taken
  care of by others MUST be disenfranchised (i.e.
  not allowed to vote) for they cannot be permitted
  to even slightly govern those that are providers.

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Sumners Beliefs continued

• Likewise, those who have the power to lobby in
  government cannot be allowed to govern those who
  represent the working and consumer classes. Only
  individuals should govern, not entities

• He dubbed the so-called man in the middle
  (middle class/working/ producers, the forgotten
  man and viewed American democracy as flawed in
  its current evolution.

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Conclusions by Sumner

• Families that have too many children represent a
  threat to themselves and all others in a nation.
  When capital (wealth/money/assets) must be
  divided among many versus a few, hardship always
  results.

• Thus, the efficient use of capital by a society
  is the most important thing that can happen for
  that societys continued well-being. Preserving
  the will of the forgotten man is imperative to
  a stable society.