Vilfredo Pareto Quotes
For a very long time, and among a large number of peoples, political power has belonged to the owners of the land
Vilfredo Pareto, 1848-1923, Italian sociologist, economist and philosopher, Manual of Political Economy
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
These unfortunate characteristics of Germany at that time, produced the aggressive nation that started two world wars. Looking at Germany a century later, the country has changed radically—especially the three factors described in this quote. Germany has become very much like the rest of Western Europe and America.
1st Viscount Bolingbroke. See {627799} for the origin of the bias against merchants and money men. It also represents a rigidity of class structure that characterized England until very recently. The landed gentry were the first class citizens. Usually titles went with the land. In America, someone who would be successful as a merchant or a banker could achieve the highest of social status and political influence. This was not true in England where a merchant that was far more wealthy than a landed lord was not accepted by the aristocracy.
This was published after he died.
A fief was an estate of land and people. The man who had the title to the fief was obligated to raise troops from his estates and lead then at the command of the King. Women, under English law could not inherit a fief—it went to the oldest son. However, once the military element of fiefdom was eliminated, Johnson saw no reason why women should no longer inherit feifs and the titles that went with them.
Nelson was referring to the past. The industrial revolution created other forms of wealth and power as a huge factory could be built on a small piece of land. In farming, the yield is proportional to the acreage tilled. Not so in manufacturing. With the knowledge era, intellectual property could produce much wealth and power, and factory size and land ownership was not necessary.
Vilfredo Federico Damaso Pareto was an Italian civil engineer, sociologist, economist, political scientist, and philosopher. He made several important contributions to economics, particularly in the study of income distribution and in the analysis of individuals' choices. He was also responsible for popularising the use of the term "elite" in social analysis.
