WILLIAM PETTY
(Sir William Petty)
Lotteries in England of the 17th century were recognized as a societal problem. In 17th century England it was the King who was taking advantage of citizen’s weaknesses. Today, in a democracy, it is the average people and the gambling operators who take advantage of those who are susceptible to gambling problems.
This view that the more people a country has, the richer it is, has gone hand in hand with the notion that a large population will assure a nation of extensive military prowess. However, both of these are now known to be false. The most heavily populated nations are among the poorest, and military prowess is more a function of the training of troops and the modern tools and weapons. Tiny Israel has demonstrated that many times since its origin. It has been attacked over and over by several nations at a time. Despite the fact that Israel was vastly outnumbered by enemy troops and weapons like tanks and planes, Israel has repeatedly demolished the more populous enemies. The world, observing this, no longer emphasizes trying to build a large manpower pool as it does not help militarily and it makes full employment very difficult.
This is true to this day.
Calls for government restraint and small government are not something that only began in modern times.
The argument here is that since the poor working class wages are so low, that they cannot save for an emergency, therefore the society must provide for welfare for those who might otherwise starve.
This was one of the early suggestions for providing jobs for the unemployed to work at developing the national infrastructure. In this case if highways and the river could be improved, transportation would allow goods to be reach more of the country cheaper. The CCC and the Job Corps of America would use a similar reasoning for public employment.
Sir William Petty FRS was an English economist, physician, scientist and philosopher. He first became prominent serving Oliver Cromwell and the Commonwealth in Ireland. He developed efficient methods to survey the land that was to be confiscated and given to Cromwell's soldiers. He also remained a significant figure under King Charles II and King James II, as did many others who had served Cromwell.
