Conveniently forgotten is the aspect of the poor laws that addressed the whipping and imprisonment of the poor; conveniently miscorrelated is the rise in poor with the creation of the poor laws. In fact, the poor rose because they were kicked off their land.
Joanna
----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Bruns" <sdbruns at telus.net>
Neil Reynolds in the 16AUG2011 Globe and Mail:
In Australian philosopher David Stove’s What’s Wrong with Benevolence, no question mark is required. This essay is assertive: Here’s what’s wrong with benevolence – specifically, the benevolence of governments taken to its nth degree, its uttermost limit.
Mr. Stove retrieves a narrative tale from a 19th-century storybook to make his point: “A solitary Indian in his canoe … has been fishing many miles upstream from Niagara Falls. Despite all his local knowledge, he makes some slight misjudgment of time, or wind, or water, and finds himself surprised by the current. For hours he puts forth all his strength in trying to reach the shore. … [Eventually] he passes a point at which his diminishing strength, and the increasing strength of the current, make further resistance vain. He then ships his paddle, lights his pipe, and folds his arms.”
full at: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/opinion/the-folly-of-benevolence/article2128271/ ___________________________________ http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk