Alphonso Jackson Quotes
But we look back now, and we realize the Great Society was not a success.
Jackson, Alphonso. Interview by Brian Lamb. Q&A, C-SPAN, 6 Aug. 2006.
This appears to have been the earliest political use of the phrase, “Great Society.”
This quotation is puzzling to many in that Olasky seems to be castigating the President because he wanted to develop a “Great Society”—because he had a great vision for America. However, to Olasky and a small core of religious fundamentalist conservatives a President wanting to develop a great society was bad for two reasons. They do not believe that the government – any government should shape the nature of the society or interfere with individuals and families in shaping society. A government that could have such a vision and implement it must be a big government which is per se undesirable. In addition, in their orthodox view God has already determined the vision for society and no man should try and substitute his vision for God’s commandments. This concern of an energetic secular government having independent vision is not only a problem for the right wing Christian fundamentalists, but is typical of Muslim fundamentalists and Jewish also. There were a small minority of Jewish Israeli fundamentalists who objected to the creation of the State of Israel at the birth of the Jewish state for the same reasons that Olasky gives for opposing a strong visionary government.
Most people wrongly believe that President Lyndon Baines Johnson whose centerpiece of his administration was the “Great Society” also coined the term or at least one of his assistants did. However, it was used in writing over 50 years earlier by this Englishman.
His indictment was rejected by the American voters when they rejected Ryan and Mitte Romney in the election of 2012. This quotation illustrates one of the problems of ideology in politics. Ryan “indicted” everything about progressivism in effect saying to the voters that there is not one progressive idea or analysis that might be useful or even important to the body politic. The same thing happens when ideologues on the left claim that there is nothing of value in conservative thinking. In reality many of the greatest facets of America can be traced to progressive ideas and many to conservative ideas. The United States has been an amalgam of political ideas taken from the entire range of human thinking the world over.
Alphonso R. Jackson served as the 13th United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). He was nominated by President George W. Bush on January 28, 2004 and confirmed by the Senate on March 31, 2004. Jackson announced his resignation on March 31, 2008.
