Question

summarize the essay by william graham sumner “the challenge of facts”

Answer 1

In his essay of the "challenge of facts", William Graham Sumner talks about how middle class is the forgotten man. Sumner was a strong advocate of free market economy and was in strong opposition to socialism and communism. In his essay Sumner proposes an economy which is dominated by the survival of the fittest. According to Sumner, if one has to survive, he has to not only engage with a struggle against nature but also manage capital for himself. Poverty is one man's own fault and the solution of poverty not redistribution of wealth from the rich people who have earned it through their hard work to poor people. It is through empowering of the poor people through increased means of production. Equality is just a tool to depress productivity. The rich have become rich by paying the price of deferred consumption through the investment of their capital. They have brought upon themselves their multiplicity of capital and productivity and hence it makes them significantly responsible for lifting the society out of poverty in contrary to the poor people who have no role in investment. Sumner argues that equality if the foe of development and that equality is only the cry of the philanthropists and socialists.He further calls out against policies of equality which not only depress productivity of an economy but also reduce the economy into a state of poverty and misery. Equality provides complacency to the people and they lose the motivation to work anymore. Hence it is imperative that those who survive through prudence and acquisition of capital and increasing productivity should be encouraged. Fair competition, property rights, and the freedom to enjoy one's fruit of labour is the way for economic advancement. It is a harsh reality that inequality is inevitable for growing economy because egalitarianism is an injustice to people who have worked hard through prudence and it infringes on their social rights and civic liberties. A major notion provided by Sumner is that the rich are not wicked and the poor are responsible for their own condition. Resources are scarce and hence competitive and thus inequality is inevitable. Grandeur social reforms are not a way to ensure the upliftment of society or removing the poverty. Moreover, it's more of a cost for effort and productivity. To alleviate poverty, not social rights but civic liberties, property rights and protection of one's life is important. Hence it can be concluded that Sumner is a strong proposer of capitalism where survival of the fittest is inevitable and hard work and increased investments and productivity is the only way to survive.